Longform

Children go 'Into the Woods' with fairy tale farce at BPP

By Jenica Schultz · Wednesday, July 28,2004 9:06 p.m.

For the last three weeks, local children ages nine through 15 have had the opportunity to experience the feeling of performing in a professional show as have been rehearsing from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day in preparation for this weekend's premier of Stephen Sondheim's "Into the Woods" at the Bloomington Playwrights Project. "They're here all day. It's actually like a professional company," Artistic Director Richard Perez said. "It's comparable to a professional experience."

Monroe landfill to close Sunday

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, July 28,2004 9:05 p.m.

The Monroe County landfill is scheduled to permanently close Sunday. Beginning July 30, trash can be taken to Hoosier Disposals' transfer site at 6660 South State Road 37, as stated on the Monroe County Solid Waste Management District Web site. Iris Kiesling, chairperson of the board of directors at the Monroe County Solid Waste Management District, said there are many reasons why the landfill is closing.

eBay is eVil

By Jordan DeLong · Wednesday, July 28,2004 9:02 p.m.

If I don't watch out, eBay will ruin my life. The commercials are enough to catch anyone's eye. Seemingly normal people bursting into song about the wonderful deals that are available for them online.

'57' uncensored

By Lauren Zaczek · Wednesday, July 28,2004 9:01 p.m.

John Kerry has a big nose. His face stares at me from the cover of this week's Time magazine. The feature article wants to know, "What makes John Kerry tick?"

Reflections on the convention

By Brian McFillen and Brain J. McFillen · Wednesday, July 28,2004 9 p.m.

I was going to write about something important this week, like the New York Post's revelation that Ashlee Simpson can belch the alphabet (July 27). But my evil editor said that if I didn't comment on the Democratic National Convention, he'd cut my Indiana Daily Student dental plan.

Jogging our wallets

By Alyson Brodsy · Wednesday, July 28,2004 8:58 p.m.

This is a story about a lot of money. With a campus that shelters roughly 36,000 students -- after taking into account second semester drop outs -- a little bit of our money goes a long way. Of course, with the rising costs of maintaining a quality staff of in-demand faculty and administrators, every now and then we're asked to sacrifice just a bit more.

Court to rule on medical drug law

By Priyanka Shewakramani · Tuesday, July 27,2004 11:05 p.m.

The Supreme Court has decided to hear the Bush administration's appeal of a case it lost last year involving the federal ban on marijuana and the use of the drug to treat medical ailments. The case was argued in the San Francisco 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in December of 2003. The court ruled that California patients whose doctors have prescribed marijuana for medicinal proposes are not subject to the federal laws outlawing the use of the drug.

AD search enters next step

By Dan Click · Sunday, July 25,2004 10:43 p.m.

The search for a new athletics director began its next phase with the passing of the July 16 deadline for applicants. The IU Athletics Department set up a Web site featuring an advertisement outlining the criteria expected of IU's new athletics director June 10 and distributed the advertisement through traditional media in addition to e-mail. The ad was also sent to major college sports conferences around the nation and to those who expressed interest in the job.

Convention to kick off tonight

By Tony Sams · Sunday, July 25,2004 10:43 p.m.

BOSTON -- Amid the signs and cries of protesters, the possibility of city union workers striking, congested downtown traffic and the ever-present threat of terrorism, Democrats from around the country will converge on their national convention, which will open tonight at the FleetCenter in Boston.

County Fair to feature 4-H contest

By Andrea Opperman · Sunday, July 25,2004 10:43 p.m.

The recent cool weather may entice some to leave their homes and attend this year's Monroe County Fair, which kicked off Saturday and is open to all county residents. Monroe County Fair Secretary Bobbi Partenheimer said she expects the unseasonably cool weather to aid in attendance figures for the event. "We hope to have a lot of people because the weather is quite cool and it helps the crowds," Partenheimer said. The annual fair is located at the west end of town off of Airport Road.

Jordan River Forum

By Alyson Brodsy · Sunday, July 25,2004 10:27 p.m.

Hues and cries from the liberal media The Ban on assault weapons will not be renewed. Despite hues and cries in the press from liberals, we conservatives control Congress and the presidency. There are as many good arguments against renewal as there are for renewal. The fact that your editorial board voted 11-0 ("Renew assault weapons ban" July 22) to approve your article -- without even one (statistically-expected) dissent indicates that your publication is biased. You know, there is a reason Bush and the Republicans are in power. George Karalis San Francisco

S-string diva

By J.P. Benitez and JP Benitez · Sunday, July 25,2004 10:20 p.m.

