6A • THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
NEWS
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2002
Men's Glee Club celebrates revival with performance
Eric Braem/Kansan
Hugo A. Vera, director of KU Men's Glee Club, performs Schubert's "Standchen" with his choir in the Swarthout Recital Hall. Vera has conducted the group, which was canceled in 1995 and revived in 1997, for two years. The free concert concluded last night with a medley of KU fight songs.
By Louise Steuffer
Istauffer@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
When it was terminated in 1995, KU Men's Glee Club had 12 members. But last night, 48 men filled the stage of Swarthout Recital Hall in Murphy. The performance marked the fifth year of the club's revival, which started again in 1997.
Like the diversity of the show's musical selections, which varied from classical hymns to 1950s pop, the members of the club are an eclectic mix of many majors.
Hugo A. Vera, director, said 90 percent of the members are non-music majors.
"It's a miracle you can find
these many guys who sing," said
these Lawrence graduate student
But they share a love of singing and a sense of humor.
While warming up for the performance, Vera used a football analogy to encourage volume from the singers.
"Just pretend like the Chiefs are actually winning and you're cheering really loud," he said.
Even though he's an engineering major, Richard Pass, Leawood senior, said he still got to keep music in his life, thanks to the easy-going structure of the club.
In the midst of his fourth year as a member, the club fits with his lifestyle, he said.
The club practices on Tuesday
and Thursday nights from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. The practices don't take away from his class time, he said.
"There's a very social aspect," he said.
Vera said the reason so many non-music majors were attracted to the club was because of the camaraderie.
He said he tried to keep the mood of the club light and relaxed so the members would want to be at rehearsals. There are no nervewracking auditions. Those interested just sing a few simple scales, he said.
"If you can stay on pitch, you are in." Vera said.
Word of mouth is the main reason the club is making a comeback.
"These guys are animals when it comes to recruiting," said John Paul Johnson, director of choral activities.
Johnson said the club did a great job of pumping up school spirit.
The club has performed at many university events, such as football and men's basketball games.
Brent Schneider, Hoisington freshman, said the combination of the group's strong work ethic and sense of fun made him want to be a member for as long as he was here.
"It's actually fun to go to practice," he said.
Political historian reflects on events in career
Edited by Jessica Hood
By George Schulz
gschulz@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
When he was 4 years old, Michael Beschloss watched Richard Nixon pass through Chicago in the presidential motorcade.
The event was the first in a series that encouraged Beschloss to become a political historian.
He never imagined years later he would be granted three hours to interview the retired Nixon who at the time was scrambling to
establish a legacy, shortly before the former president's death.
"There was a catch to all this," Beschloss told a group of about 1,920 people at the Lied Center last night. "He would only meet with young historians and journalists."
sion.
Beschloss said Nixon preferred to give young people interviews because they were less aware of his angry and sometimes explosive personality in the White House.
He said his meeting with Nixon was three hours of sheer confu-
Unfortunately for Beschloss, whose obsession is history, Nixon wanted only to talk about the future. But no one had told Beschloss.
Beschloss decided to tell Nixon of the time he witnessed his motorcade passing through Chicago.
"He fell dead silent and changed the subject," he said.
Beschloss later realized that Nixon had lost an election to John F. Kennedy in Chicago in 1960. Apparently, toward the end
of his life, Nixon had no interest in remembering any shortcomings in his political career.
Aside from Beschloss' learning experiences, he has written a handful of political history books covering former presidents' administrations.
His most recent, The Conquerors, documents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman's battle against Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany during World War II. Prior to that, he completed the transcription of thousands of hours of conversation
taped by Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House and on his ranch in Texas.
Richard Sherry, Kansas City,
Mo., grad student, said he had
seen Beschloss on The News
Hour with Jim Lehrer
"We've seen him on PBS and I was pretty interested in his insights," said Sherry.
Beschloss' talk was sponsored by the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, Douglas County Bank and Kansas Public Radio.
Edited by Jessica Hood
Brandon Baker/Kansan
Michael Beschloss, presidential historian and author of The Conquerors, a book on presidents Roosevelt and Truman and the dismantling of Hitler's Germany, speaks to a nearly full house at the Lied Center. As part of the Presidential Lecture Series sponsored by the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics, Beschloss spoke last night on being a historian and his new book.