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By Ann Stack
Sentimental
music makes
the holidays
There’s something in the air, '
friends. Maybe it’s the snow. Maybe
it’s all the applec cider I’ve con
sumed. But there is definitely some
thing heavy in the air.
I'll tell you what that something
is. It’s the joydus holiday season
quickly descending like a candy
cane striped cloud of cheer, good
will and last year’s fruitcake upon
us.
Damn, I love this time of year.
When everyone else is bahium
bugging at the check-out lines and
untangling 82,718,375 feet of lights,
I’m slugging down the candied
yams and eggnog, decked out in my
authentic Santa hat, “Jingle My
Bells” T-shirt and elf booties.
I’m speaking, of course, of the
holiday season affectionately
known as “Christmastime.” (I
apologize to all the non-Christians
who don’t celebrate this season of
blatant material excess whom I may
he offending
But let’s think about this for a
moment, kids. When you’re sitting
around theffieplace with yourldvbd
ones, roasting chestnuts, sipping
wassail and shaking that curiously
wrapped gift, think about what it is
you’re listening to.
Without the traditional holiday
tunes, what would Christmas be?
What would we sing on those long,
cold merry-making treks through
the neighborhood if we didn’t have
“Deck The Halls?” Somehow, har
monizing on “C’mon ‘N Ride It
(The Train)” just doesn’t express
the sentiment of the season quite the
way a good round of “Silent Night”
does.
So I called up my pal Rob at
Camelot Music in the Gateway
Shopping Mall to find out what's
new and what’s hot this season for
your listening pleasure.
Michael Bolton and Vanessa
Williams both have new albums out
—yippee—but here’s the one that
tops my Christmas list: Jimmy
Buffet’s “Christmas Island.” He
does covers, originals and reads
“The Night Before Christmas” on a -
mvsterv track.
Surprisingly enough, the top
seller is Kenny G’s “Miracles,” an
album of traditional carols. Of
course, Mannheim Steamroller is
another big seller. They’ve got three
traditional albums—“Christmas in
the Aire,” “Mannheim Steamroller
—A Fresh Aire Christmas” and “A
Mannheim Steamroller Christmas.”
They also have “Holiday Musik,”
an album of classical music.
Other must-gets for the holiday
season are Bob Rivers’ “I Am Santa
Claus” and “Twisted Christmas,”
which includes the classics,
“There’s Something Stuck Up In
The Chimney” and “The Twelve
Pains of Christmas.” There’s also
“Jingle Cads,” an album of cats me
owing traditional carols, and “John
Denver and the Muppets: A Christ
mas Together.”
But let’s not forget, this is sup
posed to be a season erf giving, not.
getting.
Stack is a senior news-edito
rial and sociology major and a
Daily Nebraskan senior reporter.
JOAN REIST, UNL assistant professor of piano, was honored with
the 1996 Service Award by the Nebraska Music Tfeachers Association.
Reist has been teaching at the UNL School of Music for 23 years.
By Emilt Wray
StaffReporter
Twenty-three years at the UNL
School of Music, involvement in four
university-related committees and a
national office in her professional or
ganization keeps Joan Reist busy.
But she’s not too busy to care about
students.
“I have a responsibilty to students
to be accessible,” the UNL assistant
professor of piano said, “but they don’t
see me as often as I want.”
This accessibility is why Reist was
honored with the 1996 Service Award
by the Nebraska Music Teachers As
sociation.
NMTA is a professional organiza
tion that offers programs and benefits
for its members, said Mary Lynn Tuck,
publicity chairwoman for the NMTA
and a distance education teacher at
UNL.
“A member-at-large can nominate
any person who’s a member and has
given service to the local, state and
national organization as well as service
to others, whether they’re in the asso
ciation or not,” Tuck said.
And Reist said she appreciated the
award given by her colleagues for her
work and volunteer activities.
Her long-term commitment to the
Music Teachers Association has in
cluded serving Lincoln, Nebraska and
the United States.
She holds the office of vice-presi
dent for membership on the national
level and visits a lot of state conven
tions to bring the national association
into focus for the state, she said.
By going to different college cam
puses, Reist said she learns about com
mon concerns and problems.
“It’s important to compare UNL
with others and we usually come out
looking pretty good,” Reist said.
On the local level, Reist teaches
keyboarding skills to freshmen and
sophomore music students. She said
she tries to make theories concrete,
since keyboarding is something music
teachers and musicians use on a regu
lar basis.
