JUDGE: workflow top list of priorities for Berea judgeship candidate

Continued from page 1 “I understand these challenges. It's so important to have a judge that understands what the role of a judge is. That’s to be fair and impartial to all sides, be professional to the parties that appear before the court, [and] be efficient with their time,” Kilbane said.

was announced. First-year BFA Acting major Geneva Millikan said “Sweat” was the play she is most looking forward to next season.

“I saw Lynn Nottage speak in my home state a few months ago, and I just love her work, and I can’t wait to see what Nathan Henry does with it,” Millikan said.

Copeland said she is happy that there will be shows in the upcoming season that students are excited for, as well as ones they explicitly asked to perform through their submissions to TAP.

Senior BFA Acting student Emily Polcyn headed the student play selection committee for TAP, and she said that the members on this committee read all the plays that were sent to them, and they picked about three to four plays to send to Copeland for consideration. Of those submissions, the faculty committee chose “In the Next Room or The Vibrator Play” and “The Dining Room.”

Polcyn said that she is looking forward to ‘The Dining Room’ because of its vignette style which will give the students the opportunity to develop different characters.

“I love ‘The Vibrator Play.’ I think it’s such a great fit for the staged reading series because it does have sexual content in it, which can get a little dicey,” Polcyn said. “But it’s such a beautiful story about female empowerment and sexuality and queer relationships.”

Copeland said she encourages everyone to come see the shows they have lined up for this season because the shows do not only provide an educational experience for the students, but they also seek to entertain an audience.

“I think if someone is looking for some really interesting insight [in]to what young theatre artists are interested in and good at, coming to see our season is a good way to do that,” Copeland said. “Just come see what the young actors are up to.”

The judgeship Kilbane is seeking serves a dual purpose. Not only does the Berea Municipal Court judge preside over cases, they also delegate tasks and serve as the court’s chief operator.

“The judge there doesn’t only hear the legal issues, they are also the administrative judge. So, they handle the dayto-day business of the court,” Kibane said.

One significant task at hand for the next judge will be navigating the court’s significant budget deficit over the last few years.

“I believe this year they’re on track to be in the red about $235,000,” Kilbane said.

Kilbane said that if he wins the race, he will update the court’s systems to be more efficient, a major motivation of his campaign.

“I want to bring the Berea court into the 21st century,”

Kilbane said. “A lot of courts around here are still paper and pen courts. I want to integrate new case management systems to make cases move more efficiently through the system.”

Comstock said that at 68 years old, he is the longest serving judge of the court. Echoing Kilbane's sentiment, he said that any court needs to change and improve over time. “You can’t keep anything forever,” Comstock said. “You’ve got to let the next generation come in and put in what they perceive as advancements and improvements… It's an evolutionary process, and I think it's time to get out of the way.”