Page 8
Mar. i6, 2007
www.gni1fordian.com
Greensboro. N.C.
Music Week calms midterm nerves
Amanda Pressley | Staff Writer
An espresso machine made a subtle
grinding sound. Bodies huddled on soft,
overstuhed couches. A turning page reso
nated raspingly. Laptop screens produced a
light blue glow. At the first performance of
Music Week, Tim Grau tapped his foot light
ly against the linoleum floor as he strummed
his guitar.
Music Week consists of a series of low-
key events in the soothing environment of
The Greenleaf.
Feb. 20 featured performances by Tim
Grau, Matt Del Olmo, Josh Lewis, and Will
McKindley-Ward. Feb. 21, "Ladies' Night,"
featured an array of female musicians.
This semester, by coincidental schedul
ing, a WQFS concert corresponded with the
week's other events.
The melodic celebration of Music Week
began in fall '06.
Chelsea Simpson, a junior and events
manager at The Greenleaf, helped devise
the festivities.
"It just seemed a shame to let all of the
great talent at Guilford go unappreciated,"
said Simpson.
During the fall '06 semester. Music Week
was scheduled before fall break and attract
ed a significant crowd. Simpson expressed
concerns early on in Tuesday's festivities
that this semester's events were ill timed.
"I think scheduling it during midterms
might have been a mis
take," said Simpson.
While Simpson
voiced concerns about
poor scheduling, stu
dents in attendance
were delighted by the
timing.
"(I'm here) to de
stress from midterms,"
said sophomore and
Greenleaf employee
John Douglas.
Douglas was among
others who were escap
ing from their studying.
Dan Miller/Guilfordian
Will McKinley-Ward and Josh
while some brought their materials along
and sat with their laptops and textbooks as
they enjoyed the music.
Upcoming midterms did not seem to mar
the turn out, especially on Ladies' Night.
The night's female-oriented gig had a
steady stream of students coming into The
Greenleaf and watching the unique lineup.
The night started with raven-haired
senior Lisa Jaeggi's impromptu acoustic
version of Oasis' "Wonderwall." She then
played several original songs and a unique
Phil Collins medley.
Following Jaeggi's opening, several other
women brought instruments to the softly lit
comer stage to perform for the ever-growing
crowd, which eventually reached 30.
No two music acts were alike; some were
folksy, others had a bluegrass twang.
"Oh, daddy dear, you're still number
one," sang senior Josh Lewis.
He offered the only male voice as he
joined sophomore Lexi Mincer for a bizarre
cover of "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun."
First-year Casey Thomas wowed the
crowd with her unexpected performance.
She walked from the kitchen toting a bass
taller than herself, and then proceeded to
belt out a series of bluesy songs.
"There's something to be said about peo
ple performing and doing things that aren't
traditionally done," said first-year Hannah
Johnston, who also performed.
Morgan Howard/Guilfordian
Emma Deutsch during music week.
First-year Kylie Gilliams, a self-pro
claimed emo kid, was also awed by the mu
sical melange.
"Music Week was a chance to experience
music I wouldn't normally hear," she said.
Music Week ended after performances on
Feb. 20 in The Underground (see p. 7).
"It's been solid. Really solid," said Simp
son.
Justice is not served
A review of 'Reno 911'
Jason Dilger | Contributing Writer they are denied admission. However, in a
twist of fate, the convention and all officers
How funny is a joke if you've heard it in attendance are quarantined due to con-
before? For example, no one cares why the tamination from an unknown poison,
chicken crossed the road. In "Reno 911!: Mi- The eight-member team of Reno be-
ami" directed by Ben Garant, this feathered comes the only possible squad to patrol the
menace is arrested for jaywalking — hon- city. So what do they do? They answer the
estly. The movie stays true to itself, and fans phone, knock on some doors, dance around
of the analogous show on Comedy Central a bit, and utterly lose control. Finally, just
are not likely dis
appointed.
Like a gift
wrapped in trans
parent paper, what
you see is what you
get.
Throughout the
storyline, small,
senseless scenes
keep you inter
ested while the ri
diculous plot drags
on.
The sitcom's
characters are used
in the film, such
as Deputy Clem
entine Johnson (Wendi McLendon-Covey)
and Lieutenant Jim Dangle (Thomas Len
non). Naturally, the film contains all of the
same knucklehead deputies. This is a good
thing, because few people could fumble
around so aimlessly and remain ignorantly
believable.
The film is set up like a documentary but
is as unrealistic as a purple unicorn. In this
instance, the poor souls find themselves
trapped in an unlikely situation. After ar
riving in Miami to attend a convention.
as a box full of acme
explosives never
killed Wyllie Coyote,
our idiotic friends
some how find a way
to exit Miami without
a scratch.
Furthermore,
there's no need to
check your crystal
ball; know that nu
dity and vulgarity
flood the scenes. Such
things can create a
chuckle, but those of
you unfamiliar with
the antics and humor
of Comedy Central,
should place caution tape before the ticket
line. Some may find the plot to be pointless
and boring.
A pie in the face, the mooning of a rear
end, or a witty insult may not be enough
to keep this film on top of the "must see"
list. True comedy is found in the cleverly
creative and unexpected. How much co
medic genius will you find in people who
are referred to by Lieutenant Jim Dangle as
"the dumbest people known without being
legally retarded?"
cinemablend.com/forum
Q&A with the
Multicultural Education
Department
Carl Farlow | Staff Writer
In an interview with Leslie Essien
(Initiative Outreach coordinator), Aleks
Babic (senior), Carol Cothern (librar
ian and '88 CCE alumna). Bob Williams
(economics professor), Sekinah Hamlin
(Multicultural Education Department),
Holly Wilson (Africana Community),
and Jorge Zeballos (international student
advisor), the members of the Multicul
tural Education Department discussed
the organization's purpose, goals, and
history.
Q; How does the MED work? What do
you do?
Hamlin: The MED is comprised of a
couple of programs, the Native Ameri
can Program, the Africana Community,
and the GLBTQA Resources program.
Then we also have the Latino Initiative.
Within our department, we have the
Multicultural Leadership Program, of
which Aleks is one, and we also are the
department that is joined with the Anti-
Racism Team. One of the goals of our
department is to be proactive in educat
ing our community on how to become an
anti-racist and multicultural community
and institution. We also work with fac
ulty development
Q: What kind of services do you offer?
Hamlin: I think mainly what we do
is educational. And it's about how we
see ourselves in doing our personal work
and how we engage with community and
how systems of oppressions work and
how they need to be corrected.
Zeballos: Part of the work, although
the ultimate goal is to change the institu
tion, the work must begin at the indi
vidual level. So we look at how policies
like curriculum, hiring, and retention are
all affecting the institution.
Q; If a student feels discriminated
against, should they come to the MED?
Hamlin: It's not a center quite like
that; we have members who aren't em
ployees. But as for a safe space, we work
very well in dealing with those issues.
One thing we aim for as we complete
our diversity plan is that we need more
things in place. We need an ethnic,
sexual identity and harassment policy.
We need some clarity on that.
Babic: The handbook does not spe
cifically define harassment or have any
policies for those issues. We're also look
ing at how the current policies are not
necessarily comprehensive.
Hamlin: Right now, we've got in-
house trainers that are trained to be
diversity trainers. With only two work
shops, we can't train enough people.
Hopefully, we'll be able to provide these
services to the greater community.
Wilson: Yeah, to the readers, look
out for more workshops in the year, and
don't be afraid to reach out to different
members of the MED. We're here for
you.
For the complete interview, please visit
www.guilfordian.com