FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2001 question of front page “Do you think that our Spring Break should be two weeks, like other schools?” Albert Lorya Plastics Engineering, 07 FLOWERS movements, and instruments, as well as audience participation. Flowers continued with the story of Shine, a black man stoking coal on the Titanic. Shine is the first to realize the boat is sinking and jumps ship even though no one believes him. The talc highlights Shine’s humorous swim in the Atlantic and the shark sandwich he gets to eat in Harlem before any of the other survivors get to New York City. The third tale Flowers related was that of Br’er Rabbit and the troubled alligators he encountered. The moral of this story was not to “go lookin’ for trouble unless is comes lookin’ for you." It is important to be prepared for trouble when it turns up, but not to obsess about it in the meantime. The former tales were extrapolated from the works of other artists. Flowers said he rarely gave direct credit for the work lie performs: "as a novelist, when I use other folks’ work, I don’t give credit I steal!" The final tale Flowers performed was taken from his own works. This excerpt dealt with the depth DR. CORTY “All good teaching requires a strong command of the subject matter,'' Corty confides, noting the number of outstanding professors who populate the College. Dr. Clare Porac, director of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, cites Corty’s love ot the subjects he is teaching and ot the act of teaching itself as key in his success with students. With this knowledge and passion to guide him, Corty engages his students in critical demonstrations and k Discover the Path to Success... * * * “What did you do last Friday night?” Ryan Alexander Plastics Engineering, 06 and reality of true love. Flowers said that he began all of his novels with the words "1 am Flowers.” This practice is derived from the griot traditions, in which a griot is supposed to introduce himself and state who had trained him. Flowers looks to John Killens as his trainer, as he attended Killens' creative writing workshops for 13 years until his mentor passed away. Another influence in Flowers’ life was the Vietnam War, in which Flowers served. “Vietnam blew my mind. What really blew me away about Vietnam was that I was part of history. I had always thought of history as happening to someone else until then." When asked by an audience member how he became a writer, Flowers explained that he always wanted to write. After he returned from Vietnam in 1971, he went to college. “I always assumed that one day 1 would point my finger at a typewriter y'all remember typewriters and expected the words to magically appear,” Flowers commented. “Then, when I was in school, 1 thought it was the dynamic lectures. "1 try to take complex concepts and find different and fun ways to make them understandable,” Corty explains. For example, he once came to class with bags of M&Ms for his students. Each was asked to count out the number of brown M&Ms per bag and calculate what percentage of the total they made up. Although the Mars company stated that 30% of the M&Ms in each bag were brown, no student reported that Steven Tarrant Business Management, 01 FROM FRONT PAGE time to start writing if I was going to do it. 1 pointed my finger at a typewriter and nothing happened!” The blues have also inspired Flowers' work, though he is not as well versed in it as some people seem to think. He said that, being from Memphis, Tennessee, everyone expected him to know blues, but he really didn’t. He gradually learned to "blow" the harmonica and worked his way from there. He related a story that once, when on stage in NYC, he played the harmonica. The next day he was described in a New York paper as the “Blues Man,” though he still knew very little about the genre. He later went back to Memphis and demonstrated some of his skills. His friends promptly told him to take his blues back to New York. Flowers was asked during the question and answer session if he had any formal training. He said not at all —“I am a clown! I just had it in me!” He added that the only thing to performance poetry was to be able to get up on stage and make a fool of oneself. percentage. This demonstration helped to translate some complicated terminology into practical terms. Corty has great respect for his students and is not afraid to let them see his imperfections. He actually encourages his students to point out his mistakes. In order to demonstrate to his students that he is willing to take their criticisms, he has given them the task of critically reviewing tin anonymous article that was not very well written; after they have “What did you do over Spring Break?” “What new events would you like to see on campus on the weekends?” Tessa Marshall Chemistry, 06 steppers, skits, and open mic readings. picked it apart in class, Corty informs the students that he authored it. After Corty receives his award at the Recognition Ceremony on Monday, March 26, he will be obliged to share his thoughts in a variety of different forums such as lectures, workshops, and seminars. He intends to focus his discussions around questions of the most effective ways that students learn, saying that he hopes that the flip-side of this teaching award is that his students are “What other types of fruit juice would you like to see in the vending machines? I would like to see orange PHOTOS BY BECKY WEINDORF learning. If the student evaluations are any indication, there is little fear that his teaching is not sinking in. The honor he has received, says Porac, is well deserved. "This award is a real honor for the School of Humanities and Social Sciences and for all of Behrend,” Porac states. “It highlights the extraordinary teaching talents present at Behrend, in particular the Schtxil of Humanities and Social Sciences." . » juice. Jo Uesugi DUS, 02 Some of the rhetorical strategies Kelley points to in her book include “common ground,” “logic,” “fair fight," and “strength through adversity.” Kelley writes that, largely due to the modern mass media that is constantly scrutinizing, Clinton has had to draw on her agenda-setting skills and rhetorical strategies to save and promote her image as well as her husband’s. Initially, when Senator Clinton came on strong early in the administration, the public was taken aback by her strong persona. Kelley indicates that this backlash against her person played a considerable part in the downfall of the national healthcare program. However, after that incident, Clinton’s image was consciously toned down and she gained high evaluation points from the public. By the time her husband became enmeshed in scandal, the public looked to her for guidance and followed her lead. Kelley states that by focusing on issues and by refusing to bring her discourse down to a base personal level, Clinton managed to successfully navigate the turmoil lapping around the administration. Kelley described Senator Clinton’s primary role as being the “chief surrogate” for the President. She played an instrumental role in the development and marketing of several policies, namely the national healthcare plan. While Clinton may stand out as one of the more visible First Ladies in history, she is certainly not the first. Other standouts have included Mary Todd Lincoln, Eleanor Roosevelt, and Dolly Madison all of whom held politically oriented roles during their husband’s tenure. According to Kelley, much of the rhetoric of early First Ladies didn’t receive much attention because not much of it was recorded. But that is obviously no longer the case. While her book focused primarily on Clinton during her years in the White House, Kelley also followed Clinton’s U.S. Senate race with Rick Lazio. Kelley has written several articles on Clinton’s rhetoric and strategy during that time as well. She says that Clinton’s strategy largely stayed the same. Lazio attacked Clinton on two main points - her status as an outsider to New York and her connection to a corrupt administration and man. Kelley explained that Clinton was able to trump Lazio by agreeing with his points and using them to her advantage. She said that she was an outsider - like most New Yorkers, and she was connected to the President - and had gained vast political experience as a result. Kelley said that she became interested in the rhetoric of the First Ladies several years ago when she was asked to lecture at a senior citizen conference in Chautauqua, N.Y. She then took it as a natural progression to examining Hillary Clinton. She also felt a generational connection with Clinton and considers her a peer. Kelley has had extensive experience in the field of political rhetoric. She has been published in The Boston Globe, The Statesman Journal (Salem, Or. J, The Scranton Times, the Erie Daily Times, and Gannett News Service. She has also had articles on campaign rhetoric published in such journals as the Western Journal of Speech Communication, The Howard Journal of Communication, and the Journal for Peace and Justice Studies. The Rhetoric of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton: Crisis Management Discourse is being published by Greenwood Publishing Group as part of the Praeger Series in Political Communication and is now available in local bookstores.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers