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Page 2 The Blue Banner March 7, 1996 The Blue Banner Editorial The Top 10 for your Spring Break Spring elicits hope Well, spring is, if not here, at least close, and students of all types are feeling the crush. Spring break is for many, a well- deserved break that will, we hope, rejuvenate and rekindle, and revive flagging energy, tired souls and discouraged hearts. Amid all the irritating stuff, there are several things that stand out to us. For one, at the master plan meeting, Alyn Pruett said the land between Division Street and Broadway is too small to put a building or a ball field on. The church that was on the property has been demolished, after the university paid around $750,000 for the land. And now the land is too small for anything. Ask it along with us: “Why?” We don’t get it. These may be downers, or uppers, depending on your political persuasions, but Bob Dole swept Tuesday’s primaries, leaving all other candidates in the dust. Dick Lugar, who has had barely any success to speak of, dropped out of the race, followed by Lamar Alexander, who has surged and sputtered alternately. However, Jack Kemp has “come out” for Steve Forbes, giving his campaign a much-needed boost. Forbes has been flagging since the Arizona primary. He has also promised to consider appointing Alan Keyes as chairman of the Republican National Committee if he is elected, which is probably Forbes’ kowtow ing to religious conservatives. Keyes is still in the race, though not for much longer if he keeps on the hunger strike he started when he wasn’t invited to the debate in South Carolina. And just think, only eight more months of this! It seems like pregnancy would be easier, and less obnoxious. On a completely different topic, we would like to extend our sympathy to the men’s basketball team, who reached the semi finals of the Big South Tournament, only to be defeated in a heartbreaking game. The men had a good season, going on the longest winning streak of the previous seasons. There have been some good moments in the past weeks, such as the beautifully sunny, warm days in recent memory, when students lounged like sleepy cats in the sunshine on the quad or on the library steps. Other good things about the past weeks were the multitude of interesting events all over campus such as John Amos’ perfor mance last week of “Hailey’s Comet,” or the Kandinsky Trio and Connie Regan-Blake’s story-telling. We hope your spring break provides many more pleasant moments that will lighten your spirits and remind you of the joy that comes from this most interesting life. Editorial Board Catherine Elniff Andrea Lawson William Davis Anne Kuester Jeannie Peek Jeanette Webb Editor-in-Chief News Editor Features Editor Sports Editor Copy Editor Photo Editor Staff Kenneth Com, Shawn Culbertson, Marissa DeBlasio, Nick Foster, Troy Martin,Wendy McKinney, Susan Sertain, Denise Sizemore,Michael Taylor, Jennifer Thurston, Christine Treadaway, Jack Walsh Karen Brinson Advertising Alice Hui Business Manager Greg Burrus Circulation Mark West, faculty advisor The Blue Banner is the student newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Asheville. We publish each Thursday except during summer sessions, final exam weeks and holiday breaks. Our offices are located in Carmichael Hall, Rm 208-A. Our telephone number is (704) 251-6586. Our campus e-mail address is UNCAVX::BANNER. Nothing in our editorial or opinions sections necessarily reflects the opinion of the entire Blue Banner editorial board, the faculty advisor, or the university faculty, administration or staff. Unsigned editorials reflect the opinion of a majority of the Blue Banner editorial board. Letters, columns, cartoons and reviews represent only the opinions of their respective authors. The Blue Baimer welcomes submissions of letters and articles for publication. All submissions are subject to editing and are consid ered on the basis of interest, space, taste and timeliness. Letters must be typed, double^paced, and must not exceed 300 words. Letters for publication must also contain the author’s signa ture, classification, major or other relationship with UNCA. The deadline for letters and classifieds is noon on Tuesday. If you have a submission, you can send it to: T^e Blue Banner 208A Carmichael Hall One University Heights Asheville NC 28804 David Nanney Columnist David Letterman and Spring Break. You may wonder what they have in common. It’s simple — I love them both. David Letterman’s “Late Show” is one of the greatest shows on television today. And who hasn’t been looking forward to Spring Break since January? Both, in their own intrinsic way, can provide en tertainment for the open mind. So, from the home office, here are the Top Ten Sugges tions of things to do during Spring Break. 10. Follow Hootie and the Blowfish on Tour — Try to find out which one is Hootie — I really liked the Blowholes when they first hit the music scene. Since their inception, radio stations have overplayed their songs to the point of disgust. Then they win a Grammy. Now we’ll hear them for an other year, several hundred times per day. 9. Try to make yourself more weird — We all know UNCA has become “Diversity Uni versity.” What I must wonder is how far will this go? With the multitude of ostentatious hair colors seen on campus, one might think Dennis Rod man has his own UNCA fan club. 8. Prepare for NC UR 10 — On April 18 through 20, over 1800 students will descend on our campus for the Tenth An nual National Conference on Undergraduate Research. This program was founded by our fine university in 1987, and celebrates its tenth anniversary back where it all began. This conference provides a chance for UNCA to show off to students and faculty from virtually around the country. Interested in more informa tion? Get in touch with the office on campus. It will be well worth the time you in vest. Their email address is NCURIO on the VAX. You can also volunteer to help with the conference. 7. Go to a beach—Daytona, Myrtle, or Baywatch—T\\e. world needs more babes in bikinis, for nication, and alcohol consump tion. What I need more than anything is a tan! Even high- intensity mercury-vapor lights cause my skin to crawl. 6. Travel for job interviews (graduating seniors only)— If you are not counting, we are just over two months from gradua tion. 5. Dates — Well, I guess this applies to some. I’m still bank ing on Claudia Schiffer dump ing one David for another (Copperfield for Nanney). 