SHSU Update for Week of Oct. 18

Chorale to Honor 'Soft Voice' of SHSU Music

The featured sacred work will be Mozart's Missa Brevis in D Minor (k. 65) featuring SHSU students Natasha Ospina-soprano, Andrea Kilgore-alto, Raul Enriquez-tenor, and Jackson Felder-baritone, with Marie Miller accompanying.

Works by Heinrich Schutz, Max Reger, and contemporary composers Halsey Stevens, Daniel Pinkham, Samuel Barber, Morten Lauridsen, and Oscar Escalada will also be performed in this concert of sacred and secular music.

"Five Contemporary Settings - Poetry of Passing" will be dedicated to the memory of John Paul, senior professor in the department of music who died last month.

"The works of five deceased poets set by four contemporary composers present a different perspective on the difficult subject of one's departure from this life," said Miller.

The final setting--"Music, When Soft Voices Die," by composer Stephen Chatman--will be accompanied by oboist Spring Hill, of the SHSU music faculty.

"Unlike some groups or sets of musical compositions, the 'Poetry of Passing' was not 'prepackaged' as a literary or musical unit," said Miller. "The five otherwise unrelated poems and settings have come together throughout this semester.

"'Music, When Soft Voices Die,' added late in the semester, seemed to provide an appropriate closing perspective to the set," he said. "I thought of John Paul. He was influential in our department and the community, but in the best sense of the word, he was a soft voice."

Symphony Opener to Include Tribute, Award Announcement

The performance is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Saturday (Oct. 24) in the Beto Criminal Justice Center's Killinger Auditorium.

Carol Smith, the SHSU Symphony Orchestra conductor, said that a highlight of the concert will be the announcement of the winner of the 1998-99 Fisher Tull Scholarship as well as recognition of Tajette Travenia, previously announced winner of the Ahysen-Toler Scholarship.

Jay Whatley, a graduate assistant who studied with Paul, will perform Sergei Rachmaninoff's "Second Piano Concerto," which Smith calls "probably Rachmaninoff's most famous work."

Whatley began studying the piece under Paul and has continued under Charlotte Tull, which Smith described as "getting the best of two great teachers' insights."

Matthew McInturf, who came to SHSU this year from Florida International University, will conduct the orchestra's performance of "A Silver Fanfare," written by another Florida International composer and conducted in its premier last year by McInturff.

Humidity Causes Peabody Closure

Richard Wood, director of the Newton Gresham Library, said that a serious mold condition was discovered Oct. 9, and evaluations have been underway since that time to determine the best course of action. Two large, portable filtering devices were installed to remove airborne mold spores and improve the air quality within the building.

Plans are to relocate university archives to Room 147 of the Newton Gresham Library. All archival materials will be thoroughly cleaned to assure that the mold does not contaminate any of the main library materials.

Wood said that the condition was apparently caused by several factors including general humidity conditions in East Texas, the high humidity in the Peabody Library's basement, and recent leaks in the roof discovered after the early October rains.

Study Skills Sign-Ups Under Way

The sessions are offered by the SHSU Counseling Center and are free to students.

"The groups are valuable for everyone," said Bernice Strauss, counseling psychologist. "Students who want to enhance their GPA for grad school can gain important skills as can students who have really let things slide and are facing academic probation.

Although the sessions are free, students are asked to pre-register so that groups can be kept small. Session choices include Mondays (2:30-4 p.m.) beginning Oct. 26, Tuesdays (3-4:30 p.m.) beginning Oct. 27, Wednesdays (10:30-noon) beginning Oct. 28 and Thursdays (9:30-11 a.m.) beginning Oct. 29.

Walk-in groups, for which registration or appointment is not necessary, are held each Monday from 9-10 a.m. and Tuesday from 10-11 a.m.

Last Week for Homecoming Reservations

Events include the Golden Circle Reunion ($15) at 11 a.m. Friday (Oct. 30), Distinguished Alumni Awards Reception and Dinner ($30) at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Faculty/Alumni Coffee (no charge) at 8-10 a.m. Saturday, and the Lettermen Association Hall of Honor Luncheon ($20) at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

Game time for the homecoming football game between the SHSU Bearkats and McNeese State Cowboys is 2 p.m. Tickets are $3-$10 and are available from: Bobbie Hilliard; SHSU PO Box 2268; Huntsville, TX 77341-2268; or by calling 409-294-1726. Students are admitted free.

For all other tickets, contact: Kathy Bowman; SHSU PO Box 2022; Huntsville, TX 77341-2022; or call 409-294-1841 or 1-800-283-7478.

"And Baby Makes Seven" Opens Wednesday

Christin Nacke will direct the production. Performances are at 8 p.m. with a special Saturday matinee. Ticket information is available at 409 294-1339 or 409 294-1329.

A Faculty Composition Recital featuring John Ross is set for 7:30 p.m. Thursday at the Music Recital Hall. For ticket information contact the music department at 409 294-1360.

Learning Assistance Sets TASP Sessions

Jaye Stroud will cover "Interpreting Graphs, Tables and Charts" from 2-3 p.m. Monday (Oct. 19). Daniel Hendrickson will cover "Operations and Conversions for fractions, Decimals and Percents" from 11 a.m. to noon Friday (Oct. 23).

Next week Bethany Parker will cover "Order of Operations" from 3-4 p.m. Oct. 27 and Carlos Barron will cover "Polygons, Circles and More" from 3-4 p.m. Oct. 28.

For more information, call the Learning Assistance Center at 409-294-3680.

Residence Life Staff Plans Tribute

The event happened Oct. 16, 1996, after Severson reported that the student had cocaine in his room.

The colors were chosen because they are Purdue's colors, black represents a memorial, and gold represents the residence life staff.

A statement from the SHSU department's Special Events Committee said that the observance was scheduled to pay respects to Severson and to remind their staff members of the dangers in their job and commitment necessary to do it well.

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Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
Oct. 18, 1998
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