CAMPUS/AREA
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Friday, November 10, 1995
3A
Revered math guru to appear
'Stand and Deliver teacher will speak
By Hannah Naughton Kansan staff writer
A slew of heroic-teacher movies came out in the '80s — movies like "Teachers," "Lean on Me" and "Stand and Deliver."
The movies, some of them based on true circumstances, depicted hope-filled teachers fighting cynical systems that had lost faith in the abilities of embittered students.
Jaime Escalante, who brought calculus to an urban Los Angeles high school and inspired the movie "Stand and Deliver" will speak at 7:30 tonight in the Kansas Union Ballroom.
"Jaime Escalante is special," said Greg Vallone, assistant principal at Garfield High School in Los Angeles. "He put the school on the map as far as calculus, in getting calculus started here. He did it for the whole area of East L.A. People thought kids in this area couldn't do it, and that's just not true."
Escalante first taught advanced placement calculus to fewer than 20 students in 1982. In 1989, his last year at Garfield, 118 students took the course. Vallone said.
In the movie, Escalante was played by Edward James Olmos. Escalante was responsible for teaching students who were barely able to compute basic algebra and motivating them to learn calculus. Those students did so well on the advanced-placement exam that they were suspected of cheating and had to take the test again. They did just as well the second time.
Escalante was invited to the University of Kansas by the Hispanic American Leadership Organization, said Matt Duran, Salina junior and president of HALO.
"We left it open for him to speak on what he wants," Duran said. "I believe he's going to be speaking on teaching math and motivation of students, finding the potential where others think there isn't any."
Jon Ramirez, academic counselor in Upward Bound, said he was going to Escalante's speech to be inspired. Ramirez wants to hear the success stories to remind him to do the best he can to reach students and develop confidence in them.
The total cost to bring Escalante to the University is $8,300, said Duran. The lecture is free to the public because HALO was able to secure financial assistance from other groups and departments on campus and from some local businesses.
Vallone said that the people who knew Escalante well referred to him as a master teacher. Escalante was the kind of teacher that people watch for the pure joy of seeing someone teach well, he said.
Escalante used to have a phone in his classroom because the president would call to speak with him, Vallone said.
Punk icon Rollins to speak at Lied
By Sarah Wiese
There's much more to Henry Rollins than one would suspect at first glance.
Kansan staff writer
With heavily tattooed arms and a body builder's physique, he looks more like a professional wrestler than a spoken word performer.
He started out as a punk rock singer for Black Flag in the early '80s. Since then, he's become a writer, an actor and a snoken word performer.
Tickets are $5 for students with a valid KUID and $8 for the general public and are available at the SUA Box Office or at the door.
As part of his first spoken word tour since 1993, Rollins will be performing at 8 p.m. tonight at the Lied Center. Student Union Activities' forums committee is sponsoring the show.
Scott Jarboe, forums coordinator, said Rollins' style of spoken word wasn't easily classified.
“It's observations of what has happened to him, with a twist,” said Jarboe. The older senior. “They're really ranting-and-raving anecdotes."
He has a knack for being hilarious and extremely serious all at once, Jarboe said.
"He makes you think with humor," Jarboe said. "He kind of stimulates thought, if nothing else."
Karen Schoemer, a music writer for
Newsweek who profiled Rollins a year
ago, said succeeding in music and writing or spoken word wasn't easy.
"There are very few people who can get away with both," she said. "I think Henry's been successful because he's just funnier."
Rollins has become a punk icon who hasn't depended on big, mainstream success, she said. He has quite a following built on his history with Black Flag and his latest musical endeavor, Rollins Band.
"Henry is this pumped-up, punk rock guy with a heart of gold," she said. "He's his own guy, and people really like that."
Schoeher said she thought Rollin's performances had the underlying message of self-reliance and self-esteem.
"He gets a little heavy at times, but he chooses those moments very carefully," she said.
Other performers in the spoken word genre include Patti Smith, punk icon in the late '60s and early '70s, and Todd Colby and Maggle Estep, Schoe mer said.
Rollins is working on a new album with Rollins Band during the week and touring with his spoken word show, Public Insomniac No. 1, on the weekends.
