thursday, april 29, 2004
news
the university daily kansan
3A
Love of music guides 'star'
By Samia Khan skhan@kansan.com Kansan staff writer
Every face in the crowd and every name in the phone book has a story behind it. Every week, Kansan staff writer Samia Khan tells the story of a randomly selected KU student.
Andy Kroeker's friends like to call him a rock star.
The Overland Park junior is a
The Overland Park bass guitar player in three bands. He has loved music since he can remember and has been playing for more than 10
years. Kroeker said he was willing to devote so his time to playing in bands because of his love of music and the release it provides him.
"Playing music is like recess 24/7," he said. "But it also requires a level of dedication and desire."
With practicing a total of eight to 10 hours per week and going to classes and performances, Kroeker has to balance his responsibilities. He said school and the bands were different lifestyles that were competing against each other. Even with the stress, he manages to keep his grades up by studying and going to the library during the day. His nights are reserved for his bands.
Even with the scheduling required to practice and perform, Kroeker said he couldn't turn away the opportunity to play. Performing provides a release. The first thing he has to do to perform well is forget
about what the audience thinks of him. When he distances himself from that, he lets loose. He said as the youngest child he's
always craved attention.
Kroeker held onto music since his father turned him on to classical jazz. He loved the way the music communicated without words.
"You never misunderstand a guitar string," he said. "The sound is what it is. There is no hidden meaning."
Histhree bands, Gunslinger, City Limit and Cosmic Egg, play different styles of music, but he said they had their own rewards. Kroeker
said Gunslinger was a "powerfunk" band, City Limit was a "college folk-rock band" and Cosmic Egg was too eclectic to pin down.
Kroeker said his bandmates work out the performance and practice schedules in advance so he has never had a conflict. However, he has had to miss other social events to perform.
Kroeker's friend Andy Tuley said Kroeker was not at home very often, but is the type of person who likes to keep a full schedule.
I've seen him with a lot of late nights and baggy eyes, but I think he really enjoys being all over the place at once," said Tuley, Kansas City, Kan., junior.
Playing in three bands also allows Kroeker to make enough money to get by as a college student. He declined to say how much he gets paid per band, but said it was enough to live on with a little bit extra. By playing in three bands, he can do something he loves instead of finding a job.
Tuley said Kroeker maintains his unique sense of humor and
stays in a good mood often because of his music.
Kroeker's Cosmic Eggbandmate Matt Gader, Topeka senior, said Kroeker's energy helped lighten the mood and excite the audience. He said Kroeker was always the one jumping around on stage.
Gader said Kroeker picked up the bass lines faster than most musicians. He said Kroeker was important to the trio's practices and performances because the music Gader writes is difficult for most bass guitar players, but Kroeker makes the process fast and smooth.
Although he does not know what he wants to do for a career, he's keeping options open with academics and music.
He is performing three straight nights this weekend with each of his three bands: Cosmic Egg tonight, Gunslinger tomorrow, and City Limit Saturday.
"This weekend I'm rocking out," he said. "I think I was born to rock, and that's what I like to do."
- Edited by Donovan Atkinson
Annie Bernethy/Kansan
Andy Kroeker, Overland Park junior, rocked out on his roof yesterday afternoon wearing new sunglasses from his mom. Kroeker plays in three different bands while going to the University of Kansas. He is performing with each of his bands every night this weekend.
Classics professor named director of honors program
By Neeley J, Spellmeier
nspellmeier@kansan.com
Kansan staff writer
Stanley Lombardo, professor of classics, will take over as the director of the honors program in June.
Lombardo will succeed Barbara Schowen, who retired last summer after seven years as director. John Gronbeck-Tedesco, associate dean liberal arts and sciences and professor of theatre and film, served as interim director.
Lombardo has worked with the honors department in various capacities for the last 20 years.
Lombardo has been at the University since 1976 teaching Greek, Latin, classi c mythology and Greek literature and
erature and culture.
Lombardo
His translations of Homer's The Iliad and The Odyssey have won awards and are used nationwide in Greek mythology classes. Lombardo has received
both the Kemper teaching fellowship and a Mortar Board award.
Chase Richards, McPherson senior, is a student in Lombardo's class that is reading The Odyssey in Greek. Richards said Lombardo was personable, easy to work with and a great fit for the director position.
Lombardo plans to teach in the classics department after he takes over as director, teaching one class per semester.
one class per session
He will be teaching Greek and Roman Mythology in the fall and will probably teach a graduate seminar in Greek in the spring, he said.
Lombardo's time will be mostly taken up by the honors program. As director, he will serve as a representative to national competitions including the Rhodes, Marshall, Mitchell, Truman, Goldwater and Udall scholarships.
ships. The director also works closely with students applying for these scholarships.
scholarships.
His responsibilities will include being a liaison between deans and the honors program and representing the honors program to the University, said Sue Lorenz, interim associate director. The director must also find
additional funding for the program, a necessity for a program with such a small budget, Lorenz said.
Lorenz said there should be a willingness for the honors program to be a testing ground for new models and classes.
And if those classes are successes, then they can then be applied to other University classes. Intellectual leadership is another essential part of the director's position, which Lorenz said Lombardo exemplified.
"He is both traditional and forward-thinking intellectually," Lorenz said.
Some plans for the honors program are already being considered, Lombardo said. He wants to implement a series of core classes required for all honor students.
Lombardo would like to bring in a series of speakers, especially distinguished alumni of the honors program.
He said he thought the overall alumni could be improved because many alumni have an allegiance to the program and would be interested in giving back to the program.
Edited by Stephanie Love