KEEP IT CHEAP| FUN, FREE THINGS TO DO IN THE LOU | SEE SCENE, PAGE 8
STUDENT LIFE
THE INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPER OF WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY IN ST. LOUIS SINCE 1878 VOLUME 129, NO. 4
WWW.STUDLIFE.COM
FRIDAY, AUGUST 31, 2007
Music department forces a cappella to relocate, practice off campus BY JOHANN QUA HIANSEN CONTRIBUTING REPORTER In a controversial move orchestrated by the Washington University Music Department, all a cappella groups and applied music lessons will be relocated to the newly renovated 560 Music Center located on the Delmar Loop. Groups were formally told on Aug. 22 that they would no longer be able to use the music building, although auditions of over 200 students will be taking place on Sept. 1 and 2. The Music Department cites high demand for practice space by various musical as reason for the change. “The acquisition of the new 560 Music Center, in addition to providing a strong University presence on the heart of Uni-
versity City’s cultural district, also relieves some of this pressure on campus facilities,” said Professor and Chair of the Music Department Dolores Pesce. “Music Classroom Building rooms will now be used solely for classroom teaching.” A cappella groups must now rent practice space, whereas in past years they had free use of rooms in the music building. The new 560 Music Center is managed by Edison Theater and Student Union is currently negotiating with Executive Director of the Edison Theater Charles Robin to defray the costs. Funds would come from the Student Union operating budget and no student group will lose funding. “There is a rental agreement with Student Union to provide 110 rehearsal hours per week
for the a cappella groups, plus 12 weekend performances and eight weekday performances,” said Pesce. Student Union Treasurer Marius Johnson showed optimism regarding the controversy with the a cappella groups. “I definitely think there is a solution in sight and Student Union can work as a mediator,” he said. The concerns of a cappella groups have been aired on a Facebook group titled, “Keep a cappella on campus!,” a group with over 150 members. Likewise, a petition is circulating among students, containing over 110 signatures, asking that the a cappella groups be allowed to practice somewhere on the main campus if not the Music Building. “We think the frustration
in the a cappella community is caused by the fact that we were told on such short notice and because we were told [the decision] was non-negotiable,” said representatives of the a cappella community in a joint statement. “But the first decision reached is rarely the correct one. There must be discussion and there must be compromise.” The statement also called for the music department to provide a location that was “safer, more convenient, and more accessible than the location on Delmar.” Off-campus safety stands as a chief concern, especially as groups generally practice from 8:00 p.m. to midnight. “The Music Classroom Building has provided an advantageous location directly adjacent to the South 40, where the presence of other students and
SENIOR NEWS EDITOR Although installed over the summer, the residential wireless network has not yet gone live for student use because of continued testing and the implementation of a new network access control system. “We’ve had a lot of projects going on this summer and the first priority is to make sure that the wired network is up and running so that students get the connectivity they need,” said Jan Weller, assistant vice chancellor for Network Technology Services. “Now we’re working at bringing up the wireless network a few buildings at a time.” The components of the new network are being brought online in stages in order to help
troubleshoot any potential problems. Specifically, the wireless network will be turned on building-by-building. After the wireless network has been completely activated, the registration system for Internet will be implemented and students will be billed. “It’s less important to have the bills going out than to have the service up,” said Weller. Weller stressed that this method of bringing the network online is especially important because of the complexity of the system; there are over 800 access points in the new residential network. For students beginning their work in the first few days of class, the absence of the network has caused some problems. “I don’t feel like I should
have to get up in the middle of the night and go to Bear’s Den to use wireless,” said freshman Blake McKisick. “I shouldn’t have to go to a public place.” Other students looked forward to the start of the wireless network so that they could work more closely with their dormmates. “If I go to a friend’s room to do homework and they’re both plugged in, I can’t use [the Internet],” said freshman Nick Abramson. “It’s not a big problem yet, but it could become inconvenient later in the year.” Despite the frustration over wireless Internet, there have been few complaints to Student Technology Services regarding Internet services. Weller attributes this to the larger bandwidth available for each student this year, a change that results
in faster average connection speeds. The new network access control system, called the Bradford Campus Manager, will allow students to register their computers for wireless Internet access using the unique MAC address that is embedded in every wireless device. Additionally, once the new system is completely functional, it will be able to provide students with extra protection against viruses by requiring them to have up-to-date virus software before using the network. “There may be some pain associated with [the process] at first,” said Matt Arthur, director of enterprise networks. “But we want to make sure that when students are on the network, they are as safe as possible.”
