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HAWK-EYED ua RA F i y
basketball loses to Laßoche, „„. .. i Get a sneak peak at "Eurotrip," with'',
- -, day. See page 7.
Men's
drops out of Top 25. See page 10.
Friday, February 20, 2004
Classroom teaches lessons
Students get life
lessons through new
genre of musical
by Lauren Packer
editor in chief
This isn't your grandmother's idea
of a play, let alone an opera.
Welcome to "The Lesson," an
original hip-hop musical play
performed by members of the
National Society of Black Engineers
and various members of the Multi-
Cultural Council.
"The Lesson," a musical from a
new genre called hip-hopera, mixes
hip-hop sounds with issues such as
black history, sexism, racism and
abortion.
Written by Behrend alumnus
Jermaine Hardy, tonight is the first
night students will be able to witness
the combination of serious acting and
rapping. Hardy wrote the musical
almost three years ago. Hardy
describes his play as "The Breakfast
Club" meets "School Daze."
The play was performed last spring
at University Park. Hardy will be in
attendance for Saturday's
performance
The first casting call went out in
October of last semester. Since then,
much preparation has gone into the
play, which will serve as a fund-raiser
for NSBE. Cast members have been
especially busy for the past two
weeks, practicing an average of 10
hours a week, in addition to
demanding academic, social and work
commitments.
The musical breaks down the taboo
surrounding the controversial issues
that "The Lesson" deals with, says
Dante Spain, president of NSBE and
one of the lead characters.
"It's the hip-hop twist that really
sets this program apart from other
Inside
OANCIL MARATHON 8004
THON dances for kids with cancer
This weekend more than 650 students
will dance for 48 hours to raise money
for the Four Diamonds Fund.
FEATURES, Page 6
Swimmers end regular SMOG at Invite
The Lions took on the Grove City Invi
tational this past weekend. Behrend now
begins preparations for ECACs.
SPORTS, Page 10.
Are the Yankees mining baseball?
An editorial examines the current state
of baseball thanks to A-Rod's trade.
SPORTS, Page 9.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
News 1-4 Editorial 5
Features 6 A&E 7
Calendar 8 Sports.... 9-10
AT US
Newsroom: 898-6440
Fax: 898-6019
E-mail: behrcolls@aol.com
Our offices are located downstairs
In the Reed Union Building.
programs and plays," Spain said.
"Most everyone listens to some type
of hip-hop, so it will be an easy
transition to this style of
production."
A college classroom gets turned
upside down when a hurricane
forces the history class to remain in
close-quarters for an extended
period of time.
Alternating lines of dialogue and
rap, "The Lesson" takes on a
personality as unique as each one of
the characters. Throw in a hot
tempered senior, a meek freshman
trying to make it on a basketball
scholarship, a stripper with a 4-year
old child and a young yet hip
professor and watch the sparks fly.
Cast members find themselves
confronting issues before their peers,
and occasionally confronting each
Relating to the issues within the
play should come easy to any
audience member, a theme that
echoed throughout the cast after its
dress rehearsal..
"We bring the controversial issues
to the forefront," said director Dale
Lamb. "It's a great play because we
address the issues that everyone is
afraid to say, but don't."
Cast member Victoria Anderson
agreed
"I think the messages of this play
are appropriate for our audience.
Using hip-hop to discuss these topics
makes it easier for the listeners to
become involved with what we are
saying. Hip-hop is an up and coming
part of our culture and a lot of the
plays we see are boring. The music
and the topics just fit our audience
so well," she said.
Performing their dress rehearsal
for high school students from the
Perseus House Charter School of
Excellence, the cast members got
their first taste of what it will be like
tonight when the house lights do
Dance brings homecom
by Scott Soltis
assistant managing editor
Picture your high school prom
without the tuxedos. Penn State
Behrend held its first ever
basketball Homecoming last
Friday at the Avalon hotel in
downtown Erie. The theme for
the night was Midnight in
Manhattan, and the event was
planned by the Ohio Hall Council.
Students arrived around 8 p.m.,
when dinner was served. A buffet
of salads, pasta, chicken and more
was available for the $2O charged
per person to attend the evening.
