Loyola University • New Orleans • Volume 97 • Issue 19 • February 22, 2019
THE MAROON FOR A GREATER LOYOLA
Music professor honored By Kellie Sanchez kmsanche@my.loyno.edu
Two fire fighters climb a ladder in order to fight the flames engulfing the Montgomery-Grace mansion. The historic mansion caught fire early Wednesday morning. ANDRES FUENTES / The Maroon.
Rex mansion goes up in flames By Tyler Wann wtwann@my.loyno.edu
The historic Montgomery-Grace mansion on St. Charles went up in flames around 8 a.m. Wednesday morning, according to the New Orleans Fire Department. A release from the department said the initial call came at 7:44 a.m. after being alerted to visible flames coming from the building. The release said that after escorting an elderly woman from the building and making sure that it had been
completely evacuated, they started fighting the fire that was engulfing the first floor and the basement. 25 New Orleans Fire Department units were on the scene, fighting a fire that eventually engulfed the roof. “I’m amazed. It’s like the water isn’t doing anything,” said Beverly Rainbolt, who lives down the street from the mansion and had been watching the fire department fight the flames for over an hour. According to New Orleans Emergency Medical Services, no injuries
had been reported during the fire. This came as a relief to Emilie Montgomery, whose aunt, uncle and 92-year-old grandmother lived in the house. According to Montgomery, even their dog was able to make it out of the flames unscathed. “Everybody’s okay, which is the best thing,” she said. “But they lost everything, and that’s devastating. With the history behind it, it’s a sad day.” The mansion is known for being one of the stops for the Krewe of
Rex, where, traditionally, the king stops to toast the house during the parade. According to Montgomery, this tradition has been happening since her great-great-uncle started it. “It’s been in Mardi Gras since I can remember,” she said. “And unfortunately it had to happen before Mardi Gras. It’s a sad day for everybody.” The fire department said that the cause of the fire won’t be known until the investigation is complete.
Biodegradable beads aim to save environment By Jade Meyers jzmyers@my.loyno.edu
They come in different sizes, shades and colors. From green to purple, to black and gold. Some even light up and some clog drains. But the colorful plastic Mardi Gras beads are doing more harm to the environment than good, according to Bob Thomas, Loyola professor and director of the Environmental Communication Center. New Orleans found thousands of pounds of beads clogged in drains last year with their efforts of cleaning the city, according to Thomas. Thomas said he goes to a lot of parades and when they are over it is remarkable how much plastic is sitting on the streets, which he says is likely to not be recycled, or re-thrown since people have been walking on them and because they are usually broken. It is what he calls “absolute horrible waste.” Thomas said if the beads hit the street and are not picked up, they will be there five years from now. “The streets are swept after the parades, but, if the beads get washed down the drain, the beads will clog the drain which create problems,”
Thomas said. Thomas thinks there is an alternative for this issue and it could improve environment. “Bio-degradable beads serve the same purpose as the plastic beads. They are beads, they throw well, and they catch well,” Thomas said. Atlas Handmade Beads, a company that sells bio-degradable beads made from newspapers handcrafted by women in Uganda, was created by Kevin Fitzwilliam, a former student of Thomas and a 2003 Loyola University of New Orleans graduate. Fitzwilliam said he came up with this idea from his love of Carnival, which started as a small project and transformed in to a small business. He said he wanted to find ways of making Carnival less wasteful because he cares about the environment. Atlas Handmade Beads has been around for just over a year and a half and sells bracelets, necklaces and coin purses while also increasing the standard of living for his employees in Uganda. Fitzwilliam says his company has a big focus on Carnival, but it also has a lot of other audiences. They have a line for Saints fans, with black and gold items. Also, they
have items for school colors. He said his beads have been thrown in some parades by individual riders who are members of Krewe of Iris and Krewe of Muses, but his company is not the only one that sells jewelry made from newspapers. Kevin said what sets his apart from the others is the message he wants to send through his beads of addressing the conversation of do we have to continue to have hordes of plastic beads in New Orleans. “The goal is to provide an alternative for Chinese plastic beads, so that we can discuss where our products come from, specific to Mardi Gras. (It is) about retaining everything we love about Mardi Gras, but about reducing the amount of waste that is associated with Mardi Gras,” said Fitzwilliam. Fitzwilliam wants people to understand what it means to care for the environment and protect it, because for him it is very important. “Real focus is people being aware of where their products come from, thinking about being a global citizen, and thinking and talking about sustainability,” said Fitzwilliam.
Atlas Handmade Beads sells biodegradable Carnival jewelry in order to cut down on waste. Courtesy of Atlas Handmade Beads.
Think of your favorite musicians. Chances are John Snyder has recorded them. That’s what Lukas Cox said the chair of film and music industry studies told him when he was a student at Loyola. Since 2004, decades of music industry experience has been funneled into students through Snyder. He has five GRAMMY awards for producing and has label clients like Atlantic, Columbia, RCA and Sony, just to name a few. He’s collaborated with jazz musicians like Dave Brubeck, Jim Hall and Paul Desmond. In addition to producing music, Snyder also worked as an intellectual property lawyer. On Thursday, Jan. 24, at OffBeat Magazine’s Best of the Beat Awards ceremony, Snyder received the award for Lifetime Achievement in Music Education. He joined Ellis Marsalis, Alvin Batiste and more than a dozen other notable music teachers who have been recognized for their contributions to music education since the award began in 2000. But Snyder is not a traditional music teacher. Rather than teaching students how to play or sing the notes, he teaches them the business side of music. Snyder said he accepted the award on behalf of the music educators he is surrounded by both at Loyola and the greater New Orleans community. “I went to college as a trumpet player and they told me to have (teaching) to fall back on, which I found doubly offensive,” Snyder said. “It meant I was going to fail as a trumpet player … and it meant teaching was a fallback.” Snyder doesn’t believe it’s a fallback though. “(It’s) a high art when done well, I mean the highest,” he explained, “You’re affecting people’s minds and the way they think. You’re rewiring their brains and that’s a pretty serious business.” Snyder is known for being honest with his students. “He wasn’t afraid to disagree with me when I was managing production here and I learned from that,” said Cox, a class of 2014 graduate who now works for Buku Fest. While not a typical music teacher, Snyder said his role is to teach students how to benefit from making music. “The flip side to making music is sharing it and once you do that commerce attaches,” he said. While past recipients of the award have typically been music teachers, Jan Ramsey, editor-in-chief of OffBeat, said it is about time they recognized someone who was instrumental in the business side of music. “Loyola is the premier place for that to happen and it’s been needed for a long time,” she said. Snyder is not only different from typical music teachers, but he is also different from typical teachers, according to Kern Maass, dean of the College of Music and Fine Arts.
See MUSIC, page 6