Arts & Entertainment
Soviets stage friendly invasion at UNL
Is Lisa Donovan
rior Reporter
A cultural exchange between the
nited States and the Union of Soviet
pcialist Republics at the University
Nebraska-Lincoln Thursday re
galed that the iew “glasnost” or
>enncss policy of the Soviet govern
ent has reached the stage.
Soviet set designer Vladimir
[akushenko and Soviet costume
jsigner Olga Tradovskaya from the
rmolova Theater in Moscow toured
e UNL campus under the guidance
Soviet emigrant Larry Kaushan
;y, assistant professor of scenic
isign in the department of theater
ts and dance. Kaushansky inter
el.ed for the couple.
The Soviets, who came to UNL
ider the auspices of the Visiting
:holars program, also spent the day
siting with professors and students
id gave a presentation about Soviet
enic design.
According to Kaushansky, he
dn’t want the visit to be just artist)
callvcentered. He said it should be an
educational experience overall.
The couple had lunch with univer
sity officials and professors from the
political science, modem languages
and theater departments.
The conversation revolved around
the arts and how they have changed
along with Soviet President Mikhail
Gorbachev’s new policies of “per
estroika” and new ope ness.
One of the reforms Gorbachev
implemented freed Soviet theaters
from government control.
Makushenko made a circle with
his thumb and index finger, smiled
and said, “That’s OK” in English.
Now that the government has
slopped its censorship, that also
means less government money,
Makushenko said.
“Before, tbs theater got money
from the government and the theaters
were empty,” lie said, “and now they
don’t have much money and full
audiences.”
The difference is made up in ticket
sales, he said, but the profits must be
returned to the government.
The openness has spurred a lot of
crcauvity among Soviet youth,
Makushenko said. Many young
people are starting to write plays, he
said, but the plays arc not very good.
The Soviet students study Ameri
can drama. Among their favorites are
Arthur Miller, Virginia Wolfe and
Tennessee Williams, Makushenko
said.
Kaushansky said, “The Soviets
like American drama.”
“Here In the U.S.,
your mind Is open
-it's supposed to be
open because
your own initiative
built this country. “
~ Kaushansky
At 2:30 p.m„ the Soviet visitors
presented a slide show to abou» 50
students and professors in the Howell
Theater lobby.
After the introductions, Kaushan
sky presented Makushenko and Tra
dovskaya with pins of the American
and Soviet Hags.
‘T am pafrt of the community,”
Makushenko said as he patted his pin.
The thrust of the presentation was
to show Makushenko’s scenic de
signs and the work of other Soviet
designers.
However, questions soon had the
discussion straying from live topic at
hand.
Makushenko talked about the art
education he received in the Soviet
Union. Soviet scenic designers go to
post-secondary school for five years,
then to the university for five years.
Only from the third year do the stu
dents begin specializing, he said.
Before that time, students study
world art history, drawing and other
subjects that relate to the arts. \
‘‘If you are good, you can go for
10 years,” he said. If not, “you can
forget it for the rest of your life.”
A student asked if the Russian set
designers have any limns in their
budgets.
“Limit is limit, everywhere,”
Kaushansky responded with a laugh.
Makushenko said there are limits
to a budget, and sometimes Soviet
budgets are Jess than American budg
ets. Also, sometimes the perfect ma
terials aren’t always available to
build a set.
“Sometimes they’re blessed in
this budget, sometimes they go over.
People everywhere is the same,” he
said, and the audience laughed.
TTie limits, however, make Soviet
designers ‘ ‘more creative and more
tricky, 1 will say,” Makushenko said
through Kaushansky’s interpretation.
The original idea for the exchange
came from Kaushansky, along with a
little help from connections in Min
neapolis and the financial assistance
of the theater department, the Col
lege of Arts and Sciences and the
See RUSSIANS on 11
Iyemardt residents celebrate history
IIy Janet McAllaster
laJI Reporter
Get out the love beads, poodle
kirts and zoot suits, and journey
jack in lime at Neihardt Residence
'enter’s “Memories Are Made Of
'his’’ celebration tonight.
The Neihardt Historical Preserva
ion Committee is putting on an eve
ing of dining and dancing to cele
rate the more than 50 years of the
esidcnce hall’s history.
Jay Noble, chairman of the com
mittee, said the group is seeking his
mrical landmark status for Neihardt.
’Memories Are Made of This” is an
pportunity to increase public aware
css of the goal. The committee is
howing students what life was like
/hen the residence hall was first
To accomplish that, dinner will be
erved in the Blue TV Lounge, which
the dining room until Cather and
Pound were built. The original china
for the dining room was found in
storage and will be used, along with
the original dining room furniture.
