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October 26, 2012

 Vol. 88 No. 6

 

Opinions:

 

Features:SEE Page 3b

 A history of Harding’s bison

mascot through the years.

SEE Page 2c

Chancellor Ganus explains how 

our Homecoming tradition began.

OPINIONS . . . . . . . 1&2C

SEE Page 2a 

 by LYNDSEY RUBLEeditor-in-chief 

“Joseph and the Amazing  Technicolor Dreamcoat,” a mu-sical inspired by the Bible story of Joseph, opens tonight on theBenson stage.

 The story is told by a narrator, who is speaking to a group of children about Joseph’s adventures. The cast also includes Joseph’sbrothers, his father and mother,Potiphar and his wife, Pharaoh andmany more. According to junior Tori Wisely, the narrator, the entireshow is sung-through with only onespoken line in the entire two hours.

 With so many different char-acters, Wisely said, the cast isdiverse and features talent fromall over campus.

“Joseph” was also performedin 2001 at Harding. Senior Nate White, who plays Joseph in theshow, said that the new cast stayedtrue to a lot of the choreography and concepts created with the 2001musical. Director Robin Miller saidthat this year’s show is a revival, nota re-imagining.

“Joseph is easily one of themost recognizable Old Testamentcharacters,” White said. “What’sinteresting about the account of  Joseph in Genesis 37 through 39is that it doesn’t give as much of 

the emotional aspect of things.” White said he has been chal-

lenged to nd the character arc of a one-dimensional character in theBible. He said he hopes he is ableto bring the character to life andmake him relatable to a modernaudience.

 Wisely said her role as narratorhas also been a blessing.

“This particular role has beenmy dream role since seventh grade,” Wisely said. “When Dr. Burks an-nounced last year that it was going to be the musical for this year, Istarted crying. … This has just beenso surreal for me to actually do itand on a stage this size.”

 According to both Wisely and White, the show is very high-energy and features lots of music anddancing in addition to the amazing costumes and set.

“I love telling a story,” Whitesaid. “I love authentic stories.Obviously I’ve done performancesthat are supposed to be cheesy andbig and in your face, like Spring Sing.But the beauty of performance andtheater, specically musical theater, isnding authenticity in these musicalnumbers. There are these beautifulcharacters within (the story) and tond them and bring those peopleout and tell their story is something I really love.”

 Though they both agreed that

 working on “Joseph” has been agreat experience, Wisely and Whiteboth stressed the importance of time management.

 White said many members of the cast bring their homework topractice with them so they can work during any free time.

 As far as social life goes, “theperformance and being in theplay — that becomes your social

life,” White said. “We all becomea family.”

“Joseph and the Amazing Tech-nicolor Dreamcoat” is not the rstshow either Wisely or White hasbeen in. White was in “Thoroughly Modern Millie,” “Annie,” “Oklaho-ma!,” and has been a Spring Sing host three times. Wisely was in“Thoroughly Modern Millie” and was a Spring Sing hostess in 2011.

She is a hostess again for the 2013Spring Sing.

Susan Shirel serves as the vocalcoach for the musical, Robin Milleris the director and Cindee Stockstillis the producer.

“Joseph and the Amazing Tech-nicolor Dreamcoat” runs tonightand tomorrow night at 8 p.m. inthe Benson Auditorium. Tickets are$12 to $18 depending on seating.

Homecoming musical opens on Benson stage tonight at 8 p.m.

HUG group comments on strife by LEXI STUTZMANnews editor 

 Tens of thousands of Greeks rallied in Athenslast Thursday, Oct. 18, as

largely unaffected by theprotests going on in thecapital city. James said theprotests are planned inadvance and advertised,therefore students know 

currently at 23 percentand is expected to r ise.Gasoline is almost $9 pergallon and the country’sincome tax and property taxes are unpleasant. In

photo by ASHEL PARSONS | Student PublicationsNate White, who plays Joseph in the musical, sings out during a rehearsal on Tuesday night.The musical will show tonight and tomorrow night at 8 p.m. in the Benson Auditorium.

Protests in Greece

 

SEE Page 1b

last Thursday, Oct. 18, aspart of a nationwide protestof new austerity measuresbeing demanded by Greece’slenders that would cut al-most $18 billion from thecountry’s already depressedeconomy, according to theNew York Times.

Dr. Mike James, directorof Harding University inGreece, said Porto Rafti, theuniversity’s seaside townlocated 20 miles south of 

 Athens, has been untouchedby demonstrations, buthas still felt the effects of a suffering economy.

