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uty* Saily (Ear Hppl Famed Poet Laureate To Speak on Campus By Joanna Pearson Staff Writer Sometimes art is a calling rather than a decision. Such is the case for U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky in his writing and in his life. “I didn’t choose to translate the “Inferno”, I happened upon it, and it triggered something in me, as with the subject or material of any other poem I write,” he said, explaining the book he will read from at 7 p.m. Sunday at UNC’s Hanes Art Center. His lecture on “The Inferno of Dante” serves as the 11th annual Mary Stevens Reckford Memorial Lecture in European Studies, designed to bring internationally renowned speakers to give talks that appeal to the public rather than just intellectuals. Pinsky said poetry indeed fits into the theme of mass palpability. “Of course poetry is ‘accessible’ - that’s why it survives in the absence of much in the way of marketing, advertis ing, vast sums of money, etc,” he said. Since being named Poet Laureate in 1997, Pinsky has lived by the idea that everyone has a connection with poetry, but bis connection is deeper than most. “I can’t remember a time when I did n’t inhabit words, think about them, lis ten to them, play with them,” he said, “When I did that as a child - inventing rhyming games, alphabet games, listen ing to the cadences of phrases, making up different words to popular songs it had nothing to do with art in my mind. WAKE From Page 1 man, said this made the visit an inap propriate use of a school. “They used it purely as a campaign stop and cloaked it behind education,” he said. But Boggs said the First Amendment protected the endorsement. “You can endorse anyone around the state.” Cobey said politicians appearing on campiises should answer student ques tions and not promote political beliefs. “That’s where they crossed the line.” The State & National Editor can be reached at stntdesk@unc.edu. I:’;.:.'- f I || I I I I I * 3nv HeadQuartors across thG hall iust crankpfl J: ; I # ■ I ill ll# ! ■i- r ■ ■ - I i- I VWiL. | | MJ#%l Iw w Q 1 Cm i Cl ■ 111 •I vl I'v II 111 U %11l Ic II Ho I JJ m Mj* 1 TflA KA r t lAIOII Fa #|ao| imif k nnir a Ir' I 1 1 m. M |f. I !■ 1C? vv v l ii if Cl Y IU and I Vlf llfl 11 |H 11 Cl I SrJ Is rQ I * " |v ’ I. * I v IN A SERIES I v J I " " 11 ■■■ ' - | y II I I I I I i\ I I I #T I e a goo se o earp ugs. I I I*l I I ft rlnAn ~.UU Vlrt ,~ Ii I l# I Ludi ii lo sieop wiin your riGau sandwiched I I ■ J | hofiAroon tiA/n mlirttAJc I I ' I j —— ———— — ■ I; :'V i .V ; . jd:,. ; , ' I - : : ■. ■ I _ _ —- - - You don’t have to put up with chronic noise T | *’***<*'** pollution and other forms of drunken rudeness. HddFnOUnh Dffl I —~ ' Advocateforchange.Visitvmww.HadEnough.org. nsuyi i.ui y mom,,* It was a habit, a deep tendency or need." He didn’t know at the time that he would become a poet, but rhythm and meter were always part of his dreams. “I wanted to be a jazz musician,” he said. “I strive for the beauty of a chorus by, say, Sonny Rollins or Dexter Gordon, in everything I write.” His innate love of poetry has carried Pinsky far. Not only is he the 39th Poet Laureate, but he is the poetry editor of the online journal “Slate” and teaches graduate writing at Boston University. He has also won many awards for his work as a translator and poet, including the Los Angeles Times Book Award in poetry and the Howard Morton Landon Prize for “The Inferno of Dante.” His book “The Figured Wheel: New and Collected Poems 1965-1995””was nom inated for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry. As Poet Laureate one of Pinsky’s aims is promoting poetry in America, and it seems his efforts are prevailing. “Oddly enough, (poetry) is thriving. The other day, USA TODAY had a story about tbe 15 words or phrases most entered into the Lycos search engine on the Web. ‘Poetry’ was in eighth place, just above ‘Star Wars,’” Pinsky said. “Quality is harder to estimate than quantity, but let’s presume that a thriv ing culture of poetry will eventually be good for poetry.” The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk.unc.edu. DIVERSITY From Page 1 FBI crime statistics have shown the total incidents of hate crimes to fluctuate widely over the last eight years, from 4,558 incidents reported in 1991 to 8,734 in 1996. Although inconsistencies in reporting make data difficult to com pare, hate crimes have been a major concern of minority groups recently. Racially motivated crimes frequently make national headlines. Media atten tion focused on the June 1998 murder of James Byrd Jr., who was dragged to death behind a truck, and the trials of the three men accused of killing him. Glenn Grossman, the co-founder and Jazz Festival Continues Tonight By Robin Clemow Arts & Entertainment Editor The UNCJazz Festival began in 1978 with area musicians and students per forming in traditional swing-style on the scuffed wooden stage of Hill Hall. Twelve years later, the event has har nessed the energy of numerous campus groups and evolved into an educational experience with memorable moments like Wednesday night’s festival-opening performance by David Sanchez, a 1999 Grammy nominee. In the 1980s, James Ketch, music pro fessor and jazz festival director, formed connections with the Carolina Union Performing Arts Committee. As the fes tival grew, it gained attention from University administrators. After a 1997 meeting between Ketch and former vice ELECTIONS BOARD From Page 1 Board during both the general election and Tuesday’s runoff race. “We want to stop this trend,” said Seth Shore, a member of Smiley’s cam paign. “We wish the votes of the students could come without bias.” One of the central student complaints stemmed from allegations that a cam paign member of Student Body President-elect Brad Matthews staffed the Chase Hall polling site on Feb. 15, 2000 without being an authorized poll tender. But Elections Board Chairwoman Catherine Yates refuted the allegation. co-chairman of Carolina Alternate Meetings of Professionals and Graduate Students, said diversity usually encour aged acceptance, but had not stopped occasional violence toward gays. Grossman said the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community faced heavy antagonism, noting the October 1998 murder of gay University of Wyoming student Matthew Sheppard as an example of gay-bashing. “(Toward) GLBTs, we’ve