NEWS
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
The University Star - Page 4
SOUND: Strong musical background required for success in program, future CONTINUED from page 1
just tried my hardest on my auditions, sent in my application and hoped that when the mail came, there would be an acceptance letter in it.” The program exists as a part of the school of music. It requires a live audition, as applicants must play a musical instrument or be apt in vocal performance to gain admission to the program.
Strong musical capacity and aural skills are strongly recommended. “We’re looking for strong musicians and folks who can handle the academics, especially the math and science, in our curriculum,” said Mark Erickson, sound recording studio associate professor. “We prefer recording, or related experience, and a strong background in computers, but it’s not always mandatory.”
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to bring up to two tubes per person — one to hold a cooler. This new vote relaxed the council’s Feb. 26 decision to only allow one tube per person. “Me and my family always go to the river and we need more than one tube because we always have coolers of drinks for our whole giant family,” said English Hinojosa, pre-theatre junior. “They were going to limit it to where we wouldn’t have enough water.” Despite the relaxation, one
debated ordinance not addressed was the banning of open containers in several parks along the rivers, including the last tubers’ exit. “All of the relaxations have gone through the final reading and are therefore law,” Pospisil said. “However, there are still alcohol bans in some of the park areas and there are also still plans to start fencing around the parks.” Boyer said it is not his intent to change any of the new relaxations. “I would hope that we see a positive effect this year,” he said. “We’ll see how the summer goes.”
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the principles of a transparent government, and since they decided not to then we have to.” Guest speaker Gerald Hill, Southwest Texas State University alumnus and former president of university advancement, discussed the importance in the school’s name change. He said when meeting with
businesses who recruited students, many liked the quality, preparedness and social skills the university produces. Hill recalled issues that faced the administration when the decision was made to change the name. He noted the changes the school was going through at the time, such as the purchase of Aquarena Springs by the university for $7 million. It added nine acres to the campus.
Students practice the skills they learn in lecture at Fire Station Studios. The studio is a historic building, which served formerly as a fire station and a city hall. It is now in use both as a versatile recording facility and a sound stage for television and film. The studio, which houses a large amount of advanced equipment, serves as the sound recording technology program’s
classroom and laboratory, in addition to continuing to operate commercially. Some of the studio’s clients include Lloyd Maines, Texas Tornados, Fred Sanders and Terri Hendrix. Students are given the opportunity to work in the studio to complete a variety of semester projects, and participate in commercial work. Students are given opportunities to work with the theatre department for produc-
tions requiring the use of live sound. “The program was very well rounded as far as its approach,” said Steven Orsak, sound recording technology alumnus who graduated in 2002. “It taught me not only the skills I would need but also the importance of taking every aspect into consideration before attempting a project.” Graduates from the program have a variety of career options
including composing, producing, mastering, broadcasting and gaming. Texas State alumni have worked with such artists as Sting, filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, Harry Connick Jr. and Prince. “This program, as well as the careers that may follow, take a lot of dedication and commitment,” said Erickson. “Energy and passion are pretty much mandatory.”
Chlorine-gas attack kills, injuries children outside Fallujah By Leila Fadel McClatchy Newspapers BAGHDAD — Gunmen in black hoods came to Albuaifan, a town south of Fallujah, four months ago and demanded that the sheiks of the Albu Issa tribe pledge loyalty to the Islamic State of Iraq, the insurgent “nation” that the group al-Qaida in Iraq had proclaimed last October. The tribal leaders said no. Since then, the tribe has been at war. Its men have stopped going to work, and they carry weapons routinely now. They’ve even issued a password and closely question anyone they encounter who doesn’t know it. The battle entered a frightening new stage 10 days ago when insurgents blew up a chlorine tank in the middle of Albuaifan. The heavy, poisonous gas sank near the ground and seeped into the garden of Irsan Majid Alisawy, where a dozen children were playing. “I couldn’t breathe,” Alisawy recalled Monday. “I wanted to open my mouth but there was no air.” It was even worse for the children, who quickly passed out. “We were terrified,” Alisawy said. At least eight people have died from the attack. Two of Alisawy’s nieces lingered at the U.S.-run Ibn Seena Hospital in Baghdad’s Green Zone until Sunday, when they succumbed to burns to their lungs. One was 8, the other 2. Alisawy’s 18-month-old son remained hospitalized, breathing through an oxygen mask. Tubes snaked from his
body. A blanket decorated with turtles covered him. Another niece, Malak — “Angel” in Arabic — gasped for air through a ventilator tube in her nose and sipped from a juice box that her uncle offered. Malak, 3, doesn’t know her parents are dead. Ferial, Malak’s 14-year-old cousin, lost both her parents and a sister; the sister was one of the girls who died Sunday. Ferial stopped going to school a year ago because of al-Qaida kidnappings and killings. On Monday, she rasped, “I’m fine,” as her chest heaved with each word. Nurses admit initially they didn’t know they were treating chlorine-gas victims when the first such attack took place in January in Ramadi. Nineteen people died in that attack, and the 69 who were injured were taken to Ibn Seena. “It was a whole new ballgame for us,” said Maj. William White of the 28th Combat Support Hospital unit, who’s from Griffith, Ind., and is the nurse manager for Ibn Seena’s emergency room. Once chlorine gas burns the lungs, little can be done to reverse the damage. Patients are given supplemental oxygen, said Maj. David Cassella of 28th Combat Support Hospital, who’s from Savannah, Ga., and is a head nurse in one of the hospital’s intensive care units. The toll is especially serious for children. The gas is “very heavy and lies low to the ground,” Cassella said. That’s why the most seriously injured from the March 17 attack were children, he said.
Handout/William White/MCT CHLORINE-GAS ATTACK: Irsan Majid Alisawy, 28, appears with his niece, Malak, in a photo taken by a U.S. military nurse Sunday. Malak was poisoned by chlorine gas March 17, outside Fallujah. She remained alive Monday.
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political beliefs than Bernstein. “This is why we were able to work well with each other,” Bernstein said. “Because we had such different approaches.” In the first part of the discussion, Woodward joked about
Bernstein’s relationship with a Washington Post copy-girl, and told the audience that he and Bernstein still listen to the Nixon cassettes in their cars. Bernstein added that the tapes are “better than hip-hop,” which elicited laughter from younger audience members.
The second half of the discussion included a heated discussion about confidential sources, in which Austin American-Statesman editor Rich Oppel found himself pitted against the duo in his negative opinion on the use of unnamed sources. Woodward and Bernstein agreed that con-
fidential sources often result in the best stories, and that sometimes they are the only way to know that officials on the record aren’t being truthful. “You’re naive if you think people are going to go on the record,” Woodward said. “We need more unnamed sources,
because people who are on the record are lying.” Woodward and Bernstein’s views on the current state and future of quality journalism are optimistic, in comparison to some other accomplished journalists. The press should be given credit for uncovering what we
now know about Iraq, because the government has been so secretive, Bernstein said. “People have a reason to keep secrets,” he said. “But that’s not only what journalism is about. It’s about context and trying to find out what real existing life is all about.”