Tuesday, October 20.1998
The University Daily Kansan
Section A·Page 3
Week focuses on alcohol safety
Activities provide dry events for students
By Sue Franke Kansan staff writer
On the lawn in front of Stauffer-Flint Hall tomorrow, someone will be trumped in a car.
Firefighters will slice through metal using the jaws of life to rescue the individual.
Two cars, accident victims, police officers,
firefighters and medics will be on the scene of this accident, which will be staged at 12:15 p.m.
It is one of many events planned as part of what the University of Kansas is calling Alcohol Responsibility Week.
The week's non-alcohol events are sponsored by several organizations, including Watkins Memorial Health Center.
"The purpose of the week is to give students alternative events to participate in that do not involve drinking," said Julie Francis, a health educator for Watkins. "We want people to stop and think about alcohol use and be more responsible if they do drink but also to be able to feel more comfortable at events if they don't drink."
Tonight is movie night. Buses will leave at 6:30 p.m. from Gertrude Sellars Pearson-Corbin and Ellsworth residence halls and travel to Olathe's AMC Theaters. Students can see any movie for $7.55 by showing their KUID. Students with Mega-Movie Deal coupons can see the movie and get $20 of concessions for $5.75.
Following the mock accident, students can head to the Jaybowl in the Kansas Union and bowl for $1.50.
On Thursday, students who like disco can go to "Club Mac" at McCollum for the
annual dance and listen to tunes played by a disc locket for free.
From 9 p.m. to 1 a.m. Friday, a homecoming dance will take place at the Ecumenical Christian Ministries building, 1204 Oread Ave. The dance is not sponsored by the organization.
"We don't think there has been a campuswide homecoming舞 in 15 years," said Randy Timm, assistant director of housing.
Timm said national studies on alcohol use have shown that university students have asked for alcohol-free events.
The week will conclude with a tailgate party from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. Saturday on Campanile Hill to celebrate the homecoming football game between the University and the University of Colorado, Free food will be served.
For more information on any of these events, contact Julie Francis at 864-9572.
Pulitzer Prize-winning author to lecture about his experiences
By Angela Johnson
Kansan staff writer
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Buzz Bissinger will venture from his East Coast
roots today to visit the Midwest and the University of Kansas.
Bissinger, the author of "Friday Night Lights", will speak tonight at 7:30 at the Kansas Union Ballroom. Bissinger will discuss his experiences as a writer, especially his experiences while researching his latest book "A Prayer for the City."
Cody Simms, forums coordinator for Student Union Activities, said this was Bissinger's first public speaking appearance away from the East Coast. Simms said Bissinger, who lives in Philadelphia, usually spoke at East Coast city councils and universities.
Buzz Bissinger. Will discuss his writing experiences.
Bissinger said he was happy to have an opportunity to lecture in the Midwest.
"We're really excited that SUA is sponsoring Bissinger, because he is someone on the
rise," Simms said. "Hopefully he'll remember KU as the first Midwest school to host him."
Simms said Bissinger's novel, "A Prayer for the City," explored the crumbling urban areas of Philadelphia.
Simms said that to research "Prayer," Bissinger followed Philadelphia's mayor, Edward G. Rendell, for more than five years.
Bissinger said that because he had complete access to Mayor Rendell's office and files, he was able to see the politician in a new light.
"I have never been with a man so charismatic and so unpredictable," Bissinger said. "At the time people were beginning to lose faith in the city, and Mayor Rendell really took Philadelphia on its bootstraps, and he has restored that faith."
Bissinger said cities smaller than Philadelphia had the same problems as the large city.
"The same thing is happening in Kansas City as Philadelphia or Los Angeles," he said. "It just may not have the same intensity."
"Friday Night Lights," published in 1990, examined the impact of high school football in Odessa, Texas. Bissinger, a New York City native, moved to Odessa for one year to write the book.
"Hopefully he'll remember KU as the first midwest school to host him."
Cody Simms Forums coordinator for SUA
"If I hadn't lived in Odessa and only gone down on weekends, it would've been a shell of a book," Bissinger said. "By living and breathing with the team every day, I was able to write with confidence and clarity."
Citizens of that western Texas town of 96,000 said high school football was a way of bringing a community together.
Becki Murphy, public information coordinator for Odessa, said she grew up in Midland, a town 20 miles east of Odessa.
"It's become a tradition to watch football games on Friday nights," Murphy said. "It's one of the great entertainments. So many people know kids who are playing, or they have kids on the team."
The lecture is free to the public. Simms said about 700 vouchers were available at the SUA box office.
After the lecture, Bissinger will have a book signing.
Dancers from the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company perform the "Lisbon," choreographed by Bill T. Jones and Maya Saffrin. The company will perform tonight at 8 in Lied Center. Contributed photo
Dance company use bodies to communicate social issues
By Mariana Paiva
Kansan Staff writer
When Jennifer Buscher, Topea junior, traveled to London last Spring break she saw "We Set Out Early... Visibility Was Poor," by the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Dance Company.
Tonight, students and members of the community will have the chance to check the work of this international company, which is coming back for the third time to perform in the Lied Center.
Although the company focuses some of its work on controversial issues, using body movements and music as a channel for their message, Buscher said this specific work emphasized movement and the relationship among the dancers on stage.
"They left a lot for the audience to interpret themselves, rather than presenting a fixed image," she said.
Buscher was one of the 40 people that attended Bill T. Jones' lecture last night at Borders bookstore, 700 New Hampshire St.
The interactive discussion ranged from the duties of an artist to the meaning of art. Jones also talked about his latest
piece, which will be presented at 8 p.m.
Janet Wong, a member of the company, said. "It is not a narrative. Ten people perform different shapes and sizes in relation with the music to tell the story."
Wong also taught a master class yesterday afternoon to Advanced Ballet students at the University.
Jacqueline Davis, director of the Lied Center, said she had extra work with the company last time it came to campus. Its presentation of "Last Supper at Uncle Tom's Cabin/The promise Land" had 10 minutes of nudity and involved 52 members of the community.
She said she talked to community leaders to prepare them to face the play with an open mind.
"Their piece dealt with issues such as homophobia, religion, death and racism," Davis said. "The objective of the play was to communicate in a very simple way that we are all the same when we get rid of what make us different. A very simple notion, but a very provocative way to tell that."
Tickets are still available for tonight's performance and range from $20 to $25 for the public and $10 to $12.50 for students.
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