Pulse Editor
Jacquelyn Lewis
jacquelynlewis@dailyemerald.tom
Tuesday, April 29,2003
Oregon Daily Emerald
On Thursday
Pulse gets down
with the "Dolls"
Dad should
respect new
religious
beliefs, ideas
Dear Nat: My parents are divorced,
and my mother is Christian and my fa
ther is Jewish. I recently converted to
Christianity because it is a religion I
feel strongly about. My father and I
have a close relationship, but I have to
hide my religion from him because he
is anti-Christian. Keeping this a secret
is a burden on me, but I’m afraid he
won’t respect me if I tell him. What
should I do?
— Christian in the Closet
Natasha
Chilingerian
Ask Nat
Dear Christian:
Message to your
dad — don’t expect
a carbon copy of
yourself in your
child because your
offspring only holds
half your genes!
Ol’ Pop needs to
realize that marry
ing someone of a
different faith and
raising kids without
any specific reli
gious identity leads
to only a 50/50 chance of his children
choosing his spiritual side when then
grow up. Unless kids are raised under
one primary religion, they are going to
make their own spiritual decisions later
on, sans parental influence.
How heavy of a burden is this? If you
think the first time your religion will be
out in the open is when you get married
and you want to have your wedding in a
church, keep your lips zipped for now
and spare any extra years of remorse
rrom your aaa.
But if you’ve been sneaking around
every Sunday morning or feel close to
exploding during every moment spent
with him, slowly ease the cat out of the
bag. Approach him with, “Dad, it’s really
important for me to devote myself to
one religion. How would you feel if I de
cided to become Christian?” If he
protests, explain that it was his choice
to put you in this confusing situation.
However, spilling undesired secrets to
parents is always risky if they’re sup
porting you financially. Is there any
chance of your father being so appalled
that he would cut you off? If so, I would
suggest doing your worshipping on the
sly until you’re on your own. In any
case, if being a Christian brings fulfill
ment to your life, don’t let Dad’s close
mindedness cast a shadow over your
spirituality.
Dear Nat: I’m a 23-year-old female
graduating this spring, and I’ve been hav
ing recurring dreams about weddings! In
the most recent one, I was running
around a mall in a wedding dress franti
cally looking for underwear for my wed
ding night, but I couldn’t find any. Can
you decode this for me?
— Bride by Night
Dear Bride: After scouring several
dream dictionaries on the Web and at
Waldenbooks, I’ve discovered this wed
ding plot is perfectly appropriate for
your current life situation. A wedding
Turn to Ask Nat, page 6
No Kidding about words
The Kidd Tutorials Program offers
creative writing students a year-long
session and flexible schedules
Ryan Bornheimer
Senior Pulse Reporter
The creative mind might be wired to resist
the rigid schedule and curriculum of a univer
sity setting. Registration, midterms, required
texts: these are not phrases often associated
with fostering creativity. However, for the past
10 years, the Kidd Tutorials Program has ex
isted for one purpose: inspiration.
The Kidd Program is a year-long creative writ
ing session unlike most university classes. Ac
cording to Kidd Director Robyn Schiff, prospec
tive participants play an active role in the entire
learning process — guiding the progression of
the sessions from their initial application into
the program to their own final written works.
Schiff said the interactive approach to the
process distinguishes the program from other
courses. Undergraduates interested in the
Kidd Tutorials must complete introductory
200-level and intermediate 300-level courses
in creative writing.
However, these prerequisites alone are not
enough. Applicants must also submit a per
sonal statement, a letter of recommendation,
transcripts and a writing sample — a process
that whittles the applicant pool down to a few.
“It’s really an opportunity for writers to work
with other committed writers,” Schiff said.
Success within the Kidd Tutorials hinges on
commitment. The program accepts about 30
applicants a year, then separates them into
groups of four to six. Each group is teamed with
a graduate student whose function is to cultivate
an environment of discussion and creativity
within the realm of poetry or fiction writing.
Over the next three terms, the tutors slowly
Creative writing
Professor David
Bradley, left
speaks to creative
writing students in
the Kidd Tutorials
Program, which
splits about 30
accepted
applicants into
teams led by
graduate students.
Jeremy Forrest
Emerald
guide students from an appreciation of estab
lished artists to the creation of their own works.
Fall term presents students with a series of
lessons and reading assignments focusing on
philosophers and art critics, poets and novel
ists, as well as cultural and literary critics. The
groups are led through texts of varied genres.
