THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2006
NEWS
3A
ENTERTAINMENT
Author, comedian to perform
Tickets still on sale for David Sedaris, New York Times bestselling author
BY BEN SMITH
David Sedaris, the New York Times bestselling author of "Me Talk Pretty One Day" and "Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim," will perform at the Lied Center on Friday.
Steven Barclay, Sedaris's literary agent, said that Sedaris not only read his works aloud but performed them in a way that was intriguing to crowds and
Sedaris
offered a bit of fun to the event
"I represent about 50 writers and of them, David has a certain magnitude and personality that really draws people to him," Barclay said.
Barclay said that this was one of
two annual tours in which Sedaris visited 30 cities in 30 days.
Sedaris made his comic debut in 1992 on National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" reading his "Santaland Diaries," a collection of funny, non-fiction short stories about his life as a Macy's department store elf.
Much of his self-deprecating humor is autobiographical. In his works, Sedaris references his large family life, Greek heritage, various jobs, education and his life in France with his boyfriend, Hugh.
Sedaris was unavailable for an interview because of scheduling conflicts.
Jeff Dressel, graduate student in the cognitive psychology department, said he and his wife both planned to attend the event Friday.
"We love his books," he said. "He has a way of writing that makes you
feel as though the outlandish and hilarious events of his life are somehow very familiar." Dressel said that he had heard Sedaris speak before at the University and also on NPR.
"He's even more funny to listen to than to read," Dressel said. "I can't wait."
Sedaris has received many awards during his career, which include being named "Humorist of the Year" by Time Magazine and receiving the Thurber Prize of American Humor in 2001.
Tickets are still on sale at the Lied Center box office with prices ranging from $20 to $36 depending on seating.
Kansan staff writer Ben Smith can be contacted at bsmith@kansan. com.
—Edited by Mindy Ricketts
ENTERTAINMENT
Global competition holds tryouts in Lawrence
BY DARLA SLIPKE
Area bands, including the Akanes and the Walton Heist from Lawrence, and Apollo 13 from Eudora, will compete in a qualifying round of the Global Battle of the Bands competition tonight at The Bottleneck, 737 New Hampshire St.
Tonight's winner will go on to the U.S. finals in Los Angeles on Nov. 11. The competition is a world-wide event. More than 200 bands are competing in qualifying rounds in 13 U.S. cities, as well as other countries. Finalists from each country will compete in London for a $100,000 cash prize.
Adam Sloat, national director for the U.S., said a good band could use the money to launch its career.
Important people in the music
industry will judge the final event. Sloat said this year's judges had not yet been determined, but in the past, major labels, booking agents and musicians like Desmond Child, served as judges.
Bands cannot perform any covers or pre-recorded music.
"This is the anti-American Idol," Sloat said. "This is made to show real live music at its best when it's real and raw."
Each band is allowed to play two songs in eight minutes during the competition. The contest is open to all genres of music. Sloat said if the audience didn't like a particular style, the sets went fast.
Sloat said they chose to hold a qualifying round in Lawrence because it's centrally located. There are four bands scheduled to compete from Oklahoma, one from Saint Joseph, Mo., one from Eudora, and two from Lawrence. Sloat said that more bands might be added to the lineup before the competition.
Will Dinkel, bass player for the band Apollo 13, said his electronic rock band played last year at a regional competition in Chicago. He is excited that there is a contest closer to home this year.
“There's a lot of great bands in the Lawrence area,” he said. “It gives them a chance to show their stuff”
The contest is at 9 p.m. at The Bottleneck. Tickets are $8.
Kansan staff writer Darla Slipke can be contacted at dslipke@kansan.com.
Edited by Jacky Carter
Student faces assault charges after middle school shooting
》 STATE
MARCUS KABEL ASSOCIATED PRESS
JOPLIN, Mo. — A 13-year-old boy who fired an assault rifle inside a middle school was charged Tuesday in the bloodless shooting.
The boy was charged as a juvenile with first-degree assault, armed criminal action and making terrorist threats. The Jasper County juvenile office, which brought the charges, said it was talking with the prosecutor about possibly charging the boy as an adult, but no decision has been made.
The student fired one shot from an assault rifle Monday into the ceiling of Memorial Middle School. Nobody was injured and he left after his gun jammed, police said.
The boy was quickly detained by police. He is still being detained by juvenile authorities pending a court hearing set for 9 a.m. today, the juvenile office said.
Nearly all students returned to classes at the middle school Tuesday. Only 50 of the 690 enrolled students did not attend, in line with a normal day, a school district official said.
Police officers and patrol cars were stationed near the school but largely out of sight to avoid frightening sixth- through eighth-grade students at Joplin Memorial Middle School, police Sgt. Curt Farmer said.
"There were no reported incidences or problems," Farmer said.
The Joplin school board was due to discuss the shooting at its regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday at 7 p.m. Superintendent Jim Simpson has praised the middle school's emergency plan and two levelheaded administrators for ending the incident without bloodshed.
and added security for the district's 7,000 students.
Simpson said Monday that the school district and parents will have to weigh potential trade-offs between open access to schools
"Some people talk about putting bars on the schools, metal detectors, police checking everyone. That doesn't sound like any school I've ever known," he said.
"How do we protect the students without making them feel like they're entering a war zone?"
The seventh-grade student — who was not named because he is a juvenile — entered Memorial Middle School just before classes started Monday dressed in a trench coat and mask and carrying a Mac90 assault rifle, police said.
The boy pointed the rifle at two students and a teacher before Assistant Superintendent Steve Doerr confronted him and asked him to put the gun down. The boy said, "Please don't make me do this," and fired one shot into the ceiling, Doerr said.
Principal Stephen Gilbreth came out of his office to investigate and said the boy pointed the rifle at him and pulled the trigger, but the gun apparently jammed.
Gibrbeth said he told the boy he had the choice of either walking out of the building or "I'm going to jump on you."
At gunpoint, Gilbreth walked with the boy through the school and exited the building. Outside the school, Gilbreth used his walkietakie to tell police where to find the boy, who was taken into custody minutes later.
After learning the student's identity, Gilbreth said, "He was a nice kid — a nice kid who almost killed me."
Simpson said the district's emergency planning worked. The school was locked down when the shooter was spotted just inside the main hallway, and police responded immediately.
Simpson said the middle school now locks all but the main doors after students arrive. But there are
no metal detectors or full-time officers in the schools.
"At this time, it seems like it just came out of the blue," Simpson said.
Simpson said there were no warning signs for teachers or administrators that the student was plotting violence.
Police found a note in the student's duffel bag indicating he had placed an explosive in the school, which has about 750 students. The bag also contained military manuals, notes on how to build an improvised explosive device and detailed drawings of the school.
Police also searched the suspect's home and removed rifles and hand-guns. The Missouri State Highway Patrol bomb squad was called in after a suspicious-looking device was found in the front yard of the home, but the package turned out to be nonthreatening.
The patrol also used bomb-sniffing dogs and officers to search the school, but no bombs or weapons were found during the search, Farmer said.
The dogs did react to the student's locker, indicating there had been weapons or explosives in there at some point, but nothing was found in a search, police said.
Simpson said police told him the boy had a fascination with the deadly Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, Colo., in 1999, but police declined to verify that information.
Farmer said police were not aware of any motivation for the shooting.
He said the weapon belonged to the suspect's parents, who had the rifle in a gun safe at home. The parents told police they didn't think their son knew the combination to the safe, but that he apparently did.
Police said it was not uncommon for people in the area to own assault rifles.