SHSU Update for Week of November 12

• Busy Week for Cultural Events
• Business Society Sponsors Holiday Charity
• Author to Present Art Lectures
• Summer in Puebla Offered
• Alumni Announces Events

Busy Week for Cultural Events

Events include, chronologically, an art exhibit opening, a Brass Quintet concert, a Beethoven concert, the opening of a Shakespeare play, a Wind Ensemble concert, and a one-act opera.

On Monday (Nov. 13) at the Gaddis Geeslin Gallery, in the art complex on the southwestern corner of the campus, Tom Hydrick's master of fine arts thesis exhibition will open. A reception will be held in the gallery at the close of the exhibition, from 5-7 p.m. Nov. 30.

Also Monday, the Sam Houston Brass Quintet faculty recital is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. in the Recital Hall. The program includes Gwyneth Walker's "Bright Brass," Viktor Ewald's "Quintet No. 4, Op. 8," Fisher Tull's "Concerto da Camera" with Scott Plugge as soloist on the alto saxophone, Henry Howey's arrangement of George Gershwin's "Three Preludes," and Gershwin's "Strike Up the Band."

Quintet members are Howey, who performs on trombone and euphonium; Randal Adams, trumpet; Steven Warkentin, trumpet; Peggy DeMers, horn; and Robert Daniel, tuba.

Clive Swansbourne, coordinator of piano studies, will present the second of a series of four recitals entitled "Beethoven's Music In Its Time" at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 14) in the Recital Hall. The series is sponsored by a University Faculty Research Grant.

"Each recital in the series includes works by Beethoven alongside works of his contemporaries, both well known and lesser known," said Swansbourne. "The second recital consists of three series of variations: Haydn's beautiful and melancholy 'Variations in F minor,' Schumann's youthfully exuberant and glittering 'Abegg' Variations, and Beethoven's final major work for the piano, his great 'Diabelli Variations,' a work which takes an almost frivolous tune as the basis for an exploration of an amazing range of ideas and emotions."

Beginning Wednesday (Nov. 15), the Department of Theatre and Dance will present William Shakespeare's "The Tempest" at 8 p.m. through Saturday (Nov. 18) with a 2 p.m. Saturday matinee. Performances are in the University Theatre Center's Mainstage Theatre.

In the play, Master Magician Prospero (Spencer Plachy) summons his powers of sorcery to gain control over an island paradise. He then concocts a plan that will return to him his lost kingdom. Intertwined in this plan is a budding romance between his daughter, Miranda (Bianca Toscano) and Ferdinand (Corby Sullivan), a young nobleman.

The Wind Ensemble concert, under the direction of Matthew McInturf, is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 16) in the Beto Criminal Justice Center's Killinger Auditorium.

On Friday (Nov. 17) and Saturday (Nov. 18), the SHSU Opera Workshop, under the direction of new SHSU voice faculty member Dorothy Maddison, will present Gian Carlo Menotti's one act opera, "The Old Maid and the Thief," at 7:30 p.m. each evening in the Recital Hall.

The action takes place in a small southern town and involves two middle-aged spinsters and their maid, who all become involved with a beggar who fits the description of an escaped thief.

For ticket information to the events call the Department of Music at 936.294.1360 or the Department of Theatre and Dance at 936.294.1339.

Business Society Sponsors Holiday Charity

"We encourage individuals and departments to commit to sponsoring at least one family by providing a meal and gifts for the children to make their Christmas a happy and memorable one," said Leenette Wilke, one of the organizers of the project. "These families are currently housed in local shelters and/or are receiving counseling and assistance for spouse and child abuse."

Individuals and organizations can provide Christmas for an adopted family by giving one or more of the following:

• Provide the funds for a family to purchase their Christmas dinner. Average cost for a family is $50.

• Provide the funds to purchase gifts for an adopted family or donors can choose to purchase the presents. Family size varies but on average there are 2-3 children in each family. For those want to play Santa and shop for presents, the business society will provide a wish list for the children in the adopted family.

• Provide a cash donation that will be used to offset the above expenses.