Some might recognize him from his appearances on MTV Sports. He was in the movie "Johnny Mnemonic" with Keanu Reeves, and Rollins Band recently performed at the Grammy Awards ceremony.
Andy Rullestad / KANSAN
Gorillas In The Mist it's not, but Hypothetical Seven member Eric Davis, Chapman junior, delivers his best impression of a mother primate to Carson Erod, Topeka, senior.
Born-again comedy troupe to perform
By Novelda Sommers Kansan staff writer
Carson Elrod stoops to admire Dain Kloner's socks.
"They're Polo." Kloner fibs.
"Freeze!" someone yells. And all of the sudden, Elrod, Topeka senior, and Kloner, De Pere, Wis., junior, are lost in the woods.
Luckily, James
H il b u r n,
Lawrence senior,
wanders by selling compasses.
The men are members of an improvisational comedy group called the Hypothetical 7, and they are warming up for their performances at 7 and 10 p.m. tomorrow at Haskell Indian Nations University's Haskell Auditorium. Admission is $4
buildings. Elrod said the group recently changed its name because some people thought it was politically incorrect.
"People thought we were homosexual Nazis," he said. "People were constantly asking what the story was behind it."
The story was that the original cast included several women who had to drop out because of
for the general public and free for Haskell students.
Ellrod said he hoped that the troupe's brand of raucous comedy would hit audiences like a freight train and leave them wanting more.
The group was founded in 1993 as "Single White Males." They are recognized by Student Senate, which means they can practice and perform in campus
"My goal is to have people come out saying, 'I don't know what I just saw, but it was funn,' he said.
work and school obligations. To show their dejection, the men chose "Single White Males" as their moniker.
Elrod said the name Hypothetical 7 could be open to interpretation.
Actually, there are eight actors in the group — still all males.
Matthew Rice, the group's leader and a
KU law school graduate, said the group would perform 22 scripted skits and seven improvised routines. He is confident that the group will make crowds laugh.
"Look at them. They're like kids at camp," he said, gesturing toward the men, who were jumping up and down singing, "I wanna rock n' roll all night."
The other members are Eric Davis, Chapman junior; Dan Spurgin, Lawrence resident; Ed Goodman, Lawrence resident; and Andrew Ralston, Lawrence junior.
Historian enlightens others about bombing of Black community
By Hannah Naughton
Kansan staff writer
Even though "Seinfeld," "Friends" and "ER" were on television last night, more than 100 people listened to the story of the first airborne bombing on American soil.
The audience filled the Spencer Museum Auditorium to hear Ron Wallace, Tulsa, Okla., film producer and historian. He presented facts about a Black community that was the first area in the United States ever to be bombed from the air. On May 31, 1921, police bombed a Black Tulsa community, known as Black Wall Street because of its
wealth and prosperity. The community ultimately was phased out by the destruction incurred from riots and the bombings.
"This is the problem with America. Nobody knows who has contributed what," Wallace said. "It's not that history has been lied about; it's been omitted."
The riots were caused because a white elevator operator accused a Black shoeshine of attacking her. The shoeshine was arrested and jailed, even though he denied the attack. A white lynch mob gathered outside the jail, and a group of Black citizens gathered to protect the prisoner. Someone fired a shot, and rioting ensued in the 36 square
blocks of the Black community. Police commanded planes and dropped dynamite to stop the riots. The area was destroyed.
Wallace said that the community was successful because it cared for its people and educated its children. He emphasized the need to regain these values.
Heidi Kaufhold, Aurora, Ill., sophomore, said, "I thought it was shocking that this thing that's so important in history was covered up. We're not as aware of our history as we think."
Shannon Ikerd, Kansas City, Kan., junior, said she was surprised to find out about the bombing.
"I felt really dense and obtuse for disbelieving it at
first," Ikerd said. "Just think if you had never heard of John D. Rockefeller, or never heard of Einstein, or never head of George Washington. This is what Black students are facing.
"When you find out about it, you feel pride and a whole lot of anger that it was kept from you. Then you start to get inspired."
Julius Williams, assistant director of the office of minority affairs, helped organize the presentation. He said he was pleased with the turnout for the event.
"This is the kind of history we need to repeat, with Black people making a substantial contribution in the communities," he said.
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