{ Wednesday gill 16, 2003 michigandaily.com mae@michigandaily. com RTS 9 ASHLEY HARPER/Daily Honored professor of English, Laurence Goldstein, presents Hopwood awards to the esteemed winners last night. Hopwoods honor up- and-coming talent By Aurelie Martins For the Daily MIX MASTER PAUL VAN DYK SPINS THROUGH ANN ARBOR By Jeremy Kressmann Daily Arts Writer This past.Thursday night at Ann Arbor's The Necto, a line of people an hour deep stood patiently outside in the chilly spring air. While hour-long lines might be the norm in New York nightlife, they are certainly a rare sight here in Washtenaw County. Yet like an army of faithful pilgrims, the crowd was tensed, ready to unleash its evangelical dance ener- gy on none other than Paul Van Dyk. The Michigan Daily sat down with Van Dyk before his show last Thursday to talk about politics, music and dance culture in America. The Michigan Daily: Is it interesting for you to play in smallervenues like The Necto as opposed to bigger city clubs like in New York or Chicago? Paul Van Dyk: Well, first of all there's the con- nection with Detroit and the whole area. (Detroit) is a root of electronic music with places like Berlin, Manchester and Sheffield. This is where this music actually came from. Therefore it's so much like I'm going into a provincial area. Instead I know I'm coming back to a place I know has a strong connec- tion with electronic music. TMD: Does it feel strange to be here touring in America given the current world events? PVD: It's not strange touring while this is going on because I have a very clear (political) position. I make that standing very clear through my Internet site (wwwpaulvandyk. corn) and through interviews. So in a way, I think it's even better to be out, to have the opportunity to talk to people like yourself and to be somehow connected with people in the crowd and make them aware of what's going on. TMD: What about the Detroit influence on your music and your interaction with Detroit when you were growing up in East Germany? PVD: Detroit techno made me become a DJ in a way. I heard all this electronic music even in East Germany on the radio and this was how I got really infected with this music. TMD: Given where dance music is now in 2003, do you ever have an urge to go back to 1988 or 1989 when the Berlin Wall came down when this music was really just breaking through in Europe? PVD: I'm still as excited about this music and as passionate about this music as I was back then. I'm very happy that I was able to experience (that time period), but I'm a very optimistic and forward- looking person. You will never hear me say 'The good old days were better.' My experiences back then were totally cool. Yet the thing is it's even bet- ter these days. So many people worldwide are con- nected through this music to each other. TMD: I've noticed the electronic music scene in Berlin and Germany in general these days seems very broad. People are doing everything from trance and house, to glitch music, IDM and micro- house. Do you see your style of music as contem- porary with these newer artists and the directions they've taken with electronic music? PVD: The thing with Berlin is that it never had its own sound. Frankfurt, Germany, had its own sound, and there's a certain sound from Manchester in the U.K. The new styles were coming from places like that, not from Berlin. The reason is that we have a lot of very talented, passionate producers and DJs that all have their very own unique idea about music. I have my own idea, someone like Jan Driver has his pumping house style, there's DJ Westbam who has the whole electro thing on his side. There's so many different (genres), and it's all on a very high quality level. I won't even say we influence each other. This is one thing Berlin has - very strong, clear ideas. TMD: What do you think about some of the legal restrictions they have here in the U.S. - early closing hours for nightclubs, tight control over substances, compared to the nature of night- clubs in Europe? PVD: The only thing I can address is the drug issue because I think it is a worldwide problem, and I think it's approached totally different. When they close a club down, it's not preventing kids from being attracted to drugs. What would make much more sense is to actually inform them what they actually do to their bodies if they take something. Taking away the glamour to it (is crucial), like 'I'm taking an E!' so they know what's happening to them. That way it's not becoming normal, but they will know what's going to happen so they don't die or have health problems after they do it. The other thing to ask yourself is from an idealis- tic view, and that is why people take drugs. They take drugs to get out of their real world. This prob- lem lies in the social system of the country. If you give people options and possibilities in their life they will never get caught in this drug spiral that's become so problematic. TMD: Have you heard of the legislation they are proposing here in the U.S. called the RAVE Act? The act makes it illegal in some cases to have par- ties because they are associated with drug use. PVD: That would be the same as if you say driving a car is illegal because you could run someone over. That doesn't make any sense, but in that regard, they teach people how to drive a car. They control the process of learning to drive a car. As absurd as that sounds I think it's a good com- parison. There's some danger involved, but in the driving situation they're taking precautions and making people aware of what's going