Changes at the San Marcos Nature Center

Changes are in the works for the San Marcos Nature Center.  A new manager, with a future location, seeks to give visitors a cleaner and more natural experience. 

Jenna Winters was named the new manager of the SMNC in late December of last year.  She is also pursuing a doctoral degree in biology at Texas State University.  Winters worked alongside the past manager, Julie King, for almost five years, until King moved with her husband to Colorado.  King, however, said she is very supportive of the city’s decision to have Winters replace her.

“When she decides she’s going to do something,” said King in a phone interview.  “She’s not going to do it half heartedly.  She’ll get it done.”

The SMNC was closed and unattended for a month before Winters reopened it.  She said that her main focus is to clean the place up so as to do a better job at its mission of environmental education. 

The gardens behind the building are overrun with leaves and other debris.  Winters, however, has enlisted volunteers from the Texas State horticultural department and professional gardeners to get the SMNC’s many outdoor exhibits back into shape.

Meanwhile, the city has made plans to move the SMNC from its current location on Riverside and I-35 to the Purgatory Creek Greenspace at the corner of Wonder World Drive and Hunter Road within the next two years.

Both Winters and King agreed that I-35’s proximity has damaged the SMNC’s natural landscape and atmosphere.  The SMNC has been plagued in the past by littering, and occasionally a homeless person was found sleeping on the porch. However, Winters said she believes the new location will change all of this.

SMNC’s new facilities are also planned to be totally energy efficient by using solar and wind power.

“It’ll be really cool when we have kids in here on a tour,” Winters said.  “We’ll be able to tell them ‘and all the fish tanks are powered by the solar panels on the roof.  The building itself will be an educational display.”

The new facilities will be focused on cultivating native plant and wildlife species.  Texas Parks and Wildlife, on their website, lists the Hill Country as a home to feral hogs, deer and possibly even mountain lions. No, there will not be mountain lions in the petting zoo.

But what is to become of the current facility?  Marci Nance, aquatic biology senior, is worried that the efforts of volunteers like her will be discarded.

“I just don’t want to see this place to get lost in the shuffle,” said Nance. 

Nance, like many other volunteers, has a personal project at the site.  She is building a three-tiered flowerbed which she hopes to fill with different varieties of native flowers.

Other major aesthetic improvements include a large mural on the indoor wall of the nature center depicting the aquatic life of the San Marcos River.

The city has not finalized any plans so far about the future of the current nature center, but Winters said that she hopes they will turn the building into a trailhead, and keep most of the gardens that the volunteers have spent so much time trying to restore.

Austinites Celebrate Celtic

Plaids and pipes were on display at Fiesta Gardens along Lady Bird Lake in Austin for the first weekend of November.  The celebrations marked the 14^th annual Austin Celtic Festival. 

            People from all around central Texas came to the two-day event to sample some of the native culture of the British Isles, Ireland, Brittany and Nova Scotia. 

            Performances were made throughout the weekend by Celtic musicians of both traditional styles, like the Silver Thistle Pipes and Drums troupe, and more modern performers such as The Prodigals.

            One of the traditional performers was Thomas Grauzer.  Grauzer uses his Celtic harp and beautiful voice to sing songs and tell stories of the old country.  He says that he likes to give his audiences a bit of folklore when he sings.

            “It’s important to know the story of the music as well as the music itself,” Grauzer said.

            Other performances such as the Highland Games dazzled their audiences with their competitors’ remarkable athleticism.  Mike Baab, the ACF Heavy Games coordinator and distinguished UT football player, demonstrated the caber toss.  A caber is wooden pole that is almost 20 feet long and can weigh up to 175 pounds.  Participants balance these behemoths, then pitch them end over end as far as they can.

            People who take their history very dear to heart aren’t hard to find at this festival.  Texas Coritani is a reenactment group that is based out of Austin and has members all over central Texas.  They displayed full village reenactments from the Celtic and Viking Iron Age on the outskirts of the festival.  All day long, the performers dressed in the historical garb of the ancient Celts and Vikings and lived in tents that are built in the exact tradition of their ancestors. 

            Bob Rafferty has been reenacting the lifestyle of the Celtic Irish at ACF for eights years in a row.  He said that before he found Irish mythology, he was learning about the ancient Greeks and Romans.

            “When I found out that my people had a history and culture that was every bit as rich if not richer, I felt so cheated,” Rafferty said.

            His love for history and mythology, fueled by his own Pagan beliefs drives him to be as accurate as possible to the ancient ways of his Celtic forefathers.  Rafferty even maintains an impressive collection of actual Bronze and Iron Age artifacts that he purchased from museum sales in Europe.

            Finally, no festival is complete without a wide array of vendors.  Things Celtic, a Celtic regalia shop based in Austin, attended the festival for its 14^th time, and has never missed a single event.  Their vendor tent was filled with glittering Celtic jewelry and exquisitely woven Scottish kilts.

            A new shop to the event was Cedar Stevens’ Natural Magick Shop.  Stevens is a practicing Pagan and uses her degree in botany to create a wide variety of incenses, oils and brews. 

            “My degree helps me use scientific method whenever I make these,” Stevens said as she lit magical smelling incense in honor of the Celtic Holiday of Samhain, a seasonal holiday which falls about the beginning of November.

            Smelling the fragrance of Stevens’ incense while watching the people dance to the sounds of the bagpipes can transport you to the homelands of these ancient people.

