Region

Indiana takes center stage in presidential election

In the final hours of the presidential election, Indiana voters find themselves in an unfamiliar position.

Football down but not feeling out just yet

Following a 37-34 loss to Central Michigan on Saturday, the Hoosiers are approaching the breaking point of their 2008 season. Junior linebacker Will Patterson was so perturbed by his team’s performance he somewhat called out them out following the game. “We’ve got certain guys that go out and play like warriors every Saturday,” Patterson said. “Then you’ve got the few guys that just kind of do their own thing. It showed today and we’ll get it fixed.”

Cross country teams fair well at conference tourney

Field hockey ends regular season with loss

Iraq expects answer on security

Iraq expects an American response to requested changes in a draft security pact soon after this week’s U.S. presidential election, an aide to the prime minister said Sunday.

Volleyball back in NCAA Tournament contention

Police: Ohio minister shot near Kentucky church

A gunman fatally shot a Cincinnati minister and wounded a church deacon just after the two men arrived at a northern Kentucky church to attend a funeral, police said.

Cyclone Nargis relief efforts picking up

Six months after Cyclone Nargis smashed into Myanmar’s coastline, killing tens of thousands of people, aid groups say once-lagging relief efforts have picked up pace but the task of rebuilding and recovery is far from finished.

Palin takes prank call from fake French president

Sarah Palin unwittingly took a prank call Saturday from a Canadian comedian posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy and telling her she would make a good president someday.

Women's swimming and diving takes 2nd amidst top programs

Machinists union ratifies pact with Boeing

Machinists union members ratified a new contract with The Boeing Co. on Saturday, ending an eight-week strike that cut the airplane maker’s profits and stalled jetliner deliveries.

Men's swimming and diving falls to Texas, Michigan in double-dual meet

Offense goes missing in men's soccer team's loss to Penn State

Five times this season, the IU men’s soccer team has been held scoreless in the first half of play and come back to win.

Women's basketball rolls over Southern Indiana

Shooting less than 48 percent from the free-throw line usually doesn’t bode well for winning basketball games – unless a team converts nearly 55 percent of its field goals and 63 percent of its 3-point shots. The IU women’s basketball team followed this model in its 93-49 victory against Southern Indiana in its first exhibition game of the season Saturday.

Goodbye, 2008. See you next year

No crystal ball, no tarot card, not even Ms. Cleo could have correctly hypothesized IU’s season up to this point. 2008, as we all know, was supposed to encompass the resurgence of Hoosier football.

6th loss comes in close contest with Chippewas

Completely outmatched through the air, the IU football team could not stop Central Michigan’s backup quarterback Brian Brunner in a 37-34 loss to the visiting Chippewas. Brunner threw for 485 yards and four touchdowns in the non-conference victory on Saturday at Memorial Stadium. The loss was IU’s sixth of the season, dropping its record to 3-6. “We don’t feel very good,” sophomore quarterback Ben Chappell said of his team’s emotion following the game. “They played good, but we just didn’t play well enough to win.” Brunner’s 485 yards are the third-most IU has let up all time. “He did a tremendous job,” IU coach Bill Lynch said in his post-game press conference. “He is a fifth-year senior and has been in a program that has won a lot of football games. They certainly play with a lot of confidence.” To counteract Brunner’s success, the Hoosiers amped up their pass rush at the beginning of the second half.And it worked. Brunner was sacked five of his seven total times in the final half. But Brunner and the Chippewas also adjusted and found receivers left one-on-one in man coverage as Hoosier linebackers blitzed.

A new campaign calls for new rules

Barack Obama’s fundraising prowess has been well documented this election season, as has been the large extent to which his funding has come from small donors. The average campaign contribution for Obama is $86, according to the campaign. Of course, with such an influx of cash – and the obvious disadvantage at which it has put his opponent – there are bound to be accusations of impropriety. For example, John McCain’s campaign manager Rick Davis recently implied there could be either illegal donors, illegal types of donations, or people contributing more than the legal limit. There’s little proof to either support or deny these accusations, though, mostly because the Obama campaign hasn’t released information on donors who contributed less than $200. In fact, campaigns are not legally obligated to release the identity of these small donors. According to Slate magazine, it would be possible, and not too hard, to be able to compile a database of donors that could be released. They know this because they did it – not with Obama’s actual donors, obviously, but with an invented list. The laws that govern campaign finance, like much else in the bureaucracy of government, are outdated.

Congressional non-endorsement is a joke

First and foremost, let me compliment so many young liberals on campus who are representing “their” values like freedom of speech, equality and tolerance with so much class. It strikes me as so funny that the people who preach about how these principles have been trampled under the current administration are the same people who curse at or spit on students such as myself who wear My Man Mitch and McCain/Palin apparel. Maybe practicing what you preach would be a better way to convert some of us.

Who me, vote?

Tuesday. What a boring, insignificant day of the week. It’s a necessary evil that inevitably stands between Monday and Wednesday. Beyond that, it has absolutely no relevance at all. This Tuesday in particular should be nothing short of blah. On its own, Nov. 4 signifies nothing other than Halloween being over and Thanksgiving still a couple of weeks away. How appropriate, then, that Nov. 4 happens to be Election Day. Nope, nothing exciting here. The guy with the big ears is getting kicked out of office, one way or another. So why vote?

Realistic expectations

Tuesday, it’s over. The votes will be counted. A new president will be elected. And while half the country rejoices, the other will pout. But have faith. Regardless of who wins, everything will be all right. There’s so much that’s put into a presidential race. Donors give their money. Volunteers give their time. And the candidates give all of themselves – their ideas, their personalities, their families, their pasts –  to be praised by their parties, mocked by their opponents and scrutinized by the media.