Arizona Daily Wildcat

Page 1

Are you ready for some football?

Not loud, still proud

Arizona’s offense will take on its defense in the Wildcats’ annual spring game on Saturday.

The Daily Wildcat editorial board explains why the Day of Silence should make you feel lucky.

SPORTS, 10

PERSPECTIVES, 4

ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT

friday, april , 

tucson, arizona

dailywildcat.com

UA ranks top in recruits University has most Peace Corps Fellows in country By Samantha Munsey ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT In addition to commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps this year, the UA set another milestone last week, becoming the university with the most Peace Corps Fellows. There are 58 fellows enrolled at the UA studying in various departments and colleges including public heath, education and agriculture. “We’re really proud of the community we have here in Tucson,” said Grace Rice, an assistant of the UA Peace Corps Fellows. “It’s nice being recognized as the number-one fellows program in the nation.” A fellow is a former Peace Corps volunteer who has returned to the United States and is pursuing a graduate or doctoral degree. It is estimated that about 200 fellows have been enrolled in the UA’s program since it began taking applicants in 2000. The UA’s Peace Corps Fellows program remains one of the most viable in the nation to attract former volunteers by offering tuition assistance for fellows pursuing degrees. In the last few years, the program has been able to cover full base tuition for all its participants. “We are really competitive in that respect,” Rice said. “A lot of schools have different awards that they offer for being a returning Peace Corps volunteer and ours is actually one of the best.” A quarter of the fellows who are enrolled at the UA are seeking degrees in public health. Rice, who is also a graduate student in the College of Public Health, thinks this is because of former volunteers who want to help their community even after their time in the Peace Corps is

Will Ferguson/Arizona Daily Wildcat

UA students Karl Hussey and Mike Reasor, understudies in the Arizona Theatre Company production of “The Mystery of Irma Vep,” rehearse scenes at the Temple of Music and Art on Thursday. In the play, two actors play six characters, including vampires and werewolves, and go through 40 costume changes.

Under-Appreciated ● UA understudies in vampire play may never show their fangs in front of an audience ● By Kathleen Roosa ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT

T

he theater is dark. Audience members silence their phones and unravel their last hard candy wrappers for the imminent performance. Imagine yourself backstage — that hushed corridor, the smell of dust and wood spicing the air. The lead actor prepares to step forth, voice ready to boom from the diaphragm. It is a part you have rehearsed for months. It is a part you may never play in front of an audience. You are an understudy. For those of us not fluent in the theater arts, an understudy is an actor who studies a part so that he may replace the usual actor (aka an “upperstudy”) under circumstances like illness, loss of voice or serious injury. Take Karl Hussey and Mike Reasor, two juniors working on their Bachelor of Fine Arts in acting. Both have performed

many times in front of the curtain. You may have seen Hussey in “As You Like It” or “The Shape of Things” earlier this semester at the Arizona Repertory Theatre. Yet both young actors find themselves backstage for the Arizona Theatre Company’s production of “The Mystery of Irma Vep.” Written in 1984 by playwright Charles Ludlam, “Irma Vep” is a penny dreadful come to life — a farce mixing Victorian sensibility with Hitchcockian suspense. Lady Enid is the silly new wife to Lord Edgar and can’t seem to make sense of the stodgy maid, Jane,or the ridiculous servant, Nicodemus, not to mention the host of local vampires and werewolves. Hussey recommends the show “if you’re in dire need of a laugh and don’t mind a few corny jokes. What’s remarkable about “The Mystery of Irma Vep,” is the cast size. Two men play six parts, with about 40 costume changes.