"We believe this is an affordable and rewarding program," said Wilke. "This small commitment of time and money will mean the world to the families and children receiving food and gifts."

Due to the seriousness of the families' situations, Wilke said, only agency appointed personnel can make delivery of the gifts. However, families will be told which organizations are responsible for making their Christmas Day special. The agencies and families involved will provide letters and cards to those individuals and organizations making donations.

Adoptions will continue until Nov. 22. Families will be assigned on Nov. 27. Program coordinators are Nancy Gonzalez (936.496.5772) and Chuck Kracht.

Author to Present Art Lectures

Cynthia Freeland, winner of the University of Houston Teaching Excellence Award in 1993, will speak at noon in room 108 of Art Building E, on "The 'Aura' of Art in the Digital Era."

Freeland will give a multimedia presentation with material from several art museums in what is described as a virtual walk through several museum websites. Freeland's topic discussion of an "aura of art" relates to Walter Benjamin's essay entitled "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction."

At 3 p.m. in room 207 of the Lee Drain Building, Freeland will speak on "Perceiving Art: What New Studies of the Brain Can Tell Us." In this presentation she will present and comment on recent work by neuroscientists V. S. Ramachandran, Semir Zeki, and others on how our brains perceive art.

Freeland's slides illustrate findings such as how various sorts of neurons are involved in perceiving the color and motion of a Calder mobile and other works of art.

Freeland earned her bachelor's degree from Michigan State and master's and doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh. She taught at the University of Massachusetts from 1978 to 1986 and at the University of Houston since then.

Her books include "But Is it Art?", "The Naked and the Undead: Evil and the Appeal of Horror," "Feminist Interpretations of Aristotle," and "Philosophy and Film."

Summer in Puebla Offered

Spanish students study for a mid-term exam during a previous Puebla Fiel,d School. They are Maria Lemus, Rudy Trevino, Dorothy McCreight, Anna Garcia and Nidia Medina.

For the fourth summer in a row, students and teachers will travel to Puebla, the fourth largest city in Mexico. Frieda Koeninger, director of the program, said that classes were held on the campus of the Universidad Iberoamericana last summer.

"This was a great advantage," she said, "because the classrooms were more comfortable than the hotel meeting rooms. Also, students were able to use the computer services, library, sports facilities and even the clinic of the Iberoamericana."

Next summer, in addition to again having access to the Universidad Iberoamericana, students will have two options for lodging and meals--to stay at a hotel in downtown Puebla or to live with a family. The cost for hotel accommodations is $1800 and for home stay it is $1350. Those who apply before Dec. 10 will receive a $100 discount. Tuition and fees are extra and vary depending on hours taken and residency status.

Field trips are planned to Mexico City, to the Museum of Anthropology, the stock market, the Frida Kahlo museum and other important art museums. Also students will visit a number of businesses as well as archeological and historical sites near Puebla.

Course offerings for next summer include several disciplines. For business students, Darla Lang will offer a management seminar in International Business and a finance course in International Investments. Don Richardson will teach Speech for Business and the Professions.

Art professors Denise Lorenz and Robbie Wallace will teach Drawing and History of Mexican Art, respectively. New this year are courses in Agriculture. Man, Food and Nutrition: A Global Concern will be taught by Doug Ullrich and International Agriculture by Dr. Pat Bagley.

Intermediate Spanish will be taught by Koeninger. Joaqu�n Rodr�guez-Barber� will offer Advanced Conversational Spanish as well as The Mexican Short Story.

For more information, contact Koeninger by e-mail or phone at 936.294.1443.

Alumni Announces Events

They will be back on campus the next day, hosting a tailgate party at noon Saturday (Nov. 18) prior to the SHSU/Southwest Texas football game. Kickoff is 2 p.m.

The office open house is Dec. 5, with an Alumni Advisory Board meeting Dec. 15.

Next semester the office will host a reception at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo on March 1 and on May 18 will sponsor SHSU Alumni Night@Enron Field when the Houston Astros play the Cincinnati Reds.

For information on any SHSU alumni event, call 1.800.283.7478.

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SHSU Media Contacts: Frank Krystyniak, Julia May
Nov. 12, 2000
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