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TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2013 | 3
NEWS
Art in classrooms enhance performance BY KIMBERLY MURRIEL Staff Writer
A recent Mississippi State University research report revealed students who participate in visual or performing arts such as painting, drawing, sculpting, dancing and theatre, showed significant improvement on standardized tests. The report shows when teachers reinforce academic concepts with the arts, students learn better and score higher on tests. Robert J. Damm, music education professor, said he believes the arts foster creativity and, in turn, may help develop confidence, which can help students succeed in other academic areas. “Music has many unique powers,” Damm said. “Many people think of music as a form of knowledge and a way of thinking. So through success and this way of thinking, students may develop confidence and because of their attitude and confidence, be more successful in other subjects.”
Damm said many people the research and we talk about find music as a way to express it in class. So music can serve themselves, which is the cen- as a form of social studies, too.” tral component of language Chad Anderson, assistant arts and literature. When stu- professor who teaches web dedents gain the sign, multimedia confidence to and graphic deexpress themIn my gifted sign, said he also selves musiart helps and creativ- feels cally, it results bring cultural ity class, I in them being awareness to inmore expreswould have dividuals. sive in litera- students who don’t “When I paint ture and writor draw a portrait ing. This leads think that they are of someone, stuto students not in the least bit dents usually ask p e r f o r m i n g creative, discover who it is,” Anderbetter in the that they are creson said. “That two subjects. curiosity leads to Damm also ative if they are education.” said music can challenged to be.” Instructor Aubreak down -Audri Brown, dri A. Brown, culture barri- MSU instructor who teaches gifters by bringed and creativity, ing cultural said she thinks awareness to art allows stustudents. dents to discover “When talking about differ- their creativity even when they ent types of music in my classes, think they have no creativity. students have to know where “In my gifted and creativity the music originated,” Damm class, I would have students said. “I give them information who don’t think that they are about the music, and they do not in the least bit creative,
COOKE
discover that they are creative if they are challenged to be,” she said. Brown said she uses the visual arts to teach her class. “I try to show my student a lot of cool visuals when I teach,” Brown said. “I believe students learn better through visuals. I also believe that students will do better in the classroom if they are able to look out a window and able to see nature and beautiful scenes, visual arts basically. They won’t get bored or distracted in their own heads if they feel connected to the outside world. It doesn’t feel so and institutionalized.” Brown said she thinks art allows students to learn in a variety of ways and that ultimately leads to academic success. “There is no one way to learn, and the arts allow students in a variety of styles,” Brown said. “Some student may learn better visually and other students may be auditory learners. There’s no right or wrong way to learn, and learning shouldn’t be restricted to just one style.”
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“These color identify areas that are at high risk. The red is the most likely, and we see it most intensely right outside the cities and along the roads. It follows the roads — fascinating stuff,” Cooke said. Cooke said statistics show about 60 percent of forest fires are started by humans, whether it is by a campfire, controlled burn or a still-lit cigarette butt. Cooke primarily studies forest fires, but according to a former student, the study that really got him recognized was mapping West Nile Virus and hurMARY LIZ HERRINGTON | THE REFLECTOR ricanes. Bill Cooke, interim head of the MSU Department of Richard Carley, former Geosciences, spends his time out of the classroom graduate student and work associate said Cooke is doing performing music locally at Dave’s Darkhorse Tavern. groundbreaking work. Carley was a student of would have been cool to blame cut back, ”Cooke said. “Being Cooke’s who went on to do BP for forest fires, but we the department head is a lot of work, but I still manage to some graduate work with could not find anything.” Besides his work in GIS, play about every other week. Cooke and currently works an internship with Carl Small Cooke is also known for be- Sometime you get gigs all at Town Center, a function of ing a fairly prolific musician once, and then sometimes you the MSU Architecture Depart- around the area. He primarily can’t get gigs. It is very unpreplays at Dave’s Darkhorse Tav- dictable and you cannot count ment in Columbus, Miss. on it.” Carley said, “Cooke was al- ern when he is in Starkville. Dave Hood, Cooke said he mostly perways a very owner of the Tav- forms cover songs. good teachern, said Cooke “Lots of early Elvis, Texas er. He was Being the rocks Dave’s Dark- Playboys and Carl Perkins,” helpful but department horse. he said. “When I was a tenwas good at head is a “If there were nis coach in Portugal, I played giving you a music Dojo in some gigs. They mostly just the tools lot of work, but I town, Bill Cooke wanted to hear Elvis, which is to learn on still manage to play would be the Sen- understandable. John Lennon your own.” sei,” Hood said. said that before Elvis, there was Praises like about every other Caleb Childs, nobody.“ this echo week. Sometimes local guitar player Cooke said he works on a from some of you get gigs, and with a number of solo album of originals. Cooke’s oththen sometimes acts in Starkville, “I have maybe four studio er students. said Cooke is the days left, but studio time is C a r l e y you can’t get essential solo per- expensive,” he said. “I need to worked on gigs. It is very former. similar forest unpredictable, and Keatzi Gunmonfire related ey, bassist and singmapping by you cannot count er for local band looking at on it.” Sipsy Fires, said the effects -Bill Cooke, it is rare to find the British interim head of a musician who Pe t r o l e u m can play with no oil spill had Department of accompaniment, on drying Geosciences with that much out marshcharisma, who is lands and also approachable causing fires. “We didn’t find anything,” and talented. “There is no doubt I have Cook said with a laugh. “It
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put these songs to rest so that I can stop listening to them and finding things wrong with them.” He laughed and added that his practicing sometimes drives his wife crazy. “I try to practice a few minutes a day at least. I mostly do scales and play songs in different keys than they are written so I don’t always sound the same. Steve Morse said if people were going to pay to hear him play, they deserved the best he had to offer. So I try to stay sharp,” he said. Bill Cooke teaches a graduate class on scientific philosophy and ethics, and he said he hopes to add more classes in the spring as his duties as interim department head wind down.
BAD D WGS
Friday, Nov. 1
• 10:35 a.m. An employee reported a suspicious male on the sixth floor of Allen Hall. • 12:33 p.m. An employee reported having $12 and a bag of chips stolen from her office in Allen Hall. • 4:27 p.m. A student reported being harassed by an ex-boyfriend. • 9:00 p.m. A student was arrested in the Ruby Hall parking lot for possession of marijuana. • 9:00 p.m. A visitor was arrested on Coliseum Boulevard for driving under the influence and going the wrong way down a one-way street.
Saturday, Nov. 2 • 4:20 a.m. A student was arrested in Starkville for public drunkenness and disturbing the peace. • 7:58 a.m. A student was arrested in Starkville for having a suspended driver’s license. • 12:04 p.m. An employee reported a suspicious male taking tools from the construction site behind Walker Civil Engineering Building. • 1:50 p.m. A student was seen inside Allen Hall by an officer.
Sunday, Nov. 3 • 12:58 a.m. A student was arrested in Moseley Hall for minor in possession of alcohol. • 5:40 p.m. A student reported losing her wallet at the Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity house.
Citations:
• 15 citations were issued for speeding.
HAUNTED Cisse said the haunted event is the biggest event each year, but Residence Life also hosts other events such as Dawg Daze, RHA Week and Cake Day. “The purpose of RHA and these events, as far as students go, is to make living on campus a better experience for students,” he said. “It really makes a difference to connect with students through programs.”
continued from 1 Kyle Mitchell, residence director of Rice Hall, said the haunted events are for the community, not only college students. “I’m very proud of RHA because they put in a lot of time and hours of dedication to service MSU and Starkville,” Mitchell said. “From my experience, each year gets bigger and better.”