The Michigan Daily - michigandaily.cam
Tuesday, September 4, 2012 - 9D
The ichganDail - i c h g a n d il y o m ~ e s d a , Sptefier4, 012- 9
WCBN has been practicing freeform radio in the basement of the Student Activities Building for four years.
Exploring and
expanding musica
horilzons with WB
AUTHOR PROFIL
'U' MFA alum Jesmyn Ward
nominated for National Book
Award for 'Salvage the Bones'
Living through "(Writing) can be really enough for them to progress
demoralizing; it can make you ther down the road, Ward ft
hurricaine Katrina want to quit," Ward said. "I another family at the next in
wanted to quit before my first section that took them in for
inspires novel novel was published, definitely." remainder of the hurricane.
Not to mention that the expe- It wasn't until three y
By JENNIFER XU rience of Hurricane Katrina was after Katrina that Ward was;
Senior Arts Editor so emotionally draining, Ward to reflect on her experience
wasn't able to getstarted on "Sal- writing.
NOV. 15, 2011 - A Gulf Coast vage the Bones" for several years. "It took me a while to com
town encrusted with genera- Ward narrated that summer to doing it," she said, "I thin
tions of poverty and racism. A of Katrina: She had been staying silenced me for a while. At
pregnant, motherless girl on the with her family, enjoying a well- couldn't deal with everytt
brink of womanhood feasting on earned vacation in her home- thathad happened."
dinners of crunchy Top Ramen town of DeIsle, Miss. The
noodles and warm sugar water. following her gradua- youngN
Meanwhile, Hurricane Katrina tion from the Univer- er sp
muscles its way along the coast- sity - when the house about
line, slinkily pooling rolls of began to flood. motivati
water across the landscape. "We had to leave involved
University MFA graduate Jes- out of the house in the composi
myn Ward knows how to write middle of the storm the n
about natural disasters because because we didn't want Nonficti
she lived through one. Many of to crawl up to' the attic hd n
the events described in her set- and drown, which was see
ond novel, "Salvage the Bones," a possibility because the r
were colored by her own expe- the water was rising so genre
riences during Katrina's rav- quickly," she said. BLOOMSBURY herbec
ages in August 2005. Ward was Their original goal was to the themes exposed by Hu
recognized last month when drive to a local church in pursuit cane Katrina had more unive
the book was nominated for a of shelter. But with the water implications than mere pers
National Book Award - one of rushing in and fallen trees block- account. And so she chose fic
the most prestigious awards in ing the path, Ward's family had to communicate these subjec
literature (Jonathan Franzen, no choice but to sit in an empty sacrifice, loss and poverty br
Cormac McCarthy and Eudora field full of tractors and watch *ed into the tragedy.
Welty count themselves among the sheets of rainwater cascad- But Ward also wanted to w
the select coterie). Winners will ing down outside. When the "Salvage the Bones" because
be announced at an awards cer- family that owned the field came was fed up with uneduc
emony tomorrow. out in the middle of the storm to questions from people whom
Ward currently serves as an check on their possessions,Ward not from the area.
assistant professor of creative was struck by how unwilling the "(They) would say stuff lik
writing at the University of family was to invite them inside. don't understand why every
South Alabama and is already She suspected racism. didn't evacuate' and, 'The
working on a third book - a "They told us to stay in the son that the storm hit the c
memoir. Though she has enjoyed field until the storm passed, and did what it did ... is bec
a considerable amount of suc- since they had too many people everyone's soulless and godl
cess as a writer - her thesis for in the house to let us come in the " she said.
the MFA program turned into house," she said. "I thought they "They didn't understa
her first novel, "Where the Line were probably lying ... because she added. "They didn't un
Bleeds," and she was chosen by they were white and we were stand the people; they ,di
Essence magazine as a Book Club black." understand the culture h
Selection - she is not immune to A nd so the famil at. When they didn't understand the
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Student-run station
balances tradition
and the Internet
By GEOFF MARINO
DailyArts Writer
JAN. 30, 2012 - In the base-
ment of the Student Activities
Building, nestled alongside that
dreaded area 'U' students visits
only after losing their MCard, is
the student radio station, WCBN.
The station defines itself as:
"A student-run community free-
form radio station" that broad-
casts to the "University and its
surrounding communities." Of
course, what exactly freeform
entails is up to interpretation,
but in the world of radio, the
term brings to mind the model
of the longest-running freeform
radio station, New Jersey-based
WFMU. WCBN and WFMUpro-
vide DJs with total control over
the content of their shows.
WCBN has been operating
for about 40 years, and today's
increasingly Internet-based
music culture has put its philos-
ophy under pressure. With the
emergence of streaming services
and the music blog, the utility of
traditional radio is brought into
question. The average music
lover might think: Why should
I have music fed to me through
radio when my favorite blog and
Pandora can help me find what I
like?
Rackham student Ben Yee,
general manager of WCBN,
revealed that he thinks Internet
music services such as Pandora,
Spotify, Grooveshark and Turn-
table.fm aren't necessarily com-
petitors with WCBN and that
Internet music services and free-
form radio have separate utili-
ties.
"There's two different mind-
sets," Yee said. "I'll be honest,
there are times when I'm doing
work and I can't listen to WCBN
because it commands my atten-
tion. On the other hand, I can go
on Pandora, put in the names of a
few ambient artists, and let it roll
for five hours and I don't even
notice it's there."