on. In the drug issue they don't - they just basically don't want anyone to 'drive.' TMD: What things make you feel optimistic about the future of electronic music?: PVD: The great thing is that because of the open character of this music it is able to absorb all the experiences, atmosphere, and different cultural ele- ments. Therefore it's always developing further, and there's always something influential coming along, and this might influence someone who has nothing to do with it. TMD: Is there anything that makes you feel cyn- ical about where dance music is at or where it is going? PVD: Some of the cheesiest bullshit is called electronic music right now, rather than what it really is. There's all these '80s cover versions that are like danceable pop music but have no roots in the clubs. I could imagine that someone living in Detroit get- ting really pissed off with music like this because (Detroit) used to be underground rock and roll, and suddenly you hear Don Henley. This obviously makes it a bit cynical, but in general it's a very posi- tive thing, otherwise I wouldn't do it. The Hopwood Awards given out to undergraduate and graduate writers are one of the many things that make the University stand out among other schools. In demonstrating a continued loyalty to and admiration of literature, young writers are awarded for their novels, dramas, short fictions, poetry, screenplays and essays, and this year are blessed with the opportunity to be awarded by the Pulitzer Prize-winning poet and translator Richard Howard. Being honored with the Hopwood Awards allows these young writers the opportunity to greatly increase their chances of success with their writing careers by putting their names out into the open. One such writer, Tyler Lieberman, was awarded the Naomi Saferstein Lit- erary Award for his screenplay, "The Good Doctor," about a surgeon who murders a man in order to use his heart in a transplant operation. Lieberman faced his biggest challenge with this piece in his attempt to create a sympa- thetic character, in order for the audi- ence to understand that although a murderer, the doctor's intentions remained noble. Along with this interesting dilemma in the plot, the junior film and video studies major's goal always focused on" hisjability to find a comfortable ending for the reader. The winner of the Robert E Haugh prize was given to Joshua Gross, for his submission of two stories. One of these stories, "All Right, Fine, Let's Talk About It," deals with a man forced to confront his own helplessness as a father on the anniversary of his friend's son's suicide. His other submission, "The Revisionist," is about a young man coping with his guilt after he has won the lottery by playing the numbers tattooed on his grandfather's forearm during the Holocaust. Gross plans to move to California next year to pursue his writing career. For his screenplay, "Last Heroes of the Plastic West," Josh Izenberg received the Leonard and Eileen New- man writing prizes. This will be the second piece that Izenberg has written for his screenwriting class. A serious story written with a trace of comedy, "Last Heroes of the Plastic West" is about a country western singer on the run from the law. Along with Megan Newell, John Cox was the recipient of the Meader Family Award for the collection of poems in his manuscript entitled "Special Collec- tion," most of which were one-sentence vignettes about history. Cox plans to continue his writing career and to pur- sue a doctorate in literary theory after completing his current Master of Fine Arts degree in poetry. The Geoffrey James Gosling Prize was awarded to Elizabeth Kostova, for her novel in progress, The Histori- an, which concerns the historical Dracula, and the three generations of historians in constant pursuit of his career. Kostova is enjoying her stud- ies at the University as she is current- ly in the first year of the MFA program. She plans to finish her novel during the summer and write a second one after graduation, one with a contemporary American setting. Proving that the third time indeed really is the charm, Amanda Frost was awarded the Paul and Sonia Handleman Poetry Award after entering her poetry into the contest for the third time. The submission, a culmination of three years of work and longer than most winningmanuscripts at approximately 50 pages, contained many poems that were inspired by the biology and histo- ry classes that she has taken at the Uni- versity; they can be classified as nature poetry or romantic poetry. As a junior who has been writing poetry for seven years, Frost anticipates applying to an MFA program for graduate school in order to explore environmental and technological issues and their impact in her future poetry. With the many talents at the Univer- sity, the Hopwood Awards enable many young writers to be recognized for the gift and enthusiasm that they have for the art of writing. Receiving such awards will permit them to expand their horizons and to attain the many goals that they have set for themselves and their literature. I Congratulations Graduates!! The Michigan Daily Classifeds would like Celebrate with your friends and family at an Italian to thank utgoing manager! restaurant that appreciates special occasions!! Call for Reservations at (734) 453-2002 41661 Plymouth Rd. Plymouth, MI 48170 Pack & Mail Plus. 944-7999 Moving Home? Student Discounts: UPS Shipping We'll come right to your door to pick up everything you need to send home! uisse 0 wilmsyoala! Pre-acked or ltus pac~k it >-,, ,dl Iii-at nn* iC Aril