TRENDS
Page 8 - The University Star
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Sorority helps bridge cultural gap through stepping By Maira Garcia The University Star While stepping is a tradition among black greeks, Delta Sigma Theta wants to make the activity more accessible to different groups. The Iota Omega chapter of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority will be hosting a Non-Traditional Step Show 7 p.m. Thursday in Evans Auditorium. The step show will include a stepping and strolling contest. The winners will be announced at the after-party, held at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3413. The event will feature step groups from the Multicultural Greek Council, other universities and a high school group as well. Miyaka Griffith, interdisciplinary studies sophomore, said the step show is an effort to introduce stepping and strolling to more groups. “We want to bridge the gap between culture and racial groups through performance,”
“W
e want to bridge the gap between culture and racial groups through performance.”
— Miyaka Griffith interdisciplinary studies sophomore
she said. Ja’Nelle Rivers, Delta Sigma Theta sergeant of arms, said they also want the event to be instructional. “Some people put on shows where others can learn to step,” Rivers, pre-healthcare administration sophomore, said. “If you want to learn to step, we can help you with that.” Rivers said stepping is different from strolling. “Strolling is more like a
dance that says ‘this is who we are,’” she said. “There are specific movements that go with specific organizations.” Stepping is more structured art, according to Rivers. “Stepping incorporates more beats and precision through hand claps and stomps,” she said. “Sometimes stepping doesn’t have music because you make it with your body.”
✯ FYI The event will be hosted by DJ Hella Yella and KXXS 104.9 FM of Austin, which will be giving away tickets and other prizes. Tickets will be sold Thursday in the LBJ Mall for $10.
Jon Clark/Star photo SORORITY STEP: Members of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority practice Wednesday in the Music Building for the Non-Traditional Step Show that will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday in Evans Auditorium.
SOULSPEAK: Where the dead live By David Conrad The University Star Editor’s note: Soulspeak is the fictional prose and poetry writings of David Conrad, math sophomore. In an effort to promote creative writing and the arts, Soulspeak will be a regular section in The Star. These are not news stories. Derek Parsons 1969 – 2002 Day One The day started out just like any other day. I boarded the plane as I always did, sat down in the pilot’s chair and started fiddling with the controls. Soon after, I’d grab the microphone, make my announcements and take off. Everyday, I’d fly this plane all over the United States. Four weeks of flying, one off with he family and four more weeks of flying. It was a process I had gotten used to and one I hadn’t really thought about. At least, not until the plane
went down. I have no idea what caused the crash, and I’d rather not know to be honest. Nothing stings more like regret, and knowing that I might have been able to do something would kill me, figuratively, of course. I woke up a few hours later amidst a sea of metal; the place was a literally a disaster area. I had no control of the plane as it came down, and we ended up landing in the middle of a Georgia highway. Wreckage littered the road, along with hundreds of bodies and quite a number of cars, most in two or three pieces. A lot of the rubble had already been cleared, and ambulances had already begun to take away some of the more intact bodies; mine was still there. I sat up and looked at my hands. They were spotless with a light blue hue to them, a stark contrast to the charred black mess that was my lower half. So this is what death is like… I thought as I stood up. I left my corpse and wandered around in
my new body, so to speak, which was an opaque shell with a bluish glow about me. I was a bit surprised by how calm I seemed with all of this. Most people fear death with a passion, but within those few minutes of freefall, I realized this plane was going down, and there was nothing I could do about it. No flotation device was going to help me this time; I could only hope that it was quick and painless. Apparently, I got that wish. Other blue-hued bodies that had finally woken from their sleep were standing up around me. Some broke down in front of me, others still didn’t fully grasp what had happened and others seemed happy. Better to be dead than maimed and on life support for “X” amount of years before they pull the plug on you. I couldn’t find my co-pilot though. His body was gone, so I assumed he had already left. He See SOULSPEAK, page 9