NOTICE
Businessmen wear crisp white button-downs underneath their business suits and housewives wear their hair curled into up-dos.
But don't let the suit or hair fool you — these men and women aren't as clean-cut as they look. Smoking, drinking and sleeping — around are all in a day's work. It's the early 1960s, as
are all in a day's work. It's the early 1960s, as told by the fictional TV show Mad Men.
Watching Mad Men is like studying culture. On Sunday nights, students become anthropologists of the fictional drama, which airs at 9 p.m. on AMC. Each episode lets students observe the beliefs and behaviors of a society on the brink of social change — and the madness that ensues. How will the civil rights movement, Vietnam and second-wave feminism affect these characters and the society in which they live?
Mad Men follows the professional and personal lives of the men and women at a fictional advertising agency in New York City. The character of Don Draper, the creative director at the agency, steals the show not only with his seductive and powerful presence at the office, but also with his complexities and womanizing ways outside of it.
The show is in its fourth season and Topeka sophomore Michael Myers can't stop watching it. He and Leawood sophomore John Hart watch the show together each week. A few of their fraternity brothers have started to join, having never watched the series, but curious about the hype.
A year ago, Myers was just as curious as his friends when he started watching the show. He says didn't know anyone who watched Mad Men, but had heard about the show's multiple
Emmy wins. On August 29, 2010 the show won its third consecutive Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series.
Meyers says he admires the show because it is provocative and intelligent. It's a show that requires the audience to think. "You watch Mad Men, and, as the show gets deeper, you get more obsessed," he says.
Natasha Vargas-Cooper, author of Mad Men Unbuttoned, says the show primarily resonates with people because it's "just great drama." She says, "It may be somewhat mystifying because so many different people like it, but that's what's so great about mass media."
What sets the show apart from other TV dramas is the time period element. No other show on TV focuses on the early 1960s as impeccably and vividly as Mad Men. The historical references planted throughout each episode are why Hart keeps watching the show. For example, the current season references Vietnam and the impending war. Hart says he's also impressed with the show's commitment to
the era and its historical accuracy.
Stephanie Roberts, Hutchinson junior, says one of her favorite episodes was "The Grown Ups" from Season 3, which focused on how the characters reacted to the assassination of John F. Kennedy. The episode showed how the characters stayed glued to the TV for days, waiting on the latest news update. The time period may seem too old-fashioned for college students, but watching the 1960s come to life on screen makes the period seem much more exciting. Roberts says.
Vargas-Cooper says college students like to watch the show because it's "naughty." Man Men showcases a culture where it's completely acceptable to "drink at the office and grab a secretary's ass," she says. That glamour of delinquency still resonates among the youth of today. Ideas that authority is not to be trusted and that marriage isn't sacred began to become mainstream during this time, she says.
What shocked Roberts was all the drinking and sleeping around, especially within the
Sixteens wing. The AMC series Mad Men takes place in 1960's New York City. The show profiles an advertising company and the men and women who work — and sleep — together.
work place. She says she didn't expect to see so much promiscuity because during the 1950s everything was so squeaky-clean. But Mad Men's creators are progressively tearing down the visage of modesty.
Meyers says he sees how everyone is constantly drinking, and how that affects the characters' personal lives. As the series progresses, the effects of such behavior lead to more serious results, such as broken families. The character Draper is the perfect example of this downward spiral, he says.
For example, as the creative director at the ad agency, father and man with an identity crisis, Draper has trouble keeping up with the changing society. He often resorts to alcohol. "You can see him really struggle to stay modern — to stay relevant," Vargas-Cooper says.
The '60s set the mood and the historical backdrop while the characters, especially Draper, drive the show. Ron Wilson, lecturer in film and media studies and the graduate writing program, uses the term "quality TV" to describe the style of Mad Men. Part of quality TV is an incorporated version of soap operas; it showcases all the characters and how they're personal lives are depicted.
Ultimately, Wilson says the college student's fascination with Mad Men relates to living to the hedonistic version of the good life. Young men and women want to grow up and be successful, just like the Mad Men characters on Madison Avenue. But wouldn't it be great if they could work and sip on an old fashioned cocktail at the same time? Jp
SING OUT
Early spending by Senate not a worry
BY MICHAEL HOLTZ mholtz@kansan.com
Pishny said allocating such a large percentage of Senate's available funds at the beginning of the semester was typical. Even so, she said shed like senators to be more meticulous before voting to approve funding.
Money for the unallocated account comes from a $15.50 activity fee paid by all students as a required campus fee.
"I would just caution people to really look at the bills," said Pishny, a senior from Lenexa. "I would like to see more questioning of people in finance [committee] and in full Senate."
Senate allocated $35,467, or 30 percent, of funds available to student groups during its first two sessions.
Last year, Senate had approved $30,365 after two full sessions, or 26 percent of its unallocated account. Money from the unallocated account funds events, speakers and other activities sponsored by student groups. It also pays for general costs associated with those groups and costs associated with Senate.
What appeared to have been an early spending spree in Student Senate was nothing more than business as usual, said treasurer Erin Pishny.
The largest amount approved so far this year was $19,100 in salary increases for members of the Student Executive Committee.
Despite the early spending spree. Pishny said Senate should have enough money to last through the school year.
"I don't really see it being a problem," Pishny said. "We have a good amount of money unallocated to
fund the projects that students have on campus."
SENATE TO WORK ON A MISSION STATEMENT
Senate committees each elected two members to the President's Taskforce on Mission, History and Vision on Wednesday night. Smith said he would choose two students unaffiliated with Senate to also be members.
Smith said he was shocked when he first realized Senate didn't have a formal mission statement. He said it was an integral piece of any organization's success.
"We want to make sure that Senate is keeping campus moving forward." Smith said. "To do that you need to have something that's creating that vision and that purpose for you."
Smith said he'd like to see a completed mission statement by mid-November.
Student Body President Michael Wade Smith announced the formation of a new taskforce designated to create a Student Senate mission statement Wednesday.
"As long as we display it, read it and know it, it's going to inform the decisions we make for a lot of years to come," Smith said.
Students interested in Joining the President's Taskforce on Mission, History and Vision should send an e-mail to Michael Wade Smith at michaelwade-smith@gmail.com.
Edited by David Cawthon
HOW TO JOIN THE SENATE TASKFORCE
Carter Calvert performs the opening act to Neil Bery's 100 years of Broadway Thursday at the Lied Center. The show featured 19 incredible Broadway classics sung by today's top Broadway stars
Howard Tina/KANSAN
Shining lights of Broadway come to Kansas, for a night
BY NICOLAS KOESLER nroesler@kansan.com
lead singers from Broadway shows such as "Jesus Christ Superstar," "Cats," "Les Miserables" and "Wicked" performed some of the most recognizable songs in American
The number one touring Broadway concert brought the bright lights and big stars to the Lied Center Thursday night in the show "100 Years of Broadway."
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Director Neil Berg sat on stage, playing a grand piano to songs that span generations, connecting them to American history and American culture between each performance.
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It's like seeing 30 of the best Broadway.
history. Although the show spans 100 years of Broadway classics, each song finds its place in today's society and popular culture.
"Broadway is inherently appealing," said Kevin Cook, a senior from Lenexa.
University students Kelsey Flinn, a freshman from Overland Park, and Megan Lounds, a freshman from Winfield, arrived 20 minutes before the show and were excited to see some of their favorite songs.
musicals in one night," Berg said.
"We're big Broadway nerds," Flinn and Lounds said.
Despite many of the songs' connections to
SEE BROADWAY ON PAGE 3A
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