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Thursday, July 30
The Indiana Daily Student

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Bloomington resident Althea Crome knits Tuesday afternoon at her home. Crome was recently featured in “Ripley’s Believe It or Not” for her tiny knitting.

Nano-knitting

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Prepare to be shocked. She can knit sweaters so small, six could fit on your index finger with room to spare. She can create cityscapes in socks tiny enough for a doll or famous paintings in cardigans 1/12th the size of a person’s clothing.Bloomington resident Althea Crome has been knitting since her college days, but only in the past seven years has she miniaturized her art form to 1/12 scale – the scale used for doll houses – or even 1/144 scale – the scale used for doll houses inside doll houses.




Fritz Hanselmann prepares to recover one of the Captain Kidd "great guns."

IU discovery of Captain Kidd to be shown on TV

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Charlie Beeker knows shipwrecks. In fact, they’re his job.For almost a year, Beeker, director of the Office of Underwater Science and Educational Resources in the School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, has been exploring the waters off the coast of the Dominican Republic with the hope of verifying a pirate shipwreck.

Actors in the production Cabaret perform during their dress rehearsal Tuesday night in the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The showings for the musical will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Willkommen to the Kit Kat Klub

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The image of Liza Minelli dressed in black, complete with bowler hat and garters, dancing seductively across a stage might not resonate with college students today, but it most likely did in 1972 when Minelli starred in the film version of the Broadway musical “Cabaret.”


The Indiana Daily Student

Proposition 8 a triumph for families

Back in 2000, 61.4 percent of California voters agreed to the traditional definition of marriage by supporting Proposition 22. Then the state Supreme Court struck down the same-sex marriage ban in March 2008. Now, 52 percent of California voters supported Proposition 8. Proponents were vilified, campaign materials were stolen and destroyed, churches were defaced and properties were damaged. Jose Nunez was violently assaulted and received 16 stitches. The amendment in no way interferes with peaceful, private relationships, but guards against activist pressures evident everywhere same-sex marriage is not protected.


The Indiana Daily Student

A bone-headed solution

Every four or five years IU does something really bone-headed, the latest example being the proposed so-called “renaming” of part of the HPER building. Not content to have a problem on its hands, the administration has compounded it by affixing the good name of an honorable man forever to that of a self-avowed racist. Now Bill Garrett’s name must always be associated with that of Ora L. Wildermuth, who probably wouldn’t have spoken to him in real life, he being of the mind that blacks (Garrett) were inferior as a race and could never therefore be his equal.   But now their names will be in tandem on the signs as if they were somehow alike. What’s next, putting William Lowe Bryan and Heinrich Himmler on the same building?


The Indiana Daily Student

Abstinence-only fails

Sexploration at IU was a week-long, sex-positive educational event that promoted open discourse about a topic that is unfortunately quite taboo in Indiana schools. A sex-positive approach to education teaches young people to respect, celebrate and understand sex, rather than fear or misuse it. Indiana fails dismally to provide appropriate sex education in our schools – “abstinence-only” is only ever an effective method for denial, never for education.   Open discourse in the classroom about sex should occur long before the university level; freshman year of college is a bewildering and disquieting 10 years too late. Sexual development begins in childhood. Why don’t we protect our children’s sexual health just as we protect their physical and mental well-being? Waiting until adolescence to teach sex education is like waiting until after your son or daughter turns 21 to talk to them about responsible drinking.


The Indiana Daily Student

It’s (almost) Oscar season

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Ah, mid-November. Halloween has passed, making it acceptable for Christmas music to be blaring from department stores’ stereos, despite the fact that the holiday is more than six weeks away. It’s time now for winter coats, ugly boots and turkey. And Oscar buzz.


The Indiana Daily Student

Hustler in the canon’s shadow

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Let us consider Larry Flynt. Part invalid, part eccentric hillbilly, part founder and operator of hardcore porn magazine Hustler.


The Indiana Daily Student

A better requirement

As I near the inevitable double-major “victory lap” at IU, I am being bombarded by graduation propaganda, paraphernalia and a reminder that I have yet to complete a requirement from the University. Without my math requirement, I am not a graduating senior. I understand that a university like IU has certain requirements, and I have respect for the field of mathematics (especially as one who cannot understand most of it), but I do not see the benefit of a college-level math course. I have not used the math I learned in my junior year of high school (the last math course I took) and am certain that the requirement at IU would not surface as a daily necessity while attempting to balance my checkbook, budget my income, or fill out my tax form. Instead of a math requirement, each student should be required to take a more intellectual and applicable course, for instance, the human sexuality course offered through the school of HPER.


The Indiana Daily Student

Behind the villain

Leah McRath, who plays Fata Morgana, shares insight into her evil character and her experience singing in “The Love for Three Oranges.”


