6A
Tuesday, August 30, 1994
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Professor's knowledge of jazz is widely sought
Continued from Page 1A.
from New York City asking for a copy of an original recording of a song Margitza wanted to cover. Margitza couldn't find a copy anywhere in New York but knew Wright would have the recording.
He is definitely the best-known jazz authority in the Midwest," said Bob Hammond, KANU's jazz director. "In fact, I think he stacks up with any jazz authority in the world."
Wright was honored in 1993 by the International Association of Jazz Educators, which presented him its first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award.
Wright received a bachelor's degree in voice from the University in 1953 and was drafted into the U.S. Army on his wedding day.
In the Army, Wright found his interest in radio.
"They didn't know what to do with me," Wright said. "Here I was, a guy with a voice degree, and what do you do with 'em in the Army? So, they put me in charge of the Armed Forces Radio Station in Greenland."
Two years later, Wright returned home from the Army. He also returned to KU on the GI Bill and earned a master's degree in voice. He went to New York after winning the regional Metropolitan Opera auditions.
Wright found the auditions discouraging. The Met told Wright to learn some opera roles and come back later.
He returned to Kansas and applied for
"I just got so all-of-a-sudden interested in jazz history, the historical aspect of it, that I sort of lost sight of going back to New York." he said.
the music director position at KANU with the idea that he could work at the station and learn the opera roles at the same time. It was then that Wright fell in love with the history of jazz.
To make ends meet, Wright found himself working at the radio station, teaching part-time at Washburn University, singing at weddings and funerals and filling machines at 4 a.m. on the KU campus.
"It finally got to me," Wright said. In 1968, he left KU to work at a family-owned music store in downtown Lawrence.
"I kind of enjoyed it, but my heart really wasn't into it," Wright said. "University life is really what I wanted to be involved in."
Two years later, in 1970, "Lo-and-behold, the University called me back to be the director of the station," Wright said. He took the position and remained KANU's director until 1977, when he began teaching full time at KU.
His big teaching break at KU came in 1971 when one of the teachers in the music department went on sabbatical, and the University brought in another teacher, Frank Turro, to fill in for a year. The only way Tirro would come to KU, Wright said, was if he was able to teach a jazz-history course.
"Once he got here on campus, he found out about me, and he insisted I come down and do some of the lectures," Wright said. When Twoe left at the end of the year, he
went to the chairman of the music department and said, "You really ought to have this guy Wright down here teaching," Wright said. So the department offered Wright the job, and Wright accepted.
From 1972 to 1977, Wright was both director of KANU and the jazz-history course teacher.
"The more I taught, the more I knew I loved teaching," Wright said. "It's really what I wanted to do. It got so my heart really wasn't into running KANU."
In 1977, KU hired Howard Hill to be the director of the station and moved Wright to the position of executive director. That move allowed Wright to continue teaching without having the entire burden of directing the station on his shoulders.
He has taught full time in the music department as a tenured professor since 1984.
"It's been such a rewarding life because being a jazz historian, there aren't a lot of us around. I'm so thankful to the University that I'm one of the few," Wright said.
When Tirro left at the end of the year, he
With Wright's well-known knowledge of jazz history, he has been sought by other universities. But Wright can't see working anywhere other than KU.
"Other jobs have opened up — North Texas State and other jobs — and people say, 'You ought to go there.' I just say, 'No thanks.' I really am happy here, and I can't even think what it would be like leaving here," Wright said. "I have a feeling even when I retire I'll still be doing things up here in the archives."
Rape verdict sets stage for community forum
By Nathan Olson
By Nathan Olson Kansan staff writer
The recent trial of former graduate assistant football coach Jeffrey Shanks provided a close look at how society deals with rape.
That was the verdict last night at a community rape forum sponsored by Douglas County Rape Victim Support Services. About 20 women attended the forum at New York Elementary School, 936 New York St.
Much of the forum consisted of questions concerning the trial of Shanks, who was convicted last week of one count of rape and acquitted of another. Representatives of the Rape Victim Support Services attended the trial in an advocacy role for the women, said Sarah Jane Russell, the group's director.
"What I saw last week convinced me of the damage that can be done on both sides" she said.
Barbara Ballard, director of Emily Taylor Women's Resource Center, focused on the positive aspects of the trial.
"The verdict sent a message to people saying that prosecution is worth a try," she said.
Sharf Seifert, Naperville, Ill., sophomore, said she sympathized with the women who came forward in the trial.
"The feelings rape victims are normal feelings in abnormal situations," she said. "Sadness, guilt and self-blame are normal feelings that rape victims think aren't normal."
Russell also cited rape statistics at the forum. She said that rape was the fastest growing crime in the country and that only 10 percent of rapes were reported to police.
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