Longform

'Star' still fighting Knight ruling

In the latest chapter of legal maneuvers involving former IU men's basketball coach Bob Knight, The Indianapolis Star has taken to the offense, appealing a ruling that favored IU and withheld the public release of Knight's personnel documents. The Indianapolis Star filed an appeal Monday asking the Indiana Court of Appeals to overturn last month's ruling by Morgan County Special Judge Jane Spencer Craney. If Craney grants the appeal, the records surrounding the termination of Knight would be made public and visible for public scrutiny.

This Weekend's Calendar events

Philipps flows into 'Dawson's Creek'

After several years in the entertainment industry, Busy Philipps has become a familiar face to young audiences. Her big break came in 1999, when she was cast as high school outcast Kim Kelly on the short-lived but critically acclaimed NBC series "Freaks and Geeks." After the show's cancellation, the 22-year-old Philipps won roles in the independent film "The Smokers" and the MTV television movie "Anatomy of a Hate Crime."

Monroe County contested primary election results

BIG TEN CHAMPS

Nine minutes into the men's basketball game against Northwestern Saturday, IU coach Mike Davis wasn't worried about his Hoosiers starting the game 2 of 10 from the field or a 17-6 deficit staring them in the face. He was worried about hats. With a share of the Big Ten championship on the line -- commemorative hats and T-shirts and the shiny, gold trophy awaiting an IU victory -- the Hoosiers struggled out of the gate. But they rebounded to beat Northwestern 79-67.

State disclosure laws need to stay

The Indiana General Assembly is considering a bill that would exempt the group from the state's disclosure laws. Last week, the Senate Government and Regulatory Affairs Committee voted to endorse the legislation, which would limit public access to government records and personal communications between lawmakers and constituents.

Taliban government crumbling, Rumsfeld says

After four weeks of U.S. attacks, Afghanistan's ruling Taliban are no longer "functioning as a government," Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said Sunday. But an opposition attack on a key northern city was reported faltering only hours after it was launched.

Mother guilty in battery case

A Bloomington woman who pleaded guilty to suffocating her 4-month-old son was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Defense rules the day in spring scrimmage

In the IU football team's scrimmage Saturday at Memorial Stadium, the defense dominated the offense. Yes, the same defense that has been scrutinized, criticized and demoralized in recent years completely controlled the offense in the team's first full-contact scrimmage of the spring practice schedule. With both sides of the ball split up into two teams, the Hoosier offense dealt with interceptions, dropped snaps, missed field-goal attempts and downfield fumbles leading to only two scores during the two-hour scrimmage.

Don't call them a bluegrass band

Graduate school rankings released

U.S. News and World Report magazine ranked 12 of IU's graduate programs among the top 25 in the country in its new edition of "Best Graduate Schools 2001-2001." University spokeswoman Susan Dillman said the University is pleased with the results, but said rankings can offer limited views of programs. "It's always good news to be ranked well, but it's sort of a mixed blessing," she said.

Students help make world's largest artificial reef with a flipped ship.

IU faculty and students experienced first-hand the creation of the world's largest artificial reef this past month while preparing an old U.S. Navy ship, the Spiegel Grove, for sinking off the coast of Florida.

Reaching for new heights

Global tourism shrinks 2.6 percent

MADRID, Spain - Revenues from international tourism shrank 2.6 percent last year because the Sept. 11 attacks "severely aggravated" the impact of a global economic slowdown, the World Tourism Organization said Tuesday.

Davis kicks off Big Brothers Big Sisters recruitment challenge

IU head basketball coach Mike Davis is a big brother. At a press conference Thursday morning at Assembly Hall, Davis accepted his position as the honorary chair person for the Big Brothers Big Sisters' new project. The "Think BIG Volunteer Recruitment Challenge" is aimed toward signing on 100 new volunteers. These volunteers are needed to help with One on One Brothers/Sisters and with school mentoring programs that Big Brothers Big Sisters carries out for the community throughout the year.

'LFB' proves to be a solid album

Broken rules are denting society

A realistic view of human nature reveals that the fear of punishment is the most powerful and possibly the only way to deter certain actions. If anyone could do anything with impunity, the law would have no force and there would be chaos. Increasingly in America, there are fewer and fewer people willing to hold people to account for their behavior.

Jihad is not for children

Peace in the Middle East. It sounds so exotic and strange. Like a mirage someone dying in the desert might see. What path do we take to arrive at the magical time and place known as "Peace in the Middle East?" We need to start with the children. If we teach peace to children today they will practice it in the future. Unfortunately not everyone is teaching their children that peace is the ultimate goal. The Palestinian Authority incites children to kill, not to compromise and reach peace. The statement, "remember the final and inevitable result will be the victory of the Muslims over the Jews," appeared in "Our Arabic Language," a fifth grade textbook approved by the Palestinian Authority. These are not the kinds of words that encourage peace and co-existence.

Colombia: downed U.S. Government helicopter destroyed

BOGOTA, Colombia -- Colombia's military destroyed a U.S. government helicopter to keep it from falling into the hands of guerrillas who forced it down during an anti--drug mission, Colombian and American officials said Thursday. Five Colombian police officers died protecting the downed UH--1N helicopter aircraft, and three Colombian soldiers were wounded. There were no Americans aboard the State Department helicopter when it was hit by ground fire last week. The crew -- including Colombian police and a Peruvian pilot working for a private American company contracted by the U.S. government for the drug war -- was evacuated unharmed, the officials said.

Storm leaves trail of debris in wake

Severe weather ripped through Bloomington Wednesday, causing power outages, disrupting traffic and causing headaches for residents. After a mild day was a wild night as severe thunderstorms tore through Monroe County and wreaked havoc throughout Bloomington. Meteorologists with the National Weather Service said that funnel clouds were reported in Monroe and Greene County, along with reports of wind gusts, torrential rain and large hail. "The worst of this storm passed by 6 p.m.," said John Franks of the National Weather Service. "While very impressive, storms like these are not unusual for this time of year. They may not occur every year, but they should be expected."