20
Wednesday, September 23, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Worker
Tuba-toting Duck completes Kilimanjaro quest
suspected of
John Turner, who teaches of tuba-related items.”
Over the Rainbow,” a perfor-
By diane dietz
entrepreneurship at the OSU
Kilimanjaro itself boasts mance that itself may have
tampering
College of Business.
a slew of Guinness accom- established a tuba-playing
EUGENE (AP) — A
Turner’s tuba is both his plishments, including fastest altitude record.
of Oregon classi- vocation and his passion. He ascent on crutches (2009),
The pair left for the sum-
with evidence University
cally trained tuba instrumen- carries around his mouth- highest altitude haircut mit at 10:30 p.m. with the
The Register Guard
PORTLAND (AP) —
Evidence in hundreds of crim-
inal cases is being reviewed
following accusations that
a forensic analyst with the
Oregon State Police tampered
with drug evidence.
The analyst, who worked
at the agency’s lab in Bend,
was placed on leave earlier
this month, reported The
Oregonian Wednesday. The
woman has not been identi-
fied, but agency spokesman
Lt. Bill Fugate confirmed she
is under investigation over the
handling of drug evidence.
The discovery of mis-
conduct puts current cases
and convictions in doubt and
could cost counties thou-
sands to retest and retry cases.
Families of victims and defen-
dants will also be affected
as prior cases are called into
question.
“My concern is for the
victims who were injured —
making them whole,” said
Deschutes County District
Attorney John Hummel. “And
for the suspects, that they had
the proper result. This crime
strikes at the heart of our jus-
tice system.”
State police notified dis-
trict attorneys across the state
on Friday and issued lists
detailing the affected cases.
Hummel said he must
retest the evidence in 502
cases dating back to 2012.
In Klamath County, District
Attorney Rob Patridge said
he’s reviewing 328 cases dat-
ing as far back as 2007.
The majority of cases
with evidence worked by the
technician are from eastern
Oregon. Ulys Stapleton, dis-
trict attorney in Lake County,
said only about a dozen of his
cases were affected and that
two cases remain pending.
talist reached the peak of his
singularity this summer.
Sean Turner carried a tuba
up Mount Kilimanjaro —
Africa’s highest peak — and
played “Mighty Oregon” at
the summit.
Further, he persuaded an
Oregon State University pro-
fessor to document the feat
on video for the Guinness
Book of World Records.
Turner, a tuba prodigy
who grew up in Corvallis,
started playing with the UO
Tuba Ensemble when he was
a sophomore in high school.
At the UO, he earned
two degrees in music edu-
cation — a bachelor’s in
2012 and a master’s in 2013.
He stands in, as needed, as
principal tuba player for the
Northwest’s best symphony
orchestras.
This fall, he starts his third
year as music teacher and
band director at Whiteaker
Middle School in the Salem-
Keizer area.
The decision to play a tuba
on Mount Kilimanjaro was a
logical extension of Turner’s
interest that culminated in an
illogical result.
“Pretty foolish, I think,”
he said.
Turner ’s avocation is
travel, and he likes to go
somewhere every school
break.
Turner, 25, wanted an
adventure with his father,
pieces to “buzz” tunes wher-
ever he travels.
Buzzing tunes through a
tuba mouthpiece is a practice
technique that allows play-
ers to maintain their embou-
chure, which is the method of
shaping the mouth to control
the tuba’s pitch.
The tuba, itself, was a
problem. Schlepping 20 awk-
ward pounds up the 19,341-
foot mountain was not
realistic.
So he borrowed a travel
tuba, weighing less than 10
pounds, from Michael Grose,
a UO associate professor of
tuba and euphonium.
The loan came with
a string attached: Turner
would have to play “Mighty
Oregon” — the UO fight
song — at the summit.
Turner never had climbed
a mountain with a tuba
before, not even Spencer
Butte. French horns, which
are played there regularly,
own that summit, he said.
But
playing
on
Kilimanjaro? That might be
worthy of the Guinness Book
of World Records.
Tubas already make an
appearance in the big book.
In Anaheim, Calif., in
2007, 502 tuba players set
the record for world’s larg-
est tuba ensemble. A tuba
and euphonium professor in
Tennessee in 2013 claimed
the title of “largest collection
(January) and highest-altitude
game of cricket (25 players at
18,871 feet in 2014).
Turner saw his chance.
No records involved play-
ing tuba at altitude. Turner
said he would apply for rec-
ognition from Guinness; it
takes several months to know
if the accomplishment would
be listed.
Still, the ascent of the for-
midable mountain was not to
be taken lightly.
The success rate for all
climbers, all routes, is 45 per-
cent — although climbers can
improve the odds greatly by
going slowly enough to let
the body adjust to the alti-
tude, according to the Climb
Kilimanjaro Guide.
Between three and seven
people die on Kilimanjaro
each year, mostly from falls,
hypothermia or acute moun-
tain sickness (which fills
lungs with fluid).
The two Turners set out
on their 28-day trip. At one
airport, security officials
required Sean Turner to play
his tuba to show no drugs
were in the bell.
The Kilimanjaro hike took
the Turners eight days. Sean
removed the tuba from its
case and wrapped it in sweat-
ers in his pack to minimize
the weight.
At base camp, at 15,000
feet, Sean took the instrument
out and played “Somewhere
goal of seeing sunrise from
the top. The final 4,000-foot
ascent was dark and frigid.
The temperature was 10
degrees, minus the wind chill.
The wind was relentless.
Although Kilimanjaro’s
peak is bare — like a lunar
surface — the going is slow.
“When I got to the top, I
had mountain sickness, so I
wasn’t thinking clearly,” Sean
Turner said. “My lips were
hypothermic and my fingers
weren’t really working.
“The tuba was frozen
solid. The valves wouldn’t
move and the slides wouldn’t
move. Any condensation
there was in there had turned
to ice.
“We were pretty exhausted
— physically and mentally
drained, but we had got that
far ...”
Turner spent a minute or
more of the 13 minutes they
spent on the summit breath-
ing warm air into the tuba.
When the valves and
slides loosened, he took off
his thick outer gloves, stood
under the rustic summit signs
and played the tune.
Sing the story Oregon
On to victory urge the
heroes
Of our mighty Oregon!
Go Ducks Go ...
“Yay,” Turner then said,
pulling the instrument from
his lips, and the pair began
their descent.
Stand out in a crowd
When you add full color to your display ad...
up to quarter-page — add $752
up to half-page — add $1502
up to full-page — add $2502
Contact Lisa at The Nugget to update your advertising
Fall Hours!
ads@nuggetnews.com • 541-549-9941
Wed.-Sun.
serving
breakfast &
lunch. Dinner by
reservation only.
Please call
541-516-3030
for more
information.
www.lakecreeklodge.com
Camp Sherman
*Prices are in addition to your black-and-white ad rate, and may not be applied with other discounts.