The Druids: A Book Review

The Druids by Peter Berresford Ellis
Published:Constable & Company Lmt.
Date: 1994

I found this book to be arguably the best book on ancient Druidism, and Celtic culture I’ve ever read. He lays out exactly what evidence there is to support each claim made about Celtic society.

One of my favorite chapters was the one on Druid rituals. I very much liked seeing that he takes Caesar’s claims about things like the “wicker man” with a serious grain of salt. In most of my readings before hand they take Caesar’s writings as the end all beat all truth about Celtic culture.

I have personally never really bought into that idea. The fact that Caesar is the only one to make such a claim, and the fact that he was at war with the Celts at the time, strongly suggests that it was merely propaganda to scare the Roman populace into wiping out the Celts. Human sacrifice is mentioned in vague terms in the Irish sagas, but I never saw any reference to something as extravagant as the wicker man. I believe that human sacrifice was apparent in the Celtic world, but I agree with Ellis that it was something that was not common, and was used as a last resort. Certainly not like how the Romans were using sacrifices as mere entertainment.

The chapter on the wisdom of the Druids really breaks down all the different aspects of Druid duties in Celtic nations. He supports each of his claims with strong quotes from both Greek, and Roman writers as well as insular Celtic texts. I found the section on Druid books most interesting as very few people know of these. The strongest references to the idea are in Christian conquest notes about the burning of pagan libraries in Ireland. This clearly debunks the myth that the Celts and Druids were an illiterate society.

I only had one real disagreement with Ellis.  He refers to Celtic lands a number of times as the "Celtic Empire."  I don't see how this could be as there was no emperor or centralized government to speak of.  To my understanding, the Celtic tribes were only loosely tied to each other much more like the Iroquois nations across the pond. However, I see his argument that the Druids and especially the Archdruid would hold the highest power.  I just don't think that it constitutes an empire.

The final chapter was focused on the Druid revival. I give people like Iolo Morganwg points for stepping out of the box and “attempting” to revive the culture. However, I agree with Ellis that romantic ideals should not replace actual facts. The last section of the chapter addresses the modern “New Age” movement that has been quick to jump on the idea of Celtic culture. It made me sad to read that people are hijacking this incredibly beautiful culture, and turning it into something completely off the mark from what it really was, and still is. This last chapter has compelled me to learn more Gaelic, and keep as much of the culture alive as I can. I do not want to see myself or ADF associated with the “New Age” hijacking of an endangered culture.

The Art of Seminole Canyon

As far as the eye could see, there was almost no break in the horizon from trees or hills.  The road just went on and disappeared over the earth’s curve.  My father and I watched as vultures circled over us as we got out of the car at Seminole Canyon National Park. 

Seminole Canyon is located in west Texas, only a few minutes from the Pecos River and the Mexican border.  It’s located in the middle of the Chihuahua desert.  You really get a good idea of why the root word of deserted is desert when you look out over this wide expanse of hardly anything more than a shrub for miles.

But this isn’t what my dad and I had come to see.  Seminole Canyon is home to some of the oldest pieces of art in the world, Neolithic Cave Paintings.  The wall art in these caves have been estimated at or around the 9^th century BCE, roughly 12,000 years old. 

Many were depictions of wild animals like deer, panthers, squirrels and even a centipede.  There were also many images of people in shamanistic garb captured by the artists and preserved on these canyon walls.

One of these shaman is commonly called The White Shaman as he is seen as a tall human figure wearing a long white cloak wrapped around his whole body.  This is one of two figures that were given huge 3D model replicas by modern artists.  The model of the White Shaman has a large slit from the top of his chest to the ground and is oriented to the raising and setting sun on the spring and fall equinox.  On those days, the sun shines straight through the opening for a truly magical moment.

The other image immortalized by an artist sits outside the canyon’s visitor center.  He is called the Maker of Peace. He’s seen draped in a deer skin mantle and holding hunting tools and a staff, and perched on his staff is large black raven.  His arms are spread wide to embrace the whole land, and his head is that of a deer with antlers, the most important animal to these ancient people.

It really amazes me how across the world, gods and spirits that are associated with hunting and wild animals have antlers or horns on human bodies.  The Hindus have Pashupati, the Celts in Gaul worshipped Cernunnos, the Saxons believed in Hern the Hunter, and now here we see an ancient spirit of the hunt with the same features.

My father and I left the canyons and the ancient rock shelters and went back to our tents. Seeing art that was as old as it was amazingly beautiful was a profound experience.

It is sad that the art is now fading quickly.  The construction of damns nearby has changed the climate and the paintings are already beginning to fade.  Luckily, I was able to take lots of pictures and will be able to admire them forever there as the people of Seminole Canyon would have wanted us to.

Trip to NYC

My mom, sister and I recently made our first trip to the Big Apple. The three of us went for the main purpose of going to actual Broadway productions. We had seen the traveling performers before, but we were in for a whole new game in NYC.

We got up early the morning of our flight and flew from Austin to Dallas to Newark. When we arrived we took a taxi shuttle to the Marriott hotel on Time Square. After enduring a three hour ride that only covered 17 miles, I will never complain about Austin traffic again. We were incredibly lucky to get a room on the 20th floor over looking the famous ball drop.

After a quick change we dropped back down to street level to get in line for the first of our shows, The Addams Family. Bebe Neuworth played Morticia while Gomez was acted out by Nathan Lane.

