Region

Perfect record leads to top-five national intramural ranking for club team

Returning to Bloomington after a perfect weekend, the men's volleyball team was on top of it all. The defending champions of the Michigan Classic dominated January 26 and 27; ending the weekend with a 12-0 record. The team went on to receive the No. 3 national ranking from the National Intramural Recreational Sports Association this week.

International Services director clarifies information printed

First and foremost, the records of about 3,200 international students were not released to federal authorities last week, as was asserted in the lead of that article. When interviewed over the phone for the article, I did cite the fact that about 3,200 international students are currently enrolled at IU Bloomington. But my office has not received a direct request for information on those students from the FBI, nor have we provided such information.

Letters to the editor

Regulation necessary to benefit everyone; Enron perfect example Ben Piper (Jan. 14) is absolutely right to state that the investigation into Enron should not be allowed to become a political circus. This is not Teapot Dome. Although Enron chief Ken Lay's close ties to the Bush administration have drawn media scrutiny, I would have been surprised had Bush not known one of Texas' most prominent businessmen. That the Bush administration did not intervene in the Enron collapse speaks well of this White House's integrity. What Piper fails to mention, though, is the subtle manner in which Enron's collapse shows that the road to deregulation will be neither easy nor painless. This is a fairly significant omission in light of Piper's previous column, which urged the Indiana General Assembly to follow Texas' lead in deregulating energy markets. In fact, Enron's example demonstrates that energy deregulation is probably a road best not taken. Enron's example is a perfect case study of how the interests of workers, management, shareholders and consumers do not always coincide, especially when a poor market structure (in this case, stalled SEC oversight rules for outside auditors) destroys the free flow of information. If Piper's wish were granted and Indiana deregulated its energy markets, the people who would benefit most now would not be consumers but investors and executives. Apparently, this transfer of wealth meets with deregulators' approval. Edmund Morris' recent book "Theodore Rex" detailed the first President Roosevelt's crusade against the "malefactors of great wealth," whose oligopolistic control of the commanding heights of the national economy (railways, iron, finance) sparked massive social unrest. I knew conservatives hated the New Deal, but I didn't know they resented the Square Deal. Regulation helps preserve the social contract between labor and capital. If conservatives continue to act without thinking through the long-term political ramifications of their short-term economic policies, then the protectionism will carry the day and reverse free-traders' gains. Republicans cannot treat workers as lines on a supply-and-demand chart but must treat their concerns as seriously as they do investors' worries. If they do not, then the G.O.P. will suffer, and deserve, electoral defeat. Paul Musgrave Junior

'Black Hawk' shoots up the screen

Bring a sturdy stomach to the latest gory, blood-laced war epic. You'll see squirting blood, detached fingers and a legless torso. Empty bullet shells and mangled corpses outnumber developed, emotionally packed characters, creating more of a big-screen video game than a heart wrenching, smarter "Pearl Harbor."

Team wins 2 of 4 during long weekend

The IU wrestling team started the weekend on a bad note by dropping their Big Ten opener. The Hoosiers responded to the setback by winning their next two matches of the weekend before falling again on Sunday.

Bloomington Playwrights tell an old story from a new angle

Throughout the ages, many tales have been told of the enigmatic life of Theodora, a Byzantine empress. But this week, the Bloomington Playwrights Project, 312 S. Washington St., tells the story from a different perspective -- a female point of view.

Court right in ruling

The reason for punishments is to act as a deterrent for those who consider breaking the rules, but what do you do when those who break the rules don't understand the deterrent? Last Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled in a 6-3 decision that it is unconstitutional to execute the mentally retarded, those with IQs under 60 who commit a crime, because it is considered "cruel and unusual punishment." Not only is this the correct decision, but it also puts emphasis of what the death penalty -- or any form of punishment -- should stand for.

Public has right to know

More than one year ago, after months of actions and discussions, former men's basketball coach Bob Knight was fired. IU President Myles Brand cited Knight's violation of the "zero tolerance" policy as the main reasoning behind the decision to let Knight go.

To the rescue

Val Meek ran in without thinking. The building at 514 W. Second St., containing an ear, nose and throat doctor's office and two upstairs apartments on the opposite corner from Bloomington Hospital, caught fire in the east upstairs aparment just after 5 p.m. Monday. Meek was on the opposite side of the street from the burning building and heard the yells. "There was some people outside screaming fire, fire, fire," said Meek, a driver for Bloomington Transit. His bus route passed the building every day. He didn't know if anyone was inside, but he was sure there were animals inside.

International students react to plane attacks

Within hours of a terrorist attack on the U.S. Tuesday, two international students were verbally assaulted and one physically assaulted, an IU official reported. But other students say they're not concerned about possible ethnicity-based harassment.

Friday night fun at Wal-Mart

It's 11 o'clock on a Friday night, and I'm sitting on a stone wall waiting for a bus to take me to Wal-Mart. There is something very wrong with this.

General Assembly passes BMV reform bill

Hoosiers might soon have an easier time renewing their driver's licenses. Moments before Sunday's midnight deadline to adjourn the 2001 legislative session, lawmakers sent a Bureau of Motor Vehicles reform bill to the desk of Gov. Frank O'Bannon.

Team forges fifth-place finish

The dominating seasons of Minnesota and Michigan and surging performances from Penn State and Northwestern have the Hoosiers sitting in fifth place after the first day of the men's swimming and diving Big Ten Championships. The Gophers lead the way with 197 points, followed by Michigan (167), Penn State (157), Northwestern (134) and IU (122).

Friends first, teammates second

For some college athletes, friendships between them and a teammate develop during their time training, practicing and travelling together. For two members of the IU women's tennis team, their friendship was created long before the two became Hoosiers.

Jeffries chose Hoosiers over Devils

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Mike Krzyzweski figured he didn't have much of a shot at convincing Jared Jeffries to play basketball at Duke. After all, Jeffries grew up and played high school basketball within a stone's throw of Assembly Hall and the IU campus.

Rescuers carry on grimly

NEW YORK -- The gruesome search through the graveyard of the World Trade Center yielded no survivors as the death toll mounted Thursday and hopes dimmed for more than 4,700 missing souls. President Bush promised to visit New York to "hug and cry" with its shaken citizens. Two days after the trade center was hit and destroyed by two hijacked passenger planes, swirling dust kept visibility limited, and sanitation trucks waged a losing fight against the residue of the blast. Hundreds of family members searched for any sign of their loved ones.

Help for anxiety disorders

Anxiety is part of the human condition -- we all worry and feel scared from time to time. Anxiety can serve as a useful trigger to remind us to get out of dangerous situations, or to prepare for anticipated challenging situations such as exams. Regardless of the source of anxiety, when it reaches a certain level it is experienced as unpleasant and consequently prompts us to take action to reduce it. As anxiety becomes more persistent and less connected to "real dangers," it shifts from "normal" anxiety to an anxiety disorder.

The Brothers gonna work it out

Consider the hand you're dealt

When viewing a theater piece of any kind that has multiple casts, one must always be conscious of separating the production from the piece from the performers. Yet, at the same time, a show also must include those three aspects without distinction. When one falters, all falter.

Up in Smoke

Indianapolis firefighters will see less smoke on the job after Thursday. On the 25th anniversary of the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout, the city's fire department went tobacco-free -- permanently.