If you have coworkers or friends that you just can’t stand, or try all day to avoid, here’s some tips to help deal with them:

Stop the blame game. It’s really easy to use language that makes the other people feel like your putting everything on them. This in turn will make them less receptive towards you. So instead of telling someone, “You need to have the report to me by tomorrow,” say “The report needs to get turned in by tomorrow.”

Stay open-minded. You don’t always know what is going on in other peoples personal life. This means just because their being stubborn or short with you, its not always because they don’t like you. Stay open-mined, you’d be surprised how much you can grow personally by doing so.

Set a good example. If you don’t like bossy, annoying, loud people in the office, then don’t be one. If you set a good example people will try to imitate you and then your work day will go so much smoother.

Let people know the consequences to their actions. Sometimes people may think that you put deadlines on them for fun. So instead of saying, “I need that report by Monday no matter what,” tell them, “I need that by Monday so that we can meet with the clients and move forward on this project.”

Give out compliments. Don’t always go through your day focused on the negatives of your work day. Give out some compliments to coworkers that do things that you enjoy, this will also help them realize what other people like about them.

The only worse thing than being trapped in a building for 8 hours a day, is being trapped in a building with annoying people for 8 hours. Here’s our list of work jerks:

Eat other peoples food. I took the time to go out and buy the food, then bring it into the office, just because your hungry and are able to look past the 500 times I’ve written my name on my sandwich doesn’t mean you can eat it.

Spread rumors. Rumors are like a disease, if you get enough people in a close enough space and one person says a rumor, everyone has some sort of variation of it by the end of the day.

Taking credit for your work. Its bad enough that you don’t always get the credit you deserve in the work, its even worse when someone else takes credit for your work.

TMI talk. What happens in Vegas should stay in Vegas. What happens outside of the office, should stay outside of the office.

Invasion of personal space. Sometimes people just get up in your space that definitely don’t need to be that close.

Posting photos of you in the office. There’s always that person thinking its funny to take pictures of people in the office and tagging you in the photos.

Ask for help when they don’t need it. When someones just too lazy to do it themselves, so the pretend to not know how to do it, to have someone else do it for them.

Talk extremely loud on the phone. No one needs to know when your scheduling your dentist appointment, lets all just use our indoor voices.

We all have or will be working in an office in our lifetime.  In the workplace, you are going to come in contact with a couple of people that just have certain office personalities you may want to stay away from. Better yet, don’t become one of these types of people.

1)   The Borrower: This person is the type to always take things from your desk, and you never see them again

2)   The Loud Speaker: This person has yet to master the “inside voice” and talks so loud on the phone that you, too, have to live through all his personal and professional drama.

3)   The Know It All: Puts in his 2 cents in all conversations, even if he’s not involved.  Plus this person has to be right, or else they’ll keep talking.

4)   The Whiner: Spends the entire shift complaining—about co-workers, workload, management, corporate policies.

5)   The Gossip: Usually knows the latest scoop and if they don’t they’ll make it up

6)   The Fake Boss: If you didn’t hire me and you have no power, you can’t tell me what to do

I have asked myself this question multiple times.  The jester or fool was someone whose sole purpose was to entertain the royal court.  

The Mardi Gras celebrations are all about the royal courts of old, thus, the costumes of kings and queens as well as the formal ending marked by the “Meeting of the Courts”. And as with all royal courts in the world, there will be a jester to entertain the king on his low moments.

The court jester, who was also called the Court Fool, was used to balance out the four humours – sanguine, choleric, melancholia, and phlegmatic – that were then believed to influence an individual’s general health. This is the time when the adage about laughter being the best kind of medicine started, which the court jester was the primary provider.

In medieval times, the court jesters were usually mentally handicapped people who would have found no other means of employment were it not for their unwitting capability to amuse the court with their actions and behavior. In time, the court jesters slowly evolved to be esteemed members of the court able to insult the royals to some degree without facing punishment. One of the most famous was Archibald Armstrong,court jester to King James.

In many ways, Mardi Gras jesters retains the role of the court jesters of old. Thus, you will see a jester juggling balls, telling jokes and generally just behaving in goofy manners to bring on the laughs.

