SHSU Update for Week of October 31

• Noted Pianist to Present First Concert
• 'California Suite'
• Marks Urges Support for Student Loan Program
• National Communication Conference
• 'Saturday at Sam'
• Tailgate Party
• German Scholar to Speak
• Scholarship Application Deadline

Noted Pianist to Present First Concert

On Tuesday (Nov. 2) Swansbourne will again have the opportunity to remind his audience of a forest pool, but this time he will be performing in a smaller city actually surrounded by forests.

Swansbourne, who joined the music faculty at Sam Houston State University in August as coordinator of piano studies, will present his first concert, at 7:30 p.m. in the Beto Criminal Justice Center Killinger Auditorium. His program will include Chopin's 24 Preludes and works by Haydn and Messiaen.

Born and educated in England, Swansbourne studied at the Royal College of Music in London and later received his doctorate from the Yale School of Music, where he studied with Ward Davenny and Claude Frank.

He has toured widely throughout the United States, and has performed to critical acclaim in most of the big cities. He has also performed frequently in Europe (Great Britain, Germany, Belgium and Switzerland) and Canada, and on National Public Radio's "Performance Today" and British Broadcasting Corporation broadcasts in Great Britain.

He was a major prize winner at the Maryland International Piano Competition, and in 1989 won the "Concerts Atlantique" International Music Competition.

One of the few pianists in the world who plays all four of Michael Tippett's monumental sonatas, he was invited by the composer to perform them at the Cheltenham International Festival in England. He performed the complete cycle (in eight recitals) of the 32 Beethoven sonatas twice at Idaho State University while on that faculty.

He has also given series pairing works by Mozart and Chopin, and also of Haydn and Schumann. Recently he gave highly praised accounts of Bach's Goldberg Variations at the Philadelphia Bach Society, and Beethoven's Fourth Piano Concerto at the gala opening concert of California's Music in the Mountains Festival.

He is an active chamber music player, and in the summer of 1999 traversed, in three concerts, Beethoven's violin sonatas with violinist and assistant concertmaster of the Milwaukee Symphony, Samantha George.

A popular and inspiring teacher, he has been invited to give masterclasses and clinics at dozens of colleges and universities from coast to coast.

Earlier this year he inaugurated a series of lecture/demonstrations on piano repertoire--"Classical Piano Matters"--designed for radio broadcast and cassette distribution. He also recorded his first compact disc featuring music by Scarlatti, Beethoven, Chopin, Brahms and Rachmaninoff.

Admission to Tuesday's concert is $5 for the general public, $3 for non-SHSU students, and free for SHSU faculty, staff and students with university identification.

'California Suite'

Performances are at 8 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee Nov. 13.

Written in 1977 by Neil Simon, who has been called the "king of comedy," the play focuses on five couples who separately come to terms with one another under the ornate roof of the Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles.

"Who says we don't have problems?" Hannah asks her ex-husband Billy, with whom she is meeting after five years to discuss a vital issue, their daughter's future.

Next, Marvin Michaels awakens from a drunken slumber to find an unknown, scantily-clad woman in his bed. With his wife Millie banging on the door, Marvin bursts into a manic frenzy to hide his secret. At first, Millie hopes in vain that "the maids in this hotel wear pajamas," but the ugly truth becomes undeniably clear.

Then, Diana, an avant-guard British actress, is dizzy with her constant attempts to win the affections of a man who refuses to return her sentiments. To remedy her frustration, she drinks herself into oblivion, makes a fool of herself at the Academy Awards, and stumbles back to her suite, where she once again begs for her husband's love. He reluctantly agrees, but a dark secret still lurks.

Finally, Beth and Mort ruthlessly squabble with their dearest friends, Gert and Stu. Three weeks of vacationing together has pushed them to the edge of the cliff of sanity, and what ensues is described as "a madcap mockery of their maturity."