Hussey currently understudies for Bob Sorenson, who plays Jane Twisden, as well as Lord Edgar and an intruder. Reasor is the backup for Oliver Wadsworth, making up the second half of the cast as Nicodemus, Lady Enid and Alcazar. Arizona Theatre Company noticed both actors during what is known a “cattle call” — a unified audition for all students in the acting major. Arizona Theatre Company in particular is well known for hiring UA students as understudies. For both actors, spring break 2011 ended on a high note when they were offered understudy roles in “Irma Vep.” Reasor had seen the play as a child and was excited to take part, remembering how funny the work had been. Hussey had never heard of the play. A few minutes with goodol’ Wikipedia was enough to excite him for the experience. In the past few weeks, things switched into high gear for Hussey and Reasor. Lines were

memorized, costumes fitted and the process of learning not only the role, but how their upperstudies interpret the role, began. Being a capable understudy requires a different sort of preparation than a conventional role. Instead of spending time onstage during the hours of rehearsal squeezed between classes, Hussey and Reasor could be found taking notes about blocking, directions and carefully capturing the nuances of their upperstudy’s performance. “In terms of the depth of research put into characters, I put in more for a full roll,” Hussey said. “Most of the research and choices are made from Bob (Sorenson). My job is to recreate it and mimic it. It’s like taking an outline and coloring in the lines with my own truth and discoveries.” Reasor agreed about the UNDERSTUDY, page 3

PEACE, page 2

Museum holds centuries of optic advances By Jazmine Woodberry ARIZONA DAILY WILDCAT Optical Sciences and opthamology professor John Greivenkamp started collecting antique telescopes eight years ago to help his students “learn the basics of optics.” Last week, what College of Optical Sciences Dean Jim Wyant calls Greivenkamp’s baby, the more than 400-piece set evolved from a collection to a museum. “It makes it a nice, attractive complement to the traditional program that we’re doing here,” said Greivenkamp, who is also the founding curator of the museum. “Once I started the collection, it really became a passion.” Along with a Bisbee, Ariz., retiree, Greivenkamp organized the

INSIDE Opinions: Police Beat: Odds & Ends: Classifieds: Comics: Sports:

pieces that can be seen through a self-guided tour starting in the lobby on the third floor. “It’s brought in a lot of visitors and we hope it brings in a lot more,” Wyant said. Two sculptures, the “Desert Flower” and “Sphere” along with an 1850 wooden telescope barrel and a 1907 camera reside at the building entrance. The tour then goes to the eighth floor’s open-air patio windows adorned with antique optics. Down through the seventh, six, fifth and fourth floor of the optics building lie portraits of optics pioneers including Aden B. Meinel for who, the building is named, a dedication to a Nobel Prize-winning faculty member Nicolaas Bloembergen and gallery items from the 1700s to today ranging from military telescopes,

ivory monoculars, precursors to modern-day binoculars and British daguerreotypes, thought to be the first device capable of creating a photographic image. “That first telescope led to another telescope which led to another telescope,” Greivenkamp said. “I realized that I had lost touch with some of the history as well. By going through this, I educated myself.” This historical perspective is important to the mission of optical sciences, he said. “As engineers, it’s important to know where you’ve been to know where you are going, to know where the pieces fit together.” Most of the collection was procured through eBay auctions

MULTIMEDIA

4 5 6 7 9 10

Multimedia journalist Brett Haupt takes an exclusive tour through the famous Biosphere 2.

OPTICS, page 2

Koby Gray Upchurch/Arizona Daily Wildcat

A pair of French opera glasses, dating from the late 1800s, are on display at the new optics museum in the College of Optical Sciences building. According to John Greivenkamp, professor of optical sciences and owner of the collection on display, the glasses are made of aluminum – which was rare at the time – and, along with the hand-painted portraits in enamel, indicate that they were owned by a wealthy family.

COMING MONDAY

WEATHER

Arizona abhortions The Arizona Daily Wildcat examines the potential impacts of new legislative bills limiting abortions in the state.

News is always breaking at dailywildcat.com ... or follow us on

Today 89 | 57

Tomorrow’s Forecast High

Low

94

61

: @DailyWildcat


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.
Arizona Daily Wildcat by Arizona Daily Wildcat - Issuu