The two together were positively hysterical. “With the shirt cut all the way down to Venezuela,” Morticia was as gorgeous as she was side-splittingly funny. Gomez would do his fantastic Spanish accent leaving me roaring.

The next day, Katie and I roamed the streets of Manhattan looking for cool shops and venders. There seems to be an African immigrant selling something about every 30 paces.

My mom and I forced Katie to take pictures with the infamous Naked Cowboy of Time Square. He’s actually even funnier in person believe it or not. The guy really embodies the spirit of NYC in that he’s doing his thing and nobody had better get in his way.

Later in the day we saw a non-musical play called Lend Me a Tenor. There were a lot of big name actors in this one not the least of which is Tony Shaloub of the TV series Monk. The humor of this play made the Addams Family seem, well, Dead.

Every second was spent laughing at Shaloub spitting wax fruit into the audience or Antony laPaglia trying to sound like an Italian opera singer.

The last show of the trip was called Promises Promises. I’ll have to say in wasn’t my favorite. It’s a big 60’s period piece and wasn’t written with musicals in mind. The leading actress was the ever so famous Kristen Chenoweth. She was very pretty and can sing like no other. The play’s choreography blew me away and really saved the show.

On our last day, we spent the entire time riding on the top of a double-decker bus snapping as many pictures as we could of Little Italy, Wall Street, Empire State building and countless more.

The last major adventure of the trip was trying to get home. The flight had been canceled and we couldn’t seem to get onto another plane. Luckily an agent named, and I’m not making this up, Athena truly came to our rescue and got us on a flight all together and really saved the day.
We arrived back in Austin around 12:30 AM very tired and totally taken aback by what an adventure we had had in just three days. I know for sure that NYC has not seen the last of us.

A Nature Hike in Austin

This spring break I went on a little nature hike with a few friends.  We went to Mayfield Park in Austin Texas.  The two girls with me were Elspeth and Shannan. 

The three of us started our little trek through a small garden at the entrance to the park.  The area was filled with beautiful flowers of all kinds.  There were many structures preserved there from the days of the Spanish Colonialism period.  Some were sort of small and half way dilapidated like knee high walls of old buildings.  Others were still standing in all their splendor like the pigeon roost.  

The grove was full of trees which created giant arbors over the entire garden.  The shadows that they cast were enchanting to see.  The shade also was well appreciated in the afternoon Texas sun.

Large and beautifully plumed peacocks patrolled the area for the tiniest pests that might make the tragic mistake of invading their flower beds.  Some of the peacocks would fly up to the branches of the arbors which could only remind me of great phoenixes from fairytales.

After Eliegh, Shannan and I had had our fill of the tailored beauty that was the gardens, we descended into the lower arroyo.  There, the natural beauty of the park enveloped us.  Before we had gone more than 50 paces off the normal path, we found ourselves surrounded by trees older than this country.  

We moved through the brush until we reached one of the streams that ran through the area.  The water was narrow and there were no man-made bridges where we were.  We stopped to take in the sounds as well as the sights of stream.  Small rocks and large limbs had created, over time, miniature waterfalls; some were about knee height.

After some time had gone by and lots of pictures had been taken, we went back to the cars to head to the other side of the park, where the highest point in Travis County stands, Mt. Bonnell.

It was time for the spiritual aspect of our trek.

Shannan is Eleigh’s spiritual pupil.  Shannan was going to be given a test of self confidence.  She had to climb up the steps of the mountain with a blindfold.  The only hope she would receive would be Eleigh and I keeping her from running into people on her way up.  

Slowly but surely we made our way up slopes.  Surprisingly Shannan made very few deviations from the best path up the mountain.  When we reached the top, she could remove the blindfold and take in the city of Austin from the highest place she could without a plane.  We all stood there in awe of the unique beauty of the city.  

Homes and tall buildings seem to be placed inside the groves of huge trees in a sort of harmony between the nature and the human society.  I’ve been to many environmentally active cities, but I’d have to say Austin is the only place I’ve seen buildings and trees existing so close to each other and in such numbers.

We moved back down the hill as thunder clouds headed our way.  We stopped one last time at the base to have a moment of reverence for the earth we live in.  

Riding on the Devil's Backbone

This past Saturday was my first official biker trip.  My father and I rode out of San Marcos, TX, on Ranch Road 32, AKA The Devil's Backbone. 

The Backbone is a stretch of road in central Texas that has earned a name as one of the most haunted places in the state.  After stopping at a bar called Riley's on the Backbone one night, the bartender recanted stories that his customers had told him on their trips.  There were stories about ghost cowboys and the spirits of Native American medicine men trapped out on the Backbone, wandering forever.

I've had my own creepy experiences out there.  I was once on my way to Wimberley, TX, for an interview.  I was with my photographer, Goya Monroe. at the time along with my photographer on a early February afternoon when the sun seemed to disappear.  It wasn't "night time" dark but it certainly felt dark for 3-4 o'clock.  Fog was rolling in and I suddenly only had about 30 yards of visibility.  We looked around and suddenly noticed all the dead trees, crows and vultures that are always prevalent in central Texas, but there were many now all over the place.

Goya was starting to get really scared.  She urged me to hurry because she felt like any minute some Texas chainsaw murderer was about to jump out into the middle of the road and kill us both.

This time though, I was going with my dad.  He's a seasoned motorcycle vet and the two of us, in our leathers and big loud motors, ought to be scarier than anything out there.

We rode out around 1:00pm from San Marcos on Ranch Road 12.  Both of our bikes are cruisers. My dad was on his Honda Shadow 1100, while I was on the Suzuki 650 Savage.

