Longform

'Brain Teasers' exhibit tests visitors ability to solve problems

By Maggie Bozich · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 11:06 p.m.

Balancing 13 nails on one nail or trying to move two balls to opposite ends of a rocker might seem like an easy task, but chances are you'll find it harder to solve than your finite homework. Those challenges are just two of the 20 puzzles available to be solved at the WonderLab exhibition "Brain Teasers," running through May 30.

Neuter scooter brings awareness

By Nicole Beemsterboer · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 11:03 p.m.

The Monroe County Humane Association is joining with local veterinary clinics and a traveling neuter scooter in hopes of curbing the number of animals euthanized each year. The association is selling 350 spay and neuter vouchers for cats and dogs in honor of the 10th annual Spay Day USA.

Around The Arts

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 1:05 a.m.

UB presents 'Lost in Translation' Union Board Films presents "Lost in Translation," a movie about two Americans-- a washed-up TV star (Bill Murray) in town for a TV whiskey commercial shoot and the young wife (Scarlett Johansson) of a photographer-- who meet in Tokyo and end up spending a weekend hanging out together on a "soul-searching mission." The film runs at 8 and 11 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Whittenberger Auditorium in the Indiana Memorial Union Admission is free with a valid IU student ID and $2 for non-students.

Around The Campus

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 1:02 a.m.

Linguistics to feature MIT Professor Pesetsky The Department of Linguistics will sponsor a lecture, "Cyclic Linearization and the Typology of Movement," featuring David Pesetsky from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology at 4 p.m. Friday in Ballantine Hall, Room 340. The lecture will be followed by a reception in Memorial Hall, Seminar Room 317A.

Hard work finally paying off for Hollis

By Rob DeWitte and Rob eWitte · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:48 a.m.

For several years, the IU men's track team has had a handful of athletes fighting to join the national ranks. Each year, these athletes step closer to the summit, training tirelessly to reach the top. One of these athletes is IU 600-meter record holder and current 800-meter threat senior Rodney Hollis. "Rodney is like several guys in our group -- right on the cusp of a big step in his career -- making the NCAAs. It's really helped him to see the guys in the distance group that are doing it," said distance coach Robert Chapman.

Time to go 'all in' for IU

By Dan Patrick · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:44 a.m.

Eleven players sit around a poker game desperately trying to read each other's faces, with the smell of cigar smoke and stale pretzels wafting through the air. While the 11-1 Purdue Boilermakers and Penn State Lady Lions have been drawing face cards all day long, the Hoosiers and the Northwestern Wildcats have been bluffing all season. IU comes into the game on the wrong end of a five-game streak, losing all but one game by double digit margins. Now IU sits at No. 9 in the Big Ten with a lowly 3-8 conference record and a 10-12 overall. Prior to the slide, the Hoosiers sat at a respectable 3-3 in the Big Ten and were 10-7 overall.

Sex, lies and cell phones

By Matt Glenesk · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:42 a.m.

Ah, love is in the air. The flowers have been ordered, the teddy bears and chocolates have been purchased and the romantic dinner for two has been arranged. It must be Valentine's Day. Well, the flowers are dead, I lost the teddy bear, ate the chocolate and can't remember which restaurant I made the reservation at. It's a good thing I don't have a date. I know you're all shocked and perplexed. Right now, you're looking at my mug and saying, "Wow, if this guy doesn't have a date, how the heck am I gonna get one?"

Assists pass IU to victory

By Tyler Hoeppner and Tyler V. Hoeppner · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:40 a.m.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- For one of the few times this season, the Hoosier offense was rather efficient, as IU won another Big Ten road game, 75-56, over Penn State Wednesday. The Hoosiers (12-9, 6-4 Big Ten) had 16 assists and turned it over a season-low six times. "We did a good job of passing the ball, and for us to have 16 assists, it may be our season high," IU coach Mike Davis said. "I think (sophomore guard) Marshall (Strickland) did a great job of running the offense for us."

Hoosiers pull out win

By Natalie A. Trout · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:38 a.m.

STATE COLLEGE, Pa. -- It took a road game over 500 miles away and a crowd of only 7,782 for the Hoosiers to rebuild their team and pull things together after a three-game losing streak. The 75-56 victory over Penn State Wednesday night (9-11, 3-6 Big Ten) gave IU (12-9, 6-4) its fourth Big Ten road win this season. "It's hard to explain when you have four road wins in the Big Ten and only two home wins," IU coach Mike Davis said. "We play better on the road. The guys are real loose on the road."

Advertising TVs still in the works

By Matt Mattucci · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:37 a.m.

The necessity for fliers and posters announcing various campus events may soon become an old fad. Last November, the President's Council of the IU Residence Hall Association passed a bill to place big-screen plasma TVs in various residence halls and other campus buildings from Sadge Media, a collegiate advertising agency in Cincinnati.

Dancing with an edge

By Claire Blaustein · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:37 a.m.

In the School of Health, Physical Education and Recreation, Room 167, a heated basketball game is being played and the screech of sneakers on polished floors and yelling teammates is audible from the hall. Further down the hall, the ambient noise changes quite a bit. Looking in H169, you see girls donning heels instead of running shoes and boys practicing spins and back steps on the side of the court. It is a meeting of the IU Ballroom Dance Club.

