Longform

China says it will welcome reporters at 2008 Olympics

By Aaron Beard · Wednesday, Dec. 5,2007 9:01 p.m.

Tuesday, China said it welcomes journalists covering the 2008 Beijing Olympics, responding to complaints by a media rights group that the Communist regime has decided to clamp down on reporting in the run-up to the games.

Jury identifies gunman in Sean Taylor murder case

By Aaron Beard · Wednesday, Dec. 5,2007 9:01 p.m.

The 17-year-old suspect in the death of Sean Taylor was accused Tuesday of firing the shot that killed the Washington Redskins safety. A Miami-Dade grand jury identified Eric Rivera as the gunman in its indictment. Rivera and his three co-defendants were indicted by the grand jury on charges of first-degree felony murder and armed burglary.

Tigers on brink of acquiring Marlins Cabrera and Willis

By Aaron Beard · Wednesday, Dec. 5,2007 9 p.m.

While the Boston Red Sox appeared to be closing in on Johan Santana, an even bigger trade emerged Tuesday at the winter meetings: The Detroit Tigers reached a preliminary agreement to acquire Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis from the Florida Marlins for a package of six players.

Joe Paterno inducted into Hall of Fame

By Aaron Beard · Wednesday, Dec. 5,2007 9 p.m.

The College Football Hall of Fame news conference already started by the time Joe Paterno showed up and grabbed his seat at the end of the dais. “I apologize for being one year and 20 minutes late,” the 80-year-old Penn State coach said.

Around the world

By Arthur H. Rotstein · Wednesday, Dec. 5,2007 9 p.m.

A new U.S. intelligence review that concludes Iran stopped developing a nuclear weapons program in 2003 is consistent with the U.N. atomic watchdog agency’s own findings

Insight Bowl tickets free to students

By Tom Kir · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 11:56 p.m.

The IU football team paid a price all season, and their reward is a 13th game on New Year’s Eve against Oklahoma State in Tempe, Ariz. Die-hard IU football fans have also paid a price for 14 years, watching team after team fall short of a bowl game before this year’s success. The reward for current IU students is a free ticket to the Insight Bowl. Any IU student can reserve their free ticket by calling 866-IUSPORTS or 812-855-4006. Check out the Under the Rock for more Hoosier insight.

Student groups speak out about Darfur

By Lindsey Alexander · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 11:51 p.m.

While December usually finds IU students and faculty pushing through crowds to get to their seats at basketball games, this year, several organizations are pushing crowds to take action against genocide in Darfur.

Day named after celebrated Jacobs professor

By Lindsey Alexander · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 11:50 p.m.

When Menahem Pressler bowed his first notes on a violin as a child in Germany, he had no idea that nearly 80 years later he would be awarded with his own day in Bloomington.

IU travels to Dayton to take on Flyers

By Zachary Osterman · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 11:27 p.m.

The IU women’s basketball team will take its 4-3 record on the road Wednesday afternoon to face a stiff test from the Dayton Flyers at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio. The team is coming off a tough home loss to then-No. 21 Florida State in the inaugural Big Ten/ACC Women’s Basketball Challenge. The Hoosiers kept the game close throughout the contest Nov. 30 against the Seminoles, leading for a good portion of the game and losing by only seven.

IU Breakdance Club competes to the beat

By Jackie Kochell and Jaclyn Kochell · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 11:17 p.m.

On a Thursday evening, music blares from the student activities room in Briscoe Quad. As the IU Breakdance Club practices, students walking by stop to watch the team twist and turn to the beat.

Grand Valley State sweeps IU

By Nathan Hart · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 11:16 p.m.

With an 0-2-2 record in the Greater Midwest Hockey League going into a two-game weekend series against Grand Valley State, the IU hockey team was worried, but not overly concerned that it didn’t have a league win. After losing twice last weekend, that concern is growing.

Poor refrigeration weakens vaccines force parents to get new shots for their children

Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 11:03 p.m.

Every year, thousands of American children go through the tearful, teeth-gritting ordeal of getting their vaccinations, only to be forced to do it all over again.

La denier cri

By Clare Burke · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 11:03 p.m.

Last Sunday, I braved the rain and cold, got out of bed before noon and drove up to the Indianapolis Museum of Art. I was going to complete an assignment for my oh-so-interesting art history class and was planning on going through the exhibit about Roman Art from the Louvre Museum in Paris as quickly as possible, as I wanted to get home in time to catch a small nap before going to work later that evening.

$400,000 grant awarded to Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures

By Erica Beringer · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 10:56 p.m.

Sixty years after its establishment in 1947, the IU Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures recently received an honor in the form of a two-year, $400,000 federal grant given by the U.S. Department of Education’s Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education.

ATO fraternity hosts holiday party for Boys and Girls Club

By Lindsey Alexander · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 10:54 p.m.

Visions of Pacman and yellow rocking ponies filled the dining hall of Alpha Tau Omega on Tuesday night when the fraternity hosted a holiday celebration for the kids of Bloomington’s Boys and Girls Club.

Unequal hate

By Indira Dammu · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 7:43 p.m.

Reading through the Indiana Daily Student the other day, I stumbled upon an interesting feature regarding hate-crime laws. The article covered recent efforts by Indiana legislators to introduce “bias” laws. Rep. Greg Porter (D-Ind), author of a new hate-crime bill, said Indiana was one of only five states without hate-crime legislation. I wondered, is this such a bad thing?

Teddy bear troubles

By Ayesha Awan · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 7:42 p.m.

You’ve really got to hand it to the Sudanese. My first thought when I heard that thousands of them marched Friday in Khartoum was “Oh, maybe they have finally decided to hold their government accountable for Darfur.” I couldn’t have been more mistaken. Apparently these upstanding citizens of Khartoum were marching against Gillian Gibbons, a 54-year-old school teacher from England.

Divestment portfolio

Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 7:40 p.m.

During the 1980s, a significant divestment campaign was established to end investments in South Africa, whose apartheid policies represented a human-rights nightmare. On college campuses, university trustees began to explicitly divest from South Africa, and along with other organizations, they helped impede the apartheid regime and eventually lead to its downfall. Divestiture did not repair apartheid on its own, but it certainly helped bring international attention to the problem.

Landlocked Music’s top-selling albums from last week

Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 9:28 a.m.

1. Jose Gonzalez, “In Our Nature”

Acrobats, fire dancers fuel rise in indie circuses

By Lisa Leff · Tuesday, Dec. 4,2007 9:27 a.m.

SAN FRANCISCO – The DNA Lounge was a real circus the night The Mutaytor came to town. The band looked like a bunch of clowns. Young contortionists folded their limbs like fortune cookies above and around the stage.