When the buildings melted away, it was the forest itself that shadowed the road in thick arbors.  There were tons of Texas live oaks whose trunks were thick and wound upwards in gnarled  shapes that in the sun seemed more elegant and beautiful than before.  As we neared the turn off to rr32, those were mostly replaced by massive thorny mesquite trees and patches of barrel cacti.

Deer stood along side the road giving us lazy looks before going back to their grazing.  There wasn't a whole lot of other living animals, but there were certainly a lot of dead skunks, armadillos and opossum that just weren't fast enough to clear the road.  Occasionally, I would be too slow to spot one and  get too close for comfort.  The smell of dead animal hit me, and when you can't use your hands to cover your nose, that smell gets a little strong.

Another kind of wildlife roamed the highway, the two-legged kind ridding steel horses.  Bikers of every form were out to enjoy the Devil's Backbone.  Some rode alone and others in packs of up to six.  Every kind of bike cruised across the hills, from the big V-twins to the new Flying Spiders.

 When average drivers are seldom aware of the subtle communications between bikers on the open road. We don't wave to each other, we point each other out in acknowledgment.  It's more like a salute, a downward point with an open hand.

I've often wondered why it's like that.  There's a great camaraderie between all bikers. I guess it has to do with the fact that we don't let danger get in the way of living lives.  Maybe it's a sort of, "I'll see you in Hell."  It would certainly be appropriate for the Devil's Backbone.

My dad and I weaved down the road away from city life and farther into the bush.  Then we cut a tight corner and I looked over my shoulder to see the trees all disappear to reveal that we had ridden out onto a ridge and I could now look out and see for miles.  There were hills about a mile away separated by a deep valley that looked like clawed fingers had been raked across the earth to form them.

Then I looked to my right and saw the same thing as my dad and I roared out onto the top of an elongated mountain.  I wanted to look longer at the scene while riding, but the road twisted back and forth, left and right, up and down with the top of the ridge.  I had to stay focused.

I couldn't contain myself any longer and let out a good long "WOOO HOOOOO!!!"

Arabian Nights Festival

Thursday night was the 2nd Annual Arabian Nights Festival at Cedars Mediterranean Café. The event was held by the Middle Eastern Culture Club (MECC). The evening featured fine middle-eastern cuisine, Arabic tea, hooka and belly dancing for entertainment. President Andrew Nelson, grad student majoring in political science said, “The event is held to raise interest in Middle-eastern culture.”

Nelson knows first hand about Arabic culture. In summer of 2008 he traveled to Yemen and this past summer studied abroad in Syria. “It was really an incredible experience,” he said. “I know there is a lot of political conflict with these countries, but when I was there, they all wanted to know about America.” Nelson hoped that the club and the festival would draw the attentions of Texas State students to this world.

Amjad Mohammed is the Arabic Language coordinator one of the faculty advisors for MECC. He came to Texas State from Jordan in 2007. He helped start the MECC to bring attention to the Arabic program. “It would be wise for many students to take Arabic. It is very useful in fields like political science, international studies and especially business,” he said in an interview. “Then I started to realize that there was a real lack of knowledge here among the students about Middle-Eastern culture. So we started to hold events and invite speakers from the Middle-East to get students interested in the club, the culture and the language.”

The Arabian Nights festival drew a large crowd to Cedars. Amjad called the event, “a huge success.” “Last year there were roughly 50 students. This year there were more than 80. And they were not just students but faculty and even San Marcos residents.” The night began with huge plates of food from the region. Beef gyros called Shawarma were the main dish with sides of humus and falafel. The air was filled with the rhythmic beats and sounds of Arabian music. As the crowd dined, the belly dancing troupe, Sabaya, took to the floor and proceeded to enchant their audience with their art form. The dancers even took members of the audience from their seats to join them and soon everyone was dancing and having a wonderful time.

After the crowd sat down to enjoy Moroccan tea and smoke water pipes called hookah the dancers were able to sit down for an interview. Rania Kandil has practiced Arabian belly dancing for nine years and has even gone to Egypt to learn with the best. “Belly dancing is a very misunderstood dance form,” said Rania. “It really began as woman dancing together. It’s even been theorized that back in the day when there were no C-sections it was a way of teaching pregnant woman to move their hips and control their bodies for giving birth.”

Angela Nations, another dancer there that night, is actually a Texas State graduate with a BFA in Theatre and Dance. “I studied a lot of modern back then and now I’m able to sort of incorporate that into Tribal belly dancing,” she said. “One thing you need to know is belly dancing is very welcoming. You will see dancers of all ages and body types.” The two girls agreed that the style of dance is very difficult. “There’s a lot more than just moving your hips, it’s your whole body,” said Angela. Rania also added, “But the challenge is definitely its own reward.”

MECC hopes that in the future they will be able to hold more events like this one and at even bigger venues. Amjad said that they hope that they will have live music and maybe add some more educational attractions to their future events. “Right now we’re in need of funding but it’s events like this that get our name out and hopefully we’ll get what we need to keep events like this coming.”

