OCR::/Vol_097_098/WLURG39_RTP_19970316/WLURG39_RTP_19970316_001.2.txt X. I k Bulk Rate US I’ostzIg'c I’AIl) 1'1.-rmit No. 7 Lexington, \'.-\ MARCH 16, 1997 KATHEKON APPLICATIONS DUE: Rising juniors and seniors, don’t forget to turn in your Kathekon applications by Wednesday. Applications, inter- view sign-ups and information packets are available outside Carol Calkin’s office in the University Center. Interviews will be held next Tuesday through Thursday. POET GIVES READING: Fans of award-winning poet Kathleen Norris won’t want to miss her reading on Tuesday in Northern Auditorium. Norris will follow the reading with a book signing. The readingwill begin at4:30 p.m.; the public is invited to attend. LAW SCHOOL HOSTS SYMPOSIUM: The law school will hold a one-day symposium on “Minorities in the Legal Profession: Agenda for the 21st Century.” The symposium will take place on Friday. It will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a panel discussion on “Minorities in the Judicial Sector.” Panels on “Minorities in the Private Sector” and “Minorities in the Public Sector” will follow at 11:25 a.m. and 2:25 p.m. Discussions will focus on how minorities have succeeded in the legal field despite the problems they face and on how these problems can be solved in the future. For registration, contact Margaret Williams at 463-8509. RUSSIAN NOVELIST VISITS: Visiting Russian novelist Vladimir Sharov will speak twice during his visit to W&L, once this Wednesday and once next Wednesday. He will address the topics “Russia, the Bible, and the Jews” and “From Under the Rubble: One Writer’s Journey.” Anna Brodsky, W&LprofessOrOfRussian,will translate. Both lectures begin at 7:00 p.m. in room 221 ofthe C-school. PBK SCHOLAR SPEAKS: Rachel Jacoff, the Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar at W&L, will speak on the topic of “The Poetics of the Afterlife” at 8 p.m. Monday in Northern Auditorium. Her talk will consider the poetry of Homer, Plato, Virgil, Dante, Montale and Merrill. Jacoff is a professor of Italian at Wellesley College. AUDITION FOR ZOO: Open auditions for Edward Albee’s “Zoo Story,” di- rected by senior Dan Tipton, will be held in duPont audito- rium 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Sunday, March 30. Scripts are available in the Lenfest Center. CCC REQUESTS W&L INPUT: The Concerned Citizens Coalition invites students and faculty to attend their meeting 5:30 p.m. Sunday in the County Administration Building, 150 S. Main St. The CCC will discuss their current work and ask citizens to voice their concerns. For further information please call Darrell Lee Croson at 291-3276. ATTEND MUSIC RECITAL: Music students will perform 8 p.m. Tuesday in the Lenfest Center. The public is invited to attend. TEACH HOW TO WRITE: Professors David Novack and Robert Strong will host a writing program activity on how to teach writing in introduc- tory social science classes 3:30 p.m. Thursday in Fairfax Lounge of the University Center. LEARN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: Jack Jordan of Bethlehem Steel and Rick Armstrong of Wachovia Bank of Georgia will speak at the Annual Strate- gic Management Seminar in room 327 of the C-school 7:30 p.m. Thursday. ——COMl’lLED BY PEGGY S'ruNTz BY ERrcA PROssER Pm STAFF WRrTER Evans Dining Hall was filled with the strains of 50’s rock ‘n’ ".‘.II announcing another Dining Service taenre Thursday night. “It was a great success,” Director of DiningServices Gerald Darrellsaid about the 50’s dinner theme. He said that he was not surethe students would knowthe songs, but after watching l're diners on Thursday, the younger generation is in- deed familiar with “old-tzme. rock ‘n’ roll.” Dining hall dinner themes are a regu- lar sight at W&L. Darrell said that the staff tries to do several different themes each year, usually about one “big event” per month. Wok Night, though still tech- nically a theme, “isn’t anything special anymore,” but it remains regular none- theless. He said that the themes rely a lot on student input, since the purpose of the themes is partially to break the monotony that sets in after a while. Other colleges and universities have themes, he continued. The National As- sociation of College and University Food Services holds menu competitions for the dinner themes created by participat- ing schools like this one, and W&L has often brought home awards from the competition. __ Darrell pointed out the “front wall by the double doors” just outside the main dining hall where W&L’s dining service ribbons hang. As an example of the honors this staff has earned, he men- tioned a second place last year and two first place finishes before that in the national competition. The preparation behind the themes is extensive. Darrellsaidthattlre plan- ning begins every summer when the real team effort,” Darrell said. Photo by Mark Slomiany D-hall workers display their “talents” at Thursday night’s wild theme dinner. ‘tend than usual. J-school hosts ethics institute _ Who says that journalists today lack a sense of ethics? Washington and Lee University’s Journalism School wants to make sure its stu- dents possess a strong one. 7 Friday and Saturday marked the 23rd annual Llournalisnr Ethics Insti- ' ‘tute, a two-day series of seminars unique to W&L. Students from the tjournalismethics class join‘l5 pro-’ fessionalslfromjthe media and]: academia in discussiohsofactual eth—_ . I-icsieasies. The "seminars, each lasting ’ ?