News from around the world

Daniel Pearl confirmeddead

The death of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pead was confirmed by viaeotape. Pearl, 38, was abducted in Karachi, Pakistan on Jan. 23. His wife, seven-month pregnant Mariane Pearl appealed to the Pakistan government to fight terrorism.

It is believed that there were a dozen or more people involved in the abduction. The search continues for Pearl's body and his abductors.

Crematoryfaces criminalcharges

A crematory in LaFayetter, Ga. is facing criminal charges for theft by deception. Ray Brent Marsh, the operator of the Tri-State Crematory, allegedly accepting money for cremations that were never preformed.

On the crematory grounds. 339 bodies have been found. Only 70 have been identified. Authorities anticipate that it will be late summer before the bodies are identified. Only three or four acres of the grounds have been searched. It is estimated that the grounds are eight acres.

Catholicpriest apologizesfor sexualabuse

Cardinal Anthony J. Bevilacqua issued a statement that apologized for the sexual abuse of children by Catholic priests. The announcement was made just days after the Philadelphia Archdiocese announced the dismissal of several area priests for sexual abuse of minors.

Just last week in Boston, a fonner priest was sentenced to nine to IOyears in prison for committing more than I 00 acts of abuse against minors.

Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law has been charged by critics with protecting priests known to have engaged in past sexual abuse of children. In response. the Boston Archdiocese suspended nine priests and gave authorities the names of 80 priests involved in sexual abuse of minors. lnese abuses occurred over several decades.

After the dismissal of the Philadelphia priests, the Archdiocese believes that they have no sexual abusers left that they know of.

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Afghanistan's new national anny is off to a slow start. Two hundred of the 60() recruits found their way to the nation's capital for training. Trainees Me having difficulty getting to the capital due to transporta• tion issues caused by the weather.

Recruits were selected by the interim governments.

Afghanistan has not had a national army since 1979. It was broken up during Soviet intervention.

The 600 recruits will make up the first batallion, which will most likely stay in the capital and become a force to protect the president.

Divorceillegal in Chile

Chile remains the only western democracy, besides the small island state of Malta where divorce is Hlegal. The only way for a couple to separate in Chile is to have their marriage annulled by a judge. 1ne fight for divorce has been going on for almost a century. A divorce law is in the works but is facing opposition from the church and conservative politicians.

by Ken Baumbach staff writer

"People think we're ·always dark and gloomy, and we're not," Matt Skiba, guitarist and lead singer for the prot-punk outfit Alkaline Trio, said. "We definitely like to write songs about darker things, but we like to think of it as a celebration of the evil ideas that run through everybody's head."

The members of Alkaline Trio, singer-bassist Dan Andriano, drummer Mike Felumlee, and singer-guitarist Matt Skiba, after years of wandering in the pop cultural wasteland, have finally found a safe world, with bands such as At the Drive Io and Jest to Brazil, for the emotionally charged style of punk best known as emo-core.

When Alkaline Trio first formed in 1996, the punk there was a lull for a while but we stuck together and made it work," Skiba said.

Alkaline Trio went on to scene was in a self-induced slump, which was brought upon because of many unsuccessful records and a disinterested public. Skiba, who played with bands such as Jerkwater and Blunts before fonn- we would have broken up definitely," Skiba commented. with Blink-182 was the Trio's way of selling out.

by Maria Chambers assistant photo editor

The scripts have been thrown out the window, burned to ashes, and spat upon. That's right, they do not use scripts to make you laugh until you cry. Cabrini College's lmprov Troupe has been around for several years now, but they are becoming more and more popular around campus, and a lot funnier. They perfonn comedy skits similar to those seen on the television show, "Who's Line is it Anyway?"

Ten students, who love to have fun, have been working hard to brighten your college days through laughter.

Earlier this month, the Improv Troupe (otherwise known as "On The Spot"), put on a twelve hour improv marathon. The purpose of this marathon was to raise funds for their trip to Skidmore College in New York as well as to gain more recognition on campus. Several students made posters and signs to hang around Cabrini's Campus as well as campuses release a series of LPs and had mild success early on in their career. Their lineup in the band steadily evolved over time, with various members coming and going. With Photos retrieved from www.alkalinetrio.com the latest addition, ing Alkaline Trio, had grown up with the Trio's ex-bassist, Rob Doran. With a drummer, who the band describes as "long gone" the trio spent years of constant playing and songwriting, all in attempts to perfect their craft. "With punk ex-Smoking Pope drummer, Mike Felumlee, Skiba hopes things have finally settled down with the band and that things will remain more permanent and stable. "Thing have been easier than they've been in the past. If Mike hadn't joined the band,

The band released two albums on the independent label, Asian Man Records, 1998's "Goddamnit," and 1999's "Maybe I'll Catch on Fire." Both albums soon became favorites of the "diary-rock" scene. The band's most recent album, "From Here to Infinity," was popular enough to embark the band on tour with Blink-182. However, their most recent tour, with the association of MTV's darling Blink-182, has upset some of the Trio's more possessive fans, who have voiced their opinion on the bands website. Many negative remarks toward the band have been made and many of their. original fans feel that touring

"One time in Philadelphia, I mentioned the Blink tour. Half of the crowd was throwing rock signs and the other half was throwing us middle fingers," Skiba said. With lyrics that are sensitive enough to make emo kids weep and songs fast enough to make Blink fans forget about Carson Daly, Alkaline Trio have a steadily increasing fan base. The band feels that they will top the 200 show mark they hit in previous years and hope to continue with their success playing the music they love.