Waiters will be serving a roast
beef dinner typical of the meals
served in the 1930s and ’40s.
The dance will start at 8 p.m. with
big band music. Then at 9 p.m. there
will be a lip sync contest complete
with nostalgic prizes such as vintage
Coke bottles, old copies of Life
magazine and a hula hoop. The one
rule is that any music used must be
pre-1970. After the lip svnc contest,
50s and ’60s music will be played
until midnight.
Noble said that he knows girls in
Ncihardt whose mothers and grand
mothers lived in the residence hall.
“We want to make sure that fourth
and fifth generations in those families
get to stay here,” he said.
Until 1983, the Office of Univer
sity Housing hadn’t done much to the
building. Then they went on a
“modernizing spree” of “ripping
things out” and changing things,
Noble said. No one is sure why, be
cause the maintenance staff and the
residence directors support the resto
ration of the building.
Noble said University Housing
can keep modernizing because all
they have to do is wail two or three
years and all the residents are gone.
“They’ve lost sight of making
people feel at home,” Noble said,
“which is why many features of the
building were originally pul in by the
students who helped design the build
• _ )i
mg.
The committee wants to restore
these original design features, he
said.
The celebration is open to the
public. The dance is free and reserva
tions are needed for the dinner. The
cost is $5.35, or a Vali-dine card.
5+0
[Students liven rooms in creative ways
By Thomas Kiefer
Staff Reporter
The drab of a plain residence
hall or greek house room can de
press inhabitants, especially dur
ing the drab of winter.
A few posters or personal arti
facts can help spruce it up, but
rules against damage restrain stu
dents from serious restructuring.
As a result, a few University of
Nebraska-Lincoln students have
employed some creative decorat
ing techniques to enliven their
rooms while avoiding destruction.
The residents of 703 Cather
Hall, Bill Muth and Doug Doerr,
have turned their room into some
thing personal.
‘‘Wc wallpapered with alumi
num foil and cave the ceiling tex
ture with black plastic, like a giant
hefty bag,” Doerr said.
‘‘We did it to be different,”
Muth added. ‘‘The walk' and ceil
ing arc loo drab.”
‘‘It livens things up. Light blue
is loo depressing,” Muth said.
Todd Ydk of *08 Harper took a
David Frana/Daily Nabraakan
BilH Moth, Scott Ahl and Doug Doorr watch television in a Gather HaN room.
___ 1_ 1 - - t ■
different approach. Yilk said he
has hung a bunch of string in his
room along with some purple
Christmas lights on a branch and a
Russian flag.
“The rooms with their brick
walls look kind of anonymous, and
1 wanted to give it my own per
sonal expression,” he said.
Rod Shultz, a member of Tau
Kappa Epsilon fraternity, also puts
a lot of effort into decorating his
room.
To add style to his room, Shultz
stained the lofts, hung wallpaper
and installed a ceiling fan. He said
he also has 30 to 35 plants, two
Oriental paper lamps under each
loft, blue Christmas lights and a
while Formica table in the middle
of the room.
‘The girls like It'
~Schultz
“1 like a classy looking place,
so 1 decorated it this way, Shultz
said. “Last semester it was all
black. 1 wanted something nice.
This room does what I need, plus
the girls like it.”
Interior decorating docs have
restrictions for some campus resi
dents. Michelle Wolfe, treasurer of
Kappa Delta sorority, said sorority
members can spice up a room as
long as they don’t damage any
thing.
“Thev can decorate it however
they want, but they can’t pul any
holes in the walls, or hang any
heavy things,” she said.
Such restrictions are similar in
the residence halls, according to
Joe Antczak, student assistant on
7th floor of Cather Hall.
“The walls or woodwork can
not be marred or punctured in any
way,” he said. 4lLofts and other
nocturnal paraphernalia must be
free-standing.”
Shirley Niemeyer, an associate
professor in the College of Home
Economics, advised students to
watch the colors they use to
brighten a room.
"Color defines space, can in
fluence mood and suggest function
and temperature,” she said.
The color to use “depends upon j
the function one wants to create.”
Color also “can change appar
ent size. Smaller rooms will look
more spacious when decorated
with a single, soft color with strong
colors for accents,” she said.
Campus rooms also can have
acoustic problems, she said.
“Using soft, porous furnishing'
on the floor,” can reduce the prob
lem, Niemeyer said. “These can
deaden the sound.
“People find it comforting to
surround themselves with objects
from their personal past - with
such things like photos of family,
farm and so on. It’s easier to be
come attracted to a room we’ve
helped decorate ourselves. Objects
create a sense of place, a focal >
point of activity.”
..... .... J