According to James, theHarding-owned campusknown as The Artemisrents to four tenants,one of whom has sinceleft. James said the otherthree have only remainedbecause the university hasbeen willing to reduce therent, allowing them to stay in business.

“Greece is going througha tumultuous time, eco-nomically,” James said.“Small businesses arefailing rapidly as can beseen by the large numbersof empty commerciallocations with the sign‘Enoikiazatai’ – For Rent.”

Even with studentsmaking frequent trips to

 Athens, students at HUGthis semester have been

therefore students know  when to avoid going in toareas affected by demon-strations.

 James said despite thecommon portrayal by the media, the majority of protests are peaceful.

“The austerity measuresthat have been enactedhave the people rising toshout their objections,often with large gatheringsof 50,000 or so protestors,”

 James said. “However,these are basically goodpeople wanting to protestintolerable conditions.Of the 50,000 that may attend a large event, 49,900are peaceful protests.

 There wi ll always be asmall percent of radicals

 will ing to throw rocksand firebombs at police

 – even in the U.S.”In late 2009 the gov-

ernment under the new Prime Minister, George

 A. Papandreou, revealedits predecessor had beenconcea l ing a rap id ly  growing debt. Since thenthe country has beenrelying on internationalbailouts that have forcedthe Greek government totake austerity measures thathave slashed incomes andsignicantly raised taxeson Greek citizens.

Greece’s sales tax is

taxes are unpleasant. Inaddition Time magazinereported unemploymentin Greece has passed 25percent and more than 50percent for those betweenthe ages of 15 and 24.

“Honestly, we didn’tnotice much,” said Au-tumn Dixon, a senior whoattended HUG over thesummer. “The publictransportation was onstrike a few occasions, andthere were several days

 we weren’t allowed to gointo Athens because of the strikes. Economically,I think the Greeks lovedus more – especially inthe Plaka – because we

 were Americans and they knew we had money. They 

 were constantly trying toconvince us to buy thingsfrom their shops, and whilethey would haggle, they usually wouldn’t budgemore than 5-10 euroson something.”

 James said despite theeconomic conditions, theGreek people remain warmtoward HUG students andoptimistic about the futureof their own country.

“The spirit of the peopleis very strong, and they continue to have a positiveoutlook that all will work out favorably at some pointin the future,” James said.

Pied Pipers celebrate 25years with reunion show

 by RYAN FOSTER  business manager 

 After 25 years of story-telling, the Pied Pipers willbe reuniting this Saturday inaccordance with the Home-coming festivities.

 Th e Pied Pipe rs ar e agroup of 11 energetic Harding students who wear brightly colored jumpsuits and havemastered the art of children’stheater. Their use of imagina-tion is the foundation of theirskits, and their improvisationaltechnique creates a differentperformance each time they perform.

 With so much history be-hind this group, the heritage isrich with past Pipers who havespread smiles onto countlesschildren’s faces throughoutthe years.

“Piper history is a hugepart of the Piper experience,”said current Piper and seniorRyan Tucker. “We hear stories

about and meet so many of theolder Pipers on tour that it’slike always meeting family.”

 Tucker said he remembershis rst Piper tour where heallowed a young girl on stageduring the performance whereshe had the time of her life.

 After meeting some of thesechildren he said it has com-pletely changed his perspectiveon life by witnessing the joy of a child.

Dottie Frye, who serves asthe director of the Pied Pipers,expressed her excitementabout the reunion by recalling past memories of this group.

“Some of them have lived with us off and on over theyears, and when they did, my boys had big brothers andsisters,” Frye said. “They’dmow the yard or clean thekitchen. Even if they didn’tlive with us, when you per-form for children and it’s asmall group of nine or 10people, you share wonderful

experiences and make lasting memories.”

Frye said one of her goalsin Pipers is to help createdynamics where they becomefamily.

“I am so excited to see allthese precious hearts that whenthey rst walked in the door,I didn’t know any of them,and then they made a placefor themselves in my heartand became family,” Frye said.

 After 25 years of “piping,”this family of performers willshare time together once again.Frye said she expects there tobe 50 to 60 returning Pipers

 who will meet on Friday to visit, laugh and talk. She wantsto gather everyone’s favoritesongs and poems and compilethem for Saturday’s show.

 There will be a mixtureof current Pipers along withrepresentatives from yearspast. The show will take placein the Heritage Auditorium at11 a.m. this Saturday.

photo by CHANEY MITCHELL | Student PublicationsThe Pied Pipers and Director Dottie Frye rehearse on Tuesday night for tomorrow’s

show. The Pipers are honoring their 25th anniversary with a reunion and performance.