*faboutf;an h'our_,_and-a ‘.ialf_§long, are {held in Northiern Auditoriujm, the 'stu-" Otherwise, she said the themes are a success and a good idea. With all the variety in themes, one past theme had to be the “most” successful of them all. Darrell of- fered what he considered to be that calendar forthe year’sthemes is cre- ated. Ideas come from both student input and brainstorming sessions among the staff. The menus for the themes are prepared a month in ad- vance, and the decorations are ap- plied on the day of the event. The catering department, staff and others involved helpoutonthedayofthetheme Students seem to welcome the theme nights. Sophomore Rebecca Fitzsimmons called the dinner themes “entertaining” and “a relief from mo- notony.” Her favorite theme, which is actually a theme week, is finals week. During finals, the dining hall offers little treats and pick-me-ups to studying stu- dents. Theme nights, she lras observed, are popular and more uppcrelassmen at- In spite of her support of the theme night concept, she lamented the lack of alternatives for those who do not like the theme. On Wok Night, for example, she is “forced to go out or starve” because the dinner does not include choices that aren’t Chinese food. She suggested :1 pasta or vegetarian selection that re- mains present even on theme nights so that no student is forced to forgo dinner. outstarrdingtheme. Afew years ago, he said, the dining service created a Lobsterfest theme. They flew in lobsters from Maine and set up an outdoor dinner that was enormously successful. For future dinnerevents, he welcomes suggestions from stu- dents, so all should feel free to par- ticipate in deciding the dining hall atmosphere for next year. POPINION Who are the winners and the losers in the democratic fundraising scandal. Another dull FD article. W&L: the living college brochure. P“ ( FANCY DRESS SUPPLEMENT Interview with the Fancy Dress Chair. Band profiles. FD theme timeline. His- tory ofthe circus. Memorabilia sale in the University Center. }FEATURES The Glasglow Foundation will sponsor a reading by Kathleen Norris, essayist and poet. VladmirSharov‘, a Russian novelist, will read from his work. David Keeling (’73) critiques the lecture of Professor Arthur Dante. Alex Christensen tells how a movie becomes an ‘event.’ to keep things running smoothly. “lt’s a German director to address theater ‘structural differences’ Swimmer Places FROM PHI STAFF REPORTS The Washington and Lee University departments of German and Russian and the Theater Department will sponsor the visit of German theater director Rainer Lewandowski from March 23-25. The visit is part ofa two-week American speaking tour organized by West Vir- ginia University, which also includes the University of Pittsburgh, Carnegie—Mcllon University, as well as W&L. Mr. Lewandowski is the director ofa famous theater in the Bavarian city ofBamberg. In commemoration of the Romantic composer and writer E. T. A. Hoffmann’s 220th birthday in 1996, Mr. Lewandowski published a study about Hoffmann’s years in Bamberg, wrote and staged an original play containing familiar characters from Hoffmann’s Fantastic Tales, and adapted several Hoffmann stories for the stage. The Bamberg Theater also produced Hoffmann’s musical masterpiece, the opera Undine. Most recently, the Theatertraveled to Kiev, Ukraine, to present its stage production of Hoffmann’s Made- moiselle de Seuderi. In the U.S.A., Hoffmann is per- haps best known as the author of the story on which Tchaikovsky based his ballet, “Tire Nutcracker.” Mr. Lewandowski is also an accomplished drama- tist. His play, Today Neither Hamlet, has been suc- cessfully produced by different theaters throughout Germany and was recently translated into English. He may work with it in one of his appearances at W&L later this month. On Monday, March 24, at 8:00 p.m., Mr. Lewandowski will speak in Room 221 ofthe Commerce School about structural differences between the theater in Germany and in the United States, and about his own work as artistic director of the E. T. A. Hoffmanrr Tlreatcr. OnTuesday, March 25,11! 8:00 p.m., Mr. I.ew'.rndo\vski will again speak in Room 221 ofthe Commerce School. I-lis topic will be: “How Artistic Imaginatiorr Came to Console Hoffmann: The Imaginative Realist E. T. A. Hoffmann and his Relationship with the Romantic Move- nrcnt in Germany.” Both presentations are open to the public and free of charge. _ During his two-day stay, Mr. Lewandowski will also visitseveral German classes to speak to students. Anyone who undcr'stanr.ls Gcrnran is welcome to sit in one oftlresc classes. For more information on Mr. Le\v:nrdo\vski's schedule, please contact the German Department Profes- sor David B. Dickens (ext. 8830) or Professor Roger A. Crockett (ext. 8825); fortheater-related information, corr- tact Professor Al Gordon (ext. 8003). sixth in nation BY TOM WADLOW PHI AssrsTANT NEws EDITOR . Last Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Freshman Brooke Stanley attended the NC IIA Division III Swimming Cham- pionships at the Miami University in O.\IOl‘tI, Ohio. Seventy schools were represented at the event which consisted of about 220 srvimrners. “Tlris isabig deal for me,” Stanley said Sunday after‘ coming home with a 6th place in the 50-yard freestyle and a 7th placei n the I00-yard freestyle. “I was nervous at first,” said Stanley, “but after I swam the first event, I wasjust excited." Assistant Prol'cssor of Plrysical Education and Sxvirrrzxrirrg Coach iiristin Jacobs said she was very pleased with St;1nley’s per'fornT.tncc. “She did really\vcll,"J;rcolrssaid. "It's hard to go there by yourself, especially as a fi'eslrm:rn.” Senior‘i\’allrarr I lottlc will represent Waslrington and Lee University in the men’s division this weekend. Stanley FROM PHI STAFF REPORTS Fifty Washington and Lee Uni- versity students participated in a Maury River clean up project March 8, sponsored by the Rockbridge Area Conservation Council (RACC) and the James River Basin Canoe Livery. The students represented six cam- Spring cleaning on the Maury Students beautify river trash and debris from the flood plain of the Maury River to the Chessie Trail. RACC volunteers