Indian techno music blares through a crowded party, and a woman dressed in a beautiful pink and yellow sari pulls me away from where the other guests are dancing. “I want to show you how we dance in India,” she says to me. The end result was a home video of me doing what looked more like window-washer meets a bad Shakira impression than anything cultural. Relatives all the way in India are probably still laughing at that video and asking, “Who is that white girl?”
As the girlfriend of a son of Indian immigrants, I have been “that white girl” for the past four years. Besides making a fool of myself by attempting Indian dancing, I have learned a lot about Indian culture through watching Hindi movies, making Indian friends, even persuading my “ketchup-is-spicy” father to eat Indian food. However, dating interracially has also come with a price. As my boyfriend’s parents do not want their son distracted from his education by any girl, especially not a white one, they discourage our relationship and have openly expressed their disapproval. With so many cultural differences between our families, our relationship, like many interracial relationships, comes with challenges that others may lack. Still, I feel by not limiting myself to my own race, I have been able to learn a lot about a culture other than mine and have allowed myself to follow my heart in dating the person that truly makes me happy, regardless of the thoughts of those around me. With more young people entering into interracial relationships, a lot of couples are realizing that when it comes to dating, being colorblind is the best way to go.[bling]
“Race is physical and nothing more,” journalism senior Stephen Patterson said. “Fall in love with who you fall in love with. If you see someone you like and you don’t go for it because of racial differences, you might miss out on something really great.”
Patterson, who is African-American, has taken his own advice for the past two years in his relationship with journalism senior Kristen Lee, the daughter of an Asian father and Caucasian mother. Though both encourage interracial relationships, they do so for different reasons. Lee, like many people who date outside their race, is partly drawn to other races because experiencing different cultures is appealing.
“Growing up in a multiracial home, race and diversity were always on my mind,” Lee said. “My dad preaches diversity. He was always saying to me, ‘Kristen, you are biracial. Never forget that.’ My dad’s influence has always been a big part of my life and I like it that way.”
Lee’s father’s influence encouraged her to strive to expand her social circle beyond her race and to learn all she could about other cultures. She said she has always had a very diverse group of friends and has dated men of many races. “I have dated white guys, Asian guys. I am open to any race,” Lee said.
While race and ethnicity are defining elements in Lee’s life and her dating experiences, for Patterson, racial identity is not something he consciously considers. He said he doesn’t see color when it comes to dating. “While Kristen is ultra-racial, my race and other people’s races are not something I think about at all,” Patterson said. “I have a lot of friends that are from a lot of different backgrounds, but I don’t really think about them like that. I do the same with dating.”
MSU communication professor Steve McCornack, who has done an extensive amount of research on relationships dynamics, said it is people like Lee and Patterson, who have surrounded themselves with diverse groups of friends, that are more likely to date people of other ethnicities. “People establish two groups in their lives, what we call ‘in groupers,’ people you perceive to be like you, and ‘out groupers,’ people you perceive to be not like you,” McCornack said. “A lot of people only perceive a person of their own ethnicity to be similar to them, which is often a wrong assumption to make. Those people rarely date outside their race.” The key to meeting a soulmate may very well be not ruling someone out due to race.
[john]If people choose not to date outside their race because they think they are just too different, they could be missing out not only on a relationship, but also a learning experience. Lee and Patterson both stated dating each other has taught them a lot. For Lee, who is very interested in learning about other cultures, just observing and interacting with the Patterson family is an exciting experience for her. “The first time I hung out with his family, it was really exciting just to see the cultural differences and experience different family dynamics,” said Lee. Patterson said because of Lee’s interest in diversity, he has gotten a chance to learn not only about the cultures that she comes from, but many cultures, including his own. “I think I may be a little bit blacker from dating her,” Patterson joked.
For accounting senior Shannon Thomas, dating criminal justice senior A.J. Garcia for the past three and a half years has been a dating experience like none other. Since Garcia is of Mexican descent while Thomas is Caucasian, she has been introduced into an entirely different culture. “His culture is a big part of his life, so I have gotten very exposed to it, ” Thomas said. “He is involved in CRU [Culturas De Las Razas Unidas] and he is in the multicultural frat. He is 100 percent Mexican. His mom was born in Mexico City and his dad’s family lived in Mexico about six generations back.” Thomas is often immersed in Mexican food and music, and she has even learned a little Spanish from dating Garcia, though he does not speak it fluently. Other Garcia family traditions still stand.
“When they have family parties they have the mariachi band music playing and traditional Mexican food,” Thomas said. “It’s great. A.J. and I will sit with his mom watching Spanish soap operas and she will translate them for us. I have gotten to learn so much about Mexican culture from them.”
Besides learning about Hispanic culture from Garcia, dating him has allowed her to learn from her now largely Hispanic circle of friends. Growing up in Warren, Mich., Thomas said she doesn’t remember ever seeing anyone of Mexican descent. “Though I have always been open to other races, I had only dated white guys before A.J. and I didn’t have any Hispanic friends,” Thomas said. Since dating Garcia, almost half of her friends are of Hispanic descent. “One of the things I’ve learned from my friends is that Hispanic people are very proud of their culture,” Thomas said. “You can’t mix up cultures. Like if you think someone is Puerto Rican and they are Mexican, they will get offended.” This cultural specificity is not present in everyone’s heritage and can be an interesting thing to encounter.[blind]
Both Lee and Patterson and Thomas and Garcia are fortunate because all their families have been accepting of their relationship, which is not always the case for interracial couples. “The most I’ve gotten was curiosity from friends,” Patterson said. “The ‘Oh, you are dating an Asian girl, what’s that like’ thing. And I tell them it’s just like dating anyone else.” While their friends and family have been accepting, Thomas stated she has experienced some discrimination from the outside world. When Thomas and Garcia visit Thomas’s hometown they sometimes get odd looks from people in their 60s and 70s that are still unaccustomed to seeing couples of different races. She said visiting Garcia’s hometown also generates a few odd looks. “He is from a Hispanic area of Chicago, so when we go to his hometown I am the only white person around,” Thomas said. “We will walk into a store and I can tell people are thinking, ‘Why is that white girl in here?’”
McCornack said Thomas’ experiences are not unusual. Much of the older generation comes from a time when the principal way people defined each other was by race. While many older people do accept interracial dating, there are still many who do not. “There is a big generational gap still. The farther back through your family you go, the more likely you are to find people that are intolerant and are less likely to approve,” McCornack said. “Even in 2008, disapproval is very much alive.”
[orange]Age is not the only potential hurdle. Catholicism is a big part of Mexican culture – Garcia is religious, while Thomas is not. “Mexican people are very proud of their Catholic religion. He is very adamant about giving something up for Lent which is something I’ve never really understood,” Thomas said. “For Easter, we always go to the Catholic Church. It’s a little awkward because when they take communion, I am not allowed and so everyone there knows that I am not Catholic.”
McCornack stated people who choose to date other ethnicities often experience challenges like Thomas’, and even more difficult challenges as well. With family disapproval, societal judgments and differences in upbringing, dating a partner of a different ethnicity can come with a lot more stress than other relationships and can increase the uncertainty of the relationship. Due to these influences, according to McCornack, a lot of these relationships ultimately fail. However, there are ways interracial couples can over come this. McCornack said interracial couples must see themselves as highly similar, meaning they have similar personalities, views and interests. They also must spend a lot of time communicating and investing a lot of time and energy into their relationship. He also suggested in order to compensate for the lack of support from society and/or their social networks, they must create a social network of friends around them that does support their relationship. “Basically, all the same stuff everyone else should do to maintain a successful relationship, but more of it,” McCornack said.
Despite the challenges that can come from being raised in different backgrounds, Thomas still encouraged others to be open to interracial dating. “How are you truly going to experience life if you limit yourself to only people within your race?” she said.
Even aside from the positive aspects of interracial dating, society still does not seem to be fully accepting of the idea. Microbiology junior Lauren Peterson, a Caucasian who has been in a relationship with a Korean man for the past seven years, said she feels those who don’t accept interracial dating are ignorant. “Of course there are those people who say to me, ‘I would never date outside my race or religion,’” she said. “I just ignore people that worry about race. They obviously don’t have enough intelligence to understand and expand their thinking.”[peter]
However, her boyfriend, law student Bradford Bambusch, said although he personally encourages interracial dating, he can understand some people choose to date exclusively their own race in order to maintain culture and tradition.” I have a friend who is Vietnamese and his parents are very traditional immigrants,” Bambusch said. “They don’t want their kids to marry non-Vietnamese people. I don’t think there is really anything wrong with that; I don’t feel like you can tell them they can’t have those beliefs.”
Though there are still many families who feel they need to uphold those racial dating guidelines in an attempt to maintain tradition, some think it is possible that with effort, interracial couples can uphold their individual cultural customs. “I think that if you care enough about your cultural traits and beliefs then it can work, especially if you both do cultural things together,” Lee said.
Fear of losing the culture is only one of the reasons some people shy away from interracial relationships. It might also have something to do with the fact that the media and the advertising industry constantly reinforce the belief that interracial dating is strange and uncommon by not including interracial couples in many advertisements or television shows. “You are your parents and you are the world around you,” Patterson said. “When you watch TV and you only see white-dating-white couples or black-dating-black couples and you see your parents and they are the same race that is what you are going to do. Advertising is everything. It tells us what to wear and what to date.”
[phone]Although the media may not currently reflect it, people of different races are coupling up everywhere, especially in diverse communities like MSU. McCornack feels that soon, interracial dating will no longer be taboo. “Relationship literature is starting to suggest than social economic class is a bigger deal to people than ethnicity, especially for the younger generations,” McCornack said. “In the next 20 to 30 years, interethnic dating is going to be no big deal.”
If he is right, and all the societal taboos are removed, people will start to see that dating someone of a different race is no different then dating anyone else. When it all comes down to it, I don’t focus on the differences between my boyfriend’s family and mine, or the fact that I am sometimes the only white girl in the room. I look at my relationship as similar to other college couples. We go to movies, hang out with friends and even have dinner with one another’s families now and then…except I usually try to refrain from any type of dancing.