BLOOMINGTON-An Eastland Mall employee was attacked while attempting to prevent a shoplifting incident at the mall. Police reported the suspect was fleeing from Journeys on Monday evening after stealing a pair of shoes. While chasing the suspect, the employee reached Aeropostale and was suddenly tripped by an unknown woman. The employee was then beaten by six men who were at the mall. The victim was released from St. Joseph Medical Center and the investigation is ongoing.

HCC will raise tuition for students. (Photo from schooldesigns.com)

BLOOMINGTON–Heartland Community College students will pay more in tuition starting this summer.

The college’s board of trustees voted to increase the tuition rates from $131 per credit hour to $136 per credit hour. Student fees also will be raised from $8 to $9. The reason for the raise in tuition rates is due to the increase in enrollment and decrease in state funding.

Students will start paying the higher tuition rates for the summer classes of 2012.

Dan O’Brien’s Hyundai dealership wants to move from Bloomington to the city of Normal because his business is expanding. Normal is in negotiations with O’Brien to move to the former site of the Saturn Automobile Dealership on Greenbriar Drive. O’Brien wants to move his dealership to Normal because he found that Bloomington does not have land suitable for his addition to his business. His search went for several weeks while looking at a number of properties in Normal.   O’ Brien’s dealership is expected to move within a couple of weeks.

Illinois State junior Chris McIntyre discusses his incredible battle with cancer and his performance on the field.

NORMAL, IL. – An attendance of 4,601 people watched Redbirds head coach Tim Jankovich record victory number 100 tonight in a 79-75 win against Oakland University. With this win, Jankovich became the fifth coach in ISU history to win 100 games with the Redbird

Oakland star point guard Reggie Hamilton came into the game as the nation’s leading scorer, averaging nearly 25 a game. Hamilton started off hot as he scored 10 of the team’s first 14 points while shooting 50%. Oakland guard Travis Bader also had a big first half with 16 points, shooting 5-of-6 from behind the arc. Despite many alley-oops and tip-slams by Redbird forward Jon Ekey, the Redbirds never seemed to be able to even up the score as Hamilton and Bader would silence the crowd after any sense that the momentum was in ISU’s favor.

Ekey kept the Redbirds in reach in the first half with dunks and by knocking down a big three-pointer with 4:18 left on the clock. In 15 minutes of playing time, Ekey led all Redbirds in points in the first half with 12 and recorded seven rebounds.

At halftime, the Redbirds were trailing the Grizzlies 43-34. ISU forward John Wilkins started off the half with two three-pointers cutting the lead to three, but Hamilton always answered the call, sinking two buckets back to back to once again to quiet the Redbirds. With 13:33 left in the game, Carmichael got the crowd on their feet with a block on Bader, who went 0-6 from three in the second half. After the block, guard Anthony Cousin fed Ekey with another alley-oop to get the Redbird deficit down to one point. The Redbirds did not take the lead away from Oakland until Bryant Allen’s step-back jumper with 10:27 left in the game.

The game would go back and forth from there with Carmichael leading the ‘Birds and Hamilton leading the Grizzlies.  Momentum was even for either team until the Redbirds took the lead again with Ekey’s three-pointer. The shot was able to happen thanks to an extremely hard fought battle by Allen to steal the ball away from the Grizzlies. With 57 seconds left, Wilkins was called for goaltending, giving Oakland two points, tying up the game. On the other side, ISU forward Tyler Brown completely missed a shot attempt, but once again Allen hustled to the ball and threw it off an Oakland player keeping the possession arrow in the Redbird’s advantage.

Carmichael put in a lay-up with 17 seconds left in the game to allow the Redbirds to go up two. Hamilton, who played all 40 minutes in the game, tried to take the lead with a three-point attempt but missed. Hamilton finished the game with 34 points, while attempting 23 shots. Carmichael grabbed the rebound, bringing his total to 19 for the game. Oakland fouled Carmichael, who then sank two free-throws giving the Redbirds a four point lead with only two seconds left. Carmichael finished with his 10^th double-double of the season, accumulating 25 points and 19 rebounds. Ekey tied a season high with 19 points, marking his first double digit scoring effort over the past five games.

