Pulse Editor
Jacquelyn Lewis
jacquelynlewis@dailyemerald.com
Thursday, December 5,2002
Oregon Daily Emerald
On Monday
Get it on
for the holidays
True life: My
friend was
on reality
television
So here I am, in the Pulse section, and
quite honestly, I’m not quite sure what to
do about it.
What’s a sports guy to write about
when he finds himself lost in Pulse? Mu
sic? Love it, but couldn’t write about it.
Movies? I’m no Roger Ebert.
Television. Now there’s something I
can get passionate about.
I’ll just come right out and say it: I
heart TV.
Of course I love sports on television,
but I also love drama, comedy — just
everything.
But my biggest television vice, by far, is
reality television.
I’m a reality junkie.
“Real World,” “Sur
vivor,” “The Os
bournes,” “Bache
lorettes in Alaska,” I
really don’t care. I’ll
watch anything that
doesn’t have a script
other than “let the
Peter
Hockaday
Two minutes for
crosschecking
cameras roU!
And like any
body who watches
reality television, I
get way too into
the “characters”
that the genre in
troduces. If Elisabeth from “Survivor:
Australia” wanted me to marry her, I’d
probably drop out of school and start
making wedding plans. If I could meet
Kyle from “Real World: Chicago, ” I’d
punch him in the face for making my girl
Keri cry too much.
Keri and Kyle were struggling through
relationship problems on MTV this sum
mer when it happened. I watch so much
reality television, I should’ve known it
would happen eventually.
There, on my television screen, was
my friend Becca.
MTV was advertising a new reality
show called “Sorority Life,” and there,
in the commercial, was Becca, offering
her view on the new pledges or some
such nonsense.
I turned to my roommate.
“That’s my friend Becca! Holy crap!”
After putting in a couple calls to old
high school friends, I found out that Bec
ca was, indeed, going to be on this reality
show, centered on an independent soror
ity at the University of Califomia-Davis.
The show was going to focus on five or
six pledges, and Becca was “pledgemas
ter” for the house in question, Sigma Al
pha Epsilon Pi.
Now, Becca and I weren’t best friends in
high school. Obviously, I found out that
she was going to be on MTV through a
commercial. But she was in my extended
group of friends, and I had a huge secret
crush on her throughout high school.
She just has one of those magnetic
personalities that attracts other people to
her like hummingbirds to a feeder.
Still, I was worried about Becca on a
reality show. I’ve seen nice people torn
to shreds on reality shows. It’s the nature
of exploitative television.
After the first show, I was more
worried. Becca and the girls in the
Turn to Hockaday, page 6
Keeping it reel
Low tech four-track machines are relatively
cheap and offer more in-depth sound quality
than some more expensive methods
Helen Schumacher
Pulse Reporter
You don’t need a fancy studio, a big-shot producer or a ma
jor label record deal to create a quality sounding recording.
With a four-track, a small recording and mixing device, any
do-it-yourself musician can chronicle his or her work.
With the machine, musicians can record four parts to
a song. Then, using controls, they can manipulate the
sound of each track to their preferences. Traditionally,
tracks are recorded on cassette tapes, but some four
tracks can record reel-to-reel or digitally.
Musician Brian Mumford, who plays in local band
Chevron and composes electronic music under the name
iodil, was introduced to four-tracking by a high school
friend and bandmate.
Mumford has been writing music for most of his 23
years, and said four-tracks play an integral role in the do-it
yourself music scene, particularly because of their low cost.
“When you’re in your room, recording with a four-track,
there’s no overhead,” Mumford said.
Given that they are relatively inexpensive and easy to
obtain, four-tracks are invaluable tools for musicians
who want a way to capture their music for others or re
member song ideas.
“It’s a good tool for messing around and getting ideas
down,” Mumford said. “It’s accessible to people who don’t
have money to go to a fancy studio. ... You don’t even have
to be in a band. It allows you to be very independent.”
Senior multimedia design major and local musician
Greg Dalbey, who plays in The Goncubot, also uses a cas
sette four-track as a songwriting device.
“It’s always been used kind of as a demo-ing tool — a
way to test stuff,” Dalbey said. “And there’s always the op
tion of giving it to someone if it turns out well.”
Dalbey bought his four-track from his older brother
when he was 14 years old. Both Dalbey and Mumford
said four-tracking served as their introduction to the
recording and mixing process.
“(The four-track) gave me the fundamentals,” Mumford
said. “The way I tune my ear for mixing stuff comes from
four-tracking. Creating and controlling and mixing sound
— I learned from my four-track.”
A four-track is easy to learn how to operate with the
help of a manual or guidance from an experienced friend.
For many musicians, learning how to get a specific sound,
often through “EQ-ing,” takes a long time. “EQ-ing” is the
method of adjusting a sound by changing frequencies,
such as treble and bass. Although there is a fairly common
standard for how sounds should be “EQ-ed,” it ultimately
depends on what kind of sound the mixer wants.
With so much focus on new digital technology, one might
Turn to Reel, page 6
Jeremy Forrest Emerald
Greg Dalbey a senior multimedia design major and local musician, has used his four-track
for years. "It's always been used kindofasademo-ingtool — a way to test stuff" he said.
Eugene woman sews historical habits
A museum exhibit showcases
a woman’s efforts to document
Eugene’s religious history by
sewing miniature nun habits
Jacquelyn Lewis
Pulse Editor
Eugenean Clara Barnes invented
the perfect recipe to create her “Get
ting Into the Habit” exhibit, now ap
pearing at the Lane County Histori
cal Museum. First, she poured in a few
decades’ worth of history. Then, she
added heaping amounts of knowledge,
courtesy of archivists from around the
country, along with a pinch of her own
interest in sewing. The result? A detailed
display of part of Eugene’s vast religious
history — in the form of nine miniature
nun habits.
The habits — painstakingly detailed right
down to tiny stockings, scissors and rosaries —
represent several of the various self-supporting
Catholic nun orders that existed in the Unit
ed States before Vatican II (1961-65). More
than 400 of these operated in the country.
“Nine different orders lived and served
in this community,” Barnes said, adding
that each order had its own habit.
Barnes said both her interest in
sewing and in the nuns’ clothing
springs from her childhood experi
ences. Her mother introduced her
to an old Singer Treadle sewing ma
chine at the age of 4.
“I kind of fancied myself a seam
stress,” she joked. “I never lost that
interest.”
She said years spent in Catholic
schools sparked a curiosity about re
ligious garments.
“When I was in first grade, I met
the sisters for the first time,” Barnes
said. “I used to stare at them and won
der, how do you make (the habits)?”
She constructed her first habit six years ago,
for her 40th class reunion at the former Saint
Francis High School in Eu
gene. The first habit was
full-size, designed to fit
on a 6-foot tall man
nequin donated by Em
porium. Barnes fash
ioned the outfit
from the same
Serge Wool the sis
ters at her high
school wore. She
said the material is
rare now, but was
plentiful in the past.
Barnes said she
initially thought the
habit would be im
possible to make,
but her daughter en
couraged her to try.
“She said, ‘Yes you
can,’” Barnes said. “And haven’t I learned
something now?”
Turn to Habits, page 7