Ways of the People

This past Thursday I went to the 5th Annual Celebration of the People powwow. I had been to powwows before that were very fun and this one was no exception. I have always been a fan of Native American cultures. I remember being a little kid and watching movies like Dances with Wolves, Last of the Mohicans and Geronimo (all of which have Wes Studi in them, usually the bad guy, but still a great actor and one of my favs.) The Native American people, in my opinion are one of the most interesting groups in the world. Completely cut of off from the wars of Europe and Asia, the western civilizations moved on in peace with the earth although not always with each other. Never inventing gunpowder, steel, or even horseback riding, they retained a Stone-age culture til the days of the early Renaissance. And when the white man first came and gave them all gave them these things, they had a Renaissance of their own. Tribes emerged from nowhere with new lifestyles and beliefs. And even though they have been all but annihilated, they still hold onto their ancient ways.

The powwow is a gathering of members of all the different tribes and a celebration of this incredible culture. The powwow celebration was held at the Texas State student center. For hours I watched as tribal dances took place from tribes like Apache, Comanche, Navajo and even Aztec. The walkway was lined with tents selling goods like dream catchers, authentic carvings and animal hides. There were the typical factory made pieces that sold for cheap and the perfectly accurate dance costumes selling for hundreds of dollars, and sold they did. I even picked up Cherokee tomahawk, South American style spear complete with python skin talismans and a few dream catchers to send off as Xmas presents. But as with any cultural event, it's the people that get my attention. The woman I met buying dream catchers was Navajo and had driven all the way from Arizona. Her pieces were perfectly authentic with deer sinew netting and Turquoise stone in the center to give it its magical properties. For those unfamiliar with dream catchers, the southwestern Native Americans believed that dreams were communications with the spirit world. Good dreams were being sent to you from your ancestors while nightmares were evil spirits. A dream-catcher was a magical tool used to filter the dreams you could receive. It would allow the good dreams to pass through the net while the nightmares would be caught.

The dance performances were separated by storytellers. This may be the heart of Native American culture in my opinion. Their stories are unlike any other culture I know with their reverence for the earth and all her creatures. I love the tales they would tell that would explain the things we've always wondered like why do dogs and coyotes howl at the moon, how did the birds get their feathers and who made the first reed flute.

One of my favorites is one about why owls have big eyes, no necks and can turn their heads. On the day that the creator was going to make all the birds different, Owl looked over his shoulder at to learn how the creator was doing this. The Creator then snatched Owl and squashed his head down making his eyes bulge out and giving him no neck at all. Owl can still turn his head but maybe now he won't try and peek at other peoples work.

The one thing that really moved me was the level of pride these people have in themselves. And the thing that touched me the most was not even rehearsed; it just happened right before me.

The last story teller was an old Apache woman. After her story was over she decided to give a speech about how important it was to remember who they are and where they come from. At the same time a young man who had just arrived from class. At first he looked just like any other Texas State student. He was wearing Khakis and a Polo. He proceeded to set all of his books down and then began to change out of his "white man" clothes into his full traditional Apache garb he was wearing underneath: buckskin pants, tanned moccasins and even a bone breast plate. At this point the speaker began to cry as she watched him, not that this young man, who was also Apache, was dressed the same as any normal "American" college student, but that at the same time he had worn the clothes of his people underneath. "When I see things like this young man here in front of me," said the woman breaking away from her prepared speech. "I know that we as a people will always be here." The scene struck home for me. I remember how few of these people are left in our world. It would be the greatest shame for all of humanity if their ways lived on only in history books. But like the speaker, I too felt relieved to see that the young man and so many others at the powwow refusing to let this way of life slip into the folds of time.

Texas State Riverfest

Smiles and swimsuits were abound at Texas State’s annual Riverfest last Thursday. Riverfest is an event put on every spring by the Student Association for Campus Activities (SACA). Free food and drinks were provided by Rosie’s Pizza. Venders ranging from Rukus Board Shop to face painters and caricaturists were there selling and giving away their wares. SACA arranged to have a climbing wall, as well as inflatable game such as “Blow-up Bungee” and “Gladiators” provided by Parties, Picnics and Promotions. On top of all this, three bands took the stage, 46, 11 Fingered Charlie, and the headlining band The Expendables.

Riverfest coordinator, Jill Brownsfield said that “there [was] between 3000 and 5000 students attending. This year’s musical theme is Rock/Reggae ” Students came out to Sewell Park for one last hoorah before the finals weeks. “This is our last chance for us to get our kicks in.”

Preparations for the event started in November of last year. SACA began by putting out a questionnaire to student to see what theme they would like the event to have. In the past, Riverfest has had musical guests from conventional genres like county and pop.

Nelly Chavez, Riverfest staff and SACA member said, “We wanted this time to ask the students what they wanted to hear, and that lead us to them, (the bands listed above).”

The concert started off at about six. Texas State’s Battle of the Bands winner, 46 took the stage and was met with much applause and head banging. The home grown rock band got much approval for their drum and guitar solos from the growing crowd of listeners. Also hailing from San Marcos, Eleven Fingered Charlie followed and filled the night air with slow rhythmic reggae. The headliner band, coming all the way from Santa Cruz California The Expendables had many fans out in the audience, and won new ones that night.

Maria Bonaparte, nursing sophomore, was doing free caricatures and said with a smile, “I just heard about it from a friend and decided to come out. It’s definitely fun so far.”

The Expendables began as a teenage band of friends in high school. The band consists of Adam Patterson on drums, Raul Bianchi on lead guitar, Ryan DeMars on bass; the name was given by lead singer Geoff Weers.

“In the beginning when we were just getting started we were nobodies so that meant we were Expendable,” said Weers.

