Missouri Western State University, 4525 Downs Drive, St. Joseph, MO 64507, 816-271- 4200

 

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A Look Ahead

From Western to the West End? Professor's Play Produced in London

Verses and Voices Features Missouri's Poets Laureate

Employees Work to Reduce Costs

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Student Editor:
Jenna Haecker

Staff Adviser:
Kent Heier 

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Week of Oct. 15 - 21, 2010

A Look Ahead

Friday, Oct. 15

  • Griffon Sports Insider Broadcast Time, 10:30 p.m., Channel 3

    • Catch this week's edition of the Griffon Sports Insider Television Show. It is also available on-line at gogriffons.com

Saturday, Oct. 16

  • Missouri River Clean-Up, 8:30 a.m. to noon
    •  Volunteers will be shuttled via boats to various places along the river to pick up trash on the banks. Missouri River Relief and their sponsors will provide T-shirts, work gloves, drinking water, reusable water bottles and a boat ride to the clean-up sites. Terrible's Casino is providing a free lunch for all volunteers. Volunteers will meet at the French Bottom Boat landing (between Terrible's and Remington Nature Center) between 8:30-9:00 a.m. For more information, visit www.riverrelief.org. You may register online or email Dr. Mark Mills, at mmills3@missouriwestern.edu.
  • Mensa Testing Day, 10 a.m., Murphy Hall room 113
    • Mensa, the high-IQ society and non-profit organization, will administer an intelligence test for those who wish to qualify for membership. The testing fee is $40. For more information, contact Dr. Richard Porr at drporr@accreditationassist.com.  
  • Griffon Sports Insider Broadcast Time, noon, Channel 3
  • Griffon Sports Insider Broadcast Time, 1:30 p.m., Channel 20
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  • Griffon Football vs. University of Central Missouri, 1:30 p.m., at Warrensburg, Mo.

    • Head Coach Jerry Partridge earned his 100th career victory on Homecoming with a 29-7 victory over the Truman State Bulldogs. Western improved to 5-1 overall and 3-1 in MIAA action. The UCM Mules are 6-1 on the season, and 5-0 in the conference.

  • Griffon Soccer vs. Southwest Baptist University, 2 p.m., at Bolivar, Mo.

    • The Missouri Western soccer team will look to continue its unbeaten streak as they have tied or won their last four contests and six of the last eight.

  • Griffon Volleyball vs. Truman State University, 7 p.m., at Kirksville, Mo.

    • The Missouri Western volleyball team defeated rival Northwest Missouri State in five sets (29-27, 23-25, 25-17, 17-25 and 15-11) on Wednesday evening in the Fieldhouse. Western improves to 9-9 overall and 4-4 in MIAA play. Tahler Johnston led the charge hitting .282 with 19 kills and 10 digs.

Sunday, Oct. 17

  • Holiday Craft & Hobby Show, 1-5 p.m., American Legion Post #359
    • If anyone is interested in renting an 8-foot booth for $20, please contact Missy Hickok at 816-232-2335 or Dr. DJ Champagne, ext. 5693.

Monday, Oct. 18

  • 50th Street between Mitchell Ave. and Lot O, east of Scanlon Hall, closes beginning today. Traffic to and from Lot O will use 50th Street north and Messanie Street east to Riverside Road.

  • Missouri's Poets Laureate Workshop, 4 p.m. in Blum Union, Room 222/223.

    • David Clewell, Webster University English professor/creative writing director and the state's current Poet Laureate. and Walter Barge, senior coordinator for the University of Missouri's Assessment Resource Center and previous Poet Laureate, are appearing as a part of this year's Verses and Voices Festival. They will read their poetry and describe their writing processes. This event is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

  • Verses & Voices Festival, art exhibit 6 p.m., open mic night 7 p.m., Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church, 5502 Frederick Ave.

