Tuesday
March 4, 2003
Vol. 113. Issue No. 109
Today's weather
39°
Tonight: 17*
KANSAN
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY
Tell us your news
Contact Kristi Henderson, Jenna Goepfert or Justin Henning at 864-4810 or editor@kansan.com
Kansas clinches share of Big 12; defeats Texas Tech 65-56 p.1B
Hit the 'Fat Tuesday' festivities
By Eddie Yang
Kansan staff writer
eyang@kansan.com
Many local bars are throwing Mardi Gras celebrations with discounted drink prices, music and beads.
Sean Kelly, Omaha senior, is getting prepared.
"I'm going to pick up a lot of beads before I go out," he said. "Hopefully I
won't have any when I come home."
FM 105.9, the Lazer, will be visiting 14 bars in Lawrence from 8 p.m. to 1 a.m. They will hand out traditional King cakes at each location. Those who find a Hershey's Kiss in their King cake will win a prize-pack.
"The prizes are going to be worth everybody's time and trouble for being around." director of operations for the Lazer, Keith St. John, said.
Abe and Jake's Landing, 8 E. 6th St., will also feature drink specials and prize giveaways.
"We will be having a DJ and will be giving away a trip to New Orleans," said Mike Logan, general manager. "We are going to have some crazy games and contests."
Logan said tickets were $5 and were available at the door.
Matt Sullivan, general manager at the Replay Lounge. 946 Massachusetts St..
said they would have three bands, including Esoteric, Weedeater, and Earth Ride, play at the club.
"Our plans are top secret," Sullivan said. "We will have phat specials and a limited number of beads.
Stacey Walts, waitress at the Jazzhaus,
926 1/2 Massachusetts St., said they
would have a $1.50 almost anything special
and hand out beads. They are charging
a $3.00 cover but will waive the cover with
a costume. There will be no bands or DJs.
"Mardi Gras" means "Fat Tuesday." Traditionally, it is the last day for Christians to indulge or overindulge before Ash Wednesday. Mardi Gras has been a time of extravagant fun for European Christians. Some people believe Mardi Gras celebrations have their source in the wild springtime orgies of the ancient Romans.
Edited by Melissa Hermreck
Brandon Baker/Kansan
Biographers of Zora Neale Hurston, Chancellor Robert Hemenway and Valerie Boyd, converse about the author. The lecture was held yesterday at the Malott room in the Kansas Union and kicked off Women's History Month at the University of Kansas. Hemenway and Boyd discussed the differences in writing a book about the same person from two different racial and gender perspectives.
Chancellor talks of admired writer
Chancellor Robert Hemenway shared one of his literary interests yesterday.
By Jessica Hood jhood@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Hemenway participated in a "Conversation about Zora Neale Hurston" with Valerie Boyd. The lecture was a kick off for Women's History Month at the University of Kansas.
Hemenway wrote a 1977 biography about Hurston for his doctoral dissertation. Boyd also authored a biography on Hurston, which was released in January. Boyd's biography on Hurston, Wrapped in Rainbows, is the first new biography on Hurston in 25 years.
Boyd said it was Hemenway who encouraged her to research Hurston.
"I felt my inner calling and was also scared," said Boyd.
In 1994, Hemenway was critiquing his own work on Hurston at the annual Eatonville, Fla., festival, which celebrates Hurston's life and work, and Boyd was in attendance. Hemenway said in his speech that it was time for a black woman to research Hurston. Boyd said she felt sure that Hemenway was talking to her.
During their conversation, Hemenway and Boyd discussed the different ways they researched their books and how the books were received by the public.
"Biography is different now than in the '70s." Boyd said. "He set out to write an academic, scholarly book; I wanted to paint an intimate portrait of her."
Hemenway was introduced to Hurston when he read Their Eyes Were Watching God in preparation for a class on black culture he was going to teach at the University of Kentucky. After reading the book, Hemenway said he wanted to know more about Hurston.
He started his biography about Hurston in 1971.
When Boyd, the arts editor for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, let Hemenway know she was writing a biography about Hurston, Hemenway was pleased.
"I felt almost immediately here's a person that would do Zora justice," Hemenway said.
"I traveled all around the country in a pickup camper," said Hemenway. "I covered 10,000 miles in a year doing research."
PLAYING AROUND WITH WAR
—Edited by Melissa Hermeck
Brandon Baker/Kansan
Top Right: Sean Tucker, Hutchinson senior, complains about the apparent results of lack of sex during the reading of Lysistrata at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries last night. Above: Penny Weiner, Topeka resident; Beth Allin, Shawnee senior; and Phil Vocasek, Dodge City senior, recite Lysistrata as part of a world-wide theater event for peace. Lysistrata was performed to give a humourous outlook on not going to war.
Greek play uses comedy in hopes of opening discussion on possible war
By Cal Creek
ccreek@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
A group of Greek women refused sex to their male counterparts last night in protest of the coming war.
Granted, the sex strike was part of the Greek play Lysistrata and was performed last night by a group of KU students and Lawrence residents at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries building, 1204 Oread Ave.
"I think the message of the play is
very clear," said Katie Wolff, Shawnee junior and play director. "There are other ways to solve problems other than with just violence, especially in these times now."
Wolff said the play had special significance because a friend called her Sunday night to tell her that he was being deployed.
"I know so many people being shipped out, with war looming over our heads we just wanted to get our
SEE LYSISTRATA ON PAGE 6A
KANU to air docudrama series
By Kevin Wiggs
kwiggs@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
When music speaks to people, it can affect them for a lifetime. For John Tibbetts, associate professor of theater and film at the University of Kansas, the storytelling in Robert Shumann's music has kept him intrigued for the majority of his life.
"The World of Robert Shumann" kicked off last night on Kansas Public Radio. Tibbetts arranged the 13-week radio series, which will run at 8 p.m. every Monday. He has spent more than 15 years compiling the interviews, stories, and music that will make up the documentary series.
"When I was a kid, I heard this wonderful music by a guy named Robert Shumann," he said. "I felt immediately impelled to investigate this. We all have interests in our life that we pursue beyond just the event. We go in search for it."
"This music is saying the same things as today's music questioning authority, venting anger and love."
John Tibbett associate professor of theater and film
Robert Shumann was a 19th-century German composer who lived from 1810-1856. Late in life he became mentally ill and spent his last two years in a mental
asylum.
"Tragedy can be as significant and interesting as success in life," Tibbetts said. "There are lots of mysteries about him, and we're always in love with mystery."
Tibbetts said Shumman's music had been on his mind since he first heard it.
"I'm trying to answer the same questions I had, maybe subconsciously, as a kid," he said. "It has been a real learning experience for me, I just hope other people will find it as interesting."
Tibbett's said students would enjoy Shumann's music as long as they kept an open mind.
"This music is saying the same things as today's music — questioning authority,
SEE TIBBETS ON PAGE 6A
Jared Soares/Kansan
John Tibbetts, associate professor of theater and film, embarks on a new 13-week radio show, "The World of Robert Schumann," at 8 p.m. every Monday on 91.5 KANU, the Lawrence campus National Public Radio affiliate. His interest in the composer was sparked at the age of 16 when he heard Schumann's music for the first year. Tibbetts' project, which began 15 years ago, dissects Schumann's music from the Romantic period, or the first half of the 19th century.
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