carted 14 pick-up truck loads of material off the trail to a pile that rivaled Mt. Traslrmore. “We are most appreciative of the W&L students’ efforts to help beautify the Rockbridge area,” RACC’s Execu- tive Director Mollie Messimer said. “Our community clean-up slated for pusorganizations:OutingClub, Fresh- man Leadership Council, Alpha Phi Omega, Catholic Campus Ministry, Pi Kappa Alpha and Sigma Chi. From Lexington to Buena Vista, the students hauled over four tons of March 22 has had a fantastic head start. Thanks to The James River Basin Canoe Livery who offered clean-up partici- pants a free canoe trip along the same stretch of river the following weekend. What a great reward fortheir hard work!” Photo bMollie Messimer Students from W&L organizations sit atop “Mt. Trashmore.” OCR::/Vol_097_098/WLURG39_RTP_19970316/WLURG39_RTP_19970316_002.2.txt PAGE 2 OPINION Whal really haw anal Ell egfilioils of improper luna’rd:3ing—~> by Nobody I997 Presidents Gingrich and Thurmond? The Democrats’ fund raising scandal supplies some interesting winners. The story thus far: The Democratic National Com- mittee engaged in questionable, and possibly illegal, fund raising ac- tivities. President Clinton and Vice President Gore were also heavily From the Right Jason Zacher ’98 Ring-tum Phi Editorial Editor engaged in these activities. The Justice Department is trying to find the line between what is legal and illegal, since many “soft-money” contributions are legal. Is this the 90’s equivalent of Watergate? An illegal act may have been performed, with full presidential knowledge, to secure re—election. There are many politi- cal games to be played, so who are the potential winners and losers in this scandal? The Losers: 1. Vice President Gore. Though Clinton participated in questionable activities, it is ‘ highly unlikely he would be im- 3 peached — his popularity rating 1 have barely felt this scandal. Gore, - on the other hand, stands to lose everything. He is potentially the Itop presidential front-runner for the 2000 election. Currently, most 2 people in the country see him as 3 boring and clean. It might turnout that he is simply boring. His easy I nomination could become a seri- ous race. 2. The Media. An ad-industry research firm, Competitive Media ' Reporting, said the top 75 media ' markets made $400 million from ; political ads in the 1996 campaign. U.S. News and World Report re- ported that television stations in Raleigh, N.C., made $8.5 million, and one station received more money from politicians than from all the Ford and Chevrolet dealers combined. 3. President Clinton. He could lose but not for the reasons you may think. His defense in the Paula Jones case before the Su- preme Court is that he was too busy with his duties as President to handle a civil case. But if Clinton was cuttingback on his policy brief- ings to raise money, what does that say to the Supreme Court, which has not ruled on the case yet. Clinton may not be able to with- stand the firestorm that could sur- round that case. 4. The DNC. Though the Re- publican Party is by no means clean on this subject, the DNC is at the center of this scandal. The nation- wide popularity could take a hit heading into the 1998 and 2000 elections. The Democrats could lose the congressional seats they gained in the 1996 election. The Winners: 1. Senator Fred Thompson. He is spearheading the bipartisan commission to study this scandal. If he can play the role of the responsible crusader, he can win wide publicsupport that could translate into a Republican nomi- nation for president in 2000. Thompson stands to gain the most from this. He has been bucking the Republican leadership so his in- vestigation can be truly bipartisan. He is already seen as the “good guy,” the popularity is his to lose. 2. The Republican Party. If the Republicans can keep these inves- tigations from becoming a media circus, they could win the popular- ity the Democrats stand to lose. It is imperative that the Republicans have a goal in these investigations, and do not draw them out if there is no wrongdoing. 3. Senator Strom Thurmond, Secretary of the Treasury Ronald Rubin and Secretary of Defense William Cohen. Last week, Wil- liam Safire outlined a humorous scenario in his column in The New York Times. Should Clinton be impeached, it is possible that Gore would follow. The. presidency “There are powecful people in this country who want to see their man elected, so where is the justice in saying they cannot do so?” would fall into Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich’s lap. It is conceivable that he would not stand above the fray on several issues. This drops the presidency on Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, President pro tempore of the Senate. Since his age and health would certainly be a serious problem, he would possibly pass the presidency on to our first woman president, Secretary of State Madeline Albright. Albright is not a native citizen, so she is automatically ineligible for the presidency. This passes the office to Secre- tary of the Treasury Ronald Rubin. He is also involved in several shady dealings, and if he could not with- stand the investigations, Clinton’s Republican choice for Secretary ofDefense William Cohen, would be president. Of course this scenario is silly, but as with silly things in politics, it seems far too likely also. Will campaign finance reform really happen? Probably not, or at least, not the kind we want. There are simply too many legal issues, spe- cial interest groups and constitu- tional issues to make campaign finance reform an easy subject. Why do we need campaign fi- nance reform? We simply have the workings ofa democracy learly upon us. There are powerful people who wantto seetheir man elected, so where is the justice in saying they cannot