Region

Council member resigns

By Kristin Wynkoop · Friday, Jan. 10,2003 8:48 a.m.

Jeffrey Willsey announced his resignation Tuesday from the Bloomington City Council as representative from District 4. His last day will be Jan. 15.

Bepko turns focus to General Assembly

By Adam Aasen and Ab D. Phillip · Friday, Jan. 10,2003 8:48 a.m.

On Wednesday, Interim President Gerald Bepko arrived in Bryan Hall, eager to begin work and to settle in the office left vacant by former president Myles Brand. "I've been coming to this office for meetings for the last 16 years, so it's pretty familiar to me," Bepko said. "I haven't had time to settle in yet, but it sure is a comfortable place to work."

An artist filled with ambition

By Lindsay Baron · Wednesday, Jan. 8,2003 5:54 a.m.

Jeff Jackson meticulously paints a section of his current piece, an impressive twist on Bottacelli's Birth of Venus. For this ambitious work, Jackson uses a watercolor set not from a deluxe art store … but from a dumpster. His sister's husband, who has a garbage-rummaging fetish, found the watercolors in a bin near his Nevada home and mailed them to Jackson. Dressed in a plain, forest-green button-up shirt, worn-in jeans and a salt and pepper beard, local abstract artist Jeff Jackson is as humble and unpretentious as people with eye-raising talent come.

The twelve days of Christmas in sports

By Aaron Beard and Danny Sternfield · Tuesday, Dec. 17,2002 5:16 p.m.

'Tis the season to be a sports fan. The recipe for the perfect holiday dish is simple: Just add three or four cups controversy, a dash of violence, a sprinkle of feel good story and top it off with a scoop of scandal. Your sports salad, if you will, should be low in calories and high in entertainment.

No run for Gore in 2004

By Ab D. Phillip and Will Lester · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 12:17 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Former vice president Al Gore, who came agonizingly close to winning the presidency two years ago, said Sunday he will not run in 2004, and probably will not have another opportunity to seek the White House. "I don't think it's the right thing for me to do," Gore said. He said that a rematch with President Bush "would inevitably involve a focus on the past that would in some measure distract from the focus on the future that I think all campaigns have to be about."

Brand bids IU final farewell

By Josh Sanburn · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 12:17 p.m.

After eight years at IU, Myles Brand has just over two weeks remaining as IU president before he takes over the helm in Indianapolis as the head of the NCAA. Brand not only leaves behind a string of accomplishments but also some memorable controversies. From his Strategic Directions Charter to the firing of former men's basketball coach Bob Knight, from the creation of the School of Informatics to the accusation of IU violating Indiana's open door laws, Brand has witnessed IU's ups and downs first hand.

GOP whip Nickles wants new Senate leadership

By Abdullah AlShihri and David Espo · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 12:11 p.m.

WASHINGTON -- Breaking ranks, a veteran Senate Republican called Sunday for new leadership elections, saying Sen. Trent Lott has been so weakened by a race-based controversy that "his ability to enact our agenda" is in doubt. "There are several outstanding senators who are more than capable of effective leadership. And I hope we have an opportunity to choose," said Sen. Don Nickles of Oklahoma, the outgoing GOP whip.

U.N. inspectors continue hunt

By Abdullah AlShihri · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 12:10 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- U.N. inspectors hunted for weapons of mass destruction at missile plants and nuclear complexes Sunday, while an unusual visitor -- Hollywood star Sean Penn -- spoke out in Baghdad against a U.S. attack and in support of the Iraqi people caught up in an international crisis. In Berlin, meanwhile, the German defense ministry said the United Nations had asked it to supply the inspection operation with unmanned spy aircraft to help in the search for banned Iraqi weapons or the facilities to make them.

Pakistani police foil bomb plot

By Abdullah AlShihri and Zarar Khan · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 12:10 p.m.

KARACHI, Pakistan -- In a foiled suicide bomb plot, Islamic militants planned to ram an explosives-laden Volkswagen into a car carrying U.S. diplomats in Karachi, Pakistan police said Sunday. Police said they arrested three men Friday and Saturday and seized about 250 sacks of ammonium nitrate, a fertilizer used in explosives. They said the suspects had been trained at a camp in Afghanistan run by Islamic militants fighting Indian rule in the disputed province of Kashmir.

Phi Taus returning to campus

By Josh Sanburn · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 12:08 p.m.

Plans are under way to bring Phi Kappa Tau Fraternity back to IU after almost a decade of absence. The fraternity will begin rebuilding its Beta Lambda chapter in spring of 2003, according to a news release by the fraternity. The colonization process will attempt to entice students to rebuild the defunct fraternity through a series of awareness and recruitment campaigns. "We're confident it is an experience that can be successful at IU," said director of Phi Kappa Tau's chapter services Mike Gabhart.

