Monday, January 24, 2000
The University Daily Kansan
Section A · Page 3
Athletes, greeks update Mozart's comic opera
By BriAnne Hess
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Two football players set out to prove the faithfulness of their fiancees' love but end up setting themselves up for failure.
Cosi fan tutte, Mozart's comic opera in two acts, opened Friday to a full house and showed again yesterday at 2:30 p.m. Performances will continue at 7:30 Thursday and Saturday at Swarthout Recital Hall.
The athletes, Ferrando and Guglielmo, want to prove to their coach that women are steadfast, so they don disguises and set out to seduce their girlfriends. When their seduations succeed, tempers flare. The opera, subtitled All Women Do It or The School for Lovers, is about four characters who learn about the darker sides of love.
Hugo Vera, El Paso, Texas,
senior, plays Ferrando. He
said that the opera was timeless because it looked at the basic personalities and characteristics of young people.
"The philosopher, who is a coach, is trying to teach his men what women are like. Unfortunately, the message is that there is no right answer."
Hugo Vera El Paso, Texas, senior
"The philosopher, who is a coach, is trying to teach his men what women are like." Vera said. "Unfortunately, the message is that there is no right answer."
Don Schawang, stage director and Topeka doctoral student, moved the setting of the opera from ancient Greece to the contemporary college campus. The women are sorority sisters. The men are athletes.
Mark Ferrell, musical coach,
said the story was challenging
because it was written in the
late 1700s.
"Morals and tastes change, so we've done some updating
to make it more current to today's culture," Ferrell said. Some students attending the opera said that they enjoyed the performance.
to make it more current to today's culture." Ferrell said.
"I love the adaptation," said Sarah Hill, Hutchinson sophomore. "I think it hilarious."
Adam Rich, Omaha, Neb., freshman, said that he was going to go to the opera anyway, but that it also was required for his Introduction to Theater class.
Vera said that the adaptation worked because the basic message of the opera still applied today. He said that Mozart tried to convey to everyone that all human beings were different and complex.
"Believe it or not, it is a comedy," Vera said. "But it's a dark comedy because it has serious undertones. When you see the outcome at the end, you say 'Oh wow.'"
Tickets are on sale at the University of Kansas box offices in the Lied Center, Murphy Hall and the SUA Office. They are $5 for students and senior citizens and $7 for the public. The show runs three hours.
Jeffrey McEvay and Kelli Nerry, both opera graduate students, perform in Mozart's opera Cosi fan tutte. The adaptation of Mozart's opera opened Friday to a full house and plays again Thursday and Saturday. Photo by Jamie Roper/KANSAN
Fraternity finds temporary home during renovations
The Delta Chi fraternity house is undergoing renovations this semester that include the addition of residence rooms, a laundry room and guest bathrooms. The house is set to reopen for the fall semester.
Photo by
Carolyn
Mollett
KANSAN
Delta Chi residents forced to relocate for spring semester
By Jessie Meyer
writer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
A renovation project that will almost double the size of the Delta Chi fraternity house has forced Delta Chi residents to move to the empty Alpha Omicron Pi house on Sigma Nu Place for this semester.
"We knew it was coming," said Chace Ramey, president of the Interfraternity Council and Delta Chi member. "But it was hectic because we were working on it all last semester."
Before winter break, the members had all of the large furniture and some personal items removed from their house at 1245 W. Campus Rd., making the switch easier when the semester began.
"The transition went really smooth," said Ramey, Kansas City, Mo., junior.
The renovation, which will upgrade and add to the house, is on schedule and the projected date of completion is June 30. said Gavin Hoskins, superintendent for the project.
The undertaking, which is estimated to cost between $1.8 million and $2 million, involves adding on to the north and south ends of the house and excavating much of the interior, said Hoskins, who works for the Topeka-based Mohan Construction, the general contractors for the renovation.
A library with a fireplace, several residence rooms, a new laundry room, guest bathrooms and new study areas will occupy the additional space.
In the new study areas — one of which will be a computer lab — wiring for new technological services, such as high-speed Internet access, will be added. The house will be rewired throughout to accommodate new electrical fixtures, Hoskins said.
He said the hardwood floors that covered much of the first floor would be replaced and the woodwork would be refinished. Despite all of the reconstruction inside the house — especially near the entrance — the house will retain its original 1928 Tudor architectural style, Hoskins said.
Although the house will nearly double in size, Ramey said the chapter would add only about nine men to its former total membership number of 90. Most of the additions are to common areas and restrooms, but some of the existing residence rooms also will be stripped and upgraded, he said.
The south end's addition already is standing, and Hoskins said the construction was in the framing phase. The north end's addition, which involves renovation on the house mother's apartment, will be completed later. The framework for that is expected to come this week, he said.
In the basement, contractors must install the framework for a future elevator to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, Hoskins said. The elevator will not be in place until an undetermined future date.
Delta Chi alumni donated the bulk of the money needed to fund the renovation, Ramey said. He said that because all funds were raised or donated, the chapter had not raised its membership fees.
The house will reopen for the fall semester. Ramey said.
Thousands of newspapers stolen Friday
By Sara Shepherd writer@kansan.com
Kanson staff writer
Like any typical Friday morning, between 11,000 and 11,200 copies of the University Daily Kansan were placed by 6:30 a.m. last Friday in distribution boxes on campus.
But before students arrived for 7:30 a.m. classes, at least several thousand of the weekend edition papers already were gone.
Tom Eblen, Kansan general manager, said he suspected the papers were stolen.
Eblen said that an experienced distributor had found the boxes empty early in the morning after he already had filled them. Eblen also said a witness saw a young man carrying a very large stack of newspapers about 7:15 a.m. in front of Watson Library.
Eblen said he was aware of two distribution boxes that were prematurely emptied — the box in front of Wescoe Hall and the box across from Danforth Chapel on Jayhawk Boulevard.
Kansan editor Laura Roddy, Andover senior, said she received more than one call and spoke with several students who complained of papers missing from other locations as well.
E. J. Reedy, Topeka junior, said he usually picked up a copy of the Kansan on the way to a 9:30 a.m. class. But there weren't any there last Friday.
"Normally I grab a paper as I walk through Fraser," Reedy said. "I walked in there, and there were no papers at all."
Reedy also said the papers were sparse along Jayhawk Boulevard, and he wasn't able to find a copy until after his class in Snow Hall.
"There was a remarkable lack of papers." Reedy said.
Sgt. Troy Mailen said the KU Public Safety Office had not received any official reports of stolen papers but the office had been notified of the possibility of theft.
"They've given us a heads-up notice so we could assist them in monitoring the newspaper boxes," Mailen said. "We have not received any reports of a mass-moval of papers."
Eblen said there were several problems with the theft of newspapers. He said that not only was it a crime, but it also prevented other students from reading a paper for which they had paid.
"It also deprives the students of news of which they are entitled," Eblen said.
Eblen said there were several reasons why someone might steal newspapers, but he declined to hypothesize further.
"There are varying reasons," he said. "I'm not willing to speculate."
However, Eblen said if anyone was caught, they would be held accountable.
"We take them seriously, and we take action." Ehlen said.
A 25-cent fee for additional copies of the Kansan was enacted after a similar occurrence of paper theft during the spring of 1995. Because of that incident, the following statement has been printed in each issue of the Kansan to clarify the policy:
"The University Daily Kansan is the student newspaper of the University of Kansas. The first copy is paid through the student activity fee. Additional copies of the Kansan are 25 cents."
Kathy's Alterations