CONTRIBUTING REPORTER
MCT
Team 31 recently announced the addition of Sugarhill Gang to the lineup for fall W.I.L.D. The hip-hop group is best known for their song “Rapper’s Delight.” Sugarhill Gang is the fourth band slated to play at the concert on Saturday, September 29. “I wanted an old-school hip-hop act to round out the bill and give more variety to the show,” said Team 31 Co-chair Pehr Hovey. “It is always tough to please everyone with the picks for W.I.L.D. acts, so my goal was to pick several artists who represented different aspects of the hip-hop genre to give people as much variety as possible.”
See what the cross country teams are up to this season. The Bears are preparing for another great season, so go to a meet and cheer them on to victory. Sports, pg. 3
JENNY SHAO | STUDENT LIFE
South 40 Sunshine, the new sunless tanning spot on the row is now open for business. This new enterprise is owned by Juniors Nathan McCurren, Dave Silverman and Adam Schneider. BY ABBY SCHWARTZ
W.I.L.D. EXPANDS TO INCLUDE SUGARHILL GANG
And runnin’, runnin’...
swipe access, CCTV in the building and parking lots, and ample lighting. “The University definitely is not ignoring what the students are saying,” said Thornton. According to Director of Vocal Activities John Stewart, another key safety measure is the Green Line Shuttle Service that stops three steps away from the entrance. The shuttle arrives every half hour and will serve Mallinckrodt and the clock tower until one in the morning on weekdays. “It’s safer than walking from Mallinckrodt to the South 40,” said Stewart. “When I talked to my parents about it, they were already nervous about me walking to the Music building from the South 40. The bus I think is too much,” said sophomore Rachel Yoon of After Dark.
South 40 Sunshine offers tanning
Wireless network delayed due to continued testing BY SAM GUZIK
WUPD contributes to a general feeling of safety and protection,” said sophomore Kelly Rubin of the Amateurs. “Relocating to the 560 Center still poses security concerns for the many students who will have to take various means of transportation to get to an area where safety is a concern frequently cited by the University. “ Junior Stephen Harrison of After Dark expressed similar concerns over safety. “We are very fortunate to have a safe campus but this is not on campus,” he said. According to Director of Student Activities Julie Thornton, the 560 Music Center will be physically guarded from 4:30 p.m. to midnight and the guard will offer to escort people to their vehicles; in addition, the Center will have electronic card
New alternative to Bear’s Den There’s a new kid in town, so see what our Stepping Out team has to say about it. Boosters is one of the new restaurant additions to the the Loop. So, come on in and grab a bite. Scene, pg. 8
Washington University students are known for their intelligence, work ethic and community awareness, and starting this year, for their great tans. South 40 Sunshine, a student-run business located in the Gregg storefronts recently opened to provide sunless tans for the University community. “We wanted a quality product, not something that’s cheap, but something that looked good and that the students would enjoy,” said Dave Silverman, a junior and one of business’s founders. In opening a consumer driven business, Silverman and his co-owners—juniors Adam Schneider and Nathan McCurren—hope to redefi ne the business culture of student run businesses. “Most of the businesses on Storefront Row right now are distribution-based, but we wanted to bring a little more life to the area,” said Silverman. By bringing more foot traffic into the Gregg storefronts, the entrepreneurs envision bringing customers into other businesses as well. “This is the perfect business for the community,” said Schneider, “and the perfect business for the entrepreneurship community, because it’s going to bring people to the store-
INSIDE: S p o r t s .................... 3 Fo rum.................... 4 S c e n e ....................6 S u d o k u .................... 7
fronts.” The team developed detailed models and forecasted for the venture and at the end of summer 2006, presented their business plan to the eight-person board of the Student Entrepreneurial Program (StEP). “In talking to people and professors, there was some uncertainty about whether this could work,” said Silverman. “But we put a lot of thought into how we could make this work.” Under the guidance of StEP, the team was able to meet with lawyers to formally incorporate under Missouri state law and to begin setting up their business. The three entrepreneurs began looking for suppliers, insurance companies and more importantly, specific tanning products to use. Eventually, South 40 Sunshine chose Mystic Solution as their provider of tanning products. Currently, South 40 Sunshine provides four different options for tanning: original clear, original bronze, premium clear and premium bronze. A premium tan is darker and lasts 7-10 days, rather than the 5-7 day tan offered by the original. The most important feature of South 40 Sunshine is that their Mystic tanning machines, unlike tanning beds, do not
See TANNING ON THE 40, page 2
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