spend their money to do so? No matter what happens, political campaigns will live offof money, and the wealthy and pow- erful will continue to hold a lot of power in politics. The Supreme Court ruled on this issue in the complex case Buckley v. Valeo (1976) One of the Court’s rulings was that people could spend their money on poli- tics however they want, and the government can not restrict someone’s spending. The Court was deeply divided, but a prece- dent was set: Any such law passed by Congress might not hold up underjudicial scrutiny. Which brings us to the ultimate losers in any scenario, the people. If reform is not passed, we may continue to have influence bought by special interest groups, but if the reform is passed, a liberty to spend one’s money how they wish will be eliminated. Nobody said politics is fair. Former W&L student tried for forgery She could have been a typical Washington and Lee University student, blond hair, blue eyes, medium height. A nice girl from Florida. She got good grades, and was slated to become a dorm coun- selor this year. Then on/lugust 29, 1996 the police arrested her for forgery. Life on the Hill C. E. Miller ’98 Jennifer Murphy’s story is bi- zarre. Her actions are in direct vio- lation of what everyone knew about her. She had several good friends and a steady boyfriend. Not only was she well liked by the faculty, but after an intensive interview and application process, she was chosen to be a dorm counselor. She was chosen to represent the ideal W&L student, to be a model for the class of 2000. No one ex- pected her to lie, cheat or steal, and yet she did. She fooled her roommates, her boyfriend and her professors. Dean Dennis Manning, a man who is disappointed, but never surprised, was shocked at her arrest. So many people who trusted the W&L stu- dent body were shocked to dis- cover a student had been arrested for forgery, and the checks she passed in the guise of the W&L “Murphy , claimed not to knowanything about it, when in reality the checks were in her possession.” honor system were no good. Her story begins with a missing book of checks. Murphy’s room- mate asked her if she knew any- thing about it. Murphy claimed not to know anything about it, when in riaality the checks were in her pos- sfssion. School ended and her r ommates left for the summer. Rometime later, Murphy decided to use the book of checks to pur- chase items such as a stereo. She was again confronted by her roommate. This time she ad- mitted towritingone ofthe checks, when she had written several oth- ers. When word of Murphy’s ar- rest got out the rumors began to fly: “I always thought there was something strange about her,” or “She was fake, you couldjust tell.” Eventually the rumors died down and people forgot about her, for better gossip, better stories. But for Murphy, the ordeal was just beginning. Forgery is a felony in Virginia, mandating time injail. Last Mon- day morning, Murphy faced Judge George E. Honts ill on four counts of forgery and four counts of ‘“ut- tering” which is signing someone else’s name to a presented check. Her lawyer had served sub- poenas to several character witnesses including Manning. He had A become well acquatinted with Murphy her freshman year. This was his first time in court and his first time testifying. He told the court that Murphy had been an exceptional student and forg- ing these checks was an anomaly. The Commonwealth’s attor- ney, Gordon Saunders, felt Murphy should face the felony charges and take the punish- ment for her crime. Having prosecuted other cases, he felt that Murphy was no exception to facing the felony charges. So here she is in a tight spot. Time in jail at 20 years of age, all for stealing a few checks and buying some toys. Poor judgment. Would Honts let her off with a slap on the wrist like Kurt Richter, or would she face years in jail? And so Murphy '5 bizarre story comes to an end. Judge Honts re- duced her felony charges to eight misdemeanors and suspended her two years in jail for 24 months of unsupervised probation. Unless Murphy violates her parole by breaking the law, she’ll have managed to violate not only the Honor System without reper- cussion but also a felony charge. on her permanent record. I hurt anyone’s feelings. That atti- MARCH 17, 199'. Washington and Lee: the living college brochure Other than an incredibly gray Friday, last week was absolutely beautiful. ldon’_t think I will ever encounter many sights more lovely to me than Washington and Lee on a sunny day. The Colonnade and young students played frisb withfriendsand dogsallovcrca‘ pus. Perfectly choreograph squirrels romped through impi sibly green grass. My high schor aged self would have seen all that and thought it looked inert ibly fake, but I know now that it real. W&L, I think, really lends its to brochure photo ops. Not or do we have a beautiful cam}: with actual ivy on the walls, l we are a freakishly good looki group ofpeople. Don’t be mode you know it is true. All of us ha nice hair and perfect teeth; it mal you wonder what criteria the 2 missions office is really applyi to us. Maybe we should use that our advantage and include Gla our Shots in our brochures, maybe we could be the first C: lege to send prospectives a swi suit issue. It has been a dream of mi for a long time to get my p: ture in a brochure, calendar, catalog. I thought I had it chance last term when a ph tographer came into my po tics class to take pictures of l She told us just to prete she wasn’t there, which was: easy to do considering that s kept holding light meters front of our faces and snapp a picture every time Profess Grant-Thomas gestured. I tri my hardest to raise my -hanc lot and to look thoughtful, i tent, happy, and smart. I co sidered running quickly tot bookstore to pick up a W8 sweatshirt or a lovingly