4
MONDAY, APRIL 19, 2004
Student plays key role
in telescope project
BY TORRYE JONES
STAFF WRITER
Adam Crain was only a fresh
man when he started working with
professors on plans for UNC’s new
high-performance telescope.
Crain, who graduated in
December, co-developed the
remote-access technology that lets
faculty and students operate the tel
escope located in Chile from UNC.
“It was a great experience,” Crain
said. “I feel lucky to have had the
level of participation that I did.”
The telescope, which was
launched Friday, is housed in the
$32 million Southern Observatory
for Astrophysical Research atop
Cerro Pachon, a ridge in Chile.
Crain’s efforts helped establish
the Henry Cox Remote Observing
Center, located in Morehead
Observatory, where UNC students
can use SOAR to conduct research.
Crain first heard of the SOAR
project from Wayne Christiansen, a
professor of physics and astronomy,
in Christiansen’s first-year seminar
on chaos theory. Christiansen later
introduced Crain to Professor
Gerald Cecil, who teaches astro
physics and who took Crain in as
his protege.
“It was intimidating at first,”
Crain said. “Yet, it was a good time
for me to join the project because
they were just beginning. I was
able to be involved in high-level
thinking.”
Crain said that when creating
the remote-access software, the
group was concerned primarily
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with delivering images in a timely
fashion from Chile to Chapel Hill.
“Usually, you would have to wait
for (the images) for four to five
minutes,” he said. “We compressed
the pictures so you could see them
in seconds and professors wouldn’t
have to be idle.”
Cecil, who is in Chile for the
dedication, stated in an e-mail that
Crain is an ideal student. “I feel
that I am working with a real pro
fessional with great person skills.”
he stated. “It’s very easy to chat
with him about anything. There’s a
deep and engaging mind there.”
Crain also wrote the control sys
tem for the imaging spectrum
graph, a SOAR instrument
designed by Professor Chris
Clemens, who teaches astrophysics.
UNC alumnus Matt Bayliss,
who also works with Clemens, said
Crain is extremely dedicated.
“He will lock himself in a room
for hours if he has to,” Bayliss said.
“He is a creative person. He tries
out bizarre things that haven’t
been done before to see if it works.”
Crain plans to travel to Chile this
summer to complete his work with
SOAR This fall, he will attend grad
uate school at Stanford University,
where he still might be consulted on
the project in the future.
“It feels good,” Crain said of his
involvement with SOAR “I can’t
wait to come back and see people
using it. I’m sure it will sink in then.”
Contact the University Editor
cut udesk@unc.edu.
‘Hair’ puts counterculture to music
BY TOM PREVITE
STAFF WRITER
The counterculture resonates as
a defining moment in U.S. history,,
and Studio 3 in the Department of
Dramatic Art has brought the
essence of that time to the stage
with monumental success.
“Hair” isn’t just a musical. It’s a
full-blown immersion into hip
piedom.
Robed, peace-losing characters
come off the stage, walk alongside
the aisles, enter the stands and
break the fourth wall with routine
ease. You almost expect them to
throw you flowers.
It’s a \isceral experience in the
sense that the production galva
nizes emotions and senses rather
than progresses a plot.
In fact, audience members
might be hard pressed to under
stand what’s going on until the sec-
Death Cab makes happy return to Cradle
BY BECCA MOORE
STAFF WRITER
Just in time to help wrap up the
end of yet another school year,
indie darlings Death Cab for Cutie
will be back at
Cat’s Cradle
tonight.
The band
was here only
five months ago,
but it’s return
ing now in sup-
ONLINE
Read the full
Death Cab
interview at
www.daily
tarheel.com
its latest studio release,
Transatlanticism.
In an interview with The Daily
Tar Heel, Death Cab’s bass player
Nick Harmer mentioned his love
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THEATER EVIEW
HAIR
STUDIO 3
SATURDAY, APRIL 17
ond act.