Monroe County jail may lose insurance

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:35 a.m.

BLOOMINGTON -- Monroe County's liability insurer has threatened to withdraw coverage for the county jail unless the county reduces crowding in the lockup and increases staffing by the year's end. St. Paul Property and Liability Insurance has told county commissioners it will not renew the jail's liability insurance for 2005 if the county fails to come up with detailed plans for changes at the jail. The jail's inmate population has surged from an average of about 175 a day to more than 250 in recent years. The jail is licensed to hold about 190 inmates. Budget overruns for meals and medical care have reduced the amount of money available for staff increases. While officials have discussed building a new jail or expanding the existing one, many favor creating a community corrections center that would house nonviolent offenders while leaving the jail to handle dangerous offenders.

Another 'Hill' to climb

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:35 a.m.

I just had to pick the computer with the gi-normous screen, huh? Okay, maybe it's not that large. But I feel like I'm Web browsing on a Jumbotron when I try to secretly view BET's "College Hill" homepage. A click on smelly-guy Jabari's picture and I'm linked to last week's recap. It deals with equally infamous cast member Kinda. "Kinda fights the 'ho' label." I'm downright embarrassed to check out this site in public but can't help myself. In fact, I printed off the press release, read through some articles--everything but voted for "Cutest Cast Member." Here I am in the Neal-Marshall Black Cultural Center with a myriad of new books and a myriad of reasons to do something more productive than laugh at the ignorance of "television's first-ever Black dramatic reality show" -- but I'm chuckling nonetheless. A "College Hill" information blurb on BET's Web site describes the show as "Eight college co-eds; a popular Black college campus in the hot Louisiana sun; challenging class work …"

Solving Racism: Part III

By Jack M. Silverstein and Jack Silverstein · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:34 a.m.

This is the third in a three-part series ow can we take the next step toward true equality? The next step begins with honesty. People have to feel comfortable expressing their racial and social feelings, because without honesty it is nearly impossible to change either the prejudice or the power, be it for individuals or institutions. As we saw during the civil rights movement in the 1960s, a mass shift in individuals' beliefs, backed up by an honest vocalization of those beliefs, can shift a country's popular collective belief. Thus, influencing the power of the major institutions. To take the next step, we, the individuals with little institutional power, have to push the individuals with lots of institutional power to believe what we believe. The upcoming presidential election is a good place to start. Find a candidate who reflects your views on racial and social equality, and vote for him.

Notre Dame group seeks acceptance

By Alyson Brodsy · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:34 a.m.

SOUTH BEND -- A fledgling group of gay students at Notre Dame University is seeking recognition as a student organization, despite the failure of similar campaigns over the past two decades. The group Unity in Diversity is intending to create a welcoming atmosphere for gay, lesbian or bisexual students and employees at the Roman Catholic school, said Joe Dickmann, a gay Notre Dame senior from St. Louis. Friday the group will file a request with the Office of Student Activities for recognition as a student organization, Dickmann said. The university has not received the request and had no comment, spokesman Dennis Brown said Wednesday. He said administrators would tell the group of the decision before any comment was made in public.

Specialty hospital debated by council

By Lindsey Jancek and Lindsay Jancek · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:33 a.m.

A proposed development had Bloomington residents and physicians speaking out at Wednesday night's Committee of the Whole meeting. Controversy over 102 acres of land marked for development, including a for-profit specialty hospital, meant a jam-packed City Hall. Members of the Bloomington City Council met not to vote on legislation, but rather to let the two opposing sides, the Planning Department and Bloomington Hospital, present their case to the council concerning the petiton. The land, off West Tapp Road along Indiana State Road 37, is being proposed to be re-zoned into a mixture of office, commercial, industrial and medical buildings.

After three bouts with Melanoma, tennis star returns to the courts

By Jeff Fuldauer · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:33 a.m.

For NCAA athletes, finding the time to fit anything in their schedules other than classes and practices can be the ultimate challenge. But for senior Karie Schlukebir, tennis has been her escape as she faces an opponent with much more than a serve-and-volley attack. The Kalamazoo, Mich., native first picked up a racquet when her mother, a tennis instructor, introduced her to the game. As a multisport athlete in high school, it was tennis that sent her to IU. But when she signed as a member of the Cream and Crimson, she had no idea tennis would act as her support group through her most difficult of times.

Underneath the lights

By Alli Stolper and Writer Alli Stolper · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:32 a.m.

With spring break ahead in the not-so-distant future, many students are already preparing by soaking up rays at local tanning beds.

Storytelling program not just for kids

By Nellie Summerfield · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:25 a.m.

Heartwarming tales tonight at the Monroe County Public Library will be the perfect start to a Valentine's Day weekend. "Wintertelling," a storytelling and music program, will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The Bloomington Storytellers' Guild and the local singing duo Davis & Devitt will join to present a night full of entertainment co-sponsored by the Adult Services department of the library. The storytelling program is set up to entertain teenagers and adults, not just children.

Fusion declares candidacy

By Mike McElroy · Thursday, Feb. 12,2004 12:25 a.m.

The IU Student Association election season reached the two-week warning Wednesday night, and another party has entered the race. The Fusion ticket, headed by senior Dan Shapiro, announced its candidacy as the fourth and final party, which promises to fight for students' interests through communication and cooperation with IU's several hundred student groups.