Longform

Academia and the arcade

By Megan Meyer · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 11:50 p.m.

Could a new hit video game be the next step in teaching evolution? Will Wright, the game designer behind The Sims, spent years creating "Spore," a new video game that is supposed to simulate the process of evolution. But, local specialists in both biology and learning sciences say that Spore is a fun game and nothing more.

Junior Alex Kocher teaches a zumba class Saturday morning at the YMCA. Zumba is an exercise program based on latin dance, and is derived from the Columbina word to mave fast and have fun.

Fitness buffs go crazy for ‘Zumba’

By Shannon Burruss · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 11:45 p.m.

Combine Latin music and salsa dancing with resistance training, and you have the recipe for “Zumba,” the new exercise dance craze that’s trying to make working out fun again.

A financial system in FREE FALL

By Greg Rosenstein · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 11:44 p.m.

The financial crisis that took place on Wall Street last week can be summed up in one word: chaos. Lehman Brothers, one of the top investment banks in America, filed the largest bankruptcy claim in U.S. history after going $613 billion in debt. One of Lehman’s main rivals, Merrill Lynch, nearly suffered the same fate before being bought out by Bank of America. And in the largest government bailout ever, insurer AIG was given an $85 billion loan from the Federal Reserve after plummeting share prices and credit downgrades caused investors to sell shares. Now, President Bush is requesting that U.S. lawmakers pass a $700 billion bailout plan to help financial institutions holding large amounts of bad mortgage debt. The turmoil leaves students with plenty of questions.

IU Northwest campus closed through Sept. 29

By Ben Phelps · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 11:08 p.m.

The IU-Northwest campus in Gary will remain closed for a second week as parts of the campus are still under water. All events and classes have been canceled through this week and campus is expected to reopen Sept. 29.

Students express interest in healthier food options

By Amanda Cochara · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 11:06 p.m.

While pizza might be thought of as a college food staple, students can’t eat it every day. As a result, Residential Programs and Services is trying to provide healthier and more sustainable options in food courts.

Playboy models to sign autographs at Campustown

By Zach Sempsey · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 11:01 p.m.

Bloomington residents and IU students have the chance to meet seven local Playboy models today. The seven IU women pictured in Playboy’s recent “Girls of the Big Ten” pictorial will sign autographs from 4 to 6 p.m. at Campustown, located at 306 N. Walnut St.

A small chapel with big influence

By Sean Morrison · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 10:59 p.m.

It often goes unnoticed, hidden among the likes of Ballantine Hall, the Chemistry Building, the Indiana Memorial Union and other buildings. However, this small, tucked-away building houses the many faiths of IU, from Islam to Judaism, Christianity to Buddhism, and everything in between.

Fashion 102, honors version: Both attitude and clothes are fashionable

By Gabrijel Gelic · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 10:49 p.m.

The question I am most often confronted with is, “Why fashion?” The answer is quite simple: Because I love it.

Members of local band South Jordan, whose music has been featured on Malaysian radio stations, pose for a photo.

Local band’s song featured on Malaysian radio stations

By Alexandra Brown · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 10:48 p.m.

Few local bands can claim their music has aired on radio stations across the world, but emerging local pop/rock band South Jordan has already had music featured on Malaysian airwaves.

Nature on the big screen

By Lara Streyle · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 10:44 p.m.

Mammoths once walked the Hoosier state, audience members at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater discovered on Sunday.

Giving film a new home

By Allison Tyra · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 10:43 p.m.

The University Theater will get a new look next March when renovations start to transform the decades-old stage into a cinema.

Bloomington named 1st ‘Playful City’ in Indiana

By Mark Wilson · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 10:22 p.m.

Bloomington has been named the first “Playful City” in Indiana by KaBOOM!, a national nonprofit entity that encourages the formation of strong and healthy communities nationwide.

Recreational Vehicle industry in a bind

By Viktoria Nasteva · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 10:21 p.m.

Gov. Mitch Daniels’ request for a $10.4 million national emergency grant to support displaced RV workers was approved two weeks ago after an economic downturn and rising gas prices have left many RV employees in Indiana jobless.

Man robbed at gunpoint

Monday, Sept. 22,2008 10:20 p.m.

A Bloomington resident was held at gunpoint at about 9 p.m. Sunday while walking to his car.

Community foundation commits $150K to after-school programs

By Mark Wilson · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 10:19 p.m.

The Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County has committed more than $150,000 to jump start after-school programming for middle school students. “Students in middle school are at a difficult age because they want independence but aren’t necessarily prepared for that independence yet,” said Ken Miller, a Community Foundation board member.

‘Invincible,’ uninsured

By Sanjay Mohanty · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 10:16 p.m.

Despite what the Census Bureau reported last month – that the numbers of uninsured Americans fell slightly between 2006 and 2007 to about 46 million – the health care access picture, to say nothing of its quality and cost, is bleak. The report, for one, did not take into account the economic downturn. That aside, one of the fastest growing and largest groups of uninsured is the “young invincibles,” individuals between the ages of 19 to 29. This is a group that numbers 13.4 million.

Pre-gaming minus the game

By Erin Chapman · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 10:15 p.m.

When it comes to IU football, some fans want to go big or go home. Others just want to go big and then go home. I’m referring of course to IU’s largest and most esteemed athletic tradition: the football tailgate. Ah, the smell of hamburgers on the wind as corn-hole bags fly by. To anyone who has stopped to bask in the glory of these festivities, it might come as a surprise that this year’s football attendance has hardly budged from last years’ numbers.

How to spread democracy

By Ashley Ames · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 10:14 p.m.

I think we are probably all in agreement that democracy is a really good thing. Of course there are the obvious freedoms and pleasantries affixed to this governing style, such as greater individual liberty, political stability, freedom from governmental violence and enhanced quality of life relative to non-democracies. Amartya Sen, the winner of the 1998 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, has pointed out that “no famine has ever taken place in the history of the world in a functioning democracy.”

Genopolitics: Useless Junk Science

Monday, Sept. 22,2008 10:13 p.m.

The journal Science recently published a report on research at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s political physiology laboratory – seemingly the only one in the world – suggesting there might be physiological differences between liberals and conservatives. However nice it might feel to think our ideological opposites have less and less in common with us, this report seems completely bogus and should not be taken too seriously.

I’ve seen this before

By Chad Quandt · Monday, Sept. 22,2008 8:14 p.m.

It’s said that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. This seems to be no truer than right now in the film and television industries. We as viewers are being swarmed by remakes or reinterpretations of properties thought long dead.