The band has a wide range of influences. Patterson listed bands and artists from Pantera and Metallica to the Police and Bob Marley. The music is a blend of two genres to form a sort of ReggaeRock. The Expendables have four albums which were available at the concert.

“I would say my favorite song to sing is 30 Second Bus,” said Weers. “It’s about my friend’s sex life. 30 seconds and he’s done.”

Patterson chose a more serious song as the song that best characterizes the band. “Sacrifice is all about the sacrifices you have to make as a performer and especially as a band, like the long road trips and nights away from home.”

The concert concluded after eleven. The bands said that they would be open to the possibility of future performances here at Texas State.

Golden Dragon Acrobats

Saturday afternoon, Texas State will host the Golden Dragons at Evens Auditorium. The performance is part of Texas State Fine Arts’ Encore Series. The Dragons are visiting as a part of their 2008-09 Cirque D’Or tour. The tour will commemorate the 30th year of continuous touring in the US. According to Art Fegan, their booking agent from Fegan Entertainment inc. says “They are the only Chinese Acrobats touring year round in the states.” The group has received two prestigious nominations from the New York Drama Desk, the first for unique theatrical experience and the other for best choreography. Fegan says on his web site “The citizens of China continue to present their acrobatic art for the world today, as it portrays the hard working nature of their people.”

The Chinese art of acrobatic dance, began as far back as possibly 4000 years ago. According to Jessie Chang, the group’s manger, “It truly became an art when they started using it as entertainment for the emperor, about 2500 years ago.” The art form incorporates props from everyday life in ancient china such as tridents and wicker rings from farm life and tables, plates, bowls and chairs from in the home. Chang says how the most “most dangerous stunt is defiantly the chair stunt.” The stunt involves stacking up to six chairs on top of one another while two performers dance from the tip of this teetering tower of terror. “The Golden Dragons are a family business,” says Chang. “Danny Chang (no relation) inherited it from his father and did the first American tour thirty years ago.” Performers that come along with the Dragons will do a one and a half to two year tour and then take time off back to their homes of Hebei, China. “This way the experience changes, new people join in. This is what has allowed them to be the only year round [Chinese] touring group in the states.”

Lei Zhang is one of the performers that will be here on Saturday and the only English speaking member. He has been practicing acrobatic dance for almost twenty years. “I think the thing I like most [about it] is the movements and the jumping and stunts,” says Zhang. He said how, as a small boy, he really liked kung fu but found that he was not that aggressive so instead found the Golden Dragons and has performed with them. “My favorite is the hoop part,” says Zhang. To get an idea of the hoop imagine five men whirling one hula hoop without any of them touching the ground.

Saturday’s performances are priced at fifteen dollars general and five dollars for students. Texas State’s Fine Arts department event coordinator Elizabeth McDonald says “There are still lots of tickets available for both the 2:00 and 7:30 performances.” These performers have filled almost every major performance to date. The performance should be one to remember. Tickets are available online at www.encoreseries.txstate.edu.

Colorism: the dirty little secret

CC Stinson is a young African American woman with a very light skin tone. “Light, bright, damn near white!” was the jeer that Stinson heard every day from bullies as a child. The peculiar thing was that the girls making these racist remarks were also black, but of a darker tone of course. Now, as an independent film maker in Austin, Stinson along with Neobe Welis have produced a film bearing the same name she was called. The film delves into the topic of colorism. “Colorism is defined as internal discrimination based on skin tone, or discrimination within a race,” says Dr. Sherri Ben, VP of multicultural student affairs.
In Stinson and Welis’ film they interview many people from multiple racial and ethnic back grounds and finds that they have either heard of or in many cases experienced this form of discrimination. In 1992 the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) received 374 charges of color-based discrimination. In 2006 the EEOC received 1,241. In the film Stinson quotes Professor Joni Hersch of Vanderbilt University saying that “Light skinned immigrants to the US, have 8 to 15 percent higher incomes than immigrants that have the same characteristics but with a darker skin tone.” This reflects a major difference in how US society treats not just races but the people with in that race.
Dr. Laurie Fluker, of the Mass Communications department, grew up the lightest of her siblings. “I was spared of this [colorism] by my mother” says Fluker. In her family that was an area that was off limits for the basis of teasing. Fluker believes that the real problem of being of a lighter color is that you are excommunicated in a way by one’s on race. Fluker says, “If you have light skin, other blacks might think you have it better or are better.”
But at the same time, people who have lighter skin do seem to be thought higher of by their respected races. If someone asks an African American girl “who do you think is a pretty girl from your race?” their answer will almost always include Alicia Keys and Tyra Banks. If you ask the same question to a Latina girl her answer would probably include Jennifer Lopez or Jessica Alba. Colorism is not often talked about within discussions on racism. And it is certainly not limited to America. In India, according to BE Magazine, the major skin product that has dominated the market is known as Fair and Lovely, which contains lightening elements. “I do believe that it [colorism] is a dirty little secret,” says Dr. Fluker.
It makes one wonder, what ever happened to the James Brown quote, “SAY IT LOUD! I’M BLACK AND PROUD!”
The film “Light, Bright and Damn Near White” will be shown in LBJ on Wednesday at 7:00pm. The film will be followed by a discussion panel lead by Dr. Laurie Fluker and Dr. Sherri Ben. Students are encouraged to come to this panel. The panelists are conducting this because they feel that this is an issue that must be talked about.