Following the dinner,
Homecoming King and Queen,
Dave Daquelente and Jeannie
Roos led their dates on to the floor
to begin the dancing. The dancing
was periodically interrupted for
door prizes ranging from meals at
Kentucky Fried Chicken to a
digital camera at the end of the
night.
According to Jenna Boazzo,
Ohio Hall Council President,
there were 90 tickets sold and 88
in attendance that evening. The
$2O per ticket rate probably kept
some Behrend students out of
attendance, which hurt the event.
Junior Zoe Rose, who attended
the event, felt that even lowering
the cost to $l5 would have
boosted attendance.
The attendance was a sticking
point for the evening. "I was
somewhat upset that more
students did not come out to
celebrate," said Student
Government Association Senator
Alexander Henderson, "but all I
can say is that they missed out on
an excellent time."
A Penn State Erie Student Publication
From left: Olga Nacalaban, Minisica Morris, Damaris Hicks, Shikia Cuttino and Dante Spain perform a scene
in which Morris' character suffers a panic attack. "The Lesson," a musical hip-hop by Jermaine Hardy, will be
performed in the Studio Theatre this weekend and next weekend.
down and the music beats for real.
"I'm' excited," said cast member
Olga Nacalaban. "I'm more anxious
than nervous, partly because I don't
have that many lines, but I know we
will do really well."
Gillian Young, who plays Dr. Smith,
the hip professor, did not participate in
the dress rehearsal because of illness,
but will make her acting debut this
evening. "I'm scared as (expletive),"
said Young. "This is my first time
doing a play like this on a stage, in front
of my peers.
Donte Hart, who plays one of the
lead roles, echoes Young's
apprehension.
"I was nervous tonight," said Hart
Students danced the night away at Friday's homecoming dance, which capped off a week's worth of festivities
Others were more
pessimistic. Cross Country/
Track athlete Michael Barlett
had attended several Athletic
Balls prior to Homecoming and
compared the two. "I think that
the venue (Avalon Hotel) was
much nicer than where it's at
for the athletic formal, but I feel
turnout is what really killed the
whole event," Barlett said.
Others expressed disappointment
about the attendance, but Boazzo
stayed positive.
"I was hoping to break a
hundred, but really for it being
the first time and having sold 90
tickets I didn't think that was too
bad," Boazzo said. Aside from
the attendance there were few
complaints. Attendees praised
the food, most of the . DJ's
"I just want to make it a good play and
make it entertaining."
NSBE hopes that the musical
provides more than entertainment.
Spain stressed that in addition to the
group's mission statement of
positively impacting the community,
NSBE wants to promote cultural
awareness and different lifestyles.
"The event itself exposes all levels and
elements within a community," said
Spain.
Another cast member, George
Morgan 111, expressed his wish for
students to take the play seriously,
partly because of the nature of the
issues, and partly because of all the
hard work and effort that the cast and
festivities to a close
"I feel turnout is what
really killed the event."
selections, and the general
atmosphere
Boazzo feels that there is room
to build from this year and
hopefully improve by working on
the structure of the event and its
planning. "It's nice to see that
despite all the criticism and lack
of support we managed to have a
~I,•:es, , ful turnout, - said iloaii()
Sonic key areas of criticism the
Hall Council will be addressing
were the lack of structure and the
size of the Hall Council for the
in hip-hop
crew members have put into the play
already.
"I just don't want students to brush
it off," said Morgan. "I see people
at Bruno's looking at the poster and
walking right by. it really is a great
play for all types of people."
The curtain goes up at K tonight
with the doors opening at 7. The
musical will also be performed
Saturday and Sunday and Feb. 2T
29. Tickets for the show arc $3 with
Behrend ID and $5 general
admission.
In addition to their performances,
students have the chance to listen to
the cas tmembers speak about the
musical WREG 89.9 FM Saturday
at 12:15 p.m.
club on campus.
This would also make the group
eligible for SGA funds that it did
not qualify for this year's event.
"We decided to make it a separate
organization so we can get more
people involved," Boazzo said
regarding the decision to apply for
club status. "We just wlinted
this bcoque one ()11 1 1,
here at Betn end.-
o ens to
Vol. LI No. 1
magnitude of the event.
To silence these critics,
Boazzo, Amy Caskey, Ryan
Herzing and Allison Kemerer
submitted a constitution this
week to SGA to have The
Homecoming Committee he
officially recognized as a