tatter looking notebook to increa my chances of getting in t brochure. Maybe I should ha\ since I didn’t make the cut. Maybe I should spend t rest of my time here (other th while I’m in that spring tei PE class so I can graduate) pc ing for pictures and trying get Patrick Hinley’s attentic Look around and you’ll fi me reading outside the Co—c sniffing the daffodils outsi the Lee House, climbing Cyr McCormick statue and preten ing to be asleep outside witl book on my chest. Look for me in next year calendar! GreenLand Betsy Green ’97 every other part of campus are picture perfect. In fact, almost too perfect. W&L last week looked exactly like a college brochure. Remember all those brochures you got after you took the SAT’s? At first, I was really excited to get them. Those colleges saw my test scores, and they wanted me. ME! Clearly, I was something special. I eagerly filled out the reply card in the back of each one, just to let them know I was interested, not to tude lasted all of a week, until I found out that all of my friends were getting the exact same bro- chure in equal quantities. It was around that time that I decided to be creative with all of those useless brochures. I’d make collages, or use pictures from bro- chures for mix tapes The Iowa State brochure had lots of pretty trees, I remember, and the Univer- sity of Chicago brochure had way cool gargoyle pictures. Other colleges, inexplicably, took a shine to me. Ifl didn’t get something from Sarah Lawrence College at least twice a week, I worried aboutthem. Cometothink of it, the Victoria’s Secret catalog is now stalking me with a similar fervor. Coincidence? I think not. All ofthose brochures had com- mon elements, most of which I could see on campus last week: happy students rcadingundertrees, dedicated professors teaching out- side, flowers blooming. And I. think in every single brochure of every college in the United States, there is a picture of ethnically di- verse students, one wearing a sweatshirt with the name of the school on it, one leaning on a bike, all wearing backpacks, standing under a tree. I’m pretty sure I spotted that last week, when photo oppor- tunities abounded. Joyous Quote of the Week “President Elrod will be hitting the bong — I mean gong?” - an astonished W&L student on learning about President E [rod is activities @112 filing-tum ifihi Executive Editor ................................................................ ..Anne Alvord Managing Editor ........................................................... ..Hiiiary Coombs News Editor ....................................................................... ..Tarah Grant Assistant News Editor ....................................................... ..Tom Wadlow Editorial Page Editor ........................................................ ..Jason Zacher Features Editor ............................................................... ..David Balsley Assistant Features Editor ................................................ ..Andrea Ewing Photographer ............................................................... ..Mark Slomiany Business Managers ....................................... ..Neal Kohl. Blake Lovelace Advertising Assistant ...................................................... ..Rebecca .Cuny The Ring-tum PM is published Mondays during the undergraduate school year at Washington and Lee University. Lexington. Virginia. Funding for The Ring-tum Phi comes primarily from advertising and subscription revenues. The Washington and Lee Publications Board elects the Executive Editor and Business Manager, but The Ring-tum Phi is otherwise indepen- dent. The Ring-tum Phi welcomes all responsible submissions and letters. All submissions must be in the Phi office. room 208 of the University Center. by noon on Saturday to appear in that week's edition. The Ring-tum Phi reserves the right to edit sumbissions for content and length. Letters. _ columns. and “My Views" do not reflect the opinions of The Ring-tum Phi Editorial Board. Advertising does not reflect the opinions of The Ring-tum Phi or its staff. This newspaper observes current court definitions of libel and obscenity. The Ring-tum Phi Post Office Box 899 Lexington, Virginia 24450 Telephone: (540) 462-4060 Fax: (540) 462-4059 E-mail: phi@wlu.edu . OCR::/Vol_097_098/WLURG39_RTP_19970316/WLURG39_RTP_19970316_003.2.txt i I l l l \ ,-=..,,_. 1-, L_ * g <. . MARCH 1 7, W1 BY DAVID BALSLEY PHI FEATURES EDITOR It may seem strange to some that a married woman would be I attracted to the monastic life. For Kathleen Norris, however, living as a monk was only one step in herjourney back to faith. Norris, essayist and poet, has made her re-discovery of Chris- tianity the topic of her most re- cent works. She will be here on Tuesday for a Glasgow Reading. Norris’ spiritual journey be- gan when she and her husband, poet David Dwyer, moved to Lemmon, South Dakota, accord- ing to a July 1994 article pub- lished in “The Christian Cen- tury.” While living in Norris’ late grandmother’s home, the two came to appreciate the si- lence and vast expanses of west- ern Dakota. For Norris, returning to her grandmother’s home also meant examining her faith. Memories of her religious upbringing re- emerged. Confronted with her past, Norris was forced to admit that she was largely ignorant of the faith which she had rejected. She began to attend church and, with the help of some minister friends, started to see Christian- ity as “a communal thing.” Norris also became an asso- ciate member at a monastery. She took part in the monks’ prac- tice of sustaining long periods of silence broken only by scrip- ture readings and prayer. This deprivation, she found, allowed her to confront sin, as well as strike a balance between disci- pline and freedom. These initial experiences comprise Norris’s “Dakota: A Spiritual Geography,” :1 collec- tion of long essays interspersed with short, lyrical pieces, pub- lished in 1993. A July 1996 article published in “The Chris- tian Century” describes “Da- kota” as Norris’ tale of her cs- cape from the harried life of New York and the rekindling of faith which accompanied her move to South Dakota. The book became a best-seller. Norris’s “Little Girls in Church,” a collection of poetry, followed in 1995. Her most recent work ofprose, “The Clois- ter Walk,” was published in 1996. In the latter, Norris de- scribes her liturgical life at Saint John’s Abbey in Minnesota, her visits to other monastic houses, and the various communities in which she has lived, according to a May 1996 article published in “Commonweal.” Norris has won critical ac- claim for her works. She can “bring alive the old desert fa- thers and mothers, the saints of the calendar, the idiosyncracies of community life, the travails of small-town living, the joys and pains of marriage and old age,” according to a “Commonweal” May 1996 ar- ticle. Professor W. Lad Sessions, Professor of Philosophy, also praises Norris’s ability. Based on his reading of“Dakota,” Ses- sions characterizes Norris as “a very poeticwriter”wlIoemploys “awono'erfully spare use oflan- guage.” According to Sessions, Norris has the ability to look beyond surface matters. “Thereisadepthtothisworld whichsheappreciates,”Sessions said. Sessionsencouragesstudents to attend her appearance. “l"durgcanyonethatlcould to come and just listen to the sound of her language,” Ses- sions said. “[Norris is] a woman who has taken a path which many Americans do not: a path to the spiritual, and not just to the flashy, materialistic world.” Kat/Ileen Norris will appear on Tuesday, March 18, at-1:30 p.m. in Nort/Ien AIIa'iI0rium. Thanks to Professor Cathleen C upper for /rer help in writin g this article. W&1ife asgow hosts reading by PAGE 3 Norris [hole by Mark omiany Tracing her return to spirituality: Kathleen Norris’s “Little Girls in the Church” is a volume of poetry set in the.Dakotas, New Jersey, and a monastery. Norris will appear on Tuesday, March 18, at 4:30 p.m. in Northen Auditorium to discuss “Little Girls,” as well as her other works. FROM PHI STAFF REPORTS Vladimir Sharov scheduled to speak Vladimir Sharov, visiting Russian novelist, will make two presentations at Washington and Lee University. In the first, scheduled for March 19 at 7:00 in Room 221 of the Williams School, he will read from his work and speak on"“Russia,’_ the Bible’ and the Jews.”' 'Sh'arov’s second lecture, “From” Under the R',Iibble:'():nei Writer’s I Journey,” will be held a week later, on March 26, at 7:00 in the same location. The first two novels of Vladimir Sharov were initially banned by the Soviet government but finally came into print six years ago. “Treading in the Tracks” was pub- lished in 1991, and “Rehearsals” in 1992. Then “Before and During” appeared in 1993, and “And Should I Not Pity,” in 1995. All four were nominated for the presti- gious Booker Russian Novel Prize for best novel in the years of their publication. Sharov has resided in Moscow since his birth there in 1952, but has spent the last half year here in Lexington, where he hasjust finished a new novel entitled “An Old Girl.” The plots of his novels are very complex. On the simplest level, “Treading in the Tracks” mirrors the history of modern Russia through the history of a family originating with a step-brotherof Jesus Christ. “Rehears- _ the .To\ver.0f.l3al)el and the biblical Deluge. _This last. novel has provokeda great deal of heated debate. Com- wrote, “This eternal masquerade of history, a vaudeville als” portrays recent Russian history through the story of exiled Siberian actors attempting to perform the Passion ofChrist in order to bring the Second Advent. The action of“BefOreandDuring”beginswiththe people inhabiting the “Department of Senile Sclerosis” of the Gcnushkin Hospital, and unfolds their destinies as a Inad history of twentieth-century’ Russia, while drawing parallels with menting on this, the literary critic, M. Nekhoroshev, with much dressing-up, which more often than not turns into a tragedy, represents the subject ofSharov’s novels. With Sharov, historical, philosophical, and theological problems are woven into the lively narrative....Sharov’s novel precisely hits the sore place of present-day soci- ety.” Both ofSharov’s lectures are open to the public. The first is sponsored by the Weinstein Fund for Jewish Studies and the second by the Russian Studies Program of Washington and Lee University. Vladimir Sharov will appear Wednesday to read from his work. Sharov will present a second lecture, “From Under the Rubble: One Writer’s Journey,” one week later. Photo courtesy ol"l‘he Religion Department De—mystifying Saint Patrick’s Day BY ANDREA EWING PHI FEATURES EDITOR Would you like to kiss my Blarney stone? Happy St. Patrick’s Day. If you don’t wear green on Mon- day,prepare to be pinched. March 17 is the day that we all become Irish forjust 24 hours. Or at least you claim to be so you can drink more beer. But why do we do things like put green food coloring in milk or wear pins that say “Kiss me I’m Irish?” And what about the fact that every city in the country has a St. Patrick’s Day parade even if the community has no Irish heritage? What is the purpose? St. Patrick’s Day is an Irish holiday honoring St. Patrick, the patron saint oflreland. Although not actually Irish (St. Patrick was born in either Roman Britain or Scotland in 385 A.D.), he is be- - lieved to be responsible for con- verting the Irish people to Chris- tianity. 3 St. Patrick’s real name was Maewyn Succat. He took the name Patrick when he became a priest. At 16, St. Patrick was kidnapped by pirates and sold into slavery in Ireland. During six years working as a shepherd, Patrick began to have religious visions and took strength from his faith. He escaped to France after a vision told him where he could find a getaway ship. There he became a priest and later a bishop. Whileincaptivity,Patrick became driven bytheideaofcon- verting Ireland to Christianity. Sent as a missionary to Ireland by Pope Celestine 1, Patrick founded over 300 churches and converted over 120,000 people. Legend has it that he used the shamrock, which resembles a three-leaf clover, as a metaphor to explaintheconceptoftheTrin- ity. He used it in his sermons to represent how the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit could all exist as separate elements ofthe same entity.Anotherlegend associated with St. Patrick states that he gave asermon fromahilltopwhich drove all the snakes in Ireland into the sea where they drowned. The snake is a pagan symbol and this legend may allude to the fact that he drove paganism out of Ireland. A third tale includes the belief that Patrick raised people from the dead. Patrick preached in Ireland until his death on March 17, 461 AD. Originally a Catholic holiday, St.Patrick’sDayhasevolvedinto a more secular celebration. Fol- lowers of St. Patrick adopted the custom of wearing a shamrock on his feast day. The first celebration of St. Patrick’s Day in the New World occurred in Boston in 1737. Over 100 cities now hold St. Patrick’s Day celebrations, the largest in New York City. St.Patty’s Day has become an excuse to wear green and party! On this day “everybody is Irish!” Green is associated with St. Patrick’s Day because it is the color of spring, Ireland, and the shamrock. Leprechau ns are also associated with St.Patrick’s Day, but it is difficult to understand why. The leprechaunsoflegends are actually nasty little critters. Perhaps St. Patrick’s Day is only another excuseto go out and have a beer or wear some really tacky green outfit, but hey why not do it— everyone else does. Fridays! gave alike a chance to Center: Photos by Mark Slomiany students and faculty showcase their talents in “The Gong Show” last Wednesday. Left: Burr Datz plays his guitar to “Gong Show” victory. Wes Armstrong 1 who acted as the evening's host,lbegs the audience for more actd. Right: President Elrod, who acted as the evening's gong- master, fulfills his duty. ‘ The English Patient’ depicts how a movie becomes an event’ {task 1/2 of 4 stars; fails to “ravish” The pitch: “lt’ll be like ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ meets ‘Mississippi Burning.”’ BY ALEX CHRISTENSEN PHI MovIE CRITIC It’s hard to separate a movie from the hype surrounding it. I had been waiting to see “The English Patient” for a long time before it came out. “Truly, Madly, Deeply,” by director Anthony Minghella is a great little film that has had a great deal of favorable attention on video (if you thought “Ghost” was great, “Truly, Madly, Deeply” will blow you out of the water). Ralph Fiennes has had a singularly meteoric rise since “Schindler’s List” and through one of last year’s best films, “Strange Days.” Kristin Scott Thomas owned “Four Weddings and a Funeral.” And Juliette Binoche took us through real heartbreak in Kieslowski’s “Blue.” Further- more, critics and others described the film in glowing terms, as a magnificent love story with the scope and fire of “Casablanca” and “Lawrence of Arabia.” Now it’s going to win Best Picture at the Academy Awards. Can any film live up to that hype? Probably not. “Secrets & Lies” does this year, as does “Fargo.” “The English Patient” does not. In fact, it didn’t even crack my top twenty for the year. I’d like to take this opportunity to list films that were better than “The English Patient”just this year. Hope- fully, somebody out there might seek them out on video and see what the Academy overlooked this year. In addition to the aforementioned “Secrets & Lies” and “Fargo,” “Big Night,” “Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills,” “Sling Blade,” “Beautiful Thing,” “Jerry Maguire,” “Heavy,” “Dead Man,” “Set It Off,” “Kids in the Hall Brain Candy,” “Get on the Bus,” “The People vs. Larry Flynt,’’ “Evita,” “William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet,” “The Cable Guy,” “Flirting with Disaster,” “Stealing Beauty,” “Heaven’s Prisoners,” “Twister,” “Lone Star,” “Antonia’s Line,” “Emma,” “Swingers,” and “The Young Poisoner’s Handbook” are all better, more complete films than “The English Patient.” The problem, it seems to me, is that the Academy is obsessed with finding a film with huge scope. Instead of -looking forwhat’-s the bestfil-m (and-,-adm-ittedly, they’ve . done better than they have in previous years this time), they want an “event.” And “The English Patient” has all the elements of a critics’ darling event film. Love, war, sex, death, loyalty, betrayal, hopeless loss, and blah, blah, blah. Some people have recently criticized the film, as they criticized “Ghosts of Mississippi” earlier in the year, for having an improper political focus. That’s a valid criticism, but I still feel that if a film works, this kind of pernicious fictional/historical revisionism is a secondary issue. Cer- tainly, “Ghosts of Mississippi” fell down on these grounds, but it wasn’t ruined. Neither is “The English Patient.” What ruins “The English Patient,” or keeps it from as- cending to the four-star range, is that the main love story is so bloodless and boring that almost everything else in the movie transcends it. The sweep and scope of the film keep bumping up against this huge barrier to enjoying the film. Kristin Scott Thomas looks uncomfortable through most of the film. Her usual ability to bring deep undercurrents of emotion to the screen, best exemplified by her telling Hugh Grant she loves him in “Four Weddings,” is completely missing here. There’s