‘ZOOTOPIA’
BASEBALL
Disney’s newest animation continues to please audiences, Page 4
Heritage Week will showcase school history
Spring season in full swing, Page 8 March 10, 2016 — Vol. 94, Issue 12
Blacklight Shakespeare project takes center stage Full-length production enchants audience and pays tribute to accomplished playwright
by BRENNAN PIVNICKA | staff writer
by BRODERICK HOOKER | staff writer
Next week, Loras College will once again host Heritage Week, an annual event that is designed to celebrate the proud history of Loras, exhibit the unique interactions of the campus community and explore the endless opportunities that come with attending Loras College. This year’s Heritage Week will take place from March 14 to March 18. A variety of events have been planned for the weeklong event. The main focus of these will be on Thursday, March 17, which is designated as Philanthropy Day. During the lunch hours, members of Loras Student Alumni Council will be stationed in the Alumni Campus Center to serve refreshments, accept donations to the school and instigate survey cutout slips on which students can write and explain why they are “lucky to be at Loras” (appropriate, of course, in regards to the coinciding holiday of St. Patrick’s Day). These responses will be summarily posted on the wall of the LSAC social media pages throughout the week. Later in the evening, the annual Alumni Social will be held in the pub from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. This event allows students the opportunity to converse with recently-graduated alumni from countless fields of employment. In a manner similar to the concept of “speed dating,” each individual will be allotted roughly 10 to 15 minutes to talk with a certain alumni before moving on to the next person. Light refreshments will be served, and dress is business casual. Heritage week is a long-practiced and welcome tradition for Loras. It offers an insightful look into the college’s 177-year past while at the same time giving thought and purpose to the future. Anyone interested in these upcoming Heritage Week events is welcome to visit the LSAC Twitter and Facebook pages, “LorasLSAC” and “Loras Student Alumni Council”, respectively. The appropriate hashtags are #LuckyToBeAtLoras and #LuckoftheDuhawk.
On March 4-6, Blacklight Shakespeare took to the stage in St. Joseph’s Auditorium. “A lot of people have fed into the development of this program,” said director Doug Donald. Blacklight Shakespeare began in 2007 in the Warehouse District of Dubuque as a 16 minute show. Since 2007, it has been a 40 minute production. As of this year, it is full length. As the lights dimmed and between certain scenes, a projector showed various facts about Shakespeare, including that he invented 1700 words and phrases we still use today, such as addiction, bandit, bedroom, jaded, frugal, torture and obscene. The narrator of the production was Puck, originally from “A Midsummer Night’s Dream,” and was played by junior Emma Horst. The opening scene, from “Hamlet,” showcased the haunting effects of blacklight, which was used throughout the entire show. The characters all wore masks, gloves, props and costume pieces specially painted to show up under black light. The rest of the wardrobe was black and essentially invisible on stage. This made for interesting effects, such as giving the appearance of floating knives, skulls, and other props. There was a montage of Shakespeare’s most notable quotes, which would not be heard in the rest of the production. Among them: “Brevity is the soul of wit,” “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ear,” “Now is the winter of our discontent,” and of course “Wherefore art thou, Romeo?” In total, Shakespeare wrote 38 plays, two long poems and 154 sonnets, one of which, Sonnet 18, was performed during this production. The next segment was “Globe World News,” a Shakespearean-themed news report, which was led by anchorman and famous Shakespearean actor, William Kemp. Assisting him was fellow bombastic actor, Richard Burbage. The entertainment portion featured a scene
photos by ADRIENNE PEARSON
from “Taming of the Shrew.” “It’s the group collaboration, getting everyone’s ideas and seeing what you end up with. It’s when an actor surprises me with what I hadn’t thought of,” said Donald, about the process leading up to the show. The next segment of the show, an audience favorite, involved the actors going into the audience, picking out members at random and hurling Shakespearean insults at them. The most disturbing and yet amusing portion of the show was the acting out of the final scenes of “Titus Andronicus,” Shakespeare’s bloodiest play. The murders were
portrayed by puppets, adding humor to an otherwise very dark scene. “Blacklight is really cool. We intentionally show things instead of intentionally hiding things, which is the traditional way of going about it,” said sophomore Cheyenne Secor. “This was one of the more fun projects that I’ve been able to do here,” said performer and junior George St. John. “Taking something timeless and putting a new spin on it is a really amazing thing. I gotta give the credit to Doug.” The Loras players have been putting on productions for 106 seasons, and this was their 350th production.
Sprinkler safety revisited after Byrne Oaks mishap by CASSANDRA BUSCH | executive editor
Late morning on March 2, the fire alarms went off in the Byrne Oaks Apartment Complex on campus. The culprit was not a fire or a person, but rather a failed sprinkler head in the rafters that discharged and caused the sprinklers in a third floor apartment to go off. As a result, three Byrne Oaks apartments experienced water damage. “It has been some time since our last sprinkler discharge,” Assistant Dean of Students Molly Burrows Schumacher said, “and there have not been prior issues on campus involving failed sprinkler heads. We have had prior sprinkler discharges in other campus areas -- some the result of an actual fire, others the result of student behaviors that damaged the system and triggered the discharge.” However, the sprinkler system itself is in fine condition. Assistant Vice President John McDermott said that the attic system will be recharged with a glycerin system (designated non-hazardous by the NFPA), and diluted with water in order to repair it.
If no additional issues arise, students quickly remove the excess moisture from the from all three affected apartments will environment next. An inspector then visits be able to move back in within the month to test the walls, ceilings, floor, etc. to anof March. Displaced students have been alyze the moisture content. Next the walls relocated temporarily to the Visitation. are removed to the studs in order to prevent Apartment 105 mold from developwill tentatively ing. New walls are To avoid accidentally setting be able to move then re-installed, back in on March new ceilings are off the delicate system, 8, Apartment hung, tape joints students should not hang 205 on March and mud are put in things on the sprinkler pipes 10, and 305 on and the walls are reMarch 15. painted. or sprinkler heads. Though The school To avoid accipermitted, items using is working with dentally setting off projectiles such as nerf guns, local company the delicate system, Steamatic, which students should not magnetic darts, etc. should is a company that hang things on the also be used with caution. provides water sprinkler pipes or damage restosprinkler heads. ration services. Though permitted, Steamatic uses drying and monitoring items using projectiles such as nerf guns, equipment that will assist in restoring the magnetic darts, etc. should also be used structure of the property as well as salvaging with caution. However, burning candles are valuable possessions. Carpets are extracted not permitted in on campus apartments as first. Industrial dehumidifiers are added to the open flame could ignite papers, blan-
kets, clothing and more that are sitting nearby. Even in houses where candles are permitted, they are generally suggested to be avoided. “Students’ personal possessions are not covered by the College insurance, and the College cannot assume responsibility for damage or loss to student property resulting from fire, theft or any other cause. All students are encouraged to check their family’s homeowner policy for coverage of personal possessions while at college,” The Loras College student handbook says. Students living in on campus housing are able to purchase renter’s insurance if they so wish, and some choose to do so if they are not covered by their parents’ homeowners’ plans. It is wise for students to look into whether or not they are covered by any sort of plan prior to moving into on campus housing. Students are encouraged to keep this in mind, especially as housing registration for the fall will be taking place after Spring Break. Any questions about this topic can be directed to any member of the Residence Life staff.