Cesar Chavez "Si se puede"

March 31st marked the birth of civil rights activist and founder of the United Farm Workers of America, Cesar Chavez. The Latino Student Association, presided over by Christina Zambrano, held a dinner in commemoration of Chavez and his works. “I was surprised when I noticed that not only students but a lot of people really don’t even know who he was.” Said Zambrano. 4th year advertising major and LSA member Abigail Morena’s parents worked in fields to provide for her and her sister, so Cesar Chavez’s work in California meant more to her than most. They and the rest of LSA wanted to stage the dinner to help students learn more about this incredible man.
After being served by Los Cucos that catered the event, Joe Michael Gonzoales, a fellow Bobcat who is currently working on his Post Doctorate degree shared a film that he had created using stock footage of Chavez and La Caosa (the cause), Life and Legacy of Cesar Chavez. This was the first showing of this film. It showed him and the members of his organization staging protests, fasting, and boycotting against companies that abused their farm workers. “The new generation must be made aware of this man.” Said Gonzales. The film ended with a showing of Chavez’s funeral to which over 50,000 people attended. “And it’s important that we say he was not a Mexican martyr but an American Hero. The food on the table, before it was served was handled by a farm worker” also said Gonzales. The film concluded with Chavez saying “We are not a service we’re servants. You don’t ask, we give.”

Cesar Chavez fought for the “forgotten people” and learned first hand, as so many migrants do, the harsh conditions of farm work during the depression. Chavez dreamt of building an organization to protect farm workers and their family’s rights to fair pay and decent working conditions. In 1962 he founded the National Farm Workers Association, now known as UFWA. The protests and strikes he lead were modeled after that of Martin L. King and Gandhi. In 1975 his dream became reality as California passed the Agricultural Labor Relations Act, protecting the farm worker’s rights to unionize. It remains the only law in the states that does this. Chavez died in his sleep in 1993 at the age of 66.
The philosophy of non-violence has worked countless times in the past for securing rights of individuals. The use of violence to bring about change is usually met with more resistance and almost always fails in the end. The idea is use tactics that simply remind the oppressors of the humanity of the oppressed. Once this is done, the oppressors can not continue to wrong them because now they would be wronging “people” not laborers, slaves or infidels.
Jaime Martinez the 1st Mexican American to be elected to a national Union executive board and close friend of Chavez during La Caosa, also spoke at the event. Martinez met Chavez doing union work and traveled with him helping with his security since there was a contract on the man’s life. Martinez told a story how Chavez was once ambushed by hired gunmen and thrown into a truck with his union workers to prevent them from trying to organize a labor camp. “Every year more barriers are place by legeislation. But we are still here, organizing. God sent him to us.” Said Martinez.
In addition to the dinner, Lambda Theta Phi was joined by LSA and Chi Upsilon Sigma in serving their annual Chavez day breakfast. The groups provide a free breakfast to all custodial and construction workers employed by TXST. Paul Vega President elect of LSA felt that in the spirit of Cesar Chavez “It’s really important that we give back to them. Because with out them there would be no TXST.”

Tri-religious Panel

Last Thursday, The Muslim Student Association hosted a panel composed of religious leaders from the three Judaic faiths, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Texas State was blessed with the presence of Rabbi David Komerofsky, former Minister for Chi Alpha Kampala, Richard Skinner, and Sheik Islam Amonousad. The three sat down and took questions and addressed concerns of students about the similarities and differences of the religions.
The discussion started off with the panelists telling about their respected faiths. The Rabbi began with “We’re a religion of Deeds rather than Creeds.” This meant that since they believe we should “Focus on the here and now,” your actions are what are important to Judaism. The deeds would be the 614 commandments listed in the Torah. “The most important figure in Judaism is Moses; which is not Hebrew but Egyptian.” Said the Rabbi
According to the Minister, “Being Christians means, we accept Christ into our souls, and our lives.” He told listeners that in Christianity it is this and neither church attendance nor just doing good deeds that makes someone a good Christian. “It’s more than that,” He said.
The most recent of the religions, Islam, had the most basic tenets. The Sheik listed “the five pillars of faith” as ”submitting to god, praying five times a day, fasting during the month of Ramadan, giving a percentage of your pay to help the poor, and lastly make at least one trip to Mecca.”
After the introductions, the three men took questions on issues. When they talked about marriage and relationships, the Rabbi said that “in Jewish law it is the man that should be the head of the house, but he must provide for the wife’s every need. If she is not sexually satisfied, then even that is grounds for divorce.” On a related topic of domestic violence, Sheik stated that when it comes to spousal abuse, “I believe the number of cases in any Islamic state is equal to if not lower than in the US.”
When asked about the nature of evil, Christianity proved to be very different from its brother faiths. “There is no Yin Yang,” said Skinner. “Evil is a person, or a spirit named Lucifer.” The other two religions believe that there may be an external form of evil, but most is internal.
The major topic that got a lot of laughs was on the process of converting to a religion. The Rabbi said “that a Rabbi must turn you away three times” before considering trying to convert you. “There is no real process to become a Christian,” said the minister. It begins with “Letting yourself fully trust in Christ.” The funny part came when the Sheik told about a story that happened in Iraq. “A pilot was about to crash and he was screaming at the Kuwaiti air control who said, ‘Sir, repeat after me.’” The pilot was converted before crashing his plane. Perhaps Allah smiled upon him and let him survive the crash to tell the tale.
Each of these religions shows the connection between faith and philosophy. Each one of them makes a normative claim about what they feel the world and individuals should be like. I believe that if religions focused more on their philosophies then their history of interrelations with people of other religions, then people would see the massive similarities between all faiths. And then, after having seen that the differences were mostly imaginary, almost all major conflicts about religion would come to a halt, or at least they would need to find a different reason for violence.
The MSA said that they hope to hold an event like this next semester, along with the Ramadan Fast Fest. Next time it may be possible for members of the Hindu, Buddhist, and other religious communities to take part in this coming together to understand each other. “God made us different so that we could get to know one another,” said Sheik Amonousad, which was added to by Rabbi Komerofsky “Viva la Differance! No, that’s not Hebrew…”