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Tuesday, Oct. 19

  • Deadline for Student Excellence Fund

    • Student applications for the fall semester for the Student Excellence Fund must be submitted no later than 4:30 p.m. to the Foundation office, Spratt 111, The Student Excellence Fund is a source of financial assistance provided for Western students through the MWSU Foundation. This fund reimburses students for expenses incurred while presenting papers, participating in conferences, etc. For detailed information go to: http://www.missouriwestern.edu/foundation/excellence.asp. For further information or questions, please contact Kim Weddle at 816-271-5647.

  • Verses & Voices Festival, art exhibit 6 p.m., festival concert 7:30 p.m., Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church, 5502 Frederick Ave.

Wednesday, Oct. 20

  • National Day on Writing: When Writing Teachers Write, 6-8 p.m., Blum Union, Hoff Conference Room 219

    • Thirteen area teachers and Western faculty will read their original poetry and prose. The forum, sponsored by Prairie Lands Writing Project, is open to the public. Refreshments will be served.

  • French film "Amelie," 6:30 p.m., Kemper Recital Hall inside Leah Spratt Hall

    • This is an enchanting movie directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet (2001). Audrey Tautou plays a single waitress who decides to help other lonely people fix their lives. Gradually, she realizes her own life needs fixing, and a chance meeting leads to her most elaborate stratagem of all.

  • Griffon Volleyball vs. Fort Hays State University, 7 p.m., Looney Complex

  • 7th Annual Griffon Basketball Tip-Off Party, immediately following the volleyball game, Looney Complex
    • At this popular tradition, both basketball teams will be introduce and each team will take part in a scrimmage and a skills challenge. The first 500 in attendance will receive a t-shirt, pizza and refreshments and over $10,000 in cash and prizes will be given away as well. Admission to this event is free.
  • Deadline for Intramural Badminton
    • Singles men's and women's badminton will take place October 26. The entry is due in the Recreation Services office by October 20 in Looney, Room 147.
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Thursday, Oct. 21

  • Annual employee wellness screening, 7 a.m. - 5 p.m., Fulkerson Center
  • Annual benefits fair, 7 a.m. - 5 p.m., Spratt 214-216
  • Griffon Soccer vs. Washburn University, 6 p.m., at Topeka, Kan.
  • Candidate forum, 7 p.m., Spratt Hall, Kemper Recital Hall
    • Candidates for Missouri House Districts 27 and 28 and Circuit Judge Division 5 will participate.
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Friday, Oct. 22

  • Annual wellness screening, 7 a.m. - 5 p.m., Fulkerson Center

  • Annual benefits fair, 7 a.m. - 5 p.m., Spratt 214-216

  • Griffon Volleyball vs. Emporia State University, 7 p.m., at Emporia Kan.

  • Griffon Sports Insider Broadcast Times, 7:30 p.m., Channel 39

  • Deadline for Intramural Volleyball
    • Volleyball will begin around October 25. Turn your team in for the men's and women's competition at the Recreation Services Office in Looney, Room 147.

Saturday, Oct. 23

  • "Let's Look at Writing," seminar, 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m., Blum Student Union

  • Griffon Football vs. Missouri Southern State University, 6 p.m., at Joplin, Mo.

  • Griffon Volleyball vs. Washburn University, 6 p.m., at Topeka, Kan.
     

Homecoming 2010

Western's Homecoming 2010 wrapped up Saturday with a number of activities. (Left) Dillon Harp and Laura Schneider were crowned Homecoming King and Queen before the football team's win over Truman State at Spratt Stadium. (Right) After the parade and before the game, families enjoyed a number of fun activities during Art, Beats and Treats at the Blum Student Union.

From Western to the West End? Professor's Play Produced in London


A play written by a Western professor that debuted in a campus production in 2009 was produced in London this spring, and opens a three-week engagement there Oct. 28.

“It’s a feeling you can’t describe,” said Don Lillie, assistant professor of theatre and video, of the performance in the city where his play “Marlowe” is set. “It just felt right. It felt natural. The play fit its environment and its culture, but it also has universal appeal.”

