Gates launches probe to investigate Blackwater USA contractors in Iraq
Unhappy with the Pentagon’s oversight of its private contractors in Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has dispatched a fact-finding team to probe further into the problem.
Unhappy with the Pentagon’s oversight of its private contractors in Iraq, Defense Secretary Robert Gates has dispatched a fact-finding team to probe further into the problem.
“Gradually green” makes good connections
An e-mail invites IU students to sign up at IUcareers.com for Oct. 4 interviews with the Defense Intelligence Agency. According to The Washington Post of Jan. 23, 2005, former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld established the Strategic Support Branch as a new wing of DIA that reportedly conducts coercive interrogations. Funds for the unit were “reprogrammed” from other appropriations.
Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki warned the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday that the continued flow of weapons, suicide bombers and terrorism funding into his country would result in “disastrous consequences” for the region and the world.
Low’s ‘Ignornace is not bliss’ op-ed is condescending
I am writing this letter in response to a letter from Dr. Roger J. Thompson (“Rise of admission standards good for IU,” Sept. 13). As an educator in disadvantaged communities, the older brother of a student recently denied admission to IU and an alumnus of Indiana University Bloomington, I can’t help but disagree with Dr. Thompson.
Stance in “Don’t Tase me, Bro” editorial alarming
With over 36 million Americans living in poverty, and over a million homeless on any given night, hunger and homelessness are huge issues across the nation. The driving force behind this severe problem is the lack of affordable housing that plagues the U. S. It is impossible for a family earning minimum wage to find an affordable apartment in most cities, which propagates chronic homelessness.
If (Hitler) were willing to engage in a debate and a discussion, to be challenged by Columbia students and faculty, we would certainly run it.” – John Coatsworth, dean of Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs. While Hitler may not be available for any speaking engagements, the university did decide to allow Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak, angering many who say it legitimizes or appeases the Islamic republic’s president.
Being the language addict I am, an Associated Press article caught my eye this past week about how thousands of languages around the world are dying out as speakers turn to more commercially-useful or national languages. According to the article, the world has about 7,000 living languages, as many as half of which have never been written down. Languages are dying out at a rate of about one every other week. For some languages, this is because researchers have not yet gained cultural access to them. For others, it is because we do not yet even know they exist.
I get a ton of e-mail. This isn’t necessarily because I’m popular (even though I am) or because I’m very important (although, again, that’s not untrue). No, I get a ton of e-mail because everyone gets a ton of e-mail, and instead of just dealing with their own problems, they feel the need to bring me down with them. Lately, it’s really reached staggering proportions. I’ll leave for a 50-minute class and when I get home I have eight new e-mails.
Today, this gay man’s version of the Holy Virgin Mary returns to primetime television with braces, thick glasses and a poncho from Guadalajara. “Ugly Betty” – alternately known as Queer Betty in my world – is back. It is a show that brings laughter, tears, serious life lessons and, most importantly, stories to which we can ALL relate every single week. Betty’s made me a believer – ugly is the new beautiful. It’s often hard for me to identify with characters in popular entertainment. I can appreciate the broader experiences and sagas about love, friendship, isolation and belonging.
The nation saw an eruption of protest last week in support of the six black students now being charged with second degree battery after beating up a white student. T-shirts and chants of “Free the Jena Six” were prominent on college campuses across the nation, including IU, and in Jena, La., where civil rights leaders Reverend Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King III led a march on the local courthouse.
I ran into my old freshman roommate in the tailgating fields last weekend after IU’s maddening loss to Illinois. I caught him unhinging a propane tank off someone’s abandoned gas grill. He never could be mistaken for someone with good character.
Some people love to state the obvious.
Historically speaking, IU isn’t supposed to do well in the Big Ten.
In most collegiate sports, the regular season is a warm up for postseason play.
The last two seasons, the IU field hockey team has finished in second place in the Big Ten regular season.
IU freshman midfielder Kelsey Kiper remembers watching her older sister Katie play field hockey in high school.
Freshman forward Michael Roach of the IU men’s soccer team doesn’t have to worry about curfew these days