Longform

Peebles offers advice

After a year of persistent pursuit, Director of the Black Film Center Archive Audrey McCluskey finally got her man. The esteemed actor, director and writer Melvin Van Peebles agreed to be the first official Artist-in-Residence for the center. In addition to participating in a student workshop, Van Peebles will give a presentation called "Kickin' Science: An Evening with Melvin Van Peebles," 8 p.m. Friday night in Jordan Hall A100. Van Peebles said the title is simply a "slang term" for "talking about life."

Conference death a sign for reform

A protester was killed by police during demonstrations at the G-8 conference in Genoa last Friday. Will I sound too cynical or defeatist if I say that it didn't surprise me, that it was only a matter of time? Will I surprise you if I add that its predictability doesn't make it any less outrageous.

Jazz artist to play tonight

Jazz is the music of choice. Or so says Wynton Marsalis, an award-winning jazz artist, composer and artistic director for jazz at Lincoln Center. Marsalis said this principle defines jazz, in an interview on the Live From Lincoln Center Web site, www.livefromlincolncenter.org. "It's your choice," he said. "You choose how long you're going to play. You choose what register you want to play in. You choose whether you want to play at all." Students and community members can watch these choices come to life as Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra perform at 7:30 p.m. today at the IU Auditorium.

Around The Region

$12,300 offered for 2-acre flag made in state 4-year-old boy falls to his death at Arkansas hotel Missing 87-year-old found Indiana tourist shot in arm outside Devils Tower

'Independent' loses voice

The Bloomington Independent, a local alternative newspaper, is on a "hiatus" from publishing because of a lapse in funding, publisher Craig Hitchcock said. The paper's financial problems stem from the Sept. 11 economic backlash. "(We) had to make a tough choice," he said. The newspaper hopes to continue publishing in March, Hitchcock said. The Bloomington Independent staff is currently meeting with possible advertisers and pursuing other avenues, such as other ways of financing and a potential buyer, he said.

Around The World

Early results for Sierra Leone War criminals surrender to U.N. Battles rage in northern Colombia Ethiopian troops attack Somali town

African American dance & soul

The new Theatre/Neal-Marshall Education Center provides a long overdue home for the African American Dance Company by providing a modern and innovative new studio for the program. For a long time, the company persevered through the poor conditions that "placed many limitations on the program and on the students," Iris Rosa, the dance company's director and associate professor in the department of African American Studies, said. "But we danced anyway. That's what we had to begin with, and that's what we dealt with," she said.

GBV 'Cycle' into the future of rock

On Universal Truths and Cycles, Guided by Voices' 13th album in twelve years (three of which were live), the band returns to its former label, Matador, and to its stripped-down and far more experimental sound.

Players 'in awe' of new facility

Last Tuesday, the Hoosiers entered their new state-of-the-art practice facility at the IU Foundation for the first time. It remains to be seen how much of an impact the facility will have on the team, but the initial response has been encouraging. "When I walked in, I thought 'Wow,' in astonishment," sophomore Danah Ford said. "They really did a great job on the whole practice field, with the many greens and different shots. We walk into that facility and we get lost and lose track of time."

Hoosiers ready after hiatus

The women's volleyball team is back and ready for action tonight against Indiana State University after a cancelled match and tournament last week. The Hoosiers spent their time relaxing and handling personal affairs, according to sophomore Katie Pollom.

End logging in Indiana state forests

One beautiful autumn day several years ago, I was hiking the Ten O'clock trail in Yellowwood State Forest with my family. About a mile up the trail we came upon a sight that shocked us: all the trees in a large area had been cut to the ground, and several beech trees near the trail had been ringed with a chainsaw.

Feeding the body and mind

Fridays are wonderful days to wind down just before the weekend. Imagine sitting on a cozy sofa, listening to a live musical performance and watching the world of students pass by through a beautiful picture window. For the last three years, the Leo R. Dowling International Center, 111 S. Jordan Ave., has provided an informal atmosphere for a variety of musical performances.

Dr. King legacy not lost over time

As America gets ready to celebrate the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s 73rd birthday as a national holiday, his exhortations of peaceful transformation of race-torn America and non-violent agitation for meaningful change are inextricably linked to the modern struggles of all minorities for civil and human rights throughout the world. Therefore, the movement that he helped establish and lead effectively changed the soul of the racially-tortured nation, and it has also gone a long way to bring about much more freedom, justice and equality for all humankind.

More like 'The Scorpion Queen'

Sophomore wins Jeep in Kiss Off

At 3:30 a.m. Sunday, sophomore Dan Balanoff was the last person standing in the 2001 Jeep Kiss Off. About 250 people had gathered on the front yard of the Delta Upsilon fraternity to see the end of the contest, which began at 6 p.m. Friday. After 33 and a half hours kissing the 2001 Jeep Wrangler SE, Balanoff came out victorious over the 24 other contestants and won the Jeep.

Bill would add to police power

Police would be able to conduct secret searches of suspects' homes, tap all their cell and home phones and track their use of the Internet under anti-terrorism legislation moving toward final approval in the House.

'The Score' a riveting classic

"The Score" is classic film noir with an A-list cast, an exercise in traditional craftsmanship that is so rare in this age of bloated special effects budgets and editing choppier than the average transatlantic voyage. It hardly ascends to the upper echelon of classics like "The Maltese Falcon" and "Chinatown." It's more like a contemporary production of Shakespeare -- more a vehicle for captivating acting than anything else. Director Frank Oz convened a summit for the finest method actors of three generations for this heist flick -- Marlon Brando, Robert DeNiro and Edward Norton. In deliberately pacing the film, he simply stands back and gives them breathing room. Oz, in his first departure from such light-hearted fluff as "In and Out," took the right approach. It would have been worth at least double the price of admission just to watch these vaunted heavyweights take turns reading from a phone book.

F-16s force plane down at Bloomington aiport

At least two F-16 fighters forced down a small passenger plane at the Monroe County Airport this afternoon. The pilot was apparently confused and didn't know U.S. airspace remains closed to everything but commercial and military aircraft, an airport official told the IDS.

Album can't quite recreate live feeling

The Indy Jazz Fest featured a variety of acts from straight ahead, bop-oriented jazz to smooth jazz, blues and even more modern sounding sub-genres. But one of my favorite bands happened to be the Latin, Afro-Cuban rhythms of Conga Jazz.

City, BPD agree on new contract

It was all smiles Wednesday night as the city council approved the collective bargaining agreement between the city and the fraternal order of police. The new agreement will serve the city and police department beginning in January 2003 and will last until the end of 2006.