thursday,november 6,2003
the university daily kansan 3
A
news
3A
By Alex Hoffman
ahoffman@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
A swirl of noise surrounds Murphy Hall's fifth floor. On each side of the locker-lined hallways, the small practice rooms are musicians' temporary homes, where pianists, violinists or singers practice for hours a week.
It's no secret to the music students, however, that the rooms need some touch-up work. They're in need of better acoustics. The light bulbs are also dim and do not get replaced when they burn out, Alex Borst, St. Louis graduate student, said.
"That gets really straining on the eyes," said Borst, a tubist who shares the room with three to four other tuba players.
The money to improve areas of the music department, including the practice rooms, is likely to come from a tuition differential, money added to the tuition fee for music and dance classes. Larry Mallett, chairman of the music and dance department, met Tuesday morning with the 13 students from each music division who make up the Student Advisory Council.
Currently, the department's three sources of income are state dollars, private funding and income from ticket sales within the department; the tuition differential will create a fourth source of income. Mallett proposed a flat $12-percredit hour increase. The majority of the students agreed with the proposal. With the extra money, the concerns that music students have mentioned could be addressed.
"If this is approved, we will come back and they will have a major say in what the priorities are going to be," Mallett said.
Originally, he proposed a $15 differential for music-major courses with a $9 differential for
non-music major and dance major courses, which students said was too high. Mallett said students were not in favor of the two-tiered system, either.
In addition to improving the practice rooms, the renovation of the choral rehearsal room and Swarthout Recital Hall have also been repeatedly requested.
The reaction to the differential has been positive, Mallett said, but plenty of questions were asked in Tuesday's and previous meetings about how the money would be used.
Jessie Fillerup, a graduate teaching assistant in her second year of doctoral study, said she was concerned at first about the idea of another increase.
"It looked to me like a slippery slope, something that could gradually elevate into a higher fee per credit hour," said Fillerup, who represents the musicology division on the advisory council.
In an extended period of University-wide tuition increases, Mallett had the same concerns.
"The timing just seemed to be right this year in a lot of ways," he said. "On the other hand, it's a horrible time."
But Fillerup said the department was in the position where it was necessary to generate income quickly.
"We don't have time to wait for a lot of fundraising efforts to kick in over five or 10 years," Fillerup said.
Similar proposals have been approved in the School of Law. School of Engineering and most recently the School of Architecture and Urban Design.
The proposal estimates that $150,000 a year would be given back to the department to meet the needs. It awaits approval from Steve Hedden, fine arts dean, and the Board of Regents.
Edited by Katie Bean
Play to depict abusive relationship
Three University of Kansas students are trying to educate others about domestic violence.
By Amber Bylarlay
abylarley@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
They will perform in The Yellow Dress at 7 tonight in the Adams Alumni Center. A discussion session will be held afterward.
The Yellow Dress is a play about a relationship between a college couple that becomes abusive. The play involves verbal, emotional, physical and sexual domestic violence.
dontance in the museum.
Sara Armstrong, director and Cushing, Okla., graduate student, said she agreed to direct the play after the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center asked her to do a project for Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. Armstrong played the leading role in the play when the center sponsored the show last April.
"I wanted to direct to see what I could with it looking from the outside in." Armstrong said.
To help the audience understand the characters' relationship, Armstrong and the actors decided to make changes to the script.
As the play is written, a woman sits and tells her story. Armstrong said, but they decided to add action to the play.
When the play was done last April, a male role was added to interact with the main character. Armstrong has kept the male part in this year's production.
"The idea was the decisions and actions so many abused
people make are because of the abuser," Armstrong said. "We wanted to try to bring to light that abusers aren't inherently evil people."
Darren Maloney, who plays the male character, said it was difficult to play an abusive character that the audience could relate to.
"All I did was think 'Oh my God, this guy is really horrible,' Maloney, Overland Park senior, said.
Maloney said he had to work with Armstrong and Elisabeth Ahrens, Topeka junior and lead female in the play, to find the male character's motivation for committing domestic violence.
"We wanted to not put it all on straight anger," Armstrong said. "He is thinking about these things; he really works out of that fear of her leaving."
The play was originally scheduled to be performed on Oct. 29, the University's Domestic Violence Awareness Day.
It was rescheduled so it would not compete with a humanities lecture that was scheduled for the same night, said Corrina Beck, sexual assault prevention and education program coordinator for the Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center.
The center, a sponsor of the event, chose the play because its characters are college students.
"We really wanted something the audience could connect to," Beck said.
Beck said the event's coordinators expected to have a good turnout and discussion session
Megan True/Kansan
Darren Maloney, Overland Park senior, and Elisabeth Ahrens, Topeka junior, acted as the characters Rick and Anna in the play The Yellow Dress, written by Deborah Lake Fortson. The play is about domestic violence.
after the 20-minute play. Last April's show had an audience of 80 people, Beck said, and more people were expected this year
because the play will be held on a Thursday instead of on Friday.
Edited by Katie Bean
Dole Institute celebrates Veterans Day, Marines
To mark the 13th annual Lawrence Marine Corps birthday celebration and Veterans Day, the Robert J. Dole Institute of Politics will host a party tomorrow.
Colonel E.G. Payne, Jr., Commander of Marine Corps Reserve Support Command in Kansas City, and Mayor David Dunfield will speak at the celebration.
The event will be from 10 a.m to 11:30 a.m. and attendees will be invited to enjoy a birthday cake from Dillons, 1740 Massachusetts St; bagels and coffee from Einstein Brothers Bagels, 3514 Clinton Parkway; and finger sandwiches from Mr. Goodcents, 1410 Kasold Drive.
The first 200 guests will receive a stained glass key chain and 228th birthday commemorative coaster.
Guests will also be able to enter a raffle to win a gold watch and sports memorabilia signed by Kansas coaches Bill Self, Marion Washington and Mark Mangino.
The party is free and open to the public.
Maggie Newcomer
With a Taste of the Town card receive BUY ONE GET ONE FREE offers from the area's best restaurants. Use your Taste of the Town card in Lawrence and Topeka through February 15,2004.
BUY ONE MEAL GET ONE FREE! 39 Free Dinners PLUS 10 Free Appetizers & Desserts
ALL FOR $10
TO ORDER BY PHONE: 785-865-2882
outside of Lawrence: 800-548-2292
Call for fund raising opportunities! Taste of the Town has generated over $350,000 for Lawrence and Topeka community organizations!
TO ORDER BY MAIL:
Please complete and mail today
Name___.
Address___
City___ State___ Zip___
Phone___
Qty___each at $10 =___
Check Money Order Credit Card
Check □ Money Order □ Credit Card □
Check Enclosed___
Check Enclosed___
3-digit code on back ___ Exp. Date___
Signature
Mail to:
Taste of the Town
P.O. Box 3445
Lawrence, KS 66047
A service of:
Independent Restaurant Purchasing Group
403-769-2581, Lawsome, KM 60047
785-841-3855, 800-841-2829 | Fax 785-841-6671
www.independentrestaurants.com
6