With the victory, Illinois State improves to 14-4 overall in SEARS BracketBuster games. The Redbirds also extended their home winning streak to six. The Redbirds are in action Wednesday night at home as they take on the 23^rd ranked Wichita State Shockers. The Redbirds have not beaten a nationally ranked opponent since 1983.

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The Illinois State softball team is coming off a successful tournament at the University of South Florida leaving with a 3-1 record. ISU defeated Maine 5-4 and Long Island 9-0 on Friday. On Saturday the Redbirds lost to, now No. 1 ranked, Florida 11-0 and bounced back and flip-flopped the score against Florida Gulf Coast to win 11-0.

The Missouri Valley Conference pitcher of the week, Jordan Birch, went 3-0 on the trip and was able to fan 20 batters in the process. Birch came into the game late against Maine  and had a rare relief appearance where she picked up a win. She then pitched  shutouts against Long Island and Florida Gulf Coast. In Birch’s two starts she only allowed 3 hits.

The Redbirds will head to Tempe,  Arizona this weekend to compete in the Littlewood Classic. There will be some tough competition in this tournament. ISU will face the likes of Iowa State, Iowa and, the No. 5 ranked, Arizona State.

ISU’s first game is Friday Feb. 17, against Iowa State starting at 12:05 p.m..

On January 27^th, Rise Against and A Day To Remember gave us a show to remember. The two groups packed the UIC Pavilion on a Friday night and brought heat to the Windy City. Both bands were touring for their latest studio releases. Rise Against’s sixth record, Endgame, came out last spring and even sparked a two night live extravaganza in Chicago this past summer, while A Day To Remember’s most recent album, What Separates Me From You, hit the shelves in Fall 2010. The album has fans coming back for more and more as the band has taken the stage numerous times in the Midwest over the past two years.

A Day To Remember is known for their constant display of high energy, catchy melodies, and intense hooks. The band blended their greatest songs into a killer thirteen song set, leaving fans begging for more. One thing often underplayed about the band is their stage presence. The band succeeded in getting everybody in the arena moving after cranking up the volume and delivering their opening number, “Downfall of Us All”. This first song would prove to be only an appetizer for their set, clocking in at almost an hour long. Their set consisted of such antics as lead singer Jeremy McKinnon pedaling through a rabid and rowdy crowd on a giant hamster ball, as well as an appearance from Gumby, the popular character from 90s Nickelodeon, who fired off official A Day To Remember t-shirts from the stage. During their finale, “The Plot to Bomb the Panhandle”, they requested some fans to be held upright by the audience and, using the body of another fan beneath their feet, literally crowd surf. Although this was my first time seeing A Day To Remember, I can say they have a fresh sound and presentation and are definitely a group to see more than once.

Fans packed the pit hours before hometown heroes Rise Against took the stage around 9:00 pm. Absolute passion echoed throughout the arena from the first drum kick and frontman Tim McIlrath’s first note containing a voice that sends chills down a listener’s spine. The band was spot on and they knew it from the start. Many bands claim that Chicago is their favorite city to perform for, but it seems Rise Against sincerely mean it and are absolutely beloved by Chicago natives. The fans never stopped moving and showed their support throughout the show. One of the most impressive aspects of the concert was their mini-acoustic set. “Audience of One” and “Swing Life Away” were definitely crowd pleasers as they sang along to every word at the top of their lungs. Things got out of hand when the show was temporarily halted by the band when a man was injured during the encore rendition of “The Strength to Go On.” The band immediately stopped playing and requested that the paramedics aid the man out of the arena. After a brief fifteen minute setback, they replayed the song and the show raged on for the closer, “Savior.”

When I first took my seat for this concert I was merely a casual fan of both bands. I knew their mega hits and mumbled the words. However, I left rather impressed. I believe this is the mark of a truly great band; when the show ends, the set is taken down and the fans drive home, the magic lingers. If you are a rock fan and have not witnessed either one of these groups live, I would advise doing so. It has been said the rock genre has been struggling recently, but if bands like these continue to tour there should be no worries.

-Aaron Clark