[skate12]Fight! Fight! Rah, Team, Fight! Victory for MSU-u-U!
Dressed in all green and white, 22 MSU athletes huddle together, singing the MSU fight song to hype themselves up before they go out in front of the crowd. Nervous, but excited, the athletes wish each other good luck one final time before they prepare to face the competition.
These athletes aren’t wearing football helmets, baseball cleats or shin guards. There is no end zone, goal post or home base. And though they are dressed head to toe in green and white, they aren’t wearing jerseys of any kind. Instead their uniforms are skirts, and their field is cold, wet and frozen.
“Figure skating is so rewarding,” advertising senior Sarah Broxterman said. “You have to work really hard and push yourself. People always say figure skating isn’t a real sport, but it is. I don’t think people are very aware of how much we work we put into it.” For the girls on the MSU Intercollegiate Figure Skating Team, like Broxterman, the work sure pays off. The team qualified for the National Championships three years in a row, as well as placed well in several competitions throughout the country, including placing 4th at a competition at Western Michigan University on Jan. 26.
[box]The club participates in at least three competitions with other schools all over the country, said Kacey Dittmer, team president and communication senior. The top three teams then go onto nationals. “It is really fun going to nationals, nerve-racking though,” pre-medicine junior Kristen Whiteside said. “I always have to tell myself it’s no big deal and to not be nervous.” The girls compete in seven different skill levels, ranging from beginner to advanced. They skate individually and then depending on how they place, they get a certain amount of points that are totaled together to get a team score.
According to Whiteside, the team has a wide range of skill levels. “I started skating when I was really young and then stopped in about 7th grade,” Whiteside said. “But my older sister did it here and so when I came to college, I started skating again in the beginning level. You only compete against people in your level and so there are rules for each level on what you can and cannot do.”
Regardless of these limitations, Whiteside impressed the judges her freshman year when she won first place in the national competition. “The result list was posted and I always start reading at the bottom of the list and I kept going on and I didn’t see my name,” Whiteside said. “And then I got to the top and I realized I had won. I called my mom and she was so excited. She had the medal up in our house for a year.”
Broxterman has had her equal share of exciting skating accomplishments. She has attended numerous competitions in her four years on the skating team, and in 2006, she placed in the top 10 at nationals. According to Broxterman, her most exciting skating moment was an unexpected win at a competition in Bowling Green. “I hadn’t skated my program in a year and I went out a skated that program with no practice at all,” Broxterman said. “I was just doing it for fun and I ended up winning first place.” [dittmer]
The competitions also include an elements portion, where the skaters are broken down into three levels and perform one element – a specific jump, spin or type of footwork – as a group in front of a judge. Whiteside particularly enjoys this part of the competition because of the group aspect. “I really like that they do that because we get to be out there all together, which is something we don’t get to do very often,” Whiteside said. In March, the MSU skating team will get another chance to do something they rarely get to do: host their own competition. According to Dittmer, this is something MSU hasn’t done in more than six years. Because of hockey games, they were unable to get enough ice time at Munn Ice Arena, so the competition will be presented in Howell. But the change in location doesn’t mean the team is relieved of any of the prep duties. “It’s an all-day event; it’s a lot of work,” Broxterman said. “You have to get a ton of volunteers; you have to have judges, ice monitors and people to give out the medals.”
Participating in some competitions doesn’t come easy. Most of the girls dedicate a lot of sweat and pain to the sport, trying to squeeze two to three days of practice with school and work. For Whiteside, coming back to skating after years without doing it made training particularly difficult. “I had lost all my flexibility. It’s so much harder to start doing something once you’ve already grown,” Whiteside said. As figure skating takes a lot of flexibility and strength, most of the girls agreed that even a little time off can be taxing. Whiteside can’t keep up skating during the summers, which also hurts her performance. Broxterman also experienced difficulty coming back after an injury.
“[During ]freshman year, I did synchronized skating and we were doing footwork and I slipped and my knee went one way and my body went another,” Broxterman said. “I was on crutches and I couldn’t skate for three months. When I came back, I had lost so much muscle mass it was really hard to get back into shape.”
[team]Fitting skating around classes can also be a challenge because freestyle ice time, ice time designated for figure skating, is only available during times when most people have classes. For Whiteside, this forces her to go to public skating times, which can be a disadvantage. “I have to go public skating times, where I can’t play my music,” Whiteside said. “The first time I skated with my music this year was at the competition.” Broxterman also has similar trouble and usually switches between freestyle sessions and public. She said school always comes before skating, so sometimes she has to skip practice to study. Though they compete as a team, the skaters generally practice separately, so they have to stay extremely self-motivated. “Most of them don’t have coaches,” Dittmer said. “It can be challenging not to have set practices and someone there to motivate you.”
[whiteside] Though their girls don’t have coaches, they do have another strength: their teammates. “We all kind of help each other out,” Broxterman said. “I’ll go to one girl and ask her to help me and then I will watch her. It’s hard not to have the discipline of the coach, but it’s nice to have so many people watching over you and giving you advice.”
Broxterman feels that having good friends is one of the best parts of being on the skating team. “I made quite a few friends and reconnected with some old ones when I joined the MSU skating team,” Broxterman said. “Once you are on the team, you are all friends. We travel together, go out to dinner together.”
As friends and teammates, the athletes hope to once again attend nationals this year, which will be held at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. “We always want to beat U of M,” Whiteside said. “Last year we beat them, but this year they are hosting nationals and their girls have been doing really well at the competitions, so it’s going to be hard. But we are ready for the challenge.”
And ready they will be. As dozens of challengers whirl around the rink warming up for the national competition, the MSU skaters will be gathered one last time off the ice. “On the banks of the Red Cedar, there’s a school that’s known to all,” they’ll sing as their first teammate stretches for her routine. Though they aren’t as well known as their fellow athletes in jerseys and cleats, these girls have proven that shoes with blades and the ability to land gracefully on ice is what’s needed to make MSU stand out. And with freezing weather four months of out of the year, landing gracefully on ice might be the most useful ability an MSU athlete can have.

[bd2]An assortment of sneakers lies in a messy pile on the floor. Some are large, some small, some are worn and tattered from years of abuse, while others are still shiny and white. Adding his own shoe to the pile, mechanical engineering freshman Adithya Kosgi tries to calm his nerves and hype himself up for what he is about to do. As he watches his shoe being divided up into one of two groups, he reminds himself to stay energetic, positive, and to try to command the floor with his presence. Stepping into position, Kosgi releases his nerves and lets the music take control of his body. The shoe battle has begun.
“I was a little nervous before the shoe battle began,” Kosgi said. “But when you start break dancing you forget everything and the dancing takes over, and it just becomes part of you. You are only as good as the sweat, blood and tears you put into it.”
Breaking into the Club
[dedication]Kosgi, who joined the MSU Breakdance Club in the fall, was one of 16 MSU students who threw their shoes in a pile on a rainy Thursday night as part of the auditions for the team’s performance committee. After using their shoes to randomly break the hopeful members into two “crews,” the breakers started to show their skills and a committee used the battle to select this semester’s performance group. While anyone can be a part of the MSU Breakdance Club, the performance committee is made up of only 11 of the most exceptional dancers, according to general management junior Jessie Geer, a member of the Breakdance Club’s e-board. “Last semester was our first semester as an official club, but since then we have been getting a lot of hype,” Geer said. “So this semester, we are picking quality over quantity and cutting our performance team from 16 to 10. You have to have a lot of dedication to be part of the performance team – it’s pretty difficult.”
Dedication is something linguistics junior Michelle Ng knows well. As one of the only girls in the club and a new member of the performance team, she knows break dancing is not always easy. “The hardest thing I have to overcome would be my lack of power and strength and probably the strange way other people look at me,” Ng said. Though people on the outside may view her differently, Ng said within the club she is treated as one of the guys. “Many people think that girls would be treated differently here but no, that’s not true. Once you joined this club, immediately the very first thing you learn is to give props to your fellow group mates.”
On to the Stage
Ng and the rest of the newcomers on the performance committee will now have the opportunity to perform at many different kinds of venues. According to e-board member and neuroscience sophomore Kevin Richardson, since their first show during the spring of 2007, the club has performed all over East Lansing, as well as out of state, and has begun to become a requested performance at many campus events. They perform with other groups as well as on their own.[girl]
“It’s always been my dream to do this,” telecommunication junior and club secretary Andy Tran said. “I love performing and hearing the reaction from the crowd ooo-ing and wow-ing.”
That ooo-ing and wow-ing has been heard at numerous campus events and places so far, including the International Dance Extravaganza and McDonel and Landon Hall cafeterias. They have also competed in The Hidden Pearl Competition, which was part of Price of Life, a fundraiser at the Kellogg Center to stop sex trafficking in Asia, where they won $1,000.
According to Geer, their greatest performance so far was when they traveled to Ohio to compete with a breakdance crew at Oberlin College called S.P.A.R.K. “[Oberlin's break dance group] was so hospitable,” Geer said. “We had a great time performing there; the crowd was crazy excited.”
From Then to Now
Despite all the hype they are getting now, the club started out with only a few members without too much experience among them. According to Richardson, the club began as just an idea between a few friends. “Me and Andy [Tran] went to high school together and we had always joked about breakdancing, but we had never actually done it,” Richardson said. “There used to be an old breakdance crew up at MSU and Andy’s brother, [electrical engineering senior and vice president] Danny, had been taught how to dance by one of its former members. But the group was pretty much dead. So when Andy and I came up here in the fall of 2006, we started learning steps from Danny and watching YouTube videos to learn more.”
When food science senior Leo Thai and chemical engineering junior John Yeo joined the group, each brought their own unique style and background. While Geer had been interested in “everything urban” his whole life and was a pop-lock dancer before joining up with the other guys, Thai had five years of extensive experience in breakdancing with a University of Michigan breakdancing group and actually helped the students there develop a breaking group called Element One. The last founding member, Yeo, was a self-taught breaker who was very interested in creating an official breakdance organization at MSU. [stripe]
By fall of last year, these students had established an official club, and their membership had increased dramatically, according to Richardson. Today, the club has more than 30 people and the original six members have become the e-board that plans out most of group’s choreography. Though few of the guys have had formal training in dance, they manage to create new choreography for the group on a regular basis. Their shows are a combination of group and solo performances.
“We learn some moves by watching videos, going to other groups’ performances and the rest by trial and error,” Geer said. “The break dancing community is really chill and so people are free about sharing their moves.”
Practicing their Craft
Though a lot of breakdancing is improvised and created by individual style, there are some basic breakdancing moves that all breakdancers, or b-boys and b-girls as they are sometimes called, use. According to Thai, the most basic moves are top rock, moves while standing; down rock, moves while on the ground; freezes, where the dancers hold a pose; and power moves, which include the gymnastic elements of breaking like spinning. However, breakdancing is not something that looks the same twice. “Within all those categories, there are difference variations,” Thai said. “It’s all open to interpretation.” For Thai, moves that are open to creativity are the most enjoyable. “I love top rock,” Thai said. “There is more room for interpretation, I think. I can really showcase my skills.” Richardson disagrees. “For me, down rock moves are the best,” Richardson said. “I feel like taking it to the floor is what breakdancing is all about. When I am down there, I feel a sense of safety.”
[smile]No matter what type of moves the b-boys enjoy most, they all agree being part of the MSU Breakdance Club is a fulfilling experience. “Breakdancing is a good way to escape from life,” Richardson said. “You go into a whole other world.” For Geer, being a member of the club is about more than just dancing. “We are a family here,” Geer said. “That’s what it is all about in the end.” Tran has used his experiences in breakdancing in other aspects of life. “Our motto here is power through,” Tran said. “When you get hurt you just have to keep going, in b-boying and in life.”
When the shoe battle ended, the breakers all heaved a sigh of relief and collected their shiny Nikes and old sneakers and reverted back to their everyday routines as MSU students. Their adrenalin levels decreased and their hearts went back to beating normally. The rush of top rocking, spinning and locking on the floor was over, but not for long. Some made the performance team, and others didn’t, but whether they get to perform or not doesn’t really matter. Self-taught and self-motivated as many of them are, they don’t need an official battle or a performance to make them dancers. As Kosgi said, “A great teacher once told me the whole world is your dance floor, and that is something I still live by today.”
And when you can spin on your hands and pose upside down, that’s one great dance floor.

