Terrance Hayes talks about the inspiration for his writings
Saturday, March 15, 2008, 14:02 EST
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The artist that Concerts Committee has tried to get for some time, Common, was announced as the spring concert to Program Board on Monday, Feb. 25. The date for the concert is set for April 3 at 8:30 p.m. [following the Council on Presidential Affairs (CPA) rally] in Clowes Memorial Hall. The exterior doors will open at 7:30 p.m. and the concert hall doors will open at 8 p.m.
Between Fall 2007 and Feb. 18, BUPD gave out 3,091 parking tickets -- 1,129 were to commuters, 818 to residents, 387 to Greek residents, 410 to village residents and 362 were faculty and staff tickets.
These facts, along with more, were shared as Vice President of Operations Mike Gardner and Assistant Police Chief Andy Ryan held a parking forum on Feb. 28 at Atherton Union. Spring Sports Spectacular will be having two give-back nights near the end of March, it was announced at the March 5 SGA assembly meeting.
The annual 12-hour athletic event supporting Special Olympics Indiana will have a portion of the dining money spent on specific nights donated to the philanthropic event. The first give-back night will be March 20 at Mongolian Barbeque from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m., and the second on March 24 at Bazbeaux Pizza. A large number of sorority women from all houses and grades were fortunate enough to hear Mari Ann Callais, Ph.D. speak on March 4. The topic of the event was “From Ritual to Reality,” and it was obvious that every sorority member in the room took to Callais’ message because of her unique methods of presentation.
Callais spoke of doing the best every Greek brother and sister can do to live the true meaning behind Greek rituals, objects and letters. In a large display of his effects on popular culture, Michael Pollan spoke to two crowds on March 3, one in the Reilly Room and one in a Gallahue lecture hall via closed-circuit television.
Both locations were filled to the limits of their fire codes due to the fact that people from all over the state had come to hear Pollan’s thoughts on "The New York Times" and the "Washington Post" best-seller “The Omnivore’s Dilemma.” Judging by the performances at Freshman Skits on the evening of Feb. 29, you might have thought the theme had something to do with ribbon dancing. The annual event, organized by Blue Key, gives the new members of every Greek house a chance to entertain.
Hosts Clark Taylor and Mackenzie Murnane, both seniors, presented the show as each new pledge class performed a 10-minute skit for a panel of judges and an audience full of students in the Health and Recreation Complex (HRC). Professor Aurelian Craiutu described the roots of democracy and the problems it has faced to an attentive crowd in the Reilly Room on Feb. 27.
Craiutu is an associate professor in the department of political science at Indiana University and said the subject of the lecture, “Dilemmas of Democracy,” held a very strong personal element for him.
"The poems get more and more strange," Hayes said.
Hayes spoke at Butler on March 4 as part of the Vivian S. Delbrook Visiting Writer's Series. Hayes is on the creative writing staff at Carnegie Melon University. His books include "Muscular Music," "Hip Logic" and "Wind in a Box."
Hayes read a poem from "Muscular Music" about Goliath, which he referred to as a "fairly regular poem."
Some of his poems, Hayes said, come from the word in the anagram games in the newspaper. "Bowling" was one of these words, which is also the title of a poem Hayes read. The poem is written from the perspective of a wife whose husband is addicted to bowling.
"Segregate" is another poem titled from an anagram word, according to Hayes. When this word appeared, Hayes said he thought, "This was the word I've been waiting on."
Several of Hayes's poems are similarly titled. "The Blue Kool," Hayes said, is about Kool Keith.
"He gave us free T-shirts," Hayes said, "so I had to write a poem for him."
Other poems Hayes read included "The Blue Baraka," "The Blue Seuss" and "The Blue Terrance."
Hayes's mother is good at impersonations, he said, and can mimic voices perfectly. Hayes also had some of that ability, he said. In middle school, according to Hayes, he could impersonate Ronald Reagan and Martin Luther King.
This ability, Hayes said, inspired the poem "Talk." The poem, Hayes said, is about the "idea of persona."
Speaking of some of his new poems, Hayes said at this stage, "It all makes sense to me, but maybe it doesn't make sense."
One of these poems advises, "If you are addicted to coffee, teach yourself to break dance." This poem, which lists many other pieces of advice, drew applause from the audience.
Another of his new poems, titled "Avacado," deals with a speech Hayes attended. He didn't want to attend, he said, but it was good that he did. Inspiration can be found "everywhere," according to Hayes.