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TIGERS OPEN HOME SEASONS SPORTS, P. 7 Thursday, Sept. 6, 2012
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Volume 121, Issue 1
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Across closed borders
New Yorker publishes Curlin poem in July issue By Sam Cushman News Editor
Saudi Arabia, traditionally shy of tourism, invites student group for visit By Tanner Ward
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Editor-in-Chief
ight students and two professors got what will probably be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in May. They, along with a community member, were granted an almost unheard of invitation to tour Saudi Arabia, a country typically closed to tourism outside of religious purposes. Dr. Barbara Pemberton, associate professor of Christian missions and one of the professors who attended, said the trip was the result of years of talks between herself, a tour company in Saudi Arabia and the Saudi Arabian embassy in the United States. The certainty of the trip was unknown even to the last minute. see SAUDI ARABIA z 2 Photo courtesy of Dr. Barbara Pemberton.
On Jul. 30, 2012, Dr. Jay Curlin, professor of English, had a poem featured in The New Yorker. Curlin never submitted the poem, but after a remarkable set of circumstances, The New Yorker’s poetry editor, Paul Muldoon, contacted Curlin and asked him whether he might publish it in the magazine. The poem, entitled “Evidence of Things Not Seen,” was written in the fall of 2010 to feature two words that appeared in the Daily Word Game utilized by professors to enhance students’ vocabulary. The words were “Higgs-Boson,” the legendary god particle and “hirsute,” a word meaning hairy. The poem’s title is a reference to the Bible verse Hebrews 11:1. “After a couple of years of playing the daily word games, [Jay] would put [them] in his reading quizzes in poems he wrote that he called lexical see NEW YORKER z 3
Leader in training Haney attends Institute in D.C., tours capital city By KELSEY LAMB Staff Writer
Garrett Whitehead z Courtesy GARRETT WHITEHEAD plays Rolf, a character in “The Sound of Music,” who goes from an innocent messenger boy in love with the protagonist’s daughter to a Nazi traitor. Scan QR code to view additional content online.
Student’s summer of theater By EMILY TERRY
Features/Social Media Editor With make-up perfectly painted below his black uniform hat and charcoal grey jacket buttoned up to his neck, he sits in silence, anticipating how the night will unfold. Beneath him, the moving stage stands still, ready for the wear and tear of another night, another show, another scuff. Garrett Whitehead mentally prepares himself to transport to another time in another country with another name. Whitehead, a junior musical theater major from Cleburne, Texas, took on a German persona this summer while in pro-
ductions of “Spring Awakening” at Little Rock’s Weekend Theatre from June 8-July 1 and “The Sound of Music” at Murry’s Dinner Playhouse from July 24-Sept. 1, also in Little Rock, 368 miles away from home. For the duration of the summer, Whitehead was fortunate enough to “house hop” between the homes of four of his fellow theater majors, but it was still not quite the same as being home for the break. “I was really nervous about spending my entire summer away from my family,” he said, “but it helped prepare me for my future.” As with every production, Whitehead believes his partici-
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pation in these shows makes an impact on him as a performer that will carry through for the rest of his life. “I grow a little bit every time I get the chance to perform,” he said. One of his summer’s learning experiences came in the role of telegram boy-turned-Nazi teenager Rolf in “The Sound of Music.” While the spring musical put on by Ouachita’s theater department has rehearsals for an entire semester before opening night, Murry’s “Sound of Music” had just two weeks before the first curtain. see THEATER z 3
Dylan Haney was among four students from the state of Arkansas to attend the Leadership Institute this past summer in Washington, D.C. The Leadership Institute focuses on conservative principles while providing training in many different areas, which includes college students reaching other college students through campaigning, fundraising and other techniques. Haney, a sophomore political science major, was selected to participate in this program after turning in an essay focusing on the building of the party platform, thinking of ways to get other people involved and promoting ideas. He then received the Patrick Calhoun Leadership Scholarship. Haney was the only student chosen from Arkansas’ fourth congressional district. The institute hosted between 70 and 100 college students from all around the United States, making this a very sought after and exclusive program of which to take part. During the trip, Haney attended a number of classes that went from early in the morning to late at night. “Classes were taught by former White House staffers that
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Dylan Haney z Courtesy DYLAN HANEY stands in front of the Capitol. He recently traveled to D.C. to attend the Leadership Institute.
worked for Ronald Reagan and told a bunch of personal stories about Reagan’s life and routine and ability to speak to people,” Haney said. His days were not only filled with going to classes, but he was also given the chance to travel around the city of Washington, D.C. On his days off, Haney also visited with some of the members of the Senate. Of all of the experiences Haney encountered, he said two were the most memorable to him. “Getting to hear from former White House staffers, and visiting with them even a little bit one on one about how see HANEY z 2
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