“These are often materials not found in oth
er classes,” Schiff said.
Winter term gives students an opportunity
to work within a completely self-guided cur
riculum. Participants devise a series of ques
tions and a list of readings, visual arts or films
— a collection Schiff describes as a “summary
of their obsessions.” The class uses these cho
sen preoccupations to promote an environ
ment of independent thought and study.
Creative writing graduate teaching fellow
and poetry group tutor Liz Harlan-Ferlo said
some students are initially taken aback by the
reading-intensive portion of the program.
“A lot of my students said they didn’t ex
pect such a high level of reading in the class,”
Harlan-Ferlo said. “But if you want to be a
writer, you have to know about the commu
nity you’re joining. And all my students total
ly rose to the occasion.”
Schiff describes spring term as a tradition
al workshop.
The program sponsors a creative writing com
petition every spring, awarding up to #4,000 in
total prizes to undergraduate poets and fiction
writers — not just members of the Kidd
Turn to Kidd, page 7
Luna dishes edible, musical treats
Downtown club Luna, located on East
Broadway, hosts regional artists as well
as drinks and ‘late-night munchies’
Hot spots
Mark Baylis
Pulse Reporter
Inside Downtown jazz club Luna, an intimate
ambiance strikes the senses. The house lights
are dimmed to a roasted amber and the lounge
tables host candles that slowly wave like content
fireflies impervious to the season. Billowing pil
lows lull the body toward an inviting seat on one
of the plush couches; the waiter approaches with
a martini list longer than a senior thesis rough
draft, and the brain’s serotonin begins to perco
late. Next, the jazz ensemble offers a toast with
some Goltrane and the audience applauds,
seeming to thank the stars for jazz.
Thank Adam Bernstein. Originally from Col
orado, the Eugene transplant of 13 years opened
the live jazz venue, located at 30 E. Broadway,
almost a year and a half ago. Since then, the club
has been serving up top-notch local, regional and
international performers five nights a week.
“I’m a music lover, and I like different forms
of jazz — R&B, soul, some world beat,” Bern
stein said. “I wanted a place that was warm and
friendly in order to enjoy it.”
Luna has hosted such acts as Hot Club Sand
wich and Pearl Django, as well as local artists
Justin King, recently defunct Lazoo and Univer
sity graduate Tim McLaughlin.
“If anything, there is a glut of musicians in this
town,” Bernstein said. “We’ve brought in a ton of
great regional musicians in the last six months,
and that’s something I feel we do better than
anybody else.”.
With its spacious and prominent stage subtly
framed with neo-roman columns, the venue pro
vides vantage points for up to 85 people, from
one of a handful of lounge tables, three intimate
coves against the west wall or two couch areas.
Bernstein said he invested a substantial
amount of finance and energy into avoid the au
ral pitfalls of other clubs that were designed to
host patrons but not the delicacies of live music.
“In a lot of places, what you’ll get is every sur
face will be hard, so there’s reflections and every
column of sound is bouncing off of everywhere,”
Bernstein said. “We custom-built the speakers,
the sound system is custom-built for the room.
It has a real nice balance.”
Local jazz drummer Will Clark agreed.
“It’s got the best stage and the acoustics are
great,” Clark said.
According to Clark, Luna’s audience — as any
jazz aficionado or club owner could predict — is
a crapshoot. In a time when jazz continues to sit
at the bottom of record sales but remains a sta
ple of any sizable city’s music repertoire, Luna
clientele on any given night can either be sparse
or left with standing-room only as enthusiasts
shake it in front of the stage.
“We’ve played some pretty loud shows,” Clark
said. “You never know ... but the audiences are
typically pretty attentive.”
Aside from Luna’s bar and its martini and wine
list, the venue has a tapa-menu for late-night
munchies as well. Luna is also attached to Adam’s
Place, a restaurant boasting a seasonal menu.
\
Jessica Waters for the Emerald
Sun Bossa guitarist Edson Oliveira performs at Luna, a
Downtown club that serves up both drinks and tunes.
However, Bernstein said students should not be
intimidated by the venue’s classy atmosphere.
“Because we opened (Adam’s Place), which
was elegant, people thought we were exclu
sive,” he said. “We’re not exclusive ... We offer
something for everybody and consistently try
to mix it up.”
Turn to Luna, page 8