The club is going to continue to perform at events, including the Latin Explosion on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Auditorium and the Lunar Show on Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. at the Pasant Theatre in the Wharton Center.

Sweater from Talbot’s that Mom really wanted: $45.
Gas to drive 100 miles for Christmas with Grandma: $30.
Confetti, party hats, snacks and champagne for your New Year’s Eve party: $50.
Getting through the holiday season and still having enough cash to buy books for second semester?
Impossible.
As soon as the weather begins to turn cold, life suddenly seems to get more expensive. Between buying presents for friends and relatives, repairing your car after ice-related fender benders and paying for the occasional hot beverage to keep your toes from freezing off as you walk to class, it’s hard to keep cash in your wallet. And, with tests and homework to worry about, many MSU students don’t have a lot of time to earn extra cash. If picking up a second job as Santa’s elf at the mall doesn’t sound an ideal solution, here are a few, slightly less mortifying ways to earn some extra money this December.
One of the most popular ways to get extra cash quickly is by selling things that are cluttering up your closets. The eBay site has become increasingly popular among the college demographic and allmsu.com is full of local students trying to sell their old stuff. Even while just walking around campus, students encounter numerous signs for bikes, TVs, and couches for sale.
With the semester winding down, one of the easiest ways to make some extra money (without sacrificing that Looney Toons lunch box you are secretly holding on to) is to sell last semester’s books. However, the biggest mistake students make is selling their books back to the bookstore, where a seller might get $5 for a $45 book. Hospitality business junior Alana Baudo suggests selling books over the Internet, on Web sites like allmsu.com or Half.com, the textbook subsidiary of eBay. “I definitely suggest it,” Baudo said. “I’ve taken books back to the bookstore to sell them back, and they offered me $20 on a book I spent $90 on, and I took it and sold it on Half.com and got, I think, $60 or $70 for it. You really do make a lot more money than you would at the bookstore. It takes a little bit of time, because you have to do some searching online, but if you’re like me and buy your own books, you’d rather save $200 and waste two hours online.” In addition to selling books, Bauldo also suggests students buy all of the books for next semester online. This way, the cash earned from selling online doesn’t get immediately dumped back into bookstores’ hands. [mula1]
If you don’t have anything to sell online, another great way to increase your green is to sell your services. Any service is marketable, from making scarves to fixing cars, and a lot of students are willing to pay for services they can’t perform or don’t have time to do themselves. Telecommunications junior Bryan Nguyen uses his computer skills to earn money. He started offering his abilities on allmsu.com after he realized the computer center he worked at wasn’t meeting everyone’s needs. “I feel bad when we have to send the students to computer repair places, where they are forced to pay ridiculous hourly charges,” Nguyen said. “I feel that I can save the students money and make a little on the side as well.” Nguyen has just started this business and has had about five customers so far. He charges depending on how much work is needed. He hopes working on computers will not only make him some money, but will also prepare him for his future job, as he is studying to work with computers.
[martin2]For those who don’t have a specific skill to offer, there are many odd jobs that can turn into an easy way to earn extra cash. Business junior Jillian Seidl said she has made a significant amount of money responding to and placing ads on both allmsu.com and craigslist.com. She has received a variety of work through these sites, from making resumes to cleaning apartments. She also has earned money selling things online for others. Seidl said the easiest way to make cash is not to post your own ad, but respond to others. “I first would see a wanted ad that someone was looking for a particular service,” Seidl said. “Then if it worked out, I would place my own ad offering that same service to other people.”
Seidl constantly keeps her eyes out for money-making opportunities. “I responded to an ad to put up fliers for a company twice a month for $50 a month,” she said. Other than looking for fliers, Seidl said money-making opportunities are all over the Internet. “I’ve earned $80 by doing trials on the Internet at a Web site called inboxdollars.com,” she said. “I get paid anywhere from $1 to $10 to do a free trial with various companies, and do paid-to-read e-mails which are like $30 from hits4pay.com. Basically, I’m a sucker for those blinking ads that advertise get-rich-quick schemes.”
If you’d rather focus on one opportunity than many, becoming a home party consultant may be right for you. By selling products from their apartments and dorms, students can make a lot of money in a short amount of time without having to work around pre-determined hours. Pre-med senior Ashley Leonard has made a significant amount of money over the last two years doing at-home parties for Pure Romance, a company that sells bedroom toys and romance enhancement products. She got the idea to do it after she hosted a Pure Romance party with her roommates. “The consultant was telling me how much she makes and I started thinking, ‘Wow, I could really do this,’” Leonard said. “I like it a lot. I only work nights and I get to make my own hours, so if I have a test, I can schedule around it. You make good money.” [mula2]
Leonard said she makes about 40 percent of the profits from the parties, and each party usually sells about $500 worth of merchandise, although it depends on the party. Recently, Leonard hosted a party where she sold $800 to $900 worth of stuff in just a few hours and got three party bookings from people in attendance. Currently, she does two or three parties a week, but the hosts can do as many or few as they want. Leonard said this business is one that will always be popular. “People buy a lot of stuff. In our society, sexuality is a lot more out there [than it used to be], but yet people still are reserved,” Leonard said. “Since it’s only females [at the parties], people really open up and say [things] and buy [items] they would never feel comfortable buying otherwise.” [martin1]
She said working for Pure Romance is a great idea, even for those who are not very business-savvy, as long as they are comfortable with the topics discussed. “You will always have a job because not everyone is comfortable talking about sexuality,” Leonard said. “Only certain people can do it. If you can do it, you can make a lot of money. I am putting myself through college and I used to have to have three jobs. It was hard to schedule around all of them – now I can just do this.” Leonard said becoming a Pure Romance consultant is easy – just go to pureromance.com for more information.
Merchandising management junior Katrina Price also has learned home parties are a great way to make money through working as a consultant for make-up and accessory companies Avon and mark cosmetics for the past three years. Because Price doesn’t have a lot of time, she sells most of her products through her Web site or by sending magazines to her friends. She has done three mark cosmetics parties in the dorms as well. “It’s really simple because it’s not like an actual job where you have to think about what you’re doing,” said Price. “You can just send magazines to your friends or sell stuff from your room.”
Price keeps a lot of the products in her room as well and will occasionally bring them with her when she knows she is going to see a lot of people. She makes 40 percent commission on make-up and 25 percent commission on jewelry. She also can buy the products cheaper and sell them at full price. To get involved, a mark cosmetics training program is available online to teach how to use all the products and sell them. Afterward, the trainee must apply online. “I think it’s a good way for college students to make money,” Price said. “You can just have people go your Web site and buy from you; it’s really easy.” [mula3]
For the especially lackadaisical student looking for a job that doesn’t require any work at all, donating plasma might be for you. Not only will you be making money, but you will be helping people in need, as plasma donations are used for a variety of life-saving medical purposes. No-preference sophomore Lindsay Balgooyen, who has donated to bio-bank in Muskegon, says the process is relativity painless and simple. “After they put the needle in, you just sit there in a comfortable dentist-like chair and read magazines,” Balgooyen said. “You don’t feel anything during that.”
According to Balgooyen, most places pay $30 for the first time and $20 after that, but it depends on weight. She said the first visit can take up to three hours, because there are a lot of medical questionnaires to fill out, but after that, the visits only take about an hour. For Balgooyen, money was the main motivation in her decision to donate. “I did it because I’m a poor college student and it really is the easiest way to get money, next to taking back cans,” she said.
Whether making money selling sensual massage oils, fixing computers or being poked with needles, college students will do just about anything to feed their piggy banks. This December, try out some of these tips and maybe the holiday season won’t leave you penniless. With a break from school and time to catch up with friends and family, the holiday season should be a time that puts a smile on your face and doesn’t empty your wallet.
And, that’s really what’s priceless.