I always knew I hated L.A. For the longest time I suffered to put words to my emotions, to translate that taste of regurgitated fried eggs and apples I would experience every time someone mentioned the city's name. Yet by my sword, Tom LaBonge has changed all of that for me. The fog has been lifted and there is now truth, light and direction. I hate L.A. because L.A. hates silly string.

La cage au protesters

By Alyson Brodsy · Sunday, July 25,2004 10:16 p.m.

Prepare for the single greatest steel cage match of the century. Four days of blood, guts and primal screams will fill a 28,000-square-foot zone surrounded by chain link and dressed with razor wire. Finally, the box has returned to Boston. Just outside the FleetCenter where presidential candidate John Kerry will greet his party for the Democratic National Convention, protesters are livid with the decision to confine all demonstrators to an official area with all the aesthetic niceties of an Iron Maiden concert.

Israelis split on Gaza Strip withdrawal plan

By Benjames Derrick and Benjamin Derrick · Sunday, July 25,2004 10:10 p.m.

An estimated 130,000 Israelis joined hands Sunday to form a human chain stretching from the edges of the Gaza Strip to Jerusalem to protest the Israeli government's plan to withdraw from the area. The Israeli government's unilateral withdrawal plan comes after years of fruitless negotiations between Israel and their Palestinian counterparts, years which have been frequently punctuated with violence and much blaming.

Around The Campus

By Alyson Brodsy · Sunday, July 25,2004 10:06 p.m.

IU Alumni Club to meet at Yogi's The IU Alumni Club will meet for Hoosier Happy Hour at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Yogi's City Grille, 216 S. College Ave. The meeting will be an opportunity for alumni to network and reunite with former classmates. For more information, contact Rachael Crouch at 855-3575 or visit the IU Alumni Club Web site at http://alumni.indiana.edu/clubs/monroe .

Summer orientation ends Tuesday

By Karen Yancey · Sunday, July 25,2004 9:59 p.m.

Summer orientation wrapped up last week with an estimated 6,500 participants coming from all around the country, Associate Director of Orientation Melanie Payne said. "Students did everything from take assessment tests to register for classes to attend sessions on student life," Payne said.

Around The World

By Alyson Brodsy · Sunday, July 25,2004 9:53 p.m.

Court rules sperm donor must pay child support HARRISBURG, Pa. -- A state appeals court ruled that a verbal agreement between a woman and her sperm donor was invalid, and ordered the man to pay child support for the woman's twins. The three-judge panel ruled Thursday that the deal between Joel McKiernan and Ivonne Ferguson -- in which McKiernan donated his sperm and would not be obligated to pay any support -- was unenforceable because of "legal, equitable and moral principles."

Armstrong wins 6th straight tour

By Alyson Brodsy and Mort Rosenblum · Sunday, July 25,2004 9:51 p.m.

PARIS -- All people saw, on first pass, was a yellow flash tucked within the blur of blue that led the pack down the Champs-Elysees. But that was all it took. Paris yelled its heart out. Lance Armstrong, the 32-year-old Texan who fought past cancer to get back on his bike, was the first six-time victor in the 101-year history of Tour de France, surely the world's most grueling athletic event.

Sudan rejects U.S. claims of genocide

By Alyson Brodsy · Sunday, July 25,2004 9:47 p.m.

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Sudan's foreign minister, insisting his government is doing all it can to end the conflict in the country's western Darfur region, rejected a U.S. Congressional declaration that the bloodletting amounts to genocide. Foreign Minister Mustafa Osman Ismail said Sudan agrees with the African Union, which has refrained from calling the atrocities genocide, a crime punishable under a 1948 U.N. convention.

Economy top priority among Democratic delegates

By Alyson Brodsy · Sunday, July 25,2004 9:45 p.m.

BOSTON -- It's the economy, John Kerry. That's what delegates to the Democratic National Convention say their presumed presidential nominee or -- they shudder to think -- President Bush should concentrate on first in 2005, an Associated Press survey of Democratic delegates found. Health care was the No. 2 issue, followed by the war in Iraq, according to the survey of some three-quarters of the 4,300-plus delegates.