Region

A burning proposal

By Alyson Brodsy · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 11:12 p.m.

There is evidently something in the Hoosier character that relishes a really oppressive tax. This is our reaction upon hearing Gov. Mitch Daniels' popular proposal to increase duties on every pack of cigarettes by a quarter -- and the 62 percent of Hoosier voters who would support a $1 increase, according to a recent poll.

Seeking a BFF

By Joanna Borns · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 11:11 p.m.

Everyone needs a BFF. That means "best friend forever." I'm not trying to be condescending. There are some people who don't know what it stands for. I always used to think it meant "big fruit flavor," and that doesn't even make sense.

The road to Emmaus

By Peter Chen · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 11:10 p.m.

AIX-EN-PROVENCE, France -- On the cold night of Jan. 31, 1954, a woman froze to death on the streets of Paris, clutching in her hands the eviction notice dated one day before. It was a forgettable tragedy, one in a million of the small tragedies that pass daily. But the next day, a 41-year-old priest barged into the studios of Radio Luxembourg to issue a plea that such tragedies should not be forgotten, that we can and must do more. "Friends, help!" he cried across the airwaves, and in that moment, the legend of Abbé Pierre began. His career built affordable housing, raised the poor out of poverty, and brought change to a frozen French government.

Bowl-ing together

By Brian J. McFillen and Brain J. McFillen · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 11:08 p.m.

This Sunday I'm going to my first Super Bowl Party since I was an undergraduate. As an Ohioan, I don't have any particular affiliation with either team. (My corner of the state is now Steelers' territory, thanks to the success of local hero Ben Roethlisberger.) And while I like football, I don't follow it closely -- I don't even know the (I'm sure) dramatic back stories behind these two teams. Also, I much prefer college ball to the NFL. The half-time show is almost guaranteed to be awful, not to mention nipple-free. Yet here I am, excited about it nonetheless.

Steffey still missing; Wabash scoured

By Alberto D. Morales · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 10:59 p.m.

The search for 19-year-old Purdue freshman Wade Steffey still continues as investigators search for more clues. Purdue University spokeswoman Jeanne Norberg said two officers from the Purdue Police Department spoke with some of Steffey's friends in Bloomington.

2-year-old recovers from burns

Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 10:54 p.m.

VALPARAISO, Ind. -- A toddler with more than 85 percent of his body burned when his older brother accidentally hit him with a flaming gas can has returned home after six months in Indianapolis hospitals. Two-year-old Christopher Madden arrived at his rural Valparaiso home Friday night with his mother, Lynn. "It's kind of like bringing home a newborn," his mother told the Post-Tribune of Merrillville for a Tuesday story.

Governors of Indiana, Illinois bet on Super Bowl

Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 10:53 p.m.

SPRINGFIED, Ill. -- The governors of Illinois and Indiana are betting pizza, cheesecake, candy, popcorn and more on the outcome of Sunday's Super Bowl between the Indianapolis Colts and Chicago Bears.

Purdue doctoral student missing

Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 10:52 p.m.

WEST LAFAYETTE -- Purdue University police are involved in a search for a second missing Purdue student, but investigators do not believe the case is connected to that of a missing Purdue student from Bloomington.

Satellite campus mascots updated

By Shannon McEnerney · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 10:43 p.m.

IUPUI has a mascot -- it is the home of the Jaguars. The Pioneers represent the IU East campus. Along with those schools, IU Kokomo, IU South Bend, IU Southeast and IU Northwest all have mascots. Recently, through IU's Integrated Image Program, these mascots were "cleaned up" a little, said Lisa Townsend, director of University marketing and chair of the Integrated Image Policy Committee.

Irish shutout Hoosiers 7-0 in tennis blowout

By Aaron Beard · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 10:42 p.m.

The men's tennis team traveled to South Bend on Monday with hopes of a big win, but instead it returned to Bloomington with its first loss of the season. Facing No. 13 Notre Dame, the No. 58 Hoosiers were swept, 7-0, losing each of the nine matches. "I am really, really disappointed," IU coach Ken Hydinger said. "We're better than this, and we didn't go out and fight."

Graduate's dream job combines art, history, chemistry

By Michael Reschke · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 10:33 p.m.