It\’s almost show time.
A young girl is about to display her newly-learned skills in her first dance performance. Nervously, she awaits the beginning of the show, fidgeting her hands and going over the steps in her mind. As someone helps her put the finishing touches on her hair and helps her get dressed, she can hardly contain her excitement. Fast forward eight years, and psychology junior Ewa Jabelecki is feeling that same anticipation as she finishes her hair and begins to dress for her performance.[costume]
However, unlike most dancers, Jabelecki isn\’t pinning her hair into a tight bun or putting on a lightweight leotard. She isn\’t wearing tap shoes, ballet flats or tights. Instead, before going out to perform, Jabelecki fastens a fake braid into her short hair and steps into a 30-pound Polish dress. \”You lean to move with the dresses,\” Jablecki said. \”I love Polish dancing. It\’s a way for me to connect with my culture. Some of the dances are still performed in Poland so I can dance them when I go visit my family.\”
For Jablecki, the daughter of Polish immigrants and a fluent Polish speaker, taking up Polish dancing seemed like natural choice. She began learning traditional Polish folk dances through her church and has since performed at numerous festivals across the country with her Catholic church, Our Lady of Czestochowa. \”Poland has a different dance for every region,\” Jablecki said. \”Some dances are meant to be performed for kings and queens; others are peasant dances. They are all very old and very wise.\”
Polish dancing consists of mostly partner dances, though there are a few that are performed as a group. For women, being a Polish dancer means donning heavy long dresses for elegant dances and shorter skirts for more fast-paced dances. The women are also required to wear head pieces and braids that are indicative of the region of Poland where the dance originated.
For Jablecki, the highlight of her Polish dancing career was when she traveled to Rzeszowm, Poland when her church was invited to participate in a national Polish festival with 45 Polish groups from around the world. Jabelecki described the experience as an \”intense\” three-day event full of practices and performances.
\”It was quite the experience,\” Jablecki said. \”There were people from countries you would never dream had Polish communities, like Brazil.\”
Jabelecki said she will most likely continue Polish dancing for the rest of her life. \”I am very proud of my culture,\” Jabelecki said. \”Polish dancing is a lot of fun.\”
Being proud of one\’s culture is something physiology sophomore Lauren Easterbrook and education sophomore Katie Flanagan know well. Both are members of the newly-created MSU Irish Dancers, as well as true blood Irish lasses.
\”My family is Irish and my uncle is an Irish dancer who ran a dance studio in town,\” Flanagan said. \”My whole family — my sister, my cousins — we all learned to Irish dance.\”
[roots]Easterbrook also began dancing at Flanagan\’s uncle\’s studio, roughly six years ago when a friend convinced her to join. \”I already did other types of dance,\” Easterbrook said. \”And since I\’m Irish, I thought it would be a cool way to connect with my culture.\”
Flanagan, who has been dancing since the fifth grade, stated there are two types of Irish dancing. One type, known as hard shoe, is similar to tap dancing but without arm movements and with steps that require the dancer to cross his or her feet. There also is the soft shoe dance, which is generally slower and quieter. Irish dancing can be performed solo or as a group, which is called a Celi. \”I feel a connection to Irish culture when I dance Celi because the dances are handed down from generation to generation,\” Flanagan said.
As with Polish dancing, Irish dance costumes are elaborate pieces of cultural identity. Irish costumes are based on the skill level of the dancer and become more complex as the dancer improves. \”At the beginning level, it\’s just like your basic skirt and blouse,\” Flanagan said. \”Then, when you get to a certain level, you are given permission to get a solo dress that is one-of-kind, designed especially for you so it\’s the only one in the world. They have many colors and sequins and they range in price from $800 to $2,000.\”
Both girls have participated in a variety of competitions throughout the country, though MSU Irish Dancers does not compete as a group. Flanagan said it is the competitive nature of Irish dancing that has kept her in it. \”Solo dancing is a lot more competitive, which I really enjoy,\” Flanagan said. \”I get to travel all over the world and meet new people and learn different cultures.\”
[costume2]Flanagan has danced in roughly 10 Feis, competitions where the dancers attempt to move up levels, in each year since she began dancing. Her most memorable competition was when she attended the North American National Championships in Ottawa, Canada. \”It was a completely different experience from what I was doing before,\” Flanagan said. \”There were people from all over the world: South American, Canada, the U.S. I came in 55th, which is almost the top half. I am going back this summer to the same competition.\”
While Easterbrook has competed in three Feis and moved up to open level, which is the prize winning level of Irish dance, she said the competitive aspect of Irish dancing isn\’t really for her. \”I don\’t really do competitions anymore,\” Easterbrook said. \”I just dance for fun. My goals are just to dance and work on little things, this step or that step, or getting my kicks higher. It\’s just about the dancing.\”
Enjoying the dance is precisely why Easterbrook and friend Courtney Rockenbach started MSU Irish Dancers about a year ago. The two were not allowed to practice in IM circle because they weren\’t an official club, so they decided to make one. Since then, their group has blossomed to 10 to 15 people and they hold weekly practices. The group performs around campus, including a recent performance at Case Hall during British Invasion week.
\”It\’s such a great experience,\” Flanagan said. \”It\’s very unique. People say, \’Oh, it\’s just River Dance,\’ but there is a lot more to it than that.\”
Anthropology junior Carolyn Harper knows a thing or two about misunderstood styles of dance. As a belly dancer for the past five years, Harper has gotten many mixed reactions when she tells others of her pastime. \”It makes me so mad when people think being a belly dancer is like being a glorified stripper,\” Harper said. \”It\’s an art form and it\’s definitely not meant to be a strip show. Belly dancing was originally danced solely for women by women. It\’s not meant to be sleazy. It\’s a way to be sexy without being raunchy.\”
Belly dancing originated in the Middle East and is based on isolated movements of the hips, chest and stomach. According to Harper, there are different costumes for different styles of dance depending on where the dance originated. \”I\’ve learned a lot of different styles from different countries,\” Harper said. \”Belly dancing comes from Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Egypt and many more countries in that area. Depending on the style, we may wear a sequined bra and belt, or a more conservative long skirt and something that covers the stomach.\”
Her interest in belly dancing began when her and her mother wanted to take a dance class together at Foster Community Center in Lansing. Though Harper is not of Middle Eastern descent, she said she instantly fell in love with it, and her dance instructor advised her to audition for the Habibi dance troupe. Since making the team about a year ago, she has embraced the style even more and has had many opportunities to perform with the group. The roughly 20-member group performed about two gigs a week, including performances at venues such as the Arab International festival, the Renaissance festival and county fairs throughout the state. Harper said one thing she loves about the dance troupe is it embraces all ages and all body types.[harper]
\”I might be one of the youngest in the group,\” Harper said. \”The oldest woman is probably in her 60s. I think there are a lot of misconceptions that all belly dancers are model-like and stick-thin, but it\’s not like that. It is very accepting of voluptuous body types. It\’s so nice to find a dance where you don\’t have to have a ballet dancer\’s body.\”
Besides helping with her self-confidence, Harper said despite the age differences between her and the other dancers, they have formed a special bond. \”I know it sounds corny to say it\’s like a sisterhood, but it is,\” Harper said.
Whether dancing for body confidence or to reconnect with one\’s heritage, cultural dancing is an interesting change from the familiar styles of ballet, tap and hip-hop. Polish, Irish and Middle Eastern dancing types are just a sampling of the cultural styles that can be explored. So throw out those ballet shoes and try on a sequined bra or a fake braid. Give cultural dancing a whirl.
That is, if you think you can handle a 30-pound dress.

Phrases like fo’ shizzle, flossy and holla back can be heard from the lips of countless MSU students on any given day. Heads bobbing, bodies swaying, they shout out phrases like “Shorty shorty shorty what your name is” and “trying to catch me ridin’ dirty” over loud hypnotic beats. These days rap music can be found everywhere; from the headphones of strangers on CATA, as the anthem at frat parties; just walking down Grand River one can hear it blaring from the stereos of cars. Even ex-boybander Justin Timberlake has incorporated the hip-hop style into his tunes. [mic1]
“Justin (Timberlake) made a smart move by putting rap into his music,” elementary education junior Emily Guith said. “It made his music more popular. It’s not necessary the words that make it good, but the beat because it pumps you up. Rap music just makes you want dance.”
Love it or hate it, rap music has become the most popular party music for our generation. Walk into any type of party and you’ll see people busting a move to “Crank That” as if it was the hand jive. And it hasn’t stopped there. Hip-hop flavor has transcended just music, stepping into clothing styles, car selections and slang.