The Indiana Daily Student

The goodness of morality

For academic purposes, it is typically necessary to research a topic before making a rash claim against it. The same holds true if one intends to critique religion. You see, if you want to attack religion, at least look into it objectively rather than stating the common misunderstandings of those uneducated in the field. Now, I might only be a sophomore in the Department of Religious Studies, but I’ll give my four cents worth (because two cents is just not enough). Having put forth the effort to study multiple religions, I have begun to see a surprising amount of “coincidences” throughout world religious history. Viewing things with an open mind, the procession of world events begins to become less and less statistically probable without the acting of some outside force.



The Indiana Daily Student

Yes, we did

When asked 20 years from now what defined your generation, what will you say? Technology? Globalization? Changing the landscape of American politics and electing the first black president of the United States? All of the above are legitimate answers, but Nov. 4, marked the culmination of a movement by the youth of America to have their voices heard by electing Barack Obama. The end of my sophomore year, I was a member of the small but dedicated group IU College Democrats, and I was approached after a meeting one night by a fellow member about holding a leadership role in the Students for Barack Obama chapter that was forming at IU. Little did I know the role our fledgling group would have in electing our next president. SFBO chapters were forming all over the country as students saw the leader this incredible man was and began to rally behind him long before the political insiders of D.C. While Obama was still considered a long-shot candidate, IU students were knocking on doors in six states and making calls all over the country. The IU chapter worked tirelessly through the primaries and caucuses, almost winning red-blooded Indiana for Obama at the end of an epic primary season. Superdelegates battled as we spent our summers at jobs and internships, and just as we headed back to Bloomington, Obama became the Democratic nominee.


The Indiana Daily Student

Obama campaign inspires music, artists to sing praises

Throughout history, high-profile political figures have attracted public curiosity, heated debate and worldwide attention. President-elect Barack Obama, the first black voted into presidential office, is no exception. And to up the ante from former administrations, the music industry has prepared a soundtrack.


The Indiana Daily Student

My president, too

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I offer my sincere congratulations to President-elect Barack Obama on his historic election victory. He ran a well-organized, well-funded and strong volunteer campaign. He truly inspired millions of Americans into believing they could elect an American president who would be the change they seek. Congratulations also to the College Democrats and their leadership for turning this campus into an Obama force and turning Indiana blue. Obviously, I was hoping for a different result last week, but we did not get that. America has spoken. I am listening. We all must listen. I campaigned vigorously for Sen. John McCain because I believe the most qualified candidate should receive our trust and the job. While 57 million other people agreed with me, 65 million others did not. Let us all celebrate the historic nature of Obama’s win. It proved that every American has the opportunity to become whatever he or she wants in this great country of ours. This is a special time to celebrate the progress our country has made and a success for black Americans who have been fighting so hard for equal rights.


Actors in the production Cabaret perform during their dress rehearsal Tuesday night in the Buskirk-Chumley Theater. The showings for the musical will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Willkommen to the Kit Kat Klub

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The image of Liza Minelli dressed in black, complete with bowler hat and garters, dancing seductively across a stage might not resonate with college students today, but it most likely did in 1972 when Minelli starred in the film version of the Broadway musical “Cabaret.”


The Indiana Daily Student

Race and the election

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America elected her first black president, and yet I only felt “meh.” Apparently this was a historic election. Don’t get me wrong – I wasn’t depressed about it, shoegazing like an anchor at the Fox News election center. But I certainly wasn’t crying with the Rev. Jesse Jackson either. I mean no slight to Rev. Jackson. It’s just that the racial implications of this election meant something completely different to us both, and I’m not sure it’s because he’s black and I’m white. No, I think it’s more generational than racial, and I believe the callousness of my reaction actually goes to show the correct direction race relations is moving. To most in our generation, race is no longer a defining attribute for someone. James isn’t “James, my black friend” – he’s just “James.” To me then, when Obama was elected, I didn’t feel proud to say that we’ve elected our first black president. Race isn’t a useful attribute to describe what a president is or needs to be. I just felt like we elected the most qualified candidate.


The Indiana Daily Student

We’re behind in the new space race

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President-elect Barack Obama obviously has some major issues in front of him that he needs to tackle during the first days in office: the atrocious economy, the war in Iraq and the search for alternative fuels. But after Obama gets settled in as president and begins his term of supposed change, there’s an issue that he should seriously think about looking into at least sometime during his term: outer space. No, not necessarily aliens or life from other planets – although that would be a beautiful thing to see as well – but space exploration. Our generation really isn’t old enough to remember, but there was a time when exploring the great beyond of outer space was one of the most important and influential issues in the minds of the American public. President John F. Kennedy instilled hope in people’s minds about the idea to make it to the moon before those pesky Russians in the ’60s, so much so that more than 500 million people watched the first moon landing in 1969.