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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 9, 2001)
FEATURES Adam Amato Emerald Sophomore Nathan Jackson puts on a show during his audition for On the Rocks. Making the choir ■ Members of the a cappella group On the Rocks held auditions last week, and added two new singers By Anne Le Chevallier Oregon Daily Emerald Outside of Room 211 in the School of Music on Thursday evening, five male students waited quietly. Two of them were stand ing, three were sitting, and they were all in anticipation of their au ditions for the male a cappella choir, On the Rocks. Inside the room, the first candi date, Jason McLean, stood next to pianist Greg Guenther and sang scales. McLean tried falsetto scales and then sang the U2 song “MLK.” With pens and evaluation forms ready, the six current members of the group faced him in a semicir cle. They noted his vocal range, in tonation, tonal memory, pitch per sonality and specials skills. Watching McLean intently, the group’s co-founder, Peter Hollens, scratched his soul patch and told him that callbacks would be Sun day night. Next. As two underclassmen sang, the current choir members tried to ease the hopefuls’ nervousness with comments like “Nice job, man.” Then, candidate Nathan Jackson entered the room for his audition. “I ain’t been in choir since I was two,” he said. “I’m an entertainer — guaranteed to bring the ladies to the show.” Jackson, a sophomore marketing major, showed confidence in his singing abilities. He said he had perfected his vocal skills last year in his dorm. “Me and my boys were always singing in the hall,” Jackson said. Jackson improvised a remix from the “Rocky” soundtrack with some beat-boxing, hip-hop sounds “I’m an entertainer— guaranteed to bring in the ladies to the show” Nathan Jackson On the Rocks auditioner and dancing. Wearing a crisp plaid shirt, car go shorts and a pink pick in his hair, Jackson sang a song by Usher and busted into a provocative dance. The members chuckled as Jackson “freaked” with a music stand. Outside the room after the audi tion,.Jackson was quieter and more relaxed. Despite his lack of train ing, Jackson said he thought his chances of making the choir were good because he had a different approach. Jackson described his style as “striptease, eye contact, comedy and craziness.” He also said he could offer On the Rocks “a wide range of dancing mobility” and a connection to the University’s black community. However, he emphasized the members’ already Turn to Auditions, page 4 0 RECYCLE Dear campus community, The Executive Committee of SEIU/OPEU Local 085, on behalf of its membership, would like to take this opportunity to thank you for all your support during our very tough and exhausting bargaining sessions with the Oregon University System (OUS) over the past six months. With your support and the strength of our membership, a tentative agreement was reached. We feel privileged to have won the fight on campus for fully paid health insurance for full time employees. This could not have been done without your support! Working together had a ripple effect on the entire campus community, and we thank you! We are still concerned about the quality of the health insurance plans that the PEBB board has offered to all faculty, classified, and non-classified employees. Part-time employees, including graduate students, need and deserve a better plan! We have a lot of work to do together on campus to ensure that all OUS employees have quality health care benefits. We look forward to continuing to work with you - faculty, officers of administration, GTFs, and students - toward fairness and equity on the University of Oregon campus! Sincerely, Cheri Smith, President Sue Martinez, Immediate Past President Sherry Stahl, Vice President Ellen Klaastad, Chief Steward Jane Poe, Secretary Debi Baker, Treasurer Carla McNelly, Membership Organizer Star Holmberg, Historian Denise Blacketer, Newsletter Editor Bart Lewis, Chief Bargaining Delegate James Jacobson, UO Bargaining Delegate Lisa Sieracki, Chair Strike Hardship and Members Needs LOCAL 503 SEIU Stronger Together 012629 I Thank you to the campus community