Yet it's hard to know when a
listener might prefer the active
listening experience that the
station provides. Those Internet
services may be easier to shut out
than the unusual tracks found
on 88.3 FM, but individuals who
crave active listening can turn
on Pandora and be satisfied. In
clarifying its role, WCBN seeks
to offer more.
"We are the original music
blog," Yee said about the sta-
tion's role as he elaborated upon
the differences between free-
form radio DJs and music blogs.
He highlighted the personal
aspect of music discovery and
its importance in balancing out
the more depersonalizing effects
of the Internet, citing a real-life
encounter with a fan of a partic-
ular DJ, Heidi Madagame, from
WCBN.
"I went to Little Caesars Pizza
the other day, and someone
looked at my shirt and said, 'Hey,
you're with that radio station?
Yeah, that Heidi girl, she had a.
great show the other day. I really
liked it.' The guy talked about her
for five minutes," Yee said.
WCBN prides itself on those
kinds of connections, valuing the
community aspect it can provide.
Unlike Internet music sites, in
which the listener interacts with
a computer, WCBN wants to fos-
ter the experience of communal
music listening.
But when asked whether
WCBN will embrace the Inter-
net, he stuck to his philosophy of
integration rather than competi-
tion.
"A radio station isn't real-
ly going to succeed unless it
embraces the Internet," he said.
Ambitious developments
are planned. The station has
been authorized by the FCC to
increase its terrestrial transmit-
ting capacity from 300 watts to
2,000 watts, an effect that will
expand its reach to cover areas
such as Dexter, Ypsilanti, Saline
and even part of Chelsea.
This spirit of development
will be carried to the Internet. A
new website will allow listeners
to interact with the DJ and oth-
ers who are listening, fostering
interaction and group explora-
tion of music.
"Back in the day, listening to
music was a group experience,"
he said. "Being able to recreate
something like that, where peo-
ple can stop by, talk about the
music, and be able to figure out
from other people what's simi-
lar out there, would be a way of
creating a community around
the radio station."
These developments intend
to offer the greater Ann Arbor
area another opti~n to explore
music interactively, and the zeal
for further expansion is certain-
ly there. When asked about the
future of WCBN, Yee expressed
optimism.
"We want to take over the
world," Yee said.
the hardships of the orofession.
imty the storm hd."
impact the storm had."
COMEDY
From Page 3D
similar to a sketch in "SNL" or a
scene in "Family Guy."
Th'Undergrads hopes to have
members of football team on the
show in an upcoming episode.
"We're not so closely tied with
Michigan but ... we are trying to
represent (that) we are Michigan
students and we put this togeth-
er," said LSA junior Nick Drew.
As students, the producers dis-
cussed how it has been difficult to
juggle course work with involve-
ment in Th'Undergrads. While
a few individuals are receiving
independent-study credit for the
project, others have classes that
don't relate.
"We have to ... stay up real-
ly late nights," Brown said.
"Th'Undergrads has now become
a primary engagement."
"Th'Undergrads is more impor-
tant to me ... a lot of my classes
are just theory, and this is actual
hands-on working with people,"
Drew added.
Furthermore, the show's pro-
ducers have had to learn a lot from
scratch because they're a new stu-
dent group.
"A lot of it is on-the-fly learn-
ing," Drew said. "It can be a clus-
ter-mess at times."
"(For) the first episode, we shot
eight sketches in one day," Brown
added. "We finished at 4 p.m. and
had all eight sketches shot ... we
learned that this is a machine that
is going to be oiled and it's only
going to get better."
Students interested in becom-
ing involved with Th'undergrads
should look for them in the fall.
"Hopefully; next semester,
auditions will be held, writers'
applications submitted and crew
applications submitted;" Brown
said. "We're hoping to open this
up now that our name is out
there."
GAMES
From Page 4D
animalistic instincts.
Execs at Lionsgate must have
really pushed hard for the film's
PG-13 rating. While not as Tar-
antino-esque as most would have
liked, "The Hunger Games" stays
true to the blood and gore of the
first book. Herein lies the film's
greatest strength - it's all about
raw emotion. There are no obtru-
sive, overwhelming soundtracks
that detract from the emotional
trauma of the lead actors at the
death of their friends.
This organic approach allows
the actors to shine in their roles.
Hutcherson is believably love-
stricken and embattled as the
guy who knows he can't win
but wants to make sure the
girl he loves does. Woody Har-
relson, as the tributes' mentor
Haymitch, is equally perfect as a
drunk mess trying to get his act
together. Of course, no one can
forget the adorably naive Effie
Trinket (Elizabeth Banks, TV's
"30 Rock"). Her comedic one-
liners are as invaluable as Donald
Sutherland's ("Horrible Bosses")
cold stares as President Snow.
But while the games have two
winners, the film only has one.
Lawrence is a powerhouse of
talent. She churns out arrogant,
impatient, sweet, sexy, trauma-
tized and desperate faster than
the speed of one of Katniss'S
arrows.
There's no other way of saying
it - this film is a cornucopia of
surprises. Instead of capitalizing
on its love triangle, it sticks to its
roots and captures the frustra-
tion of an oppressed society that's
just trying to survive. More than
anything, it's a beautiful ode to
'hunger' and 'passion' - the hun-
ger that drives people physically
and emotionally, the passion that
causes people to act against their
better judgement. As such, "The
Hunger Games" definitely leaves
you craving more.
So long brooding, pouting
vampires - this is how a young-
adult adaptation is done.
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