Flossy and Bossy
“Every single person out there has a little bit of hip-hop in them,” advertising senior Nick Emerson said. “In their own way everyone is trying to be flossy and bossy and all that with their clothing and the style and the way they act. Hip-hop has changed the music scene. In the old days rockers used to show up in limos; now artists show up in tricked out hummers with rims and hip-hop flair. Rap music has single-handedly infiltrated every aspect of society.”
And if anyone would know about the impact of rap it would be Emerson. As a 24-year-old he owns his own recording company, Mobaffiliated, and has been performing and writing his own rap music for the last five years. Calling himself “Nick Bean” and “Tha Franchise,” he has recorded 22 songs, both alone and collaborating with other rappers. He has performed all over East Lansing at local bars, parties, and open mic. His love for rap began early. “I started learning how to rap because my two friends in high school were really into it when I was about 15,” Emerson said. “They would always hang out and rap. It was their whole life, and so eventually it became mine.”
And indeed it has. According to Emerson, even when he is sitting in class he has rap on his mind. “When my mind wanders in class I think of ideas for raps. It can be anything – nights out with the guys, things you see everyday,” Emerson said.
[record]He writes all of his own raps and, along with Tyler Chapman and Mhyar Sadri from the Mobaffliated Label, he is releasing a 17-song mixed tape that he hopes will come out in October. Emerson said he is also working on his first solo album, “The Untold Story of a Story Already Told,” which is scheduled to be released November 5. “On the mixed tape we used beats from other artists that are already out there and added our own thing to it, but my solo CD is 100 percent original – everything from the beats to the lyrics.” Unlike the mixtape which they plan to distribute for free, Emerson hopes to sell his solo album around campus. “I am amazed at how quickly my music is getting known,” he said. “I will get to a party and people will know me and my music and want me to perform. It’s awesome.”
Taking advantage of the MySpace craze these days, Emerson dedicated a page to his music, allowing fans to listen and download his songs. According to Emerson so far he has gotten 17,000 plays on his site. He also works with a publication company that buys his songs and then uses the music for whatever purpose they desire. As for the future, Emerson doesn’t long to become the next Eminem. “I just want to sell more stuff and do more shows,” Emerson said. “I am not trying to be some big time rapper. I just want to sell bars of my stuff to other artists so they can add it into the hooks of their songs. Artists make like $50,000 for 16 seconds of music that way.”
Stereotypically, most rappers look for fame and money, but Emerson said he sticks with rap because of the challenge. “Lyrically it is the most difficult thing you can do,” Emerson said. “The way you can come up with like 30 different words for one meaning is genius. And to make it sound good on top of that is extremely difficult. It’s so complex – that is why I love it.”
Stop and Listen
For others it is not the complexity of rap that appeals to them, but disappointment in the current rap scene that got them involved. “What really got me into rap was the lack of quality music out there,” pre-law sophomore and rapper Jack Edukere said. “There was just so much trash on the radio. And people were like ‘Are you going to cry about it, or are you going to do something about it?’ And so I did something about it, I started rapping myself.”
Though Edukere said he has been drawn to rap music since he was a kid, he didn’t really start writing his own rap songs until he was about 15. Since then he has written numerous songs and performed through out campus, including performances in the Brody Complex and Mac’s Bar. He has also performed in his hometown of Flint, and although he has not yet had the opportunity to record an album, he hopes to do so soon.
Like Emerson he, too, writes all his own songs. “I get my ideas from a lot of different places,” Edukere said. “Nature, life, the sky, people’s everyday interactions; being inspired by many different things allows me to have many different types of songs.” Along with rap music, Edukere also has interest in other types of music. He has recently started writing in other styles besides rap where he uses a singing voice with a melody and hopes to be able to incorporate his new style. “I have found that my dream has reached beyond rap. I find that I have a talent to sing as well, so I want to do both and maybe create a whole new type of song.” Creating new types of music is Edukere’s main future goal as well. He wants to change the minds of those who don’t consider rap music “real music.” [mic2]
“People need to take the time to listen to many artists and not just the popular ones you hear on the radio,” he said. “My goal is to make each of my songs better than the one before so I can appeal to people who don’t even normally listen to rap. I want them to stop and listen when they hear me.”
Poetry and Rhythm
Business junior Mhyar Sadri also hopes to share his rapping talents with the world. “The number one dream is to actually make it,” said Sadri. “The more ears you have listening to your music the more an impact it will have.” Sadri is already making an impact around town. Just this September he had the opportunity to open for rap mogul Chamillionaire at the Rock N’ Nightclub in Lansing. “I was kind of nervous,” Sadri said. “But it was very exciting.”
Though he has listened to rap since he was a child, Sadri began writing his own raps roughly seven years ago because his best friend made beats and wanted someone to accompany them. Since then, he has recorded 15-20 songs with other rappers and will also be featured on Emmerson’s mixed tape “Tha Franchise Presents, Mobaffiliated.” So far, he hasn’t done a solo album but it is something he hopes to pursue in the future. Sadri said that when he writes rap songs it’s about much more than just trying to entertain. “There are many forms of expression. I just get into this zone when I write. It’s like poetry and rhythm put together. I always liked to write so it’s just something that came naturally. It’s an amazing way to express yourself.”
Though he has accomplished many things with his music, Sadri’s biggest accomplishment isn’t an album he has recorded or even performing before Chamillionaire. Instead, he looks at his accomplishments in music on a more personal level. “My biggest accomplishment has just been getting to a level where I am more comfortable with myself as a rapper,” Sadri said. “Before it was just rap to me, but now, now it has become part of my soul.”
From the bubble gum style of Will Smith to the controversial lyrics of Eminem, to the stylings of MSU’s up and coming musicians, rap music has become the soul of youth culture. Whether heard at a party or backyard barbeques, it’s hard to escape the clever lyrics and pulsating beats. “If you look at the evolution of rap it’s just become more and more popular over time. More and more people are starting to listen to it,” Sadri said. As for those who don’t see the musicality in rap, Sadri thinks people need to take a closer look. “If you just take time to really listen to what people are saying in rap songs you’ll understand.” [mic3]
Regardless of whether everyone will grow to understand and love rap someday, with new slang phrases like “so crispy” and “poppin’ my collar” coming from the mouths of rap artists, it will at least keep everyone’s vocabulary on the cutting edge.

[grass]Practicing law in the Civil War South, fighting off villains and cracking codes to 30-year-old crimes are likely not part of most MSU students\’ summer plans. For most, summer vacation brings a break from classes and a chance to make money working at the local produce market or a hot shot\’s personal servant at an internship. When the droll of the 9-5 gets too stressful and tedious, students can battle evil aliens, walk on a beach with a romantic stranger or have a conversation with Abraham Lincoln without leaving their armchair.
\”When I have free time, I love to read because a good book has a way of pulling me in and making me feel that I\’m a part of the story,\” journalism junior Melanie Trusty said. \”It isn\’t like watching a movie. When you read a book you actually have to use your imagination, which can make it your own.\”
And Trusty isn\’t alone – especially as exam week comes to an end, more textbooks will be sold and chapter books will come out of hiding. Summer reading is high upon many students\’ lists, and we\’ve made our own list to jumpstart your adventure.
Getting Cozy with Classics
Borrowing famous American classics from your local library this summer might be the way to literary satisfaction. At the very least, you won\’t be out of the loop next time someone says, \”Frankly, my dear, I don\’t give a damn.\”
One great book to start within the classics genre is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, which tells the story of the secrets and scandals the nouveau riche of the West Egg district of New York in 1922 live by. As the story unfolds, secrets about Gatsby involving lust, money and crime come to the surface, leaving the reader guessing the true nature of Gatsby and the American dream. Medical technology junior Melissa Ebach said that all MSU students should check out The Great Gatsby. \”It is a great book that is very well-written and has great characters,\” she said.
[books]Another true American classic to add to your summer collection is Harper Lee\’s To Kill a Mockingbird, suggested by political science sophomore Cole Benbow. \”I think the book contains some deep messages, most notably kids growing up and being confronted with racism, hatred and ignorance from others for the first time,\” Benbow said. \”At the beginning of the book they are very innocent, and haven\’t been exposed to the uglier side of life, but when we come to the end, they have seen the evil traits held by others, and they have to find a way to come to terms with how certain things are in the world.\” To Kill a Mockingbird explores the trial of an innocent black man accused of raping a white woman and the consequences that he and the white lawyer (Atticus Finch) defending him have to face within the community. Benbow said one of the main reasons he loves this story is because of Atticus\’s character. \”He seems like a perfect role model for anyone, and is the all-knowledgeable force throughout the book.\”
Laugh it Up
For those looking for a light read that won\’t leave you analyzing every word, Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella is the perfect book to tuck into your purse for those days when all you want to do is drink margaritas by the pool. With a style reminiscent of Bridget Jones\’ Diary, Kinsella follows Becky Bloomwood, a financial journalist with an out-of-control shopping addiction. Eback said to check out this book and any of the others in the Shopaholic series when you are looking for a fun, light read because they are \”hilariously funny.\” With Becky\’s quirky justifications for her purchases, get-rich-quick schemes and tangled webs of lies, her character will leave you rolling on the floor with laugher or, in a moral-of-the-story way, cutting up your credit cards.
If shopping addictions don\’t leave you belly laughing on the floor, then try checking out the creative nonfiction stylings of David Sedaris in Me Talk Pretty One Day, just one of his off-the-wall books. Sedaris finds the humor in everyday situations as he travels first to New York and then to Paris, where he moves in with his boyfriend. Whether he is talking about his childhood confusion when his instructor asks him to name his guitar after a \”stacked woman,\” or the trials of trying to explain in French the concept of Easter to Muslim women, Sedaris\’s witty commentary will leave you quoting him for weeks. History Sophomore Diedra Diebolt said she loves Sedairs because he is the king of \”small-scale adventures.\” She also finds his use of typical events very funny. \”Dave Sedaris shows the absurdity of being the typical middle class person,\” Diebolt said. \”He shows the funniness of everyday life. It\’s hilarious.\”
Adventures From Another Galaxy
If you dream about exploring outer space, these science fiction books might just be right up your galaxy. Political science junior Michael McAlpine suggests checking out Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein. The book explores alternate societies as it follows Valentine Michael Smith, a human who was raised by martians on Mars, once he returns to earth. McAlphine suggests this book because of its unique perspective on society. \”Though Heinlein has a distinctly libertarian streak, this is less evident in Stranger,\” McAlphine said. \”Stranger follows the martian as he becomes familiar with the culture of earthlings.\”
Molecular Science junior Amanda Ervin said that this book changed how she viewed the world around her. \”For me, it made me think about how much of my life was influenced by the society I grew up in, and although the story is fictional, I learned a lot about looking at things as a blank slate of sorts, trying to look at things without my societal conditioning. It may be a book you need to re-read but it\’s worth it.\”[society]
If video games and epic battles are more your thing, Curious Book Store employee Greg Baldino suggests checking out the series of graphic novels by Lee O\’Malley, Scott Pilgrim. The novels tell the story of Scott Pilgrim, a struggling musician who after getting the woman of his dreams is forced to fight off seven of her evil ex-boyfriends in video game battle fashion. \”It\’s a romantic comical book with video game tendencies,\” Baldino said.
Past Platform Nine and Three Quarters
No summer book list would be complete without mentioning that quiddich-playing, invisible cape-wearing, magical book series. Yes, Harry Potter. With the final book in the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, coming out July 21, many MSU students are counting down the days. Freshman Mary Ianne has had her copy reserved for months. \”It\’s a good, exciting read,\” Ianne said. \”I will definitely be at the party at Borders the night before.\”
Although the contents of the seventh novel are kept confidential, it will most likely center on Potter battling evil once again and risking his life in the name of wizardry. If you haven\’t been keeping up-to-date on the last six Harry Potters and you want to read the seventh, get started now. Though they are a fairly easy read, they are long, averaging more than 400 pages.
For the Romantic at Heart
If your heart pines for the best romantic book, checking out this selection might just make you swoon. For the old fashioned romantic, art history sophomore Emily Bliss suggests checking out the classic romance novels, including Jane Austen\’s Pride and Prejudice. \”I find that the best books are always the classics that you find on the must-read lists,\” Bliss said. Pride and Prejudice travels through the unresolved sexual tensions of Elizabeth Bennet and the thought-to-be snob Mr. Darcy. What begins with seemly mutual hatred morphs into something more as the novel begins to unfold. Set in the high society 1800s, Pride and Prejudice is a witty, romantic novel that keeps you guessing until the very end.
If spies, guns, and dangerous passions are more your style, then journalism sophomore Diane Ivey suggests checking out The Secret History of the Pink Carnation, by Lauren Willig. This story unfolds in the mist of the French Revolution and explores the passions and trials of two lovers. Amy, the heroine of the novel, travels to France to visit her brother and becomes involved with a man, who unknown to her, is a spy. Ivey suggests this book because it\’s \”the romance novel for everyone,\” as it branches out from the typically cheesy \”bodice ripping\” romance novel, as Ivey calls it. \”It\’s fun and sexy at the same time,\” Ivey said. \”I really like stories with secret identities because it adds a really fun twist to it. You are never quite sure what turn the book is going to take next. Is she going to discover his secret identity or is she not? There are a lot of stupid misunderstands and a lot of humor in this book. Unlike many romance novels, it doesn\’t take itself too seriously.\”
To Keep You Guessing
If Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys novels kept you entertained as a child, then checking out clue searching, crime solving novels are your best bet. If you are looking for something a little different than a typical murder mystery, Baldino suggests Crooked Little Vein by Warner Ellis. It tells the story of Michael McGill, a burned-out private eye who is hired by a shady politician to track down the real U.S. Constitution. With college student Trix as his sidekick, he begins to unravel the true history of the U.S. \”It\’s a really twisted sci-fi, crime novel,\” Baldino said. \”It has UFO conspiracies, defiant sex, and shows the brutality of unflinching humanity.\” By throwing in historical and science fiction references, Ellis spices up the typical mystery novel.
Another book that keeps you guessing until the end is Bait by Karen Robards. It tells the story of Maddie Fitzgerald, who is taken into FBI custody after she comes face to face with a serial killer. They convince her that the only way to catch the killer is to use her as – you guessed it – bait. With three FBI agents watching 24/7, Maddie thinks she is safe until a budding romance with one of the agents puts her in danger. This book has seduction, crime and heart-pumping action and will keep you hooked until the very last page.
Self Reflection
If you are looking for something a little deeper, try checking out these books that center around finding out who you really are. As Nature Made Him, by John Colapinto, is a true story about a boy who is raised as a girl, after a botched circumcision. A childhood filled with confusion and feelings of rejection leads him to realize that gender identity is not something that is taught. This book explores the concepts of nature verses nurture as well as sexuality and the societal norms that go along with it. Not only does Colapinto tell the story of his own life, but he also provides insight into the lives of many others dealing with issues of gender identity. It is a great read for anyone interested in looking at life through a perceptive they have never experienced before.
Another book that tells the story of self-exploration is The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd. This fictional story follows a 14-year-old girl named Lilly and her surrogate mother, a black servant named Rosaleen as they flee home in search of a sense of belonging. Elementary education junior Daryl Bean suggests reading the book because she liked how it approached the different parts of life. \”It tells the story of the life a little girl who is forced to grow up too fast,\” said Bean. \”She has many exotic experiences and has very interesting reflections on different parts of life. The story is both heart-wrenching and heart-warming. This book is incredible and really gets you thinking.\”
So as the school year comes to a close, consider checking out one of these books to keep you occupied during those hot summer days. Reading can be a great way to step outside your everyday life and understand what it is like to be someone else. Reading may be the only way to add a little excitement to those slow days working at the grocery store check out line, unless of course you really do have to battle evil aliens. If that\’s the case, write a book, and the rest of us can get lost in your adventures next summer.