"California Suite" is directed by senior theatre major Brian Morreale. His cast includes freshman theatre majors Kira Brasel and Audie Morris, junior theatre major Trey Huguley, senior musical theatre major Ashlee Parker, and junior musical theatre major Maggie Wilhite.

Senior theatre major Kassity Foyjt is stage manager, with set design by senior theatre major Adam Redmer and lighting design by senior theatre major Daoud Heidami. Costumes were designed by senior theatre majors Crystal Lee hart, George Curry, Heather Hodnett and faculty member Kristina Hanssen.

Tickets are $8. For information or reservations call the University Theatre Center Box Office at 409-294-1339.

Marks Urges Support for Student Loan Program

Adoption of Proposition 13 would authorize $400 million in general obligation bonds to finance student loans through the Hinson-Hazelwood Student Loan Program.

"Each year the Hinson-Hazelwood Student Loan Program provides more than 16,000 Texas students with low-interest student loans," said Marks. "The program is completely self-supporting, applies to students with financial need at both public and private universities, and requires no tax dollars to administer or repay the loans."

An indication of the statewide support for Proposition 13 was the vote on Senate Joint Resolution Number 16, which established its wording, which passed by a combined vote of 175 to 0 in both houses of the Texas Legislature in May.

National Communication Conference

Bird and Collins produced the paper entitled "Promise Keepers and Women: Depiction of Relationships in Personal Narratives," based on analysis of Internet testimony of Promise Keeper members.

"We're really proud of Chad," said Collins. "It's a great honor for a paper by an undergraduate student to be selected."

Collins, who is a member of the association's executive council and the Southern States Communication Association executive council, will participate in meetings of those groups and also present a paper entitled "Conflict Management Among Baptists" during a session on Conflict Management in Religious Organizations.

'Saturday at Sam'

The Saturdays at Sam events present an opportunity for potential students and their parents to visit the campus and get acquainted with its educational programs, facilities, financial aid, clubs, and organizations. Tickets to the SHSU Nicholls State football game at 2 p.m. are included.

Registration is available online or by calling the Office of Undergraduate Admissions at 409-294-1828.

Tailgate Party

Theresa Bledsoe, director of alumni relations, invites Bearkat supporters to bring a picnic basket and join in the food, friendship, family fun and door prizes at the alumni tent in the parking lot on the west side of Bowers Stadium.

German Scholar to Speak

Albrecht's speech is scheduled for 12:30 p.m. in the Beto Criminal Justice Center Kerper Courtroom. All interested students, faculty and community members are invited, and there is no admission fee.

Albrecht's interests include various criminological, legal and policy issues ranging from sentencing theory and juvenile crime to drug policies and organized crime. He has published, co-published and edited several books, among them volumes on sentencing, day-fine systems, recidivism, child abuse and neglect, drug policies and research on victimization.

Sam Houston State University and Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) this summer announced the establishment of the National Institute for Victim Studies at Sam Houston State University. Raymond Teske, director of the institute and professor of criminal justice at SHSU, has lectured at the Max Planck Institute.

Albrecht studied law at the universities of Tubingen and Freiburg, receiving his doctorate in 1979. From 1977 until 1991 he worked for the Max Planck Institute, and assumed its directorship in 1997 after faculty and administrative posts at the University of Konstanz and University of Technology of Dresden.

Scholarship Application Deadline

The scholarship is for full- time (1.0 FTE) benefits eligible staff and faculty, through the rank of assistant professor, who desire to take one class or one class with a lab (four semester credit hours maximum) at SHSU.

Under the selection criteria, applicants must have a minimum of one year full-time continuous employment at SHSU and have earned at least three semester hours with a minimum 2.0 grade point average.

Undergraduate students with a 2.5 GPA or greater will be given first priority followed by graduate students with a 3.5 grade point average.

Applications should be sent to Human Resources Department, P.O. Box 2356, or delivered to Frels Bldg., room 122. Questions may be directed to Sandra Blair at extension 1068.

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SHSU Media Contact: Frank Krystyniak
October 31, 1999
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