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Show Monday, Aug. 31, 2009 Page 13 Utah State University • Logan, Utah • www.aggietownsquare.com Performing artist keeps memory of New Orleans alive By April Ashland staff writer "I'm drawn to creating this work because I think it's important to be conscious of what's happening. I can't turn a blind eye and make art just for art's sake," said Jose Torres-Tama, a performance artist participating in this year's Tanner Project Monday night. He will be presenting his latest creation titled "The Cone of Uncertainty" in the Morgan Theater of the Chase Fine Arts Center at 7 p.m. His presentation is about the events that occurred after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. "This performance is born out of a sense of personal urgency and a mission to not let New Orleans be forgotten, as in the days after the storm," Torres-Tama stated in a letter to the art community in 2006. "A year later, the city remains 70 percent destroyed, and the issues of race and class and media propaganda and crisis that surfaced in the unfolding of this tragedy are universal concerns, which affect all of our communities across the country. Thus, this new work is politically charged, visually engaging and profoundly moving." Torres-Tama was trained as a visual artist. He gravitated toward performance art as a way to mix multiple art disciplines, describing it as a hybrid, much like himself. He was born in South America and came to the United States when he was 7 years old. He speaks Spanish and English and uses both in his daily life. "I've always thought it was important to make sua- you have the language to challenge the hypocrisy of any government," he said in an interview Friday. Torres-Tama is no stranger to the academic realm. He has been a guest lecturer at universities, such as Duke and Cornell. He has contributed to National Public Radio's Latino USA program and has spoken about a variety of subjects including the exorbitant rental and property prices, and the impossibility of life in New Orleans if one cannot pay to live and the changing demographics of New Orleans, with Hispanic workers moving to New Orleans to help with the reconstruction, therefore bringing the Latino culture to the deep South. "An artist serves as a medium," he said. "As an individual who shines a light on a subject matter. The art we revere from the past including visual, written and film document particular times of that era. The look the show has is that you think something ritualistic is going to happen. The staging of somethin that will engage you in a different way." Torres-Tama' uses his skills as an artist coupled with his abilities as a Shaman to move the audience. "I'm looking to take the audience through a journey, a journey of revelation, and I think that's what a Shaman does," he said. In his poem "Quien es el Hombre Behind the Mask" ("Who is the Man Behind the Mask") he wrote, "I am a Shaman, therefore 1 am a showman." He uses this persona to create the experience that the audience takes part in. He will be taking the citizens of Cache Valley and USU on this journey, potentially changing the way they see what is going on in the country today, yesterday and tomorrow. To learn more about Torres-Tama visit www.torrestama. com -april.ashland@aggiemail.usu.edu Aggies around the world My summer as a Buddhist monk By the time this article is published, I will probably be sitting comfortably on my couch watching my favorite movie via online Ne.tflix. (t\y summenn Thailand, however, did not involve such worldlythings. .__^r~. :..-. , t I am a xative of Thailand. When I turned 12 years'old, 1 moved to the United States. I turned 20 last July and being raised in a conservative family, I was determined to make my parents proud. This is the initial reason of my trip to Thailand this summer. More than 90 percent of Thais consider themselves Buddhists. As a tradition, young males at the age of 20, entering adulthood, would ordain to become Buddhist monks (Bhikkhus) for a period of time. It is believed to give many blessings to their family and is a very honorable task to complete. The ordaining process is as simple as vowing oneself to individual liberation. This includes living as simple as possible, obeying 227 rules of conduct (called precepts), daily meditation practices and leading a pristine lifestyle. Although the common length for monkhood is three months (the length of Lent for Buddhists), I only had about three weeks and was deeply encouraged to put as much effort into it as possible, because three weeks of hardwork can triumph three months of a lax effort. I began by waking up at 3:30 every morning. By 4, all the Bhikkhus at the monastery would gather at a central meeting place. We would chant Buddha's teachings in Pali and Thai for about an hour, followed oy a half hour of sitting meditation. By then the sun rises and we would get ready to go on our task of begging for food. This in laity would be viewed as admirable. Locals would prepare food to offer in the mornings as Bhikkhus go on their barefooted walk. Bhikkhus cannot eat solid foods between noon Applications for law schools on the rise By SETH BRACKEN senior features writer A SENIOR M O N K SHAVES Pete Smithsuth's head and eyebrows as a part of ordaining into monkhood. Photo courtesy of Pete Smithsuth and the next morning. After eating, each would choose to rest, clean up around the monastery, enter meditation, study Buddha's teachings or converse about the teachings. In the evening we would again meet for chanting and meditation practices. Bedtime was 10 p.m. or later. This was my daily routine for three weeks. If it seems boring, try comparing it to one that involves a person who wakes up every morning, J SeeMONK, page 14 Mac OSX Snow Leopard Now Available. BOOK STORE v.-- UtahState University If students have the desire to go to law school and maintain a decent GPA there's an opening somewhere for everyone, said Dr. Richard Sherlock, professor of philosophy. Sherlock teaches a Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) prep course at Utah State University each semester. "Before going to law school students need to think about what they want to do in their career," said Sherlock. "Students need to think why they want to go to law school." Law school typically takes three years to complete and students can rack up more than $100,000 in debt and few law schools offer scholarships, Sherlock said. Acceptance to law schools is based mainly on the LSAT score and GPA of a student, Sherlock said. And while law schools accept applicants with any degree, the two majors that, on average, score highest on the LSAT are physics and philosophy, Sherlock said. However, the undergraduate degree may determine what type of law a student might study and specialize in so undergraduate coursework can be very important, he said. '*"" '''- The LSAT scores will last for threfc years and some students enter the professional field after graduating, to get real work experience and then return to take the LSAT and go on to law school, Sherlock said. There are also many juniors and seniors that take the LSAT and the course that is currently being offered will prepare students for the test that is being offered Dec. 5. There are four parts to the LSAT: reading, logical reasoning, analytical games and an ungraded, timed writing sample that will be distributed to law schools along with GPA and LSAT scores. "The prep course will prepare students for all four parts of the test," Sherlock said. "We cover everything." According to the Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) there were 83,300 applicants for law schools in fall of 2008. While the numbers for fall 2009 have not yet been reported, the number ee LAW, page 14 |