witnessed an increase in visible hatred.” The PC Generation As more minorities vied for main stream recognition in the 19905, pundits and commentators coined the term “polit ical correctness” to refer to increasing sen Arts provost Tom Meyer, success was inevitable. “That’s when we got together with Gerald Home of the (Black Cultural Center), and the provost office got involved ... and the event sort of mush roomed into a campuswide event,” Ketch said. Now, the jazz festival brings in big name artists each year, to teach, enter tain and increase the diversity of music on campus. This year, it’s pianist Kevin Hayes, saxophonist Antonio Hart, bassist Dwayne Bumo and percussionist Billy Hart who will perform with UNC jazz bands Friday night at Hill Hall and make combo magic together Saturday. Along with these well-known musi cians, the jazz festival recruited Sanchez with the help of the BCC. The Puerto “It’s totally false,” she said. “The first week he went door to door with him, but after that he had no affili ation with his campaign.” Jay Henderson remained on Matthews’ campaign Web site as of Wednesday night. According to the Student Code, no student on any campaign can staff a poll site and that doing so could result in a disqualification from the race. Other allegations included that can didate complaints were not addressed by a majority of the Elections Board, poll sites were not inspected properly and Yates did not keep written records of complaints brought before her. Students said Wednesday night that although the violations contained sitivity surrounding diversity issues. Stone said the concept of political correctness was poorly defined. “It depends on who’s using the term,” Stone said. “The term ‘politically cor rect’ is seen by some people as a form of censorship,” Stone said. “We might dis agree on what is politically correct.” Black Student Movement President Chris Faison described political correct ness as a double-edged sword that worked both for and against goals of integration and understanding. “In this era of political correctness, people’s true feelings have been masked,” Faison said. “There still is a lot of intolerance to other peoples and cultures - it’s just sugar-coated with PC terms.” Rico native and former sideman of jazz legend Dizzy Gillespie performed with his sextet and gave a lecture on the influ ence of Latin music in jazz Wednesday. Sanchez, decked in golden sunglasses and a sleek tan shirt, clapped jazz beats while vocalizing Latin rhythms in a humble demonstration of his musical style at the afternoon lecture in Person Recital Hall. He then explained the complex rhythms again as he played a number from his latest release. “He played a rhythm and I heard it and the drummer followed me,” he said, explaining how his sultry saxophone voice echoed the style of the bassist. Music students looked on in awe at the difficult improvisation techniques. “It’s a struggle,” Sanchez said. “But if you listen, it works.” grounds for anew election, they would not pursue the matter further. “Bringing suits against particular individuals would undermine the elections,” Shore said. Freshman Sandi Chapman, a mem ber of Smiley’s campaign, said that after three strenuous weeks of campaigning, it was not feasible for students to seek a re-election. “It’s more important for students to know the truth,” she said. Just before Tuesday’s results were announced, talk of election mishap began circulating among supporters from both presidential campaigns. Elections Board Vice Chairwoman Marissa Downs announced that there had been a problem with ballot collec tion at Hanes Art Center poll site. Ervin echoed Stone, saying the con cept of political correctness worked against free expression and was often used to control opinions. “I know what it means and when peo ple say it, but I’m not sure I see (political correctness) the way most people do,” Ervin said. “People tend to use that term when it is somewhat self-serving.” Diversity's Legacy Since the civil rights movement, Cramer said diversity had made the country stronger. “Minorities certainly have more of a say and are participating in a higher level of politics and political decision making,” Cramer said. “From a socio logical standpoint, we’ve certainly made Thursday, February 24, 2000 The lesson was the first of many for music students this week. Jazz artists will visit classes today and provide an impro visation clinic Friday morning. “There’s an education component that’s, to me, at least the equal of the per formance side of the event,” Ketch said. As UNC saxophone players leaned forward in the front row to hear the smooth tones of Sanchez’s instrument Wednesday, and stayed to ask questions when the hour was up, there was no question that they agreed with Ketch. The festival will continue tonight with a performance by the N.C. Jazz Repertory Orchestra at 8 p.m. in Hill Hall Auditorium. Tickets are available at the Student Union for $4 for students. The Arts & Entertainment Editor can be reached at artsdesk.unc.edu. Downs said some voters casting bal lots during the morning hours at that site might not have been asked to show proper identification. The mistake prompted the Elections Board to invalidate 57 ballots not in accordance with the Student Code, which requires students to have proper identification to vote in student elec tions. . But some students said the problems were far more extensive. Yates said the board had remained committed to running a fair process throughout the race. “We did every thing, we thought, by the book.” The University Editor can be reached at udesk@unc.edu. better use of our whole population.” But the increased awareness of social barriers that has come with diversity has been a mixed blessing. Cramer said diversity had not neces sarily correlated with better integration. “The more contact a person has with another person or group, the more oppor tunities there are for there to be conflict” And although conflict and tension have caused many to keep their feelings to themselves, Cramer said silence could sometimes be productive. “To the extent that people don’t express their prejudices, two things hap pen: they’ll probably be exposed to more experiences that help break down those prejudices, and younger people who come along don’t hear those prejudices.” 11
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