[notes]Most MSU students are still in bed at 8 a.m., happily avoiding their impending classes, but Jonathan Reed is already lugging his double bass to the music building for rehearsal. Pausing to congratulate his friend on her performance at last night\’s recital, Reed sets up his instrument and begins to warm up.
Between 16 class credits, MSU Symphony Orchestra rehearsal and his own personal practice, Reed usually spends about 12 hours a day inside the music building. Though he usually doesn\’t leave until the wee hours of the night, he has to leave early every night this week to make a 90-minute drive for one of his three \”after school jobs\” as a professional paid musician. Tonight it is with The Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra, but, within the next few weeks, Reed will have to make the drive to Ann Arbor and his hometown, Benton Harbor, to play professionally with the Ann Arbor Symphony Orchestra, as well as the South West Symphony Orchestra, in preparation for upcoming concerts.
And this is only his second year as a music performance major. \”Music is something I do all the time,\” said Reed. \”It\’s a constant thing.\”
The Music Student\’s Life
Ready to Sing in All the Languages
Though not all music students play professionally, most lead equally hectic lives, rehearsing for hours each day. Music education sophomore Bethany Isackson, is no exception. As a singer she is not able to practice as much because she will lose her voice, but she still spends much of her day with her music. \”On any given day, I\’m in the music building six to eight hours between classes, rehearsing and practicing,\” she said. \”I\’m in the music building more than I am in my dorm.\” Currently, she is participating in the opera scenes program, which allows freshmen and sophomores to display their talents in six to eight minute scenes from various operas. This year she is doing a scene from Rosina called \”The Barber of Seville,\” which is performed in Italian. Isackson has experience with singing in other languages, thanks to diction classes that are required for all vocal music majors. In these classes, students learn to sing in several languages including English, French, German and Italian. \”Italian is the easiest language to sing in, besides English, because there are only a couple of different vowel sounds,\” Isackson said.
No Starving Artist Here
Jessie Neilson, a vocal music education and music performance sophomore, will also be participating in the opera scenes performance. Along with rehearsal, Neilson is also a member of MSU\’s Women\’s Chamber Ensemble and the University Chorale – which just got back from performing at the National American Chorale directors association in Miami, Fla. The choir did three performances there as one of 12 choirs that were selected out of 300 applicants. Neilson said that the performance was a very moving one for the group. \”We closed our program by singing \’I Am in the Need of Music,\’ which was a poem written by Elizabeth Bishop and the music was written by David Brunner in memory of his mentor at MSU,\” Neilson said. \”The first time we performed the poem I think we all had tears in our eyes. People say to me, \’Why are you studying music? You aren\’t going to have a job. Get ready to be a starving artist.\’ But that song is the closest explanation I have to why I do what I do.\”
Not Just the Classics
Saxophone performance and music composition senior James Bobcik said he is studying music with the hopes of performing in France someday. \”There is a big saxophone scene in France,\” Bobcik said. \”They play more contemporary music over there, which is what I am more into. Over here, it\’s more of the classics.\”
In order to reach these goals, Bobcik spends his time preparing for many recitals and competitions as well as writing his own musical compositions. Several of his pieces have been performed at MSU, and he is currently trying to get a woodwind quartet performed that he wrote. Bobcick said that he tries to write music that many people would enjoy. \”I try to program for the \’non-band dorks\’ in my performances instead of sticking with just the classical stuff,\” he said.
Besides writing music, Bobcik spends time preparing for competitions. His quartet competed at the MTNA chamber music competition and was the runner up and has performed at many conferences throughout the country, as well as abroad in Italy. He has also done some competitions on his own, too. \”As a soloist I have competed in the North American Saxophone Alliance national competition, and twice in the MSU Honors Competition, the second year of which I advanced to the second round of three,\” he said.
A Defining Characteristic
Tuba performance freshman Vasos Lee is part of freshman brass quintet as well as the Michigan State Concert Band and the Philharmonic Orchestra. He said that he is taking six music classes right now and is usually at the music building by 8 a.m. for band. His brass quintet performed last semester and concert band has a performance in April that he is preparing for. Lee said although being a music major is time-consuming, he wouldn\’t have chosen another major. \”Music is my most defining characteristic,\” said Lee. \”I am more of an outstanding student on the tuba than anywhere else.\”
[playing]Untapped Resources
While music students spend countless hours preparing for numerous concerts throughout the year, as well as attending fellow musician\’s performances, few non-music students take the time to see their talent on stage. With a free concert almost every night of the week, MSU students have the opportunity to hear a variety of musical talent. \”There are so many upcoming events,\” Richard Fracker, chair of voice department, said. \”I think these concerts are one of the biggest untapped resources at MSU. There is not a day that goes by that there isn\’t either a world-class faculty concert or an outstanding student recital. Students can often get in for free. If not, it\’s a couple of bucks. It\’s cheaper than the price of a movie ticket. It would be pretty astonishing if someone couldn\’t find something they liked with so many options.\” [frack]
Lee, who has attended several College of Music concerts, recommends that students check out the events in April because they\’re \”packed with awesome performances.\” April is when most seniors have final recitals. \”Every recital I\’ve been to, it\’s just like the professor and some family and a few friends,\” he said. \”And they have performed amazingly for like seven people. I totally think that more students should go. There are even some during the week if you don\’t want to give up your Friday and Saturday night.\”
Fracker suggests checking out the upcoming performance of the opera Puccini Turandot that will be performed by students and faculty, accompanied by the orchestra and the choir. Fracker calls it \”an extraordinary event.\”
Music education sophomore Justin Macero recommends going just to see Fracker, who plays the male tenor in the performance. He also suggests seeing any performance featuring professor Melanie Helton. \”When they sing alone or together it\’s amazing, they literately blow up the room with music until you don\’t even think anymore can fit,\” Macero said. \”It blows you away.\”
Despite classical music\’s reputation, Reed thinks it can provide something for everyone. \”I think music is a big part of everyone\’s lives whether you make it a little part or a big part,\” Reed said. \”I think a lot of people don\’t know classical music or understand it. All they have to do is show up and they might like it.\”
Becoming a College
Fracker hopes the changes in the music program will give the students even more resources to put on quality performances. The School of Music, which was formally part of the College of Arts and Letters, became its own college last month. Members of the faculty are excited about this distinction. \”This means that we have higher status, and more control,\” Fracker said. \”We can tailor things the way we want them. It brings us more prestige; it raises the level of the school and eliminates the middle man.\” Fracker also said having musicians represent them at major councils will provide the ability to make their programs more practical.
Ultimately, becoming their own college brings more responsibility and more power to the administrative members of the faculty within the music department. \”I always felt that it was a little strange that the music school was part of the College of Arts and Letters,\” Lee said. \”It was so general. It didn\’t seem like we belonged there,\”
Regardless of which college they belong to, most of these students know where they want to be in the future. Some dream big – like Lee, who wishes to be in a well-paid symphony orchestra. \”The top orchestras pay like $100,000 with benefits,\” he said. Other dreams are fairly simple. \”Basically, I\’d like to get paid to play saxophone,\” Bobcik said. Others, like Macero, wish to make a difference in the world through their music. \”I want to give every student the opportunity to embrace music as an emotional tool in their everyday lives,\” Macero said. For all, being a music student is about following their passion, even if that means taking a risk to avoid the typical desk job. For Reed, it\’s that very difference that makes becoming a musician the best job in the world.
\”It\’s not a nine to five job,\” Reed said. \”And that\’s the best part.\”

Information about College of Music events can be found at http://www.music.msu.edu/.

