West
continued from page 1
The other catch is contestants
only get 30 seconds to sing. Why
don’t they just shove bamboo
spikes under my fingernails?
Thirty seconds isn’t enough to ac
complish anything. As the Emer
ald photographer — my so-called
moral support — put it to me be
fore I sang: “You’ve only got one
shot, man. This isn’t like three
strikes. You’d better not screw
up.”
Thanks a lot.
When did 1 start taking this se
riously? 1 was doing this for a
laugh and a good story, but my
pride kicked in somewhere along
the line, and now 1 was envision
ing myself drinking cosmopoli
tans in a hotel room with
Avril Lavigne.
Maybe that’s what got me to the
Wild Duck Music Hall on Wednes
day night for the auditions. It cer
tainly wasn’t courage, because I
was shaking more than a Chi
huahua in Alaska. The contest
ants were called on stage in ran
dom order, so I sweated it out
while the other hopefuls per
formed. “Wow. They’re all really
good. IIovv am 1 going to answer
that question? I think I’ll leave the
mic in the stand. She’s only 17?!”
My turn came up somewhere in
the middle. The stage lights basi
cally blinded me to everything but
the judges, which made it easy to
ignore the insane number of peo
ple staring at me.
I begin my abridged perform
ance of “California” by Rufus
Wainwright. I had timed the first
verse at exactly 30 seconds. But
most of the contestants were going
over so 1 chose to sing the chorus
as well. Here’s how that went:
“Ain’t it a shame that at the top...
man, I so just forgot the words.”
I’m sure my face was rapidly
approaching the color of my
bright purple shirt. But I just
smiled and said, “Well, I got in my
30 seconds, right?”
Speaking of my shirt, it elicited
the first comment from one of the
judges from abc
Model/Talent/Sport Management:
“What made you decide to wear
When did I start taking
this seriously/ was
doing this for a laugh
and a good story but
my pride kicked in
somewhere along the
line, and now I was
envisioning myself
drinking
cosmopolitans in a
hotel room with
Avril Lavigne.
that shirt? I mean, who wears
purple shirts?”
It’s not bad enough that I forgot
my words, now they’re going to
make fun of my clothes. Fantastic. 1
stumble out some shyly defensive
response and she said, “It makes a
statement, and I like that.” Oooo-K.
Well, that wasn’t enough to get
me into the finals. The last male
performer, who thankfully sang af
ter me, was phenomenally good,
and he carried the male represen
tation into the next round. My
elimination was actually a relief be
cause I don’t need that kind of
stress to induce the ulcer my coffee
intake is already working on.
Though it was just for fun, get
ting a remote chance at stardom
was a nice thought. I guess I’ll have
to settle for my picture in the paper
twice a month.
There is a brief epilogue to my sto
ry: After the show, some guy came
up to me, handed me a piece of pa
per and said I should call him if I
wanted to go out for coffee. I guess
that was the statement the shirt was
making.
Contact the Pulse columnist
at masonwest@dailyemerald.com.
His views do not necessarily represent
those of the Emerald.
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Vote
continued from page 1
don’t care.”
The last day to mail ballots was
Nov. 1. For ballots to count, they
must be dropped off in person by 8
p.m. today.
Democratic candidates Peter De
Fazio, Bill Bradbury, Tony Corcoran
and Vicki Walker will be at the Uni
versity today encouraging students
to vote. The Democratic Party offers
a shuttle from the University to the
Lane County Elections Office from
10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for students who
have misplaced their ballots and
need to get replacements.
The Republican Party also
arranges transportation to the Elec
tions Office for those who need it,
spokesman Bob Avery said. Regis
tered Republicans who need a ride
can contact the Republican Party of
Lane County at 342-4166.
Contact the senior news reporter
at kenpaulman@dailyemerald.com.
Week
continued from page 1
he even higher.
“By the latest census figures, 38
percent of all college students are
over the age of 25,” she said.
The University also classifies as
“nontraditional” those students who
are married or live with a lifelong part
ner, are in charge of caring for elderly
parents, have children or are return
ing to college after taking a significant
break to work or raise a family.
Along with all of the regular pres
sures college students face, Ilachten
said nontraditional students often
feel alienated in the college world.
“It's a real culture shock for stu
dents who have been in the work
force for a long time to come back to
school,” Ilachten said. “They have so
much life experience that they feel it
develops a chasm between them
selves and regular students.”
Brenda Tuomi, coordinator of non
traditional student programs, said it
took her five years to complete her
bachelor’s degree with a husband and
two children, while also working full
time. Tuomi was excited when she
first started attending classes at the
University, but she also experienced a
lot of self-doubt.
“The first class I ever attended it
looked like I was the oldest person in
there and I wondered if I had any
thing of value to say,” Tuomi said. “I
was very unsure of myself.”
Sayaka Mimura, a senior sociology
major, said the most difficult part of
being a nontraditional student is hav
ing less access to campus resources
and feeling alienated from the college
community. Unlike Ilachten and Tuo
mi, Mimura does not have a spouse or
children. After working for six years as
a bank teller, Mimura decided to re
turn to school and get a degree, so she
left Japan and began attending college
in the United States.
With all the demands on their
time, Ilachten said nontraditional
students often feel overwhelmed be
cause they experience so much pres
sure from outside sources. For regu
lar students, college is their whole
life, but for nontraditional students,
attending the University is just one
responsibility they have to deal with.
“For nontraditional students, the
rest of your life doesn’t go on hold
just because you’re a college stu
dent,” Hachten said the Nontradi
tional Student Union has several
events planned for students this
week, such as a coffee hour at 8
a.m. in the NSU office and brown
bag lunches at noon to tell nontra
ditional students about campus re
sources. Students can call 346
4305 for more information.
Contact the reporter
at jenniferbear@dailyemerald.com.