04.17.14 Issue 23 IN THIS ISSUE:
Top Notch Communicators Communications office wins state and national awards, p.2
Learning with Friends Schedule of all Scholars Day presentions, p.3
@Ouachitonian Dr. Jess Kelly talks journey to OBU and loving Tiger life, p.4
A Note About Notes Importance of handwritten notes in an impersonal age, p. 5
Grace Finley z The Signal Dr. Randall Wight views a poster presentation during last year’s Scholars Day. Students from all schools across campus will present research, performances and other types of presentations during Scholars Day 2014 held on Wednesday, April 23.
Honors Program presents Scholars Day 2014 By BRITTANY EWART Staff Writer
Ouachita is set to host Scholars Day on Wednesday April 23, where students from all schools of study come to present their theses, theater performances, artwork and college research. The event will begin around 1 p.m. at several locations around campus. Dr. Barbara Pemberton, professor of Christian missions and director of the Carl Goodson Honors Program, believes it is a great way for students to get experience presenting and learn skills that will be helpful later in life, such as in graduate school. She also explained that Scholars Day is a
great way for students to hear about topics outside their fields of study. “Scholars Day is a great opportunity that we have at OBU to celebrate every school of academics. It is an opportunity for students to actually learn what other majors do,” Pemberton said. Scholars Day is more than just presentations; it is showing the campus a project or research that is high on the academic level. Honors president, Sarah Davis, a senior theatre arts and Christian missions double major, explains that Scholars Day is a way to see things other students are doing as well as share your own work with others.
Tyler Rosenthal z The Signal Sophomore Kaden Sosebee performs trombone in last year’s PRISM Concert. Each year the concert features a variety of Ouachita’s student musicians.
“PRISM” Concert to be held April 22 By CHELSEY WHELPLEY News Bureau
S News 1 n S Features 4 n S Opinions 5 n S Sports 6 n
see SCHOLARS z 2
Music students to present works in annual Composers Symposium
Grizz Reporting Students travel to Memphis to cover basketball game, p. 6
Family Matters Daniel Murphy paternity leave controversy, p. 6
“Presenting at Scholars Day, for me, gives a lot of satisfaction,” Davis said. “It is satisfying to take a paper or project that you’ve worked on for a class and be able to share it with others. Plus, it is a lot of fun.” Parents, along with friends and peers, are encouraged to attend this event. “It gives someone their first opportunity to present in front of their peers. Better here with friendly peers than off at some other conference somewhere else, though many have presented their works somewhere else before. For those who have not had that opportunity, it’s a great start,” Pemberton said. “Friends should come
Ouachita’s Division of Music will present its annual “PRISM” concert on April 22 at 7:30 p.m. in Jones Performing Arts Center. It is free and open to the public. The concert will feature the Ouachita Wind Ensemble, Ouachita Symphonic Band and various small ensembles and soloists from the instrumental department. “The PRISM program is one of my favorite concerts we perform,” said Director of Bands Dr. Craig Hamilton, OBU’s Lena Goodwin Trimble Professor of Music. “It showcases many of our ensembles in the instrumental area. I know the audience will enjoy the variety of music and sounds of the various ensembles.” Dr. Hamilton explained the name of the “PRISM” concert came from the spectrum of colors produced when light is shined on a prism. “We use these cues to show the different ‘colors’ of the Ouachita instrumental area,” he added. “The concert is a showcase of all the different musical groups on campus. Everyone
gets to show off the product that they’ve been working on all year,” noted saxophonist Brent Nessler, a senior music performance major from Rowlett, Texas. “It’s always a great experience to get to work with so many diverse ensembles. The styles of the ensembles all differ and keeps the program fresh.” This concert is also unique from other ensemble performances because the audience sits in the middle of the auditorium encircled by the different ensembles. The music surrounds the audience from all directions. “The PRISM concert is always fun because of the musical diversity,” said trombonist Drew Ervin, a junior music and computer science major from Springdale, Ark. “Experiencing the coordination of all the ensembles is always entertaining.” The Wind Ensemble will perform “Rondo for Horns and Woodwinds” by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, “Folk Dances” by Dmitri Shostakovich, selections from “Carmina Burana” by Carl Orff and see CONCERT z 2
By TODD MCNEEL Staff Writer
O
uachita’s School of Fine Arts will present its annual Composers Symposium at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 21, in Mabee Fine Arts Center’s McBeth Recital Hall. The symposium is a concert of recent compositions by OBU student composers and was first performed over 50 years ago. Each year it rotates between instrumental and vocal repertoire. This year’s concert will feature selections of sacred and chamber music, as well as vocal performances from soloists and the Ouachita Singers. Ouachita Singers will be under the direction of David Stanley, instructor of music. This year’s student composers are: Kassie Coleman, a senior music composition major from Hot Springs, Ark.; Sean Jackson, a junior music composition major from Arkadelphia, Ark.; Joel Rogier, a senior vocal performance major from Glen Carbon, Ill.; Victoria Clark, a sophomore music education major from Bonnerdale, Ark.; and Emily Tucker, a senior music major from Hot Springs, Ark.. The program is an opportunity for composition students and professors to present some of their works and have them performed in a traditional concert setting. The composers have spent months working on their compositions for this symposium, drawing inspiration from various sources. “The choral piece I’m having performed is adapted from Job and chronicles the book as a whole,” Coleman said. She added that her grandfather read the book of Job to her as a child, and he was the inspiration for her composition. Dr. Patrick Houlihan, music theory and composition department chair, will lead the concert. He aids each composer throughout the creation of his or her work, helping each piece get performance ready. Houlihan also gives the composers advice and the necessary tools to adapt their works for opportunities of maybe one day having their pieces published. “A composer must find a publisher that is accepting works in a style and medium in which he composes. He then submits his manuscript and perhaps a recording. However, it is a growing trend for many composers to choose to self-publish their compositions,” Houlihan said. For more information about the concert and information regarding the theory and composition program, contact Dr. Houlihan at houlihanp@obu.edu or 870-245-5130. n