April Events
Opera Scenes Program: April 7, 3:00 p.m., at the Music Auditorium.
Men\’s and Women\’s Glee Clubs: April 14, 8:00 p.m, at Cobb Great Hall, Wharton Center.
Philharmonic Orchestra: April 19, 7:30 p.m., at East Lansing High School Center for the Performing Arts.
Jazz Band I: April 20, 7:30 p.m, at the Pasant Theatre, Wharton Center.
Giacomo Puccini Turandot: April 21, 8 p.m., at Cobb Great Hall, Wharton Center.

All events are free of charge for students.

[faces]What is the origin of love? Greek philosopher Plato once believed that in the beginning, there were three different kinds of people, each with four legs and four arms, and two faces peaking out of one head. Two men, stuck back to back, were the creation of the sun; two women, the creation of the earth; and a man-woman creature was the moon, the child of the two. One day, Zeus got angry and split each creature in two. Today, regardless of whether a person was a child of the sun, the earth or the moon, they are constantly striving to find the other person that once used to be connected to them, their one true love and other half.
Peppermint Creek Theater Company is presenting Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a rock musical that emphasizes the message of Plato’s story. The tale concerns Hedwig, a rock and roll singer and victim of a botched sex change operation who struggles to find her place in society. Performing along with her is sidekick (and sometimes lover), Yitzhak, an ambiguously gendered performer with a dark side. “The Angry Inch” is Hedwig’s four-person back-up band.
MSU graduate Sharrise Hamilton is performing as Yitzhak in her second Peppermint Creek Theater production, alongside Aaron Coulson as Hedwig. She said people should see the show because its message relates to everyone. “The play is kind of a whole identity crisis battle,” said Hamilton. “It is something that I think everyone can identify with. I am sure everyone has that time when they are like ‘Who am I?’ and ‘Who am I going to end up with?’”
Hedwig and the Angry Inch is the fourth of five plays put on by Peppermint Creek Theater during their 2006-2007 season. Most of their seasons have been performed in the greater Lansing area, and Chad Badgero, artistic director as well as founder of Peppermint Creek Theater, said that they are currently looking for a permanent location – preferably one in East Lansing. “We are moving up – last year we performed in a barn,” said Badgero. “But its takes baby steps to get there. We are definitely staying here. I am very committed to East Lansing. I am from this area and I feel a strong connection to bring what we do to this area.”
Badgero said that as word gets out about Hedwig, they are realizing the show has “a crazy following,” which could make producing the show challenging, but also allows them to be more creative. Director Louis Balestra said he plans to take a few different angles with the show. “I think it’s rare that Yitzhak is going to be played by a black woman like ours is. That could add some interesting elements to the show.” He also stated that they plan to play with the idea of Yitzkak’s gender, as her character can be taken as a man who likes to dress in drag, a woman with a sex change operation, or other variations. They are currently rehearsing and trying to bring together all the different elements of the show.
“It all comes down to assembling a really strong team,” Badgero said. “A musical involves three times more people than a normal play. You have to get the musical director, the lighting, the costume director, all on the same page.”
He and Balestra chose to perform Hedwig because of its originality. “Hedwig came up as an idea, because it’s fresh and it’s never been done here and it addresses vital issues in society,” Badgero said. He also thought it worked out perfectly with their theme of the season: “exquisite contradiction.”
“It is very kitschy, kind of in your face, but we fell in love with the story,” Balestra said. “I think the storyline is quite beautiful. The pain and love is extremely big, and it’s offensive, and fun, and funny, and spectacular. But through the course of it, the love story really does touch your heart, and I don’t think that you quite expect that.”
Telecommunications senior Joshua Herrington said he thought the storyline not only touched the heart, but also could inspire people to think about issues they had never thought about before. “It is an incredible story for anyone curious or open-minded in the fields of sexuaility, self exploration, and love,” Herrington said. “I know many people straight, gay, males, females, who have enjoyed this dark-sided comedy and it really just opens up quite a discussion in your own mind and with others.”
Art education sophomore Jen Busch is also a big fan of Hedwig. She even wants to get a tattoo of the two half faces that symbolize Plato’s theory of the origins of love. She said the “in-your-face” way that Hedwig is portrayed is what makes the story great. “I think it addresses many issues with gender ambiguity and homosexuality that people aren’t necessarily comfortable talking about,” she said. “It does a good job at doing so because it shows it’s not something to ashamed of.”
Music performance junior Lauron Kehrer, who is the co-president of the West Circle dorms LGBTA caucus, said although she has never seen the play, she has seen the movie and likes how it addresses gender issues. “I love the song ‘Origin of Love’ and the scene in the movie that goes along with it, because it challenges our assumptions that relationships are reliant on certain molds of gender and sex,” Kehrer said. “I think there is a lot of progressive gender and LBGTIQQA activism and scholarship going on in East Lansing, and it is a great place to bring such a fun and challenging play.”
However, the topic that draws people like Kehrer to the story is also what could make Hedwig a controversial show. With adult language and sexual topics, Balestra stated that Hedwig is not “a Disneyland musical.\” Still, he feels that because of the deeper meanings and messages within the story, it will not be offensive to most people.
“If you take it just on its face value, you might think, ‘Oh, this might be offensive to someone,’” Balestra said. “But I think the story is deeper than that and more of a profound truth that just sort of happens to be in that setting. What Hedwig experiences is a conflict within everyone about finding out who you are and what your identity is – it is not just about sexuality.”
Hamilton said that making sure the deeper meaning comes through in the performance is a challenge that she and fellow actor, Aaron Coulson, plan to strive for. Coulson said that though he would be challenged by the role, he is looking forward to it. “I am definitely excited about my role,” Coulson said. “I have never done anything like this before. Playing a transsexual punk rock star is going to be a challenge but I am definitely going to have a lot of fun.”
Hamilton said that playing Yitzick will probably be the hardest role of her life. “The play is a little risqué and it’s in your face and it makes no apologies,” Hamilton said. “It’s edgy. There aren’t a lot of shows like that which we are fortunate to see in East Lansing.”
Bringing up that kind of controversy is necessary to get the message across. “In reality, there is a part of our community that does struggle and has made these decisions to change their genders, with no apologies, which they shouldn’t have to make anyway,” Balestra said. “This is a musical that kind of addresses that search, but it’s not exclusive to that. It doesn’t try to sugar coat anything. It tells it like it is. It talks about genitals. It talks about the operation.”[genitals]
Coulson agreed, stating that he hopes his performance might bring “a little ray of hope” to people who deal with issues like Hedwig’s everyday.
Even though Hedwig does tackle controversial topics of sexuality and gender, the light-heartedness of the songs within the play will make it fun and entertaining. Balestra said people are always surprised by some of the fun \’80s-type rock songs like, “Wig in a Box” and “Sugar Daddy,” which make the play comical and light.
Coulson hopes the unique music in the show will make it appealing to people who don’t normally go to a musical. “The musical is not your typical Broadway musical. The punk rock style will bring in a different audience,” Coulson said. “I am excited to see how an East Lansing audience takes to the story.”
Kristin Dombrowski, a studio art senior, said it’s not just the music that makes it great, but also the comedy. “It takes issues everyone has dealt with: love, searching for self identity, and making your own mark on the world, and combining it with hilarious and unexpected twists that are unique to Hedwig’s life is genius.”
Film studies sophomore Matt Larner agrees that it’s the humor that makes the story entertaining. “It’s great because it explores sexuality in an outlandish and unique format. It’s hilarious and the songs are spectacular.”
Badgero hopes that Hedwig will attract a large audience because it will make the show even more realistic. “We are really trying to develop a rock show atmosphere, “ said Badgero. “We can’t expect Aaron and Sharriese to be rocking it out when we only have a 30-person audience. We’ve got to really pack the place.”
The cast and crew hope the appeal of a story about finding oneself and finding true love will allow them to do this.
“It’s all about universal love,” Hamilton said. “Your other half could be anyone. It doesn’t stop at race or gender. It transcends that and goes through that. It’s kind of a beautiful thing to think that love is love regardless of who it is shared between.”

Hedwig and the Angry Inch
March 23-24, 29-31 8:00 p.m.
March 25 at 2:00 p.m.
$15 for public and $8 for students,
Call (517)719-3887 or visit http://peppermintcreek.org/ for tickets.

