Thursday
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Managing Editor: Jessica Blanchard
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E-mail: ode@oregon.uoregon.edu
EDITORIAL EDITOR: MICHAEL J. KLECKNER opededitor@journalist.com
Role playing
for real
JAYNA BERGERSON
“A”
tA:
11 the world's a stage,
and all the men and
women merely play
rs.” — William Shake
speare.
Will was a smart guy. But if this
world is just a stage, then stop the
play. I didn’t audition for this role.
Joking aside, I think Shakespeare
was on to something. Life is like a
play, which means that life is like a
theatrical production, which is per
formed on this stage known as
Earth.
Think about it for a second. We
wake up in the morning, pick our
costume and the play begins. From
the moment we greet or curse the
day we have chosen the character
we will play. We interact with other
characters and produce humor,
sadness, tragedy and triumph
much like the make-believe actions
witnessed in Robinson Theatre.
And in this gigantic theater of
dirt and cement, many types of
plays are being performed. One
such act has been dubbed the
“clueless sketch” in which the
characters are caught by surprise
and have no idea what they are do
ing. So they take direction from
anyone.
It reminds me of a play I once saw
called “The Actor’s Nightmare,” in
which a poor confused young man is
thrown into scene after dizzying
scene without a clue where he is or
what he is supposed to do. The char
acters around him try to continue the
performance — after all, the play
must
go on
— while
he flai
around trying to
do what they tell
him. He doesn’t
know his lines.
He doesn’t even
know what
character he £
is supposed M
to play. In B
fact, he has Ip
no clue he is
an actor. But he
stumbles on in a valiant effort to ful
fill the roles the other characters in
sist are his, and all of this in front of
an audience.
I see some freshmen like this.
They come to college having no
clue what they are here for, or what
they are supposed to do. They don’t
even know that they are students
yet. They are just doing what their
school counselor or their mom and
dad told them they should do. But I
can’t pick solely on freshmen; I
know some seniors who aren’t
much better off.
Another stage act that many of us
find ourselves in is known in the
ater terms as “improvisational
scenes,” otherwise known as just
plain “improv.” This means no
lines, no rules. Anything can hap
pen, and it usually does.
An example would be the TV
show “What’s My Line?” on ABC,
where the actors are given a situa
tion and expected to act it out the
best way they can. The situation
can be anything, but the actors
work together to come up with the
best outcome. At the same time,
they are trying not to let anyone see
them struggle with figuring out
what they are going to do.
Improv is a madcap, fly-by-the
seat-of-your-pants kind of living.
Suddenly you realize it is 10:23
a.m. and you have nine minutes to
get dressed in whatever doesn’t
'-V
.. 'WW smell,
™ w brush
your teeth
with your finger (be
cause you can’t find your tooth
brush), run your fingers through
your hair and run out the door.
Stopping halfway there, you realize
you have forgotten your backpack.
Once you have retrieved the forgot
ten bag, you rush madly through
campus, foaming at the mouth (for
got to wash off the leftover tooth
paste) and plop into your seat when
you look around and realize you
are alone. That’s when you remem
ber it’s Saturday.
But of all the potential skits,
scenes and sketches that can occur,
the most exhilarating to see and
perform in is the “scripted plays.”
Reliable, dependable and planned,
they often get the most attention.
From beginning to end, every
thing is written down and plotted
with precision. Character analysis
has been extensively researched to
find out who the actor’s persona is
and what their motivation is to do
what they do. Blocking is laid out
telling the actor where to stand,
how to move and when. Lines are
memorized and practiced again
and again until it all works togeth
er in a fluid picture of words,
|i sounds and visuals.
H The Director chose and set the
H course of the play and you, as
W the actor, merely obey and fol
ff low the outline provided while
I adding a few colorful additions
P of your own. You act out every
* detail of your part with as much
honesty and truth you can find in
yourself. And you hope and pray
that all the other actors will work
hard to do their best, too.
All the world is a stage. Who
you are and what you do just de
pends on what type of show
you’ve signed up for. Whether it is
the leading-man role in a scripted
play or a comedian in an improv,
all the world is a stage.