Freshman explodes against Boilers

By Aaron Beard and Zach Eldridge · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 12:02 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- A pivotal reason why the IU women's basketball team lost by a mere two points to arch-rival No. 6 Purdue Saturday was the performance of freshman center Angela Hawkins. The 6-foot-3-inch center grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds in addition to scoring nine points. "This was her second back-to-back wonderful game," coach Kathi Bennett said. "She has been especially good defensively."

Emotions run high in Indy

By Aaron Beard and Matt Pera · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 12:02 p.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The RCA Dome generally doesn't host a college basketball game until the NCAA or Big Ten tournament. But when IU and Purdue faced off in a pre-conference showdown Saturday night, many of the characteristics of a high-stakes conference or March Madness game were present.

Hoosiers pleased with play despite loss

By Natalie A. Trout and Aaron Beard · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 11:55 a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- The women's basketball team was looking for the ultimate upset over 6th ranked Purdue Saturday in the RCA Dome. A repeat of last year's victory over the Boilermakers would have been the perfect way to prove they were a team worth competing with. While the final score was in Purdue's favor 51-53, it turned out to be a loss that showed IU can compete. "I really like where my team is at right now," coach Kathi Bennett said. "We started coming together, and it's a positive step for us."

Down to the wire win in 'Dome'

By Alexandra R. Moses and Sarah Meinecke · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 11:54 a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS - It appeared as if the IU men's basketball team had the game under control. After scary moments of lost leads, waning offensive moments and blown game plans, the Hoosiers seemed to be in the clear against Purdue. But the theme of Saturday's "Duel in the Dome" was fighting, and the Boilermakers intended to do that to the final buzzer.

Killing Chicago River may stop infestation

By Alexandra R. Moses and Brandon Loomis · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 11:52 a.m.

CHICAGO -- It's impossible to kill all the exotic species sloshing between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River basin, so some scientists suggest killing the river that links the two watersheds. It's a radical long shot of an idea that bucks the federal Clean Water Act. But the fact that some wildlife advocates would even think of returning the Chicago River to its former, sludgy self underscores the ecological and economic disaster wrought when Asian carp, zebra mussels and other undesirables emigrate.

Daniels thinking about bid for governor

By Alexandra R. Moses and Mark Jewell · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 11:50 a.m.

INDIANAPOLIS -- White House budget director Mitch Daniels said Saturday he was "seriously thinking" about running for Indiana governor in 2004 and would devote his full time to a candidacy if he runs. As he has for months, Daniels remained noncommittal and asked for patience from Republican backers who are urging the former Eli Lilly & Co. executive to run.

Local ice rink serves amateurs and pros

By Alexandra R. Moses and Lindsay Baron · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 11:49 a.m.

Lori Crum glides across the ice rink, gracefully completing spins and jumps, her ivory skates slicing across the slick, smooth ice. There are usually 10 skaters whizzing around the rink during this time. But this Monday, she is the only one. Crum, a child therapist in Bloomington and a member of the Frank Southern Ice Arena's figure skating club, said she uses her lunch hour to skate during the rink's noon to 1:30 p.m. weekday sessions.

Lack of educators causes shortage of nurses

By Ab D. Phillip and Rebecca Cook · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 11:47 a.m.

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Hospitals across the country are desperate for nurses like Tracey Rasmussen, a 34-year-old mom with a warm, down-to-earth bedside manner and a 3.9 grade point average. There's a nationwide shortage of nurses, as anyone who's spent time in a hospital lately knows. And by 2020 that shortage is expected to grow to more than 800,000 nurses nationwide, according to projections by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. But the problem isn't finding people who want to be nurses; it's getting them into nursing schools.

Housing costs rising at Purdue

By Ab D. Phillip · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 11:46 a.m.

WEST LAFAYETTE -- Undergraduate students living in Purdue University residences will pay an average of 5.7 percent more during the next academic year. The rate increase was approved Saturday by the school's board of trustees. The new room and board schedule gives undergraduate students living in university housing a variety of options, with the average cost being $6,024 per year for a double room and 15 meals per week.

Semester at sea ends

By Ab D. Phillip and Peter Bernard · Monday, Dec. 16,2002 11:45 a.m.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Young adults often sing the praises of attending college away from home, and Margate, Fla., resident Jeanly Louis just returned from 100 days of studying about as far from home as he could get. "We spent time in Japan, Shanghai, Hong Kong, Saigon, Malaysia, India, Kenya, South Africa, Brazil and Havana," said Louis, 21, who sailed into Port Everglades last week after a whirlwind cruise around the globe aboard the SS Universe Explorer.