MSU Museum
[museum]If you\’re stranded in East Lansing, have no fear; the “Lest We Forget: Triumph over Slavery” exhibit at the MSU museum is at your back door. Although many students walk by this museum daily, few think to stop and experience the intriguing exhibits inside. The current exhibit, which will continue through March 4, displays the history and artifacts from the period of American slavery.
While many exhibits on slavery focus on the horror of the practice, “Lest we Forget” focuses on the power that Africans obtained and the culture that was created by overcoming their hardships. Artifacts of the exhibit include published books, essays and poems written by slaves, musical instruments, letters, clothing, as well as a two-dollar bill signed by U.S. treasury register and former slave, Blanche K. Bruce.
Along with the artifacts, the exhibit features information about important figures in slave history, including Phillis Wheatley, the first published black author, Benjamin Bannicker, a mathematician and William Henry Lane, (a.k.a. Master Juba), a former slave credited with creating American tap dancing. Museum volunteer Tom Corwin feels that the exhibit deserves much more attention than the few visitors it gets. “Blacks make up 14 percent of our population,” Corwin said. “People should know about other cultures. A lot of people tend to only want to learn about their own culture, but we are all part of the human race.”
Main Info
Open 9-5, Monday through Friday; 1-5 on Sunday and 10-5 on Saturday.
The exhibit is FREE.
The MSU Museum is located on West Circle Drive, immediately east of Beaumont Tower and just north of the main library.
JAZZ KATS
The Wharton Center will be hosting two different events showcasing African-American music. The first, which will be performed on Feb. 3, is a unique performance that combines history and jazz. “The Jazz Kats,” in memory of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., will be performing compositions written by jazz artists who participated in the Civil Rights movement. The “Kats” will not only play theses pieces but also explain the significance they had to historical events. The Jazz Kats\’ performance will feature the music of Dave Brubeck, Charles Mingus and Duke Ellington, according to public relations manager Bob Hoffman. Hoffman said that viewers of the show will leave with a “sense of history and musical appreciation.” The performers will also be explaining the stories behind important events in African-American history including the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s \”I Have a Dream\” speech. “Jazz is an American institution,” Hoffman said. “It’s historical, it’s educational, it’s entertaining. It makes the show a great experience.”
Main Info
Feb. 3rd, 1:00 pm
Tickets are $7 each, with an additional $2 restoration fee.
Contact (517) 432-2000 for tickets and more information.
LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO
[ladysmith]Made famous on Paul Simon’s Graceland, Ladysmith Black Mambazo will be at the Wharton Center on Feb. 18. They are a South African group that focuses on the music and culture of Africans in their home country. Ladysmith Black Mambazo, a Grammy-winning African all-male a cappella group, will perform their uncommon musical blending style, which consists of a mixture of native African rhythms with Christian gospel sounds. According to Hoffman, the group has been quite successful. So far, they have released 40 albums and performed with many popular American artists, such as Dolly Parton and Ben Harper. They have also had the opportunity to perform all over the world at many important events including Nelson Mandela’s inauguration and the 1996 summer Olympics.
[hoff]Hoffman feels everyone should see the performance because of the high level of musical talent, regardless of their previous interest in African music. “Ladysmith has a 30-year history of being a group that has been considered the world’s greatest,\” Hoffman said. \”They have amazing performances vocally, and they are just astounding. I think it is awesome to reach out and expand your repertoire. Whether or not you’ve heard of them, it’s good to open yourself up to new things. Going to Ladysmith Black Mambazo is an opportunity to see a world-famous group as well as learn about the culture and music of South Africa.\”
Main Info
Feb. 18 7 p.m.
Wharton Center Cobb Great Hall tickets starting $15 for students.
Call the box office 517-432-2000 or toll free at 1-800-WHARTON
FLINT INSTITUTE OF ARTS
For those who are willing to go the extra mile, several nearby towns have events worth traveling to. A short drive from East Lansing, the Flint Institute of Arts showcases several African-American artists. Currently, they are displaying 30 works from the abstract painter and artist David Driskell. David Driskell: Painting across the Decade 1996 – 2006 is free, and runs until March 25. According to assistant to the curator Jill Johnson, Driskell is considered one of the leading experts of African-American art and has contributed to many books and exhibitions. His art is very colorful and consists of abstract shapes inspired by his African heritage. “People will take away a great sense of enjoyment, and appreciation for other cultures from Driskell’s art,” Johnson said. “They will get a great sense of African-American history.” This exhibit will give visitors an opportunity to view and learn about a well-known African-American artist, but also to view the styles and types of art inspired by Africa. “We want to get a good mix of people and cover the largest range of cultures to keep people interested and have something here for everyone to relate to,” Johnston said.
The Flint Institute of Arts will be continuing this effort by paying tribute to another type of African-American artist as well. While this type of art can not be hung in a museum, it is a form of artist expression that most are familiar with: film. Throughout the month of February, the FIA’s theater will be playing several films starring or directed by African-American actor Sidney Poitier in honor of both Black History Month and Sidney Poitier’s 80th birthday. These films include The Defiant Ones, A Raisin in the Sun, In the Heat of the Night and Uptown Saturday Night. Poitier is known from raising himself from poverty and becoming one of the biggest breakthrough actors in the black community during the \’60s and \’70s. After numerous rejections he was able to make a name for himself and went on to win several awards, including two lifetime achievement awards, an Oscar, and an award for best foreign actor.
A Tribute to Sidney Poitier
Matinee Film Series
Saturdays at 4:30 p.m.
Feb. 3 : The Defiant Ones (USA, 1958)
Feb. 10: A Raisin in the Sun (USA, 1961)
Feb. 17: In the Heat of the Night (USA, 1967)
Feb. 24: Uptown Saturday Night (USA, 1974)
Flint Institute of Art
120 E. Kearsley Street
Flint, MI 48503-1915
For more information, call (810)234-1695.
KALAMAZOO INSTITUTE OF ARTS
Regardless of its unusual name, Kalamazoo has a lot more to offer than just Western Michigan University. Namely, the Kalamazoo Institute of Art, which, according to WMU sophomore Erick Skowronski, has a lot to offer those interested in learning about various cultures. Skowronski, who has visited KIA several times, stated that one of things that KIA is best at is diversity. “The institute as a whole does a really good job with cultural activities. They try to reach out to all different groups and find something for everyone,\” Skowronski said. “There is a lot of variety there in both the types of art and the culture. They do a really good job of showing a lot of different things that are important to a variety of people.”
Their coverage of black history doesn’t seem to be an exception. Currently, the institute is presenting ARTbreak, which displays different African-American artists and ideas each week for three weeks. According to ARTbreak coordinator Greg Waskowsky, the first presentation will be showcasing African-American metal sculptor and Western Michigan art professor Albert LaVergne. LaVergne will be talking about his techniques and ideas as well as the African history that inspired him. LaVerge’s art is made mostly of metal and bronze and abstractly depicts everything from human hands to cars.
Waskowsky stated the KIA decided to bring in more contemporary artists like Albert LaVergne because they want to show something different and break away from the stereotypes some people have about African-American art. Waskowsky feels that values shown in African-American art can be applied to all aspects of society. “Black history tends to be viewed in a narrow scope, but I think that it really applies to the whole scope and ideals of American life,” Waskowsky said. “The ideals of identity, memory, struggle, all these things we can take away from black history and art. Black Americans are uniquely qualified to tell about many things that we are all concerned with because of their background in this country.”
Switching gears the following week, the KIA will be showing a film highlighting several different kinds of artists entitled “New Voices, New Directions: Contemporary African-American artists.” Artists including Kara Walker, who creates sometimes-controversial depictions of slaves and slave masters in the antebellum south through silhouettes; Trenton Hancock, whose drawings are inspired by superheroes; and Martin Puryear, a sculptor who takes a minimalist approach to his works. Waskowsky hopes that people will enjoy this presentation because of the wide varity of artists depicted in the video. “The three of them work in really different ways, but they all draw on African-American influences,” Waskowsky said.
The third and final presentation showcases African-American photographers, including James Van Der Zee, Gordon Parks, and Ernest C. Withers. According to Stermer, these photographs not only are artistically-pleasing, but also inform the viewer about the Civil Rights movement. The photos will be explained and presented by KIA director of Collections and Exhibitions Susan VanArendonk.
Main Info
Feb. 6, 12:15 p.m. “The Evolution of a Style,” with Al LaVergne
Feb. 13, 12:15 p.m \”New Voices, New Directions: Contemporary African American Artists\” (video presentation)
“African American Photographers from the KIA Permanent Collection,”
12:15 p.m.
Kalamazoo Institute of Arts
314 South Park Street Kalamazoo, Michigan
For more information visit http://www.kiarts.org/museum/
DIA DELA MUJER CONFERENCE
[dia]The 14th annual Día déla Mujer Conference features a variety of events, including a performance of the play \”Yo Soy Latina,\” written and directed by Linda Nieves-Powell. The play focuses on breaking down media images of both Chicano women and American women. It tells the story of a blond American actress that wishes to be more Latina and a Latina actress who dreams of looking like Farah Fawcett. The play attempts to break down stereotypes in an entertaining but serious manor. Along with the performance, the conference brings forth several other venues including discussions, workshops, and speakers, in an attempt to discuss issues that currently face the Latina community and celebrate what it means to be Latina.
Main Info
Feb. 24 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. at The Kellogg Center
To register, visit http://ddlm.oresa.msu.edu/?dna=registe or call (517)353-7745.
MARIO VARGAS LLOSA
Readers will have the opportunity to celebrate Chicano history month by listening to the words of Peruvian novelist Mario Vargas Llosa as part of Michigan States world lecture series. Llosa is the author of several books including In Praise of the Stepmother, The War of the End of the World, Conversation in the Cathedral, and The Feast of the Goat, as well as the winner of the Cervantes Prize and the Jerusalem Prize. In his works, he demonstrates the social injustices and political issues that the people of Peru face through the stories of fictional characters. Llosa is also the author of A fish in the Water, a memoir he wrote after unsuccessfully running for Peruvian president in 1990. The lecture is approximately 60 minutes and he will be speaking about his experiences in Peru and his inspiration for writing these stories. Want to brush up on his writings before hand? Several of Llosa’s books, including The Feast of the Goat and The Way to Paradise, can be found in many local bookstores.
Main Info
Feb. 26 7:30 p.m. Great Hall Wharton Center
Tickets are free for MSU students $20 for others
Call (517)432-2000 for tickets
Feb. 27 time and location TBA
No tickets required
Feb. 28 8 p.m. Auditorium, Kellogg Center
No tickets required
MICHIGAN WOMEN\’S HALL OF FAME
Two Latina women, Delia Villegas Vorhauer and Yolanda Alvarado-Ortega, have been inducted into the Michigan Women’s hall of fame for their extraordinary contributions in Michigan. Exhibits featuring both are currently at The Michigan Women’s Historical Center and Hall of Fame. Delia Villegas Vorhauer has made many contributions both for the Latino community and the disabled community, as she is legally blind. According to the Hall of Fame’s website, early in her career she developed a job training program in Chicago for Spanish-speaking people. As a result, she was rewarded with a presidential medal from Lyndon B. Johnson. She then went on to become the first Latino chairperson for the Michigan Commission of the Blind and founded the Mujeres Unidas de Michigan, a Latina organization. Toward the end of her life when she was diagnosed with kidney failure, she continued to look out for others, creating a support group for people with similar conditions in Lansing.
The other woman featured in the hall, Yolanda Alvarado-Ortega, is equally accomplished. She spent her life fighting for Latino rights starting in the 1970s when she worked at the Human Relations Commission in Holland, Mich., where she fought for Latino firemen to be included as part of the fire squad. She then made accomplishments as a journalist, working with MSU’s Latino in Journalism program and fighting for civil rights. Because she also had a mentally ill daughter, Alvardo-Ortega wrote a handbook on dealing with mental illness entitled Mental Illness: A Family Resource Guide, and worked to reform the mental health system. Both of these women have made excellent contributions to Michigan and to the Latino community. Check out their exhibit at the Women’s Hall of Fame in Lansing to learn more about the lives of these two influential women.
Main Info
$2 for adults; $1 for students
Wed.-Fri. 12-5 p.m. Sat. 12-4 p.m. Sun.2-4 p.m.
For more information, call(517)484-1880