no chemistry with Ralph Fiennes. And Fiennes himself seems to be sleepwalking. Whoever thought he deserved a Best Actor nomination for this oddly detached loser character was probably wacky on thcjunk. If this were his first film, he would have gotten no recognition for it whatsoever. Not that it would have killed his career; he’s been brilliant and will be again. But it’s really nothing spectacular. Forget the fact that his character, Laszlo dc Almasy, was really a Nazi sympathizer who ruined lives and betrayed his friends—Fiennes can’t even make him fall in love. And that’s what’s necessary. That said, the film is absolutely gorgeous. The desert and the geography ofthe human body coincide provocatively. War and the people involved in it are intertwined in a profound way. And theunderlyinglovestory, between nurse Hana(Juliette Binoche) and bomb defuser Kip (Navcen Andrews) is charming, and would have been the perfect compliment to the main story if Fiennes and Scott Thomas had been up to it. Sadly, they weren’t, and the film misses its big opportunity. “The English Patient” is well worth seeing for what’s there, but it can’t come together with this huge flaw. Photo courtesy of Miramax Films OCR::/Vol_097_098/WLURG39_RTP_19970316/WLURG39_RTP_19970316_004.2.txt PAGE 4 OPINION/ ADVERTISING Danto’s lecture ‘over before it began’ BY DAVID KEELING W&L CLASS or ’73 Professor Arthur C. Danto’s lec- turelastwednesday eveningatduPont Halleoneerningcognitionandtheceil- ing of the Sistine Chapel was over, in my opinion, almost before it began. This Columbia University professor, highly esteemed in the field of cogni- tive and aesthetic philosophy, in im- provised comments prior to reading his lecture, said that it is only by writ- ingaboutapaintingthata workcan be understood. Professor Danto earns his bread and butter by the quantity and quality of the words he delivers in the class- room and publishes in text, so he may be expected to have a bias toward verbosity. lndeed his mas- tery of language is of the highest intellectual standard. However, to say that a work of art cannot be understood unless one writes about it, is simply wrong. There is a limit to the power of words. Each defines, explains, pro- Leprechaun: . g _ , , _,.,A _ What is good luck on S * Finding a four-leaf clover (that’s double the good luck it usually is). * Wearing green. (School children have stared a little tradition of their own — they pinch class mates who don’t wear green on this holiday. * Kissing the blarney stone. vides understanding, but is unable to give the full, complete meaning nec- essary to dsseribe some works of art. Words such as magnificent, supreme, sublime, do their best to rise to the heights of wonder or beauty in a Michelangelo fresco, but they fail to do it justice. That is the greatness of the painter—~he is superior to our best attempts at verbal description. The wordsthemselves, however well used, fail to describe the vastness, the subtlety, the strength ofthe painting. The artist takes us to heights which are literally “beyond understanding.” There is a sense ofawe in the spiri- tual realm which some people experi- ence——moments when they are over- come, so impressed, perhaps so humbled,thattheyareliterally“dumb- struck.” Attempts to use words or to express thoughts at such times are unnecessary, trivial. One is speech- less. The mind, which chooses the words, which reasons and calculates logically, isatsuch momentssilenced, humbled in its inability to describe. Those who are masters ofthe mind, of the intellect and of its tools— the Glossary 0’ Terms . bay? if wordswhichdotheirbcsttodescribe— are often unable to appreciate this higher realm of spiritual awareness which is beyond the cognitive mind. The greatest artists help us to see this vision,thisplacewhichoneeglimpsed, orfelt, seems so powerful that it is said by some to be the true reality. It is a place beyond cognition, beyond un- derstanding, beyond words; a place which if Professor Danto had once sensed, he seems to have forgotten. Professor Danto gave a lecture which he read verbatim from his text. His melodiousvoiceandsophistieated diction, delivered in a monotone, was tiresome. Much of his lecture was devoted to the old argument about the cleaningofthe Sistine Chapel ceiling, in which he suggested that his opin- ions were at least as important asthose who care for the Chapel itself. He endedhislecturewitheommentsabout lmmanuel Kant and Friedrich Nietzsche,amongotherstandardphilo- sophical icons. Duringthebriefques- tion period, Professor Danto was asked to enlarge upon his notion of “cogni- tive pollution,” which he explained. lrish fairy. Looks like a small, old man (about 2 feet tail), that is often dressed like a shoemaker, with a cocked hat and a leather apron. According to the legend, leprechauns are aloof and unfriendly, live alone, and pass the time making shoes they also possess a hidden pot of gold. Treasure hunters can often track down a leprechaun by the sound of his shoemaker’s hammer. If caught, he can be forced (with the threat of bodily violence) to reveal the whereabouts of his treasure, but the captor must keep their eyes on him every second. if the captor’s eyes leave the leprechaun (and he often tricks them into looking away), he vanishes and all hopes of finding the treasure are lost. Blamey Stone: The Blarney Stone is a stone set in the wall of the Blarney Castle tower in the Irish village of Blarney. Kissing the stone is supposed to bring the kisser the gift of persuasive eloquence (blarney). The castle was built in 1446 by Cormac Laidhiv McCarthy (Lord of Muskerry) — its walls are 18 feet thick (necessary to thwart attacks by Cromwellians and William lll’stroops). Thousands of tourists a year still visit the castle. 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