Arts & Entertainment UNL clarinetist: Music thrives in Lincoln By Shaun Harner Staff Reporter Symphony in Lincoln is thriving, according to Anthony Pasquale, a clarinetist and doctoral student at the University of Nebiaska-Lincoln. “Lincoln is a very rare town . .. (there is) a high level of activity in the arts here -- especially in music,” Pasquale said. He said Lincoln is an exception to the rule because it is made up almost entirely of white-collar workers. There is a cross-section of highly educated people who are consequen tially more involved in the arts. Pasquale said he thinks the Lin coln Symphony Orchestra and the Nebraska Chamber Orchestra have ■» • benefited the community. The level of activity in the arts here could be a drawing factor for people consider ing moving to Lincoln, he said. Pasquale said he’s favorably im pressed with Lincoln, although he has had the opportunity to live and work in bigger places. ‘ ‘Right now I’d rather live here for SI0,000 a year than in New York for S40.000,” he said. The pay scale in Lincoln doesn’t match up with larger orchestras like the Baltimore Symphony. “The pay is much less, but the standard of living is less here -- it’s hard to judge a part-time professional (symphony) against a full-time pro fessional,’’ he said. Last month, the Baltimore Sym c oiummst ponders new 'decade-resurgence in the 1980s’ theory By Mark Lage Senior Reporter When this “1970s week” idea was brought up and discussed a few weeks ago, I picked up a couple of stories, and tried to put the whole thing away in the back of my mind somewhere, so that I could concen trate on more immediate tasks. But the idea of a ’70s resurgence here in the declining years of the ’80s simply would not be stored away. It bounced around recklessly in my Drain, wnere u encountered other seemingly harmless ideas like the ’60s resurgence, the ’50s resurgence, and the rapid approach of the ’90s. Against my own free will, a theory began to take shape. I tried to beat it down. I hate theo ries almost more than I hate anything else, and was greatly distressed that 1 was threatening to have one of my own. But things like yellow smiley faces wishing me a nice day and Robert Plant’s lovely face on the TV only fueled the unrcstrainable devel opment of my theory. I also began to think often and long about bell-bottoms. I have to admit to a profound ambivalence about bell bottoms. I look down at my pants now, cuffed and pinned in loosely around my ankles, and the thought of increasing the hem’s circumference nearly to the toe of mv shoe seems ridiculous. I can’t imagine going out in public like that Yet, I can clearly recall my sincere love of my favorite pair of bell-bot toms in the fourth grade. I could never keep my head up when I walked, because it was so much fun to watch them flop around. But I di gress. Unable to Fight my theorizing, 1 gave in and sal down to try to write it out. I decided to start with the title. “After a number of false starts, I came up with “The Mark Lage The ory of Late 20th-Century Decade Resurgence in America.” I liked it a great deal, and even began to get excited about possibili ties for fame and fortune. If I could get the pattern figured out and into words, I would not only be revered around the country as a genius, but would be able to become rich by using it to predict social trends of the future. Now it was the time for the nasty mess of figuring out the pattern of all these decade revivals. The decade of the ’80s was to serve as my study model, for one simple reason; it’s the only decade that I can recall in its entirety. My first assumption was that the ’80s began in 1980, which sounded good at the time, but I was to realize later that there is no reason to believe that this is true. OK, so we had the ’80s cruising along just fine, but then somewhere in the middle, we began to hear rum blings of the ’60s resurgence. New hippies, love, peace and all that. This all reached its peak (not much of one, actually) somewhere around the 20th anniversary of the release of ‘‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” in 1987. But it really never caught on, although it was looking pretty good in some alternative circles for a while. A stronger resurgence throughout me ous, ica mosuy ny Kcagan s presidency, was that of the values and attitudes of the ’50s. While some were talking about the revolutions and protest of the ’60s, more were celebrating the return of the conser vatism and morality of the “good ol' days,” the ’50s. It was also in 1987 that Newsweek declared, for reasons obviously other than calendar readings, that the ’80 were over. This is a momentous idea, based upon the fact that not only did it imply the early closing of the ’80s, but iso intimated the reclosings of the ’50s and ’60s. In addition, since the ’80s were over, wasn’t it safe to assume that we must have been entering the ’90s early? No. Astonishingly, the end of the ’80s did not in. fact usher in the ’90s, but instead has seemed to bring back the ’70s to fill up the gap. Confusing, to say the least. But my theory, I had hoped, was going to clear this whole mess up, thereby making me ncn ana iamous. But no matter how I shuffled and reshuffled everything, no pattern emerged. I resorted to bending facts and statistics, but this didn’t help much. I gave up, and declared the entire situation a ridiculous mess. Therefore: The Mark Lage Theory of Late 20th Century Decade Resurgence in America — The entire thing is a ri diculous mess, and I suggest that you consult your calendar if you want to know what decade you are living in. Example of application -- The 1990s will begin on January 1, 1990. Not too startling, I guess, and not too likely to bring me fame or riches. But I wasn’t disappointed for too long. I remembered that I hate theo ries, and if I’m going to be respon sible for one, it may as well be an obviously simple one. phony ended a 22-week walkout concerning wages -- the longest strike in American Symphony his ‘Right now I’d rather live here for $10,000 a year than in New York for $40,000.’ -Pasquale tory. Pasquale says that it didn’t have much of an effect on the Lincoln symphonies, although he and other musicians supported tne Baltimore members’ actions. Pasquale said the chances of Lin coln players going on a strike are “almost nil . . . (People) wouldn’t even consider it” because the money they make performing is less than half their income. “Most people have full-time jobs outside (of performing),” he s^id. Both the Nebraska Chamber Or chestra and the Lincoln Symphony pay according to union wages. In the Lincoln Symphony the principles (first chair) are able to negotiate their contracts and arc usually paid above the minimum union scale. “Omaha gets more than we do, but we operate on a different sys tem,” Pasquale said. The Omaha ;>ympnony memoers are paid per performance or rehearsal, and the symphony has about 30 full-time players. It also brings in part-time players for different programs. The Lincoln Symphony negoti ates a “master contract” from its budget for each rehearsal or perform ance. UNL students participate in both the Lincoln and Omaha symphonies as well as teachers and other profes sionals. There is no special consid eration for students who audition. “(Students) audition like every one else,” Pasquale said, and the symphony chooses the best players. Students are paid according to the same union scale and are given the same considerations as other players. fmiliimii up m n a iji 111 mm nnmn jiimmiin iimmi i in lupimm n ijy Andy Manhart/Dally Nebraskan Spring starts Iranian New Year By Lane Van Ham Staff Reporter Iranians, living at home or abroad, have been celebrating their New Year, “No Ruz,” today and over the last weekend. No Ruz coincides with the first day of spring on the Iranian calen dar, and change is the mood of the Iranian people. The weather warms, the day and night become equal, and everyone prepares to usher in a new year — in this case, the year 1368. In the United States, No Ruz started between 5:30 and 6 a.m. this morning. “Every nation has some day as a new year, some day that some thing has to change,” said UNL junior Ahmad Kamali, who has been a student in the United States for three years. “To us, that is the spring. A few weeks before this day, people will start picking up around their house and buying new clothes so you can feel things are changing.” /\n cApiaiiauon ui r*o ruz wnt ten by Omar Khayam states that “No Ruz symbolizes all the quali ties of spring: birth, newness, awakening, cleanliness, virtue, justice, knowledge and sensitivity to nature.” The No Ruz celebrations are focused on the family, as an hour before the Vernal Equinox they all gather around an ornamented table called the “Haft Seen.” Seven symbolic items beginning with the Iranian letter “Sr> compose the Haft Seen. The seven objects traditionally include things like vinegar, hya cinth, a coin, garlic, sumac (a spice), an apple and barley sprouts. Also on the table are a gold fish, the Koran, a candle and a mirror. “Every member of the family sits down in their new clothes and waits for that particular second that the new year comes. Then the older member of the family reads some prayers from the Koran and we s»art kissing and exchanging money,” said Kamali. Kamali said No Ruz starts in the family and then extends outward. After the immediate family cele bration, younger family members begin to visit their elders and people of higher stature. No Ruz lasts for 13 days, so there is time to visit nearly everyone. Keeping in line with the theme ftf rphi rlh ansi !. .. _ -—- —iiv tv Iivoo, l| IO OI3U customary for people to try to re build relationships that have gone sour in the last year. Although the celebrations are not organized on a national scale, Kamali said the feeling is always there. This atmosphere is difficult to capture here, Kamali said, because Iranian students are in a different culture. “You don’t feel it unless you have Iranians around you. You know it’s New Year’s, but there’s nothing really different on TV or in the clothes people wear on the street. You do the same things you would do any other day and you don’t really feel it because nobody stops to say ‘Happy New Year.’’’ Because of this, Iranian com munities in the United States have to organize their own celebrations. Here in Lincoln, this was reflected in a party conducted by The Per sian Society. Omaha resident Mahmud Javadi, who organized the event, called the society “an informal group” and said that the celebra tion included many people who are not from Iran. “There are about 200 people here tonight,” he said at the cele bration. “About 70 percent of them, I would say, are Iranian.” Kamali said that in a city like; Los Angeles, where there is ai larger group of Iranian residents,, many such parties would be evi dent over the last weekend. Be cause the actual New Year occurs; on Tuesday, communities gener ally have to organize their events; on a weekend in this country. a nrAklOm Altai d iii/i iisauj a we just have to plan around it,” Kamali said. “There are so many' different New Years that if we; celebrated them all, no one would I ever go to work.” Kamali said that happiness and I community among people is at constant, even though the ways in i which it is done may be different. “Even though we don’t cele brate Christmas or the American i New Year, and you don’t celebrate the spring for our New Year,” Kamali said, “that doesn’t mean there is anything wrong with us. It is just so good that all over the world people have some reason to be happy. ’