The play describes the final days in the life of Christopher Marlowe, an Elizabethan poet and playwright who some credit with writing the works of William Shakespeare. It was the authorship question that first interested Lillie, but he said after learning more about Marlowe he became more interested in the man’s life.
Lillie went on sabbatical in 2006 to research the play, and worked with a group of students to do additional work during the Summer Research Institute of 2008. The script was “workshopped” in the theatre and video department that fall, and then produced under the direction of then-faculty member Alan Arrivée in March 2009.

Lillie had an opportunity to teach in London for a semester in spring 2010. One of the classes he was to teach was “London Fringe Theatre,” which is similar to off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway productions in the United States, and he asked himself what better way to teach fringe theatre than to immerse the class in the experience of developing a show in a fringe setting. So, before leaving for London, he posted a casting call online, and was surprised by the positive response he got.

“These weren’t just high school kids,” Lillie said of the actors who responded to his ad on the production directory www.mandy.com. “These were actors with credits including the Royal Shakespeare Company, the BBC, the West End and movies. Now I could be scared because this could actually happen.”

Lillie left for London with two theatre and video students: Jeremy Edwards, senior of Kidder, Mo., and Mollee Westlake, sophomore of St. Joseph. Both had been involved in the Marlowe production at Western, and both took the fringe theatre class and would help in the London production. Jeremy’s internship at the Cock Tavern Theatre limited his role, but Mollee served as assistant stage manager.

Scenes from the play were performed for the Shakespeare Birthday Celebration in the playwright’s hometown, Stratford-upon-Avon, in late April, then the entire play was performed May 7 and 8 at Theatro Technis in London.

“We were received very well,” Lillie said, “but with a short run you don’t get coverage by the news media. You need a three-week run to get reviewed.”

So, after Lillie returned to St. Joseph, the company he put together to produce “Marlowe” stayed intact and sought a venue for a longer run. They found it at the Hot Tap Theatre, a new venue that Lillie said has already gotten a lot of positive press. An actress in the Theatro Technis production, Marysia Kay, has taken over as director. Lillie said the effort of Kay and the actors involved in the production – the unpaid effort – is humbling.

“They have faith in the script,” he said. “To see them work for this many months with no pay, that speaks volumes. They all know if the show makes money, they’ll make money. If the show is successful, they’ll be successful.”

Positive reviews could help achieve the ultimate goal: having the play produced in the West End, London’s equivalent to New York’s Broadway.

“We’re slowly working our way there, we hope,” Lillie said. “You have to control your head from inflating. You just can’t believe it. You just can’t walk into London and put on a show with no money.”

“Marlowe” opens on Oct. 28 and runs through Nov. 13. More information is available at www.marlowetheplay.com.

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Homecoming, part 2

 
(Left) Before the parade, the Golden Griffon Marching Band warmed up on the steps of City Hall. (Right) Alumni Association Award winners were honored at halftime of the football game. They are from left GOLD Award winners Stanley Pearson II '02 and Natalie Leonard Redmond '00; Herb '35 and Peggy Iffert Award for Outstanding to the University recipient Sen. Charlie Shields; Distinguished Alumni recipients Linda Judah '82 and '94 and Dr. Craig Fuchs '85; and Distinguished Faculty recipient Dr. Leonard Archer. Not pictured is Distinguished Alumni recipient Steven Koening '86.

Verses and Voices Features Missouri's Poets Laureate

The 2010 St. Joseph/Savannah Verses and Voices Festival, connecting students and audiences to the poetry and music of Missouri, will be held in St. Joseph Monday and Tuesday, Oct.18 and 19. The festival features a creative writing workshop with Missouri Poets Laureate David Clewell and Walter Bargen; an art exhibition; an open mic night; and the festival concert.