You know, the most compelling
aspect of theater is that it is done
live. There are no retakes and no
cuts. The action unfolds, and if a
mistake is made there is no going
back. That is what makes theater,
and life, so exciting. No matter
what show you’re in — improvisa
tion, clueless, or scripted — every
moment is a potential failure or
success according to how you play
it.
Jayna Bergerson is a columnist for the Ore
gon Daily Emerald. Her views do not nec
essarily represent those of the Emerald.
She can be reached at
bjay@gladstone.uoregon.edu.
Bryan Dixon Emerald
Letters to the editor
Fighting the good OSPIRG fight
With limited resources, OSPIRG has
worked to protect 60 million acres of forest,
save students’ money and prevent the
dumping of four billion gallons of toxic,
high-temperature waste water into the
Willamette River. Working on issues stu
dents care about is OSPIRG’s No. 1 priority.
Our (the students’) organization was found
ed in 1971 on principles of open, honest
disclosure.
OSPIRG makes budget information avail
able to involve students in the decision-mak
ing process, and students approve the budget
every term. For this term our goals were: To
involve students in the process of democra
cy by asking them to choose how a portion of
the incidental fee is spent, reduce the amount
of toxins in the Willamette River, inform on
the dangers of drilling in the Arctic and in
form the public and mobilize them to help
those who are most needy, the hungry and
homeless.
OSPIRG is a student-run, student-funded
group. OSPIRG members are always open to
new ideas and need open dialogue, student
participation and all activists to join our fight
for hunger and homeless issues, water quali
ty standards, more Pell Grants and lower in
terest rates on student loans, and keeping the
Arctic wild and free.
Thank you for supporting OSPIRG on this
campus for the past 30 years. As we did 30
years ago and continue to do today, we fight
the good fight.
Sara Bartley
senior
communications
Bailey and Oliver
for following the rules
I’m writing in response to Brian Carlson’s
letter criticizing Eric Bailey and Jeff Oliver’s
campaign. He believes they used dirty poli
tics in the ASUO election to disqualify Bret
Jacobson and Matt Cook and gain votes. This
is far from the truth.
Eric Bailey was not soliciting sympathy
votes by trying to require the meningococcal
vaccination for entering students. I wit
nessed Eric being attacked on this issue at
the debates and am further appalled at this
being used to attack him. Eric was a friend
of hers and was very hurt by her death. He
wants to prevent this tragedy from happen
ing again. The East Coast colleges already re
quire the vaccination; we should too. Those
repeatedly attacking Eric on this issue are
the “shameless” ones.
Eric and Jeff were also accused of filing a
“trumped-up grievance.” There is nothing
trumped-up about it. Jacobson and Cook
broke ASUO election rules by putting fliers
in residence halls. Jeff Oliver may have
filed the grievance against them, but he did
so because it is his job in housing to enforce
the rules and report any that affect the resi
dence halls.
Student president is a serious job. Those
who follow the rules should be on the bal
lot for students to vote on. Those breaking
the rules shouldn’t slide by because they
didn’t know. They have to know for the po
sition they are running for. They won’t au
tomatically know the rules if they are elect
ed so they should have learned them before
running.
Krista Lund
sophomore
political science
Equal treatment for equal teams
I have a simple question for Bill Moos and
Jody Runge, and it has nothing to do with the
current controversy surrounding the
women’s basketball team.
I have attended both men's and women's
basketball games at Mac Court, and have no
ticed there is a small but striking difference
between the way the two teams are presented
to their fans. When I look in the program
guide for the women's team, I notice that
players are each listed with the following
personal statistics: age, year in school, aca
demic major, and height.
When I look in the men's team program
guide, however, I find a personal statistic that
is not included in the women's team program
guide: each player’s weight.
Why is it that both height and weight are
listed for players on the men's team, while for
players on the women's team only height is
listed? If there is a good reason for this, I’d
like to know what it is.
As a follower of Ducks basketball, I think
it would be more fair if the University Athlet
ic Department publicized the same personal
statistics for the women's team as it does for
the men’s.
Vincent Mulier
graduate student
philosophy