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UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
FRIDAY, APRIL 24, 2009
WWW.KANSAN.COM
VOLUME 120 ISSUE 143
BLOSSOMING ARTISTS
Rachael Grav/KANSAN
Students from the departments of theater, music and dance combine to present Tree of Life, a Creative Campus project. The production explores the phenomenon of evolution through the stages of life and genetic connectedness.
Tree's roots are in science and art
Lied Center performance uses diverse media to unite disciplines
BY JENNIFER TORLINE jtorline@kansan.com
Faculty, students and visiting artists are connecting science and
their use this weekend end with a performance focused on evolution and the environment.
The performance, "Tree of Life — Origins and Evolutions," combines science, humanities and the performing
arts through music, dance, theater and film.
Lied Center associate director and Creative Campus project director
The performance is divided into three movements,or 'trees':
"It's not something you're publishing in a scientific journal, but it's more accessible to the public."
"The work on the stage is actually the artistic response to faculty research in science and the humanities," said Karen Christilles,
MANDY SHRIWISE Overland Park senior
natural tree: exploring our roots as various cultures
The scientific tree: looking at Darwin and evolution
The intertwined tree: showing how the cultural viewpoint intertwines with the scientific viewpoint
"With this intertwining, we'll be able to solve some of the conflict we're suffering from," said David Balakrishnan, founder of the Grammy Award-winning Turtle Island String Quartet, which is
participating in the performances.
The tree of life is the central, unifying image in the show. It is used to answer questions such as "Why are we here?" and "How can I be an individual of both faith and science?"
"It shows that science and art are not that different and you can actually collaborate together," said Cory Hills, Springfield, Va., doctoral student and percussionist with the KU Wind Ensemble, which is also participating in the performance.
Many primitive cultures used tree metaphors to explain the origins of life. The 'tree of life' took on symbolic meaning in ancient cultures across the world, from Assyria to Egypt to India. Then, in the modern era, the phrase "tree of life" became one of Charles
"TREE OF LIFE ORIGINS AND EVOLUTIONS"
WHAT: A multidisciplinary performance featuring theatre, music and dance students and faculty. It will also feature the music of the Turtle Island String Quartet.
Darwin's evolutionary terms, Christilles said. Where scientists use the tree as a chart, artists use it as a metaphor.
WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday
"Really, what the tree of life is about is trying to understand where human beings came from and where they fit into the greater scheme of things" Christilles said.
WHERE: Lied Center
HOW MUCH: $24 for public,
$12 for students. Students
can purchase tickets for $5
with a University Daily Kansan
coupon. Tickets can be
purchased at the Lied Center,
University Theatre and SUA
ticket offices or at www.lied.
Christitiles said University faculty and visiting artists created the
WHERE: Lied Center
work themselves. Because of this, the performance goes beyond what the Lied Center normally does.
The Lied Center commissioned performance is the artistic culmination of the two-year Creative Campus project, which was made possible by a grant from the Doris
SEE TREE ON PAGE 3A
CAMPUS
Israel week provides insight
BY DAVID UGARTE
dugarte@kansan.com
To give students a taste of Israel, Hatikvah, a Jewish student organization, is putting on a series of events called Israel Week from Sunday through Saturday.
Jason Oruch, Plano, Texas, senior and vice president of Hatikvah, said the goal was to get 500 people to attend the events.
"This is the first time a weeklong event has been put on for Israel," Oruch said. "It's a really unique opportunity for students."
Matthew Rissien, Overland Park senior and president of Hatikvah, said the events were based around two holidays celebrated in Israel during the week. On Tuesday, Yom Hazikaron, the equivalent of Memorial Day, everyone comes together to mourn the loss of people who gave their lives in battle, Rissien said. Wednesday is Yom Haatzmaut and Israel is filled with barbecues, parties and celebrating, much like Independence Day, Rissien said. To celebrate Yom Haatzmaut Saturday night, Strong Black Coffee, an Ethiopian-Israeli hip-hop group, will perform at the Granada.
Rissien said Israel Week was meant to focus on Israel's culture, not its politics.
"For me, this is a way to show KU a glimpse of what life is like during this time in Israel," Rissien said. "Everyone on board planning this event has brought something to the table in terms of what they feel they can bring to campus to make it feel like Israel."
The Hatikvah board directing the week's events is composed of leaders from the KU Jewish organizations Hillel and Chabad House, Alpha Epsilon Pi, Zeta Beta Tau and Sigma Delta Tau, which have all given donations to fund the events.
The first event of the week will be a three-on-three basketball tournament at the Ambler Student Recreation Fitness Center
LAWRENCE
SEE ISRAEL ON PAGE 3A
Farmers' market offers local, organic produce
BY LAUREN HENDRICK
Ihendrick@kansan.com
April is on its way out and local produce is on its way in.
On April 11 the downtown Lawrence Farmers' Market on Ninth and New Hampshire streets opened for the season as vendors set up tents to show off and sell their spring produce. The market is open from 7 to 11 a.m. every Saturday.
Margaret Tran, Derby junior, said she tried to shop locally at the farmers' market as often as she could to support local merchants, purchase sustainable products and avoid harmful pesticide residue found in produce shipped from outside Kansas.
PESTICIDE PROBLEM
According to the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization dedicated to protecting public health and the environment, buying certain fruits and vegetables organically and locally can decrease the amount of harmful pesticides ingested.
The EWG named 12 fruits and vegetables part of the "Dirty Dozen." The EWG found during a seven-year study that people who ate produce items on the list ingested an average of 10 pesticides per day.
Nancy O'Connor, nutrition educator at the Community Mercantile, 901 N. Iowa St., said the health risks associated with consuming pesticides were too unknown to consume them on a regular basis.
She said an even bigger concern was the "cocktail effect", when multiple pesticides are mixed, creating possible negative side effects.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency works with the United States Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration to ensure products sold and consumed in the U.S. are safe.
But even with government regulation, the EPA points out that pesticides are substances used to prevent, destroy, propel or mitigate living organisms, making them potentially harmful to humans.
"We were never meant to eat a diet of pesticides," O'Conner said.
REGULATION
THE COST
For some students such as Megan Do, Wichita sophomore, the price of organic food is just too high.
"Everyday I hear about the benefits of eating organic but it's 2 to 3 dollars more than regular produce," Do said. "That's a complete turn-off."
Do said she was confident that the government had inspected her food thoroughly.
Tran said although some organic produce tended to be more expensive than fruits and vegetables sold in supermarkets, she saved money
SEE ORGANIC ON PAGE 3A
CLEAN15
These fruits and vegetables are lowest in pesticides
SHOPPER'S GUIDE TO PESTICIDES
1. Avocado
3. Sweet Corn
4. Pineapple
5. Mango
6. Asparagus
7. Sweet Peas
8. Kiwi
9. Cabbage
10. Eggplant
11. Papaya
12. Watermelon
13. Broccoli
14. Tomato
15. Sweet Potato
DIRTY DOZEN
These fruits and vegetables should be bought organic
1. Peach
3. Bell Pepper
4. Celery
5. Nectarine
6. Strawberries
index
2 Lettuce
9. Lettuce 10. C
10. Grapes
11. Carrot
12. Pear
Source: www.foodnews.org
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