OCR Text |
Show MONDAY, APRIL 7, 2008 - THE COLLEGE TIMES Life A7 Jiiiiii Brandon Osmond/ The College Times Synergy makes history by repeating it Modern dance enlivens UVSC halls Michael Morrow Life writer Students given opportunity to recapture American culture H O W A modern dance performance flooded the Ragan Theater with indescribable passion and patriotic intn> spection, March 6-8, 2008. Audience and cast members equally shared in the celebration. As the innovative and remarkable Synergy Dance Company of movers and shakers concluded their spring concert, refra-CT, an important piece of dance history was brought back to life. The dance piece premiered in 1961. The piece, titled "Dance for Walt Whit- TO • h How to never have to pay taxes Mel Sundquist Life writer Ideally, April should be a blissful time. The end of a semester, the beginning of summer, flowers and bunnies all lighten the season. But there is one thing that, for many people, makes April a dreaded month: taxes. Really, they're not as bad as they seem to be, but the stigma surrounding tax season makes it hard for anyone to file their 1040. There are very few ways that taxes can be avoided altogether, but that doesn't mean we can't try. 1. Don't make money. Or just be sure to make less than your standard deduction every year. For example, for the tax year 2007, a single person's standard deduction was $5,350. If they didn't make more than that, and didn't have any withholding, they were not required to file a tax return. These numbers change every year, and are different depending on your marital status, so be sure to check irs.gov for more details. 2. Move to a taxless state. States such as Nevada and Florida don't require you to file state taxes. And even though a taxpayer's state return is usually of less financial consequence than their federal, it can be very emotionally rewarding to only have to file a federal return. 3. Don't buy things. Sales tax is usually less painful, but it isn't something to be ignored if our goal is to stop paying taxes entirely. Sales tax is different in each state, so if you absolutely have to buy something, consider moving to a different state with a lower sales tax percentage. 4. Have babies. Children are the best-tax break that a person can have. If one parent stays at home with a baby (who is twelve months old or less), they get a nonrefundable credit of $100 on their Utah tax return. Child tax credit usually means an extra thousand dollars per child. If your income is within the correct bracket, earned income credit can get you up to $4,500 back. You can also claim earned income credit if you are single, but it tops out at about $400. 6. Itemize your deductions. Remember the chat we had about standard deductions? Well, if you can't follow that rule, you <ian at least try to itemize your deductions to a point where it levels out your taxable income. Over the year, keep track of your medical expenses, personal property and real estate tax, mortgage interest, unreimbursed employee expenses, tax prep fees, and casualty and theft losses. Usually a person can't itemize unless they have a mortSMHOWTO-,410 man," was choreographed and staged in Salt Lake City by modern dance pioneer Helen Tamiris. Tamiris is an internationally renowned dance artist who sketched America's independent and coJorful image using creative movement to interpret the poetry of revolutionary 19th century American poet Walt Whitman. Project directors Angela Banchero-Kelleher, Nichole Ortega, and Kim Strunk feel Tamiris' dance legacy provides an opportunity to delve deeply into the shared experiences of mankind fertile soil that she effectively mines. Tamiris magnifies Whitman's work to recall a time when the American sense of self was more vibrant and alive. Their unified efforts to remember, revive, reclaim, and thus, strengthen American commitment to neighborliness' and democracy, were met with support from myriad quarters. The rebirth of Tamiris' highly esteemed look at .the American dream received every available financial support, from project organizers, committee members, and supporters such as original cast member Linda C. Smith, to the late Ms. Tamiris's husband, Daniel Nagrin, to cast members, audience, the National Endowment for the Arts, dean of HASS. and UVU's Dance department. UVU's Department of Dance reconstructed America's grass-roots pioneer spirit as defined by Dance for Walt Whitman. 23 women and men represented ballet, ballroom, and modern dance genres. Artistic interpretation and dance-signature clarity were refined by firsthand instruction from professional dance professors involved in three past generations of the Tamiris/ Whitman collaboration. UVSC English professor and Whitman scholar Larry Harper was honored as the production's eminent narrator. Mr. Harper also shared his long, studied relationship with Whitman. He cherished the opportunity to familiarize performers with the vital importance the adroit poet holds as one of America's most respected and controversial literary figures. Harper, an accomplished writer and musician in his own right, experienced newfound feelings for dance and personal insights as he walked among the dancers when they halted long enough to hear him speak See DANCE-A10 SummemSmoke Luke Hickman Life editor The UVSC Theater Department put on fantastic performances of Tennessee Williams' classic play Summer And Smoke last month under direction of James Arrington in the Blackbox Theatre. Summer And Smoke astonished audiences with its mostly-freshman cast and the top-notch talent they brought to the stage. The success of their last main-season production allows them to end the year on a very high note. Ken Hoqlund / The College Times Students Scott Stringham and Heather Housley star in play at the Blackbox Theatre. Longboarders risk safety for natural high Ethan Dodge Life writer This summer, as the sun creeps out from behind the mountains and warms the cold, newly paved asphalt, teenagers' endorphins will rage as they dream of the activities, they can participate in. Some will play tag, others kick the can, but for the extremists out there, they'll all spend time on long pieces of wood rolling at dangerous speeds down massive hills. This sport is otherwise known as longboarding. "It's a natural high," said Jessica Frandsen, avid longboarder. "It's not as dangerous as skateboarding, and you can go really fast." Another longboarder, Brett Ricks said, "Longboarding feels like you're just gliding along the streets." This opinion's resonance among many teenagers is likely the reason they undertake such a dangerous activity. Longboards average 3 to 4 feet in length, but some have been known to extend as far as 5 feet. The bearings are essential to the speed of the board. The bearings are inside the wheel, and their structure determines how fast the wheels will spin. wrists longboarding. "It With this board, longboard- could have been fatal if I ers take it to the top of a • had hit my head." huge hill and just roll down. Many skaters like to In this scenario, longboard- carve back and forth into ers can reach speeds as fast the hill as they cruise down. as 40 mph. Some trucks — the part that "Sometimes, if you're holds the wheels to the board going too fast on sketchy - are specially made for turns, it gets dangerous and carving. They make it much intense," explained Ricks. easier to turn, allowing the Frandsen said that if you're skater to perform such feats careful you don't need pro- as a full, 360-degree turn tective equipment. "Don't while going downhill. go down hills you can't If you go longboarding handle," she said. Ricks re- this summer, just rememported that protective gear ber to be careful. If needed, is most likely needed, but wear a helmet and wrist he himself does not wear guards. it. He has broken both his |