A Look into the 2012 Kaleidoscope Arts Festival

The Kaleidoscope Arts Festival at Slippery Rock University was a series of events provided by faculty, students, and professionals during the time of April 15-29, 2012.  Throughout the two week time period, a number of activities took place on SRU’s campus for everyone in the community.  In my three-part series, I will captivate on three different events during the final week of performances. 

First, I attended the Frederick Douglass Sixty-Second Lecture Series, which took place on Wednesday, April 25 in the Multi-Purpose Room in the University Union.  Previous to Wednesday evening, there was a preview for the lecture series held on Thursday April 19, and also the opening celebration on the quad during common hour. 

The Frederick Douglass Sixty Second-Lectures was a series of one-minute lectures given by faculty, staff, and students of SRU to about 50 audience members.  Frederick Douglass was not only a former slave, but also a distinguished orator, journalist and author who gave a number of lectures on the topics of his time.  Most of these dealt with human rights and social justice.  Faculty, staff, and students were able to lecture in a one-minute time, some of the great works of Douglass, in which dance and art was incorporated.  Some of the topics included history, English, political science, public health, modern languages, anthropology, geography and physics.

The night consisted of eight performances, including one of the Communication department’s own Dr. Christine Pease-Hernandez.  Dr. Pease-Hernandez presented “Spring 2012 Voices of Intercultural Communication”.  She was assisted by sophomore dance major Tara Schlosser, who provided a routine behind the one-minute lecture. 

Another performance included Dr. Cindy Lacom for Women’s Studies and English, in which she recited “Twice Enslaved”, accompanied by Professor Ursula Payne in dance.  Professor Payne, an alumnus of SRU, participated in three, one-minute lectures that evening.  She composed all of these herself and did not meet with the speakers prior to the performances. 

Professor Payne danced during Jacqueline Garland’s presentation of “Ain’t I a Woman”, by Sojourner Truth, and also for Dr. Katherine Cooklin, during “What is a liberal education?” 

The remaining speakers included Dr. Athula Herat, Dr. Jason Kush, and Dr. Christophas Walker.   Along with dance, the speakers used music as a way of expression.  The guitar, as well as the saxophone were used in demonstration.  Dr. Walker used an art major, Heather Hertel, to demonstrate his piece, “Social Justice and Equality in an unjust and unequal world.”

Overall, the Frederick Douglass Sixty-Second Lecture Series provided the community and students a sense of the former slave and also the world around us then, and now.

The event was sponsored not only by the Kaleidoscope Arts Festival, but also by the Frederick Douglass Institute and Women’s Studies.

Stay tuned for Part Two of my series, when I attended the Third Coast Film Festival!

College Athletics: A Look into SRU's Own John Kovalik

John William Kovalik is a 20-year-old sophomore pitcher for the Slippery Rock University baseball team.  He is from Aurora, Ohio, which is a suburb about 20 minutes southeast from the city of Cleveland.  As Kovalik played baseball at Aurora High School, his dreams of being a college athlete progressed.  When SRU contacted John about playing for the University, he was thrilled to have to opportunity to play college ball.  He had always known the Slippery Rock baseball team to have a good reputation, and so he took a visit to the campus to look at the facilities and meet the team. 

         Kovalik came to Slippery Rock on a recruiting visit, and was blown away by the campus and baseball facilities especially.  He knew that he wanted to play for the University and he would later enter his college career here at SRU. Slippery Rock’s own, Jack Critchfield Park, is Kovalik’s favorite part of campus.

“I love being out on the mound in front of our home crowds and look forward to another solid two years as a pitcher on the baseball squad,” Kovalik said.

Kovalik had a very successful high school career at Aurora High School.  He lettered three times in baseball, was named the Chagrin Valley Conference Pitcher of the Year as a senior, and also led his alma mater to a conference championship in 2009 and a sectional title in 2010. 

At Slippery Rock University, Kovalik is one of the best closing pitchers on the team, and has contributed a great deal to the successful Rock team.  Last year in 2011, Kovalik accounted for 14 relief appearances as a freshman and struck out 23 batters in 26.1 innings. 

John’s most memorable game at Slippery Rock University was just this past Saturday, when The Rock swept Mercyhurst College on the road.  He relieved Nic McCowin in Game 2 as the score was tied at 3-3.  Kovalik held Mercyhurst to only 2 hits in the final six innings of the game, counting as the winning pitcher.  The Rock went on to win the game 5-3 against a very good Laker team. 

Kovalik loves the game of baseball, and he couldn’t imagine playing anywhere else, or with any other teammates.  He believes that Slippery Rock offers some of the best baseball facilities that can be found in Division 2 baseball, with Jack Critchfield Park stealing the show. 

Representing number 27 for The Rock, Kovalik plans to remain at this University for the remainder of his college career; something most athletes are not able to do because of injuries, transfers, etc. 

Kovalik was a marketing major until the spring of this year, in which he switched to public relations.  Baseball will remain his main focus in college, and requires a lot of time and effort, especially as a student athlete for a program like Slippery Rock baseball.  The Rock baseball team moved to above the .500 mark (20-19-1) with the sweep at Mercyhurst last Saturday.  The team is 8-8 in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference-West division.

The Rock’s has only four remaining series, but Kovalik is hopeful for the rest of the 2012 season. 

Hungry for Hunger Games

From April 9, 2012

The Hunger Games, released March 23, has taken the box office by storm, earning a record $155 million in North America on opening weekend.  At the rate of this success, critics believe that "The Hunger Games" will be one of the biggest film franchises of the decade.  The film was ranked as the strongest opening weekend total for a spring release ever, replacing Tim Burton’s, Alice in Wonderland in March 2010.

            As of Easter weekend, the film earned $33.5 million, breaking the $300 million mark in 17 days, which is record time for a non-summer or non-sequel movie.  The Hunger Games has won in the box office for the third consecutive weekend, beating popular movies, American Reunion and Titanic 3D. 

From April 9, 2012

               Only two movies, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” and “The Dark Knight” recorded bigger opening weekends.  Both movies were sequels. 

                The film stars Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth.  It is based off the first of three books in Suzanne Collins series, which serves as a story about a future society, where teenagers from different districts are forced to battle to death until one remains.

From April 9, 2012

               Experts had projected $100 million opening for the film, but had no idea of the amount of success it would have for both women and men audiences, something most films cannot do.  The Twilight series, for example, draws a mostly-female crowd.

                An interesting fact about this film is that Lions Gate Entertainment is the production company for “The Hunger Games”.  This same company bought Summit Entertainment in January, which happens to have the “Twilight” series.  It is estimated that between these two movies, Lions Gate could generate over $450 million in profit. 

                 I personally saw this movie Saturday night, and have to say that it is definitely in my top five favorite movies of all time.  I bought the book Sunday and plan to read the series after seeing the movie.  It outdid my expectations, and I have already watched it for a second time.