“Teaching is creative,” Reist said.
“Nobody learns the same way. With 20
students, I need 20 different ways to
teach the same thing.”
With her more advanced classes,
Reist said she encourages her peda
gogy students to take an intem-like
approach to learning and do things with
independent teachers.
“One of the things I’ve done that’s
important to me is to try to involve
members of the Lincoln association
with the education of piano students,”
Reist said.
Another example of that approach
appeared through the Lincoln Music
Teachers Association with a piano pro
gram started at Elliot Elementary
School last year.
In the program with the School of
Music, children practice and take pi
ano lessons at school, Tuck said.
“The program’s not only good for
university students for teaching but
also good for people who can’t pay $ 16
pier lesson,” i\ick said.
Besides giving university students
opportunities, Reist has shown her
dedication to them by attending their
concerts, whether they are her students
or not, Tuck said.
“It’s important to support students,”
Reist said. “One way to do this is to go
to their recitals. If somebody is in my
area, I feel it’s my responsibility to go”
Although Reist is pulled in so many
different ways, the piano professor
stays calm throughout heir duties,T\ick
said.
“She has a calmness about her that’s
soothing and yet she’s enthusiastic,”
Tuck said. “It’s a pleasure to be around
her because she is calm about things.”
Calendar, model search to feature NU students
By Ann Stack
Senior Reporter
A lucky NU student will have the
chance to win a modeling scholarship
in the coming months, thanks to the
entrepreneurship of a Kansas State se
nior.
Bill Price, a secondary education
major at Kansas State University, is
coming to Lincoln in February to find
men and women to grace the pages of
two calendars: “The Men of Nebraska”
and “The Women of Nebraska.” The
search will include the Universities of
Nebraska in Lincoln, Omaha and
Kearney.
The contest will be held at Guitars
and Cadillacs the last three weeks of
February. Men and women will com
pete in a formal-wear competition, a
casual-wear competition and a swim
suit competition two nights during the
week. Four winners will be picked
from each night, narrowing it down to
12 men and 12 women.
Price is conducting similar contests
at the University of Kansas and Kan
sas State University.
All contestants will walk away with
a hefty prize package, Price said. The
winners from Nebraska and both Kan
sas schools will meet in Manhattan,
Kan., for a modeling contest, which
will include a weekend training session
with a professional model.
The 12 finalists from this competi
tion will receive a modeling contract
with area shopping malls, and the over
all winner will receive a scholarship to
a modeling school.
Concerns about exploitation will
probably rise, however, but the contest
will not be sleazy or demeaning, Price
said.
“It won’t be a person standing
around showing off their body,” he
said. “It’s decent and not done in a way
to exploit people in any way. It’s a
clean-cut contest.”
A
Price himself was a model in last
year’s “Men of Kansas State” calen
dar.
“Even my mom liked the pictures,”
he said. “Another thing—contestants
can discuss the photos with their par
ents. Parents can be very proud to see
their son or daughter in this calendar.”
Price said he had done a survey on
campus on students’ favorite bars, ra
dio stations and tanning salons. Alter
native Tan was voted number one by
the students, so he asked the salon to
be a sponsor.
Monica Parris, owner of Alterna
tive Tanning Salons, said she decided
to be a sponsor because of the nature
of the contest.
“I had to make sure these weren’t
something devoted to who’s got the
biggest breasts,” she said. “I didn’t
want the salon messed up in something
not morally right. In this, there’s no
jokes, no gimmicks, no skin. There’s
way too many benefits for students to
pass it up.”
Price, a substitute teacher in Kan
sas who will be graduating in Decem
ber, has his own company, Bill Price
Productions, Inc.
He got the idea for the calendar
fipm another fiatemity at KSU that put
out a “Women ofK-State” calendar. He
said he believed there should be a male
Photos courtesy of Bill Price Productions, Inc.
BOLL PRICE PRODUCTIONS, INC. produced a “Men of KSU*
calendar last year that included these four students, undergraduates
at Kansas State University.
counterpart, so he put out one last year.
Then he decided to expand into other
states.
“My long-term goal is to do a Men
and Women of die Big 12,” Price said.
Applications will be available for
the condition Dec. 2 at any of the
sponsors’ locations: KKNB The Point
(104.1 FM) at 5143 S. 48th, Alterna
tive Thn at either location — 400 N.
48th St: or 5500 Old Cheney Rd., and
at Guitars and Cadillacs, 5400 O St.