Newspaper Page Text
Honor
society
strives
to grow
By RYAN BLACK
The Red & Black
Barrett Brooks was tasked
with a challenge the fate of
an entire student organization
was on his shoulders.
Brooks, a fifth-year senior
from Dunwoody, is president of
the honors leadership organiza
tion Omicron Delta Kappa. He
was one of two final members of
the University’s chapter when
he joined in the fall of 2009.
Brooks could not pinpoint
why the group’s numbers had
shrunk so dramatically.
“I think it may be that they
lost focus,” Brooks said. “And
they had membership, but not
having activities that we were
really driving towards can cre
ate a lack of enthusiasm.”
When the membership fell
down to two, T.W. Cauthen, the
associate director of student
affairs at the University,
approached Brooks and Mason
McFalls, the other remaining
member, to “kick it into high
gear" and get the ODK chapter
back on its feet.
"That’s a tough spot to be in,
especially if you want a group
to continue its existence, and it
put us in a little bit of a tight
spot to come out of,” Brooks
said.
But Brooks called the under
taking “exciting.”
“You know, there is that risk
that you’re going to get to a
point that you haven’t succeed
ed and you haven’t been able to
bring people in," he said. “But
SEATS: Officials look for new ticket options
► From Page 1
“How can we provide a system that will allow
enough students in to where we can manage it,
and know that Thursday at 5 o’clock that we
have x’ amount of seats left that we can either
put on sale or reissue to students that didn’t
qualify for tickets,” McGarity said.
Joe Amone, associate athletic director for
ticket operations at the University of Tennessee,
said the Tennessee ticket office knows each
week before games which sections will be empty.
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▲ Barrett Brooks (right) stands with T.W. Cauthen at
the Omicron Delta Kappa honor plaza near the Tate
Center. Brooks is working to grow the honor society.
for me, I looked at it as an
opportunity to get people excit
ed about an organization that
has been around for a really
long time.”
ODK was founded at the
University on April 29, 1935.
Dean William Tate, of Tate
Student Center fame, became
an honorary member two years
later and went on to serve as
the faculty secretary for the
group until his retirement in
1971.
And like Tate, Brooks is no
stranger to being involved on
campus he has served as
both an orientation leader and
president of the Alpha Tau
Omega fraternity during his
time in Athens.
Now, ODK has grown in a
big way the group is welcom
ing 11 new members this semes
ter alone.
With the membership tally
up to 23, Brooks said the main
"We release student section tickets every
week, pretty much. It would look bad if those
sections are empty,” he said.
McGarity said the empty student section
reflects poorly on the University.
“We’re suffering as a program, as an institu
tion,” McGarity said. “When we’re on TV and
they show the stadium, there’s 5,000 or 6,000
empty seats that’s embarrassing.”
Tiffany Stevens and Zach Dillard
contributed to this report
NEWS & VARIETY
factor to restoring prestige was
changing the mindset of the
group.
“We’ve really focused hard
on creating a culture of activity
and active involvement by our
members,” he said. “Our initial
purpose Is definitely to honor
those people who have been
really involved on campus and
who have really contributed to
the University community. The
idea is to bring people together
from different areas of campus
to where they can interact with
people they might not have oth
erwise.”
And when Brooks looks back
on his time at the University,
his work with helping to prop
ODK back on its feet will be
near the forefront.
“It’s been a great experience
for me,” he said. “I wouldn’t
give it up for the world. I think
it's a great way to finish my col
lege career."
The Red a Black | Wednesday, September ag. aoio
Magical world of Tulsa
mixes comedy, drama
By ADAM CARLSON
The Red & Buck
The world of “Tulsa Lovechild”
is, quite literally, upside-down.
The play’s characters walk
atop a blue sky, stepping between
clouds while around them, in
every direction but one, are signs
of road life: asphalt, yellow dash
es and a pair of rearview mirrors.
"It’s a very fun, surreal, magi
cal kind of world,” said director
and University professor Kristin
Kundert-Glbbs of Tulsa’s set
design.
Add to that list comical with a
bit of romance, all used in service
of the emotional journey of its
main character and the heart of
“The Life and Times of Tulsa
Lovechild: A Road Trip”
becomes clear.
“They’re all kind of looking for
their place in life and how to live
in a modem world and how to
have values and morals and how
to follow your heart,” Kundert-
Gibbs said.
It’s just that, as scripted by
Greg Owens, their modem world
and any place within it has a
decidedly atypical feel, with nor
mal plot twists tweaked abnor
mally.
The eponymous heroine is on a
road trip except she’s headed
to bury her mother’s ashes at a
motel located in the town of her
namesake.
While there, she runs into a
former pageant contestant who’s
been kidnapped by her boyfriend.
Also in residence: a pretty-boy
actor traveling incognito —and
an overzealous preacher with a
tendency to shapeshift.
“It’s an interesting group of
people that are sort of flung
together for this,” said Tressa
Preston, a second-year MFA stu
dent who stars as Tulsa.
The mix of characters reflects
the mix of material and tones at
work in Owens’ play: comedy,
both broad and fast-paced, inter
mingles with the weight of drama
and the question of romance.
Over it all is politics, both
implicit and explicit, as “Tulsa
Lovechild” is also a product of
the Bush years.
Tulsa, the offspring of hippie
parents, now finds herself a pro
gressive in an increasingly non
progressive society.
A driving question is bom
can she reconcile her beliefs with
the moral landscape evolving
around her?
“She’s sort of a little lost soul,"
Kundert-Gibbs said.
Driving her search, propelling
TULSA LOVECHILD
When: Sept. 29-30, Oct. 1-2 at 8 p.m.;
Oct. 3 at 230 p.m.
Where: Cellar Theatre, Fine Arts
Building
Price: sls; sl2 (students)
each of the more than 30 scenes
forward, is the blend at the
show’s heart.
“It’s a great piece,” said Matt
Bowdren, a second-year MFA stu
dent who plays the reverend,
Melvin. “It’s pretty dynamic, you
know, a lot like a TV sitcom.”
Rhythm and tempo became
especially important for the show.
And, like so much else in the
production, these elements
evolved just off-center from the
expected.
In fact, some of the heavier
emotional scenes move with great
speed.
“Asa director, I feel like a con
ductor a lot sometimes,”
Kundert-Gibbs said.
No great focus was given to
balancing each of the play’s parts,
however.
Rather, the cast and crew
trusted in the integrity of the
larger vision and world to mesh
everything together.
“In a lot of senses, I don’t
worry about (tone],” Kundert-
Gibbs said. “If it’s a good play,
that’s something that’s going to
come together on its own.”
Indeed, the strength of the
visual design and high level of
proficiency behind-the-scenes
was a major uniting factor, espe
cially in helping the cast realize
the work.
“There’s a lot of great work
happening on all sides of produc
tion,” Preston said.
The production has evolved
into something that incorporates
the varied requirements of
“Tulsa" including the extensive
use of music and projected scene
titles easily most often coming
down on the side of the sweetly
comic.
“I think it’s about sort of fol
lowing your heart and trusting
your instincts and making your
self available to life and love and
the experiences that come your
way,” Preston said. “And being
able to embrace that.”
More, from the perspective of
the cast and crew, the show’s
optimism and embrace of laugh
ter goes beyond naivete.
It approaches faith.
“In spite of all the shit in the
world,” Kundert-Gibbs said, “it’s
hopeful about the future.”
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