Most applicants to conservation schools are not admitted the first time they apply. IU graduate Preston H. Smith will find out in April if he has beaten the odds and been accepted on his first try. Smith applied to Buffalo State College in New York, one of three schools in the country that offer a conservation program.

Annual Middle Eastern Arts Festival endeavors to educate community

By Rorye O'Connor and Rorye O'Conner · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 10:32 p.m.

There are three main goals of the Middle Eastern Arts Festival, which will be held Thursday to Feb. 10, says Naomi Spector, assistant outreach coordinator of the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Cultures.

IU Fine Arts faculty flaunts its stuff

By Kyle Meehan · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 10:31 p.m.

It's time for the faculty of the Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts to show its students what it can do. For the next five weeks, the faculty's work will be the focus of "A Bloomington Biennial: Faculty Artists from IU's Hope School of Fine Arts" at the IU Art Museum.

Around the World

Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 10:16 p.m.

Airline pilots will be allowed to fly until they turn 65 instead of the current mandatory retirement age of 60 under a proposal to be announced Tuesday by Federal Aviation Administrator Marion Blakey.

Dozens march against outsourcing

By Brian Spegele · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 10:02 p.m.

Signs that read, "What would Herman Do?" abounded outside Assembly Hall on Saturday as union workers and their supporters rallied against outsourcing University services by invoking the name of former IU President Herman B Wells. About 50 protestors braved the cold and collected signatures for a petition calling on the IU board of trustees to "end all efforts to outsource IU jobs," according to the petition's text. Several trustees have said during the past few weeks that although nothing is certain yet, they believe contracting some University services could help cut non-academic costs. Dave Warrick, executive director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 62, disagrees with the trustees' entire premise that contracting will save money.

Bombers target Shiites as hundreds of thousands turn out for key Shiite rituals

By Kim Gamel · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 8:48 p.m.

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Assailants struck Shiite worshippers in three Iraqi cities Tuesday, killing at least 39 people in bombings and ambushes during the climax of ceremonies marking Ashoura, the holiest day in the Shiite calendar.

Partying with PRIDE

By Nick Mills and Nicholas Mills · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 8:10 p.m.

Saturday marked the final night of this year's PRIDE film festival, which displayed films taking on gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender issues. The event was held at the Buskirk-Chumley Theater in support of the GLBT community. The films shown tackled GLBT issues in ways that typical Hollywood movies tend to leave out.

Episode VII: The alliance strikes back

By Allie Townsend · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 12:02 p.m.

You can call them freaks or geeks, but they'll correct you with "friends." The Hoosier Alliance, a local Bloomington Star Wars club, is taking "the force" and adding a bit of Indiana charm. "People can see us as freaks," said Eric Stuckey, Alliance president. "But I'm 35 and I've never had as good of friends as I've found in this club." An official chapter of theforce.net, the club welcomes people from all walks of life and all ages, a good number of them IU students. Junior Cole Horton and senior Amelia Hilliker, make up two of the group's 15 regular members, and despite some significant age differences with some of the others, they say the atmosphere alone is enough to make you feel right at home. And you don't need to be obsessed to join. "Star Wars is an interest, a hobby," Horton said. "It's not my entire life." But it is five months' rent. If you ever see a stormtrooper watching IU basketball like a true Hoosier, it could be Horton. The avid fan dropped a sum so large on his stormtrooper ensemble that he could only describe it in months of spent rent. "They asked me to run with the flags once," he said with a smile. "But it would have been pretty embarrassing to fall in front of an entire crowd. I can't see a thing in that suit." "He's the pimp of the club," Hilliker jokes. "It's got to be that uniform."

Class after Super Bowl? IU students hope not

By Mike Abrams · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 10:37 a.m.

What do Martin Luther King Jr. Day and the day after the Super Bowl have in common? Besides falling on the first day of the work week, not much. But freshman Zac Foutz and more than 4,000 other students hope that, like MLK Day, IU students can take the day off after the big game.

Hostage-taker arrested at Marsh

By Michael Reschke · Tuesday, Jan. 30,2007 12:27 a.m.

A man held a Marsh grocery store employee hostage Sunday night. The Bloomington Police Department received a call at 10:27 p.m. that a man armed with a gun and a bomb was inside the store located at 1825 N. Kinser Pike and was threatening to detonate the bomb, according to a BPD press release.