Clewell, the state’s current poet laureate, and Bargen, poet laureate for the previous two years, will read their poetry and describe their writing processes during the creative writing workshop, which will be held at 4 p.m., Oct. 18 in Blum Union Room 222/223. Dr. Bill Church, assistant professor of English, will moderate the workshop, which is free and open to the public. The Prairie Lands Writing Project is cosponsoring the workshop.

“We are fortunate to have Clewell and Bargen reading together and talking about their craft as one of our Prairie Lands Writing project activities at Missouri Western this year,” said Jane Frick, Western English professor and Prairie Lands Writing Project director. “We hope teachers and students, grade six – sixteen, throughout the area will attend.”

The other festival events will take place at Frederick Boulevard Baptist Church, 5502 Frederick Ave. Visual art created by area high school students interpreting poetry by Clewell will be on display beginning at 6 p.m. both nights. The open mic night at 7 p.m. Oct. 18 will feature high school students reading poetry.

The festival concert, featuring performances by the choirs of Savannah, Benton, Central, Lafayette, the Griffon Junior Singers, the St. Joseph Community Chorus Chamber Choir and the Missouri Western Concert Chorale, will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Tickets for the Tuesday concert are $10; all other events are free and open to the public.                                                                         

Missouri Verses and Voices is an educational initiative designed to expand creative activity in Missouri, integrating several art forms. It was co-founded by Bargen; Dr. David Benz, assistant professor of music; and Mary Ann Haenni, Savannah High School music teacher and 1981 graduate of Western.

The Prairie Lands Writing Project is an affiliate of the National Writing Project. The goal is to improve student achievement by improving the teaching of writing and improving learning in all schools.

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Will it Float?

 

 

A week after designing and testing their own personal flotation devices, students in Neil Lawley's 3-Dimensional Design class took on a much bigger challenge: working in groups to design and build boats out of recycled materials, then using those boats to cross Everyday Pond on McCarthy Drive. To see some of the boats in action, check out KQ2's report.

Employees Working to Reduce Costs

Kelly Sloan in purchasing reports that a number of employees formed a committee to explore the possibility of reducing the costs of all printer, fax and all-in-one machines' ink cartridges. It is estimated that Western uses $68,000 in cartridges every year.

Kelly is happy to report that after soliciting 21 potential vendors, one has been selected. Office Max, the winning bidder, is even able to offer Western a secure website to purchase cartridges using either a purchase order or procurement cards.Most cartridges are available via free next day delivery.Returns can be made within 30 days. There are no stocking fees.

Watch for a list of 20-minute presentations made available for all who purchase cartridges for their departments. The committee’s findings will also be available for your review at these presentations. Special thanks to Western employees Noel Cross, Brenda Cazel, Brenda Griffith, Sherri Hartley, Mary Platt, Marian Morin and Kelly Sloan for a great job.
 

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Cleaned out your closet lately? Thinking about a new digital camera for Christmas? The photography area of the Art Department is seeking the donation of 35mm film SLR cameras in good working condition. Please contact Rebecca Foley at rfoley1@missouriwestern.edu with questions or bring your donation to the Art Office in Potter 202.

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You are welcome to submit ads to the Western ADvantage each week. 

To be fair to everyone, please follow these guidelines for submission. Only ads from campus constituents are accepted. 

  • Ads for non-campus organizations or professional businesses will not be printed.

  • Ads can cover items wanted, items to be sold, garage sales, etc.

  • Ads may be edited for length, style or content. The staff reserves the right to evaluate the appropriateness of ads for inclusion.

  • Ads received by 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday will be included in that Monday's publication. Ads received after the deadline will be included in the next edition.

  • Ads will automatically run for a two-week period.  Extensions are granted by resubmitting the ad.

  • Ads will only be accepted by email, fax and campus mail. Please send submissions by email to publicrelations@missouriwestern.edu; by fax to 4414 or by mail to Tower Topics, , Leah Spratt Hall, Public Relations and Marketing office, Room 207. 

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