Between the sexuality and
social commentary, “Hair” centers
on the contrast between hippie life
and conservative values within the
context of the Vietnam War.
Claude Bukowski, a member of an
eclectic troupe of free-living
youths, must struggle with the
decision to bum his draft card and
suffer imprisonment, or fight and
risk death.
What paces “Hair” and ulti
mately leaves a lasting impact on
the audience is how the cast adopts
v the way of life, the drug-induced
haze and political upheaval of the
for Carrboro and said he includes
it in his list of favorite spots to play
when the band is trekking across
the country.
“I really like Chicago, Austin,
New York, so many others, and
Carrboro, too, we always get a
great crowd there,” Harmer said.
He also said that the band makes
sure to spend time at Weaver Street
Market when they’re in town. “That
place is awesome. They have really
good food, and it’s a cool atmos
phere, lots of interesting people.”
Death Cab for Cutie will be
joined by indie acts Ben Kweller
and Pedro the Lion.
Kweller is a singer-songwriter
youth of that time. Actors embrace
social taboos, including homosex
uality, racial equality and frank
sexuality, with burning fervor and
electrifying gusto. No actor stands
alone, but all are excellent.
The production as a whole is
simply powerful. Fluid, mercurial
choreography melds perfectly with
subtle lighting, especially during
the more heated dance routines.
The 22-person troupe percolates,
grinds and collapses to well-exe
cuted rock pieces accentuated by
horns and a keyboard.
The set design accommodates
both sensibility and style with a
two-tiered stage. Trash cans and
construction equipment give an
appropriate sense of the outdoors,
and a fragmented U.S. flag serves
as a backdrop, likely symbolizing
the fragmentation of the country’s
philosophies.
with an abundance of infectious
tracks on Sha Sha. He is based in
Brooklyn, N.Y., and Harmer said
that the band invited Kweller to
join them on tour because the
members really enjoy his work.
“We heard about Ben through
the grapevine and just really liked
what he’s doing,” he said. “It’s an
East Coast-West Coast spreadin’-
the-love kind of thing.”
Pedro the Lion, the now one
man-band, is also on tour in sup
port on his upcoming Achilles Heel,
slated for a May 25 release.
If the name Death Cab sounds
familiar, it might be because the
band has been name-dropped a
few times on Fox’s popular new
drama, “The 0.C.”
The threat of “selling out”
always is associated with anything
independent receiving attention
from the mainstream, but the band
has made it publicly known, time
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April 20th & 21st
OLD WELL SING
April 23rd
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for more info
www.clefhangers.com
will read from his
poetry collection
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pig on Monday,
P| April 19th
at 3:30 p.m.
Bull's Head
Bookshop
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if YOU GO
Date: Monday, April 19, and
Tuesday, April 20
Time: Monday at 4 p.m.; Tuesday at
5 p.m.
Location: Playmakers Theatre
Info: http://www.unc.edu/depts/
drama/Studio_Series/Studio3/stu
dio3.html
Studio 3’s Web site states that
the musical “has a particularly
striking resonance with issues at
the heart of our nation today.”
Regardless of the validity of that
statement, the tenacity of the
actors, seemingly emblazed
through soul searching on current
events, makes “Hair” a truly unfor
gettable experience.
Contact theA&E Editor
at artsdesk@unc.edu.
IF YOU GO
Date: Monday, April 19
Time: 8:30 p.m.
Location: Cat’s Cradle
Info: http://www.catscradle.com
and time again, that the exposure
is never a bad thing.
When asked if he ever watches
the show, Harmer said that he
enjoys it. “We don’t have time to
catch a lot of TV, but I’ve seen a few
episodes,” he said. “It’s definitely
funny, and even though I think
we’re past its target audience,
there’s a certain creative charm
and intelligence with it.”
Though the show starts at 8:30
p.m., the Cat’s Cradle Web site has
it listed as sold out, so you might
have to be creative to get tickets.
Contact theA&E Editor
at artsdesk@unc.edu.