FRIDAY, JANUARY 31, 2003
NEWS
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN = 5A
Stones roll on are a station
By Cate Batchelder
cbatchelder@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
When KCSX 97.3 FM out of Liberty, Mo., altered its format from "All Beatles all the time" to "Stones 97.3" this week, the changed wavelength was murder to some Beatles fans. No longer could they guarantee to switch radio stations in the car and know without a doubt it would be their musical four: John, Paul, George and Ringo.
Chad Boeger, general manager of the 2-week-old KCSX, said the station was stunting right now but that it would soon make a final decision about formatting.
Boeger said the station would take input from area listeners to appeal to a wide range of people.
Enter the Rolling Stones. And enter the Rolling Stones fan.
Roberta Schwartz, assistant professor of music, teaches a history of rock 'n' roll class during the fall semester. Although she loves both bands, she said most people would pick one instead of the other. Schwartz said the format change would appeal to a more specialized, devoted fan base.
"With a Beatles 24-seven station, you'd tune in and never
know," Schwartz said. "It might be something from the very earlier period that's very much poprock. It might be some psychedelic, acid, trippy song from The Sergeant Pepper or The Yellow Submarine period or it might be something like 'Get Back,' which is pretty much straight-on rock 'n' roll. With the Rolling Stones, it's pretty much going to be in a blues-rock vein."
Others disagree, saying the Rolling Stones crossed as many borders as the Beatles.
Peter Berard, Overland Park junior and KJHK music director, thinks the Stones are close enough to the Beatles that the format change was a fair trade.
"Just by the standards that we sort of use — being innovative, creative and lyrically just consistently putting out great stuff they're as good as the Beatles and some might consider them better," Berard said.
Although the Rolling Stones have had a longer career, Berard doesn't necessarily like the band's newest albums. He said it was hard to objectify which band was better, but he personally leaned toward the Stones for their edge.
Schwartz agreed with Berard
but said she had a weakness for the Beatles.
"Even when the Beatles are at their hardest, there's that Paul McCartney melody, that beautiful, very pop-music-influenced melody that seems to soar above everything and endear itself to any listener." Schwartz said.
She said most everyone had a flirtation with both bands at sometime in their life.
Bailey Kivett, Halstead senior,
is beyond the flirting stage.
"I don't need to hear 'Start Me Up' three times in the same day," she said.
Kivett said she too was passionate for both bands but thought the formatting would get old after a few days.
"I'm going to listen to the radio for something new—not to listen to something that I know I already like," she said.
Saturation is a problem when stations choose heavy rotations of one particular band, she said. The station's format change challenges fans to decide which band they would rather listen to around the clock.
"Today I would say the Stones but ask me in a week, and I might change my mind," Kivett said.
Playing with paper
—Edited by Christy Dendurent
Carly Kimbrough, Leavenworth senior, creates a paper figure to take a picture of for her Photography II class in the Art and Design Building. Kimbrough was working on a class project for which students create collections of photos and then discuss them in class.
Anton Bubnovskiy/Kansan
Anti-war play needs volunteers
By Kevin Wiggs
kwiggs@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
The Lysisstrata Project needs help.
The Ecumenical Christian Ministries, 1204 Oread Ave., is seeking as many volunteers as they can get for the first worldwide theatrical event.
Lysistrata is an ancient Greek play in which the women in a society use tactics, such as taking over the treasury and withholding sex, to prevent men from going to war.
Katie Wolff, Shawnee junior, is the event's coordinator and said she thought Lawrence was a great place to have such a performance.
"This is a great way to unite people across the globe speaking about peace," she said. "Especially here in Lawrence, where there is such a large peace movement."
The play will be performed across the world and will
include countries such as Turkey and Jerusalem. This will be the only performance in eastern Kansas.
All of the performances will be on March 3. The ECM's show will start at 8:30 p.m. and should last about an hour and a half.
The Rev, Thad Holcombe said the ECM welcomed the performance.
"We, as a ministry, are opposed to war," he said. "This play conveys a good message about the futility of war. It goes beyond the situation in Iraq."
The project is lacking something besides volunteers — money. Wolff said it didn't take many funds because there would be no costumes or set, but publicity costs would come out of her pocket.
"I'll put up fliers this week and I'll probably pay for them myself," she said.
The cast will consist of 20 people, and Wolff said they still had to fill half of those spots, as
Holcombe and Wolff said they anticipated a good response, although the project was in its early stages of production.
well as volunteers to collect donations and run the stereo and lights. She said the group would probably meet on Sundays, but it was still flexible.
"It is a timeless play that answers the age-old question of how to achieve peace," Holcombe said. "We will see that the Greeks had some creative ways of restoring peace."
"I think too often students dismiss the outside world as just that — an outside world that doesn't affect them," she said.
Wolff said she was optimistic the project would help students take notice of the world and realize the consequences of the United States' actions.
E-mail Katie Wolff at kwloff@ku.edu or call the ECM at 843-4933 to help.
Edited by Ryan Wood
Professor strikes cultural chord
By Eddie Yang
eyang@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
University of Kansas professor Clarence Henry is using music to connect cultures and countries.
Henry is an assistant professor of ethnomusicology, which is the study of living musicians and culture.
He teaches a class about the music of Africa and the Middle East every spring semester and a class in music in world cultures every fall.
Deutsch from St. Louis in his class last fall. Deutsch created his own instrument made of an upright bass that sounded like a sitar. He performed when the class was discussing Indian music.
"Last semester we had 14 guests from all over the world perform in class." Henry said.
Alumnus Justin Guenley took three classes with Henry and said they helped him as a musician.
Henry hosted musician Mark
"Clarence taught me that there was more than the Western way of thinking when it comes to music." Guenley said. "I saw some of the best musicians in that class."
Henry is preparing for a world music concert tentatively scheduled for April 24 in the Kansas
Union Ballroom. He said the theme of the concert was world peace and solidarity.
Henry said a Native American ensemble would play first and a gospel group would end the concert. Asian, African and Celtic music will also be represented, and many students will perform.
Henry said the concert would be a celebration of different cultures.
"We live in a global society and I think it is important to have an idea on what goes on other than what happens in Kansas," he said.
- Edited by Christy Dendurent
The Associated Press
Drought release drains food fund
school lunch programs and food pantries for the needy.
WASHINGTON — The government provided $185 million more in drought aid to ranchers than the Bush administration promised before the November elections and is on course to drain a fund intended to buy food for
Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman told Sen. Herbert Kohl, D-Wis., in a letter that more livestock farmers than expected sought compensation for drought losses. The $185 million was needed to help farmers in addition to the $752 million the administration had said in September it would need to take from the fund.
That fund is on course to be wiped clear once the drought aid is handed out and food and commodities for the nutrition programs are purchased, she wrote.