4. Bloodsucking professors pre parefor war—An entire week of solace only means most profes sors will return with renewed vengeance on us, the students. I can’t wait. 3. Figure out why Spring Break occurs before the beginning of Spring — We actually observe Spring Break a week before the Overexposed absurdity John Edwards Columnist Initially I’d planned to dedi cate this week’s column to dis cussing Pat Buchanan. After having seen Theatre UNCA’s production of “Lysistrata,” however, I felt the drama de partment was deserving of, well, exposure. Given the absurdity of the costuming of “Lysistrata,” I’m sure many of us can still relate to Mr. Buchanan just the same. The . Greek playwright Aristophanes didn’t have to defend himself from unChrist- like Christian prejudice in 450 B.C.E. What makes “Lysistrata” timeless is it’s theme regard ing the absurdity of war — something leaders from Charlemagne to Tricky Dick Nixon could have learned from, particularly if the women of their time had pro tested war. (Actually, some college women did protest Nixon’s war, and classmates were gunned down for it. Pat Buchanan had a hand in writ ing Nixon’s speech justifying the slaying of students exer cising their First Amendment rights.) Theatre UNCA’s “Lysistrata” was the first North American production ofRanjit Bolt’s ad aptation. The music was composed by Morris Hubbard, adjunct in structor with UNCA’s music department. My own belief in the justifi cation for artistic freedom was reinforced upon overhearing that a “friend of the theater” had donated $1000 to The atre UNCA after having seen the play. (The athletic department should be so lucky.) The anonymous “friend” had said, “This is the kind of the ater UNCA should be doing.” Angela Seymour, assistant pro fessor of drama, elaborated on just what this “friend” meant: “Academic theater is the only place you can take chances. If you’re going to fail, fail big. Because in the real world, if you fail, you end up flipping hamburgers.” Seymour de signed the sexu ally suggestive costumes. “I wanted some thing titalating, but not graphic,” she said. “I saw the women’s underwear as armor. The underwear is what keeps the woman from being touched physically.” She wanted “Lysistrata” to be “more than nudity and fake genitals.” She said it was delib erate that the nudity depicted was absurd; that the breasts were obviously rounded pil low-like accessories, and the phalluses were colored terry cloth-covered foam costuming. “We all know what breasts look like...(the costuming) didn’t have to be porno graphic,” she said. Mick Walker, who was cast as the Magistrate, said work ing with such absurd costum ing during rehearsals “was weird at first... It was a real novelty.” In this regard Seymour praised the cast. “They were very professional,” she said. Walker said the concern of the cast was “choreography. theatre IIMCA character, part of official start of Spring. Sounds to me as if UNCA had some thing to do with original plan ning. 2. Complete school work — Spring Break offers a perfect opportunity to get ahead in our studies. Other opportuni ties include finishing that pa per due in April, studying for Senior Comps, studying for up coming tests, writing “Letters to the Editor” of The Blue Ban ner (not an obvious plug). WRONG! It’s much more fun to veg etate in front of the TV, eating potato chips and watching pro fessional wrestling! And the number one sugges tion of things to do during Spring Break: REST! REST! REST! — We still have seven more weeks of tprture to sur vive! It’s not over until the fat lady sings, and Roseanne is just warming up. Be safe over Spring Break. Come back alive! also said, “(Director) Pat Snoyer led our characters in a general direction, and was liberal in al lowing us to go with our own creative impulse.” Rehearsals began the first week after the semester began, with UNCA’s Connie Schrader as choreographer. Brett Doar, who appeared in three different roles, said the main focus of the rehearsals “was the danceoi the thing.” He said Schrader stressed “the persona” and in- troduced the cast to tech niques which “stylized” each “I focused on what the body I led with...which part of the body was prominent at the moment,” said Doar. Susan Sertain, cast as the Corinthian, said there were times when she thought, “Oh, my gosh! I can’t do that..." but then “let go and just started do ing it.” She said her favorite scene was “the fight scene. Everyone com pletely let go. It had a choreo graphed beginning,” she said, “but we choreographed most of it as we played. This is why “Lysistrata” had “that fun feel- mg. Walker said that all wasn’t so fun, though. “My sword handle broke,” he said, “and it kept swinging in-between my legs... as if the huge phallus wasn’t enough” to contend with. This occurred during a perfor mance and there wasn’t anything he could do but keep his hand mask work and acting.” He on the sword handle. “It was a little distracting,” he said. Like most theater produc tions, a lot of hard work went into making “Lysistrata” en joyable for the audience. Tashah Thompson, who per formed the role of Myrrhina, said, “This is a very technical- oriented theater,” and third and fourth year drama students “work and live in the theater pretty much” while preparing for such a production. Most of the actors/actresses serve multiple roles as stage or technical crew members as well. For about six ,weeks, these dedicated students spent the day constructing the set, props and costuming, then evenings they rehearsed — even on Sat urdays. The upper-classmen “are teaching as well as doing,” Th ompson said. Doar, a junior, said he invested as much as three to four hours a day, in addition to his other classes totaling 13 semester hours. Seymour, hesitant to single out any one student, praised Hector Fernandez for his “bril liant” work on creating the masks worn by the cast. “It took an awful lot of fore knowledge” for him to create the masks. The technical crew was “fantastic,” she added. When asked how the First Amendment could be applied to “Lysistrata,” Scott Weisenberger, who performed the role of Kinesias, said, “All I know is people paid money to see it.” It probably wouldn’t surprise anyone who saw “Lysistrata” that the featured condom-ents at the cast party were phallic shaped doughnuts.
University of North Carolina at Asheville Student Newspaper
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March 7, 1996, edition 1
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