'A Piece of My Heart' unites theater, ROTC
University Theatre is producing a play that requires
assistance from the University ROTC program
BY BRITTNI MCCLENAHAN
NEWS REPORTER
Actors in the University Theatre’s
production of “A Piece of My Heart”
had a lot more than lines to study.
The play, which is set during the
Vietnam War, required attention to
detail in military drills and practices.
Reserve Officers’ Training Corps
2nd Lt. Evan Hessel helped the cast
maintain accuracy, training the
cast on military marching, salutes
and postures, along with proper
exercise techniques and other mili
tary matters.
“Of course we were up to trying
anything,” said director Christina Al
laback. “But when he taught us how
to do sit-ups and push-ups properly,
it was hard, but they got it. Theater
majors don’t usually take too well to
that sort of thing.”
The play, written by Shirley Lauro
, is the true story of six women —
five nurses serving in the Army,
Navy and Red Cross, and a country
singer — who traveled to Vietnam.
The play shows each of the women
before, during and after their tours
of duty.
Hessel said he was impressed
with how the actors picked up on
the military techniques he taught.
“I went to rehearsals a couple of
times a week and took notes,” Hes
sel said. “I was really picky but they
were really great right from the start.
They were enthusiastic and respect
ful and immediately welcomed
me as a friend and a part of
the process. ”
Allaback, who has no military ex
perience, said she was thankful for
all of the ROTC’s assistance.
“Doing this, part of me really
loved this^play,” Allaback said. “The
other part of me saw this huge chal
lenge it would be for me to do a play
centered around the military. I was
a bit frightened and thought, ‘What
am I going to do? How am I going to
do this?’ It was important to have
some authenticity.”
In spite of her initial anxieties
about doing a military-based play,
Allaback said that after rehearsing
and collaborating with ROTC, the
theater department has developed a
good partnership with ROTC.
University student and cast mem
ber Jay Hash said wearing a military
uniform commanded respect.
“It wasn’t all that rough,” Hash
said. “It wasn’t like we had to go to
boot camp. We just wanted to get
the play to a point where we were
doing everything as right and prop
er as possible because we want to
be as sensitive and respectful to our
audience as possible and careful not
to offend anyone. When I put on the
uniform, I try to embody all military
men. I make sure that I’m in
Morgan McFadden, left, and Anna Metzger-Seig rehearse as Sissy and Mary Jo at the Arena Theatre on Oct. 13.
that mode. ”
Hash said he was proud of how
much he and other cast members
learned and how well they adopted
the attitude that comes with wearing
a uniform.
“We may not get everything per
fect — we’re actors,” Hash said.
“But the ROTC training helped make
sure that we’re as true to the source
material as possible. ”
Performances run on Oct. 28-29,
and Nov. 3-5. All performances will
start at 8 p.m. and take place in the
Arena Theatre, 104 Villard. Tickets
are $6 for the general public.
They are $5 for senior citizens, Uni
versity faculty, staff and non
university students, and $4 for Uni
versity students.
Contact the people, culture,
faith reporter at
bmcclenahan@dailyemerald.com
McKenzie: Rubber roof slated for expensive reconstruction in 2007
Continued from page 1
Associate Dean of Sciences Diet
rich Belitz, who oversees physical
issues for the college, said that they
were aware of the problem, but a
permanent solution was difficult.
“The way it works is that if you
have a problem with the building,
you let facilities go and they come
and they fix it,” Belitz said. “Just
like with any building project some
times it works right away and
sometimes it doesn’t work right
away ... and I guess this was in the
latter category. ”
Greg Haider, a Facilities Services
maintenance team supervisor, said
Measure 5, passed in 1991, and oth
er budgets cuts have required the
University to prioritize repairs and
required Facilities Services to work
with a smaller staff. .
“Ever since Measure 5, we’re in
the same boat as a lot of other insti
tutions,” said Haider. “We have a
backlog of maintenance for hun
dreds of millions of dollars — not
just the University, but total, all the
university systems ... they’ve had to
cut back on a lot of the dollars, and
what tends to happen is that main
tenance is cut first.”
The University has more than 60
acres of rooftops, and Facility Services
strives to re-roof 45,000 square feet of
roofs per year — so that each roof is re
placed at least every 20 years — but
that doesn’t help with immediate
problems, Haider said.
“That doesn’t take into account
where you have to prioritize ...
when we get to the end of the life of
a lot of our buildings, that’s when
we have to try to get a little bit more
life out of another one so we can re
place it with one that’s a higher
priority,” he said.
Ron Bloom, operations manager
for Facility Services, said Facility
Services decides years in advance
which roofs will be repaired, and
McKenzie is not slated for a new
roof until 2007.
“McKenzie was not on our radar
when we allocated capital to repair
them,” he said.
He added that Klamath Hall is the
only building slated for a new roof
next year.
According to Haider, each roof is
inspected at least twice a year.
“When you only have one person
and all that roof to do, it’s hard to
get up there more than that, but we
try to do it, especially at this time of
year,” he said.
Bloom said that McKenzie is a
particularly difficult roof to main
tain. It’s weighted down with rocks
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so that the wind doesn’t lift
the large rubber sheet, so all stones
must be removed before any repairs
can be made. Additionally, there
are several protrusions, such
as poles and ducts where cracks
easily form.
Haider said that because Facility
Services is responsible for maintain
ing heat, water, steam, electricity,
mechanical functioning and land
scaping for all academic buildings
on campus, there are many
problems that need attention
besides roofs.
Facility Services lacks one of its
two roofers, who is in New Orleans
doing reconstruction work follow
ing Hurricane Katrina.
Garron Hale, assistant director of
the lab, said he understood the
school’s motivation in not immedi
ately replacing the roof.
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“The school has to budget, and
the roof is going to cost a tidy sum,”
he said. “They need to plan for a big
expense, so maybe that’s why
they’re planning it for 2007.”
When asked about the tentative
re-roofing, Leue said it’s acceptable.
“I think if it gets done in 2007,1 will
be very happy,” she said. “They’ve
been patching and patching, and they
are always very responsive, but I think
in the end the roof has to go. That will
solve the problem.”
Hale agreed and added that
he hopes re-roofing will end
the problem.
“I just hope it’s not another rub
ber roof,” he said.
Contact the higher
education reporter at
kbrown@dailyemerald.com
023270
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