Celtic Pride in San Marcos

People at the San Marcos activity center donned their kilts and shouldered their bagpipes for the city’s first Celtic Spirit Worldwide cultural event on this past Saturday. The San Marcos Area Arts Council, along with several others, sponsored the event, showing off many displays of fantastic Highland art. Many performances were done by well known, local entertainers.

Thomas “Doc” Grauser performed at 1:00pm on a harp that stood around five feet tall. His music was of a calm, beautiful mood setting that really did a fine job transporting the audience back to the old country. Listening to his performance, makes you feel as if you have literally gone back in time and are sitting in a castle courtyard or perhaps a quiet tavern on a midsummer’s day.

Next up were the Austin Scottish Country Dancers. The pipes were played loud and strong as this six person group (2 men and 4 women) took to the stage. The dances they performed were not all exclusively from Scotland. Some were Irish, and others were more of a modern variety. For the last song the performers snagged up volunteers from the audience and taught them the basic steps to Highland pairs dancing.

Of course no Highland event can go without their heritage’s staple food, haggis. If you don’t know how they make haggis it might be best to wait until you have tried it first. It is made from leftover parts of the animal (not unlike hotdogs) and boiled in the stomach of a cow. But despite this disgusting process, it is actually quite delicious.

After this short break in performances, the show went straight back to the music. An unnamed performer at one point was asked to get up on stage and play. His instrument of choice was a reed flute and without a word he went right into a slow Irish folk song. This one song in my opinion was easily the most beautiful piece played that day.

As the event moved on into the afternoon, we turned from music to stories of the old country, told by Celtic story teller David Thompson. Thompson told many tales and sang several songs about great Highland warriors and of course the mythical fairy folk that is so typically Celtic. His stories made the audience smile with joy as well as slump with sadness. Thompson, in one hour, reminded the audience of the power of stories and storytelling.

Apart from the main attraction was the art gallery. At the exhibition, many paintings, sculptures, and other forms of art considered to be the traditional forms, stood side by side with their modern counterparts. Nature was prevalent all of the art displayed there, with pictures of animals in spiritual forms. Snakes and elk were seen by the Celts to have healing properties since they have the ability to shed their antlers or skins and grow new ones. Owls were also seen on much of the art as they were very important to the Celtic faith. “Sometimes owls won’t be shown in the art itself, but many patterns are based on the movements of owls” says Elantu Veovode, an artist whose work was one of the ones in the show. “The spiral for example, is actually based on the hunting patterns of an owl, since owls circle their prey in a spiral shaped flight path.”

Of course there were classic Celtic crosses made of stone on display. The Celtic equinox combined with the Christian cross gives a look at how the Celts preserved their religion even while being converted to Catholicism. Harold Thiele, an expert on Celtic traditions, tells the meaning behind the four point of the equinox. “The top point represents Winter Solstice, the bottom point is Summer Solstice, and the two side points represent the two days in the year where the daytime is equal to the night.” But the most interesting symbol he showed me was the Triscalene. “This symbol is present in every culture from the Celts to the Japanese and even the Australian Aborigines.” It means different things in different cultures of course. To the Celts though, it represents the past, present, and future. The Triscalene appears in cave paintings as old as 35,000 years, according to Thiele. There were many present in almost every piece of art in the exhibit. One can only hope that the Triscalene continues to appear in San Marcos’s future, especially if it is accompanied with a series Celtic Spirit Events, intertwining the this ancient culture with our own modern life.

My trip to Japan

If any one event in my life has shaped who I have become, it would definitely be my trip to the far said of the world, my journey to Japan. Nothing before or after has had as profound an effect on my dreams and goals for myself. It was then and there that I decided that I would become a world traveler for the rest of my life, come hell or high water.

The trip itself was even of a special nature. I was 16, and the year was 2005. I had signed up for a 4H foreign exchange program. I was going to spend a summer with two host families in Japan. The first month was in Tokyo. I met my host family of three and they welcomed me into their tiny, but cozy apartment. My host brother, Hiroaki, went to school as their schools go year round, while I went to a intensive language school for exchange students at the same time. I had to learn how to navigate the subways and bus routes of the most populated city in the world. I didn’t do so without getting lost a few times; the people there are the most helpful and polite in the world though. I would go to restaurants and karaoke bars in the evening and then big historical sights on the weekends. I got a real taste of what it is like to be a Japanese teenager for the first month.

The second month I lived in a small farming community called Iida. The family, the Suganumas, was a huge family all living under one house. There were four daughters, one son, the parents, the two grandmothers, and one Great grandmother who was 101 years old. That family was quite rural and had a very traditional style house. There was even a small garden one would look for in a movie like The Last Samurai. My host brother took me to school with him for his last week of classes before the short break he’d get. I couldn’t keep up in any of the classes except his English class of course. I quickly became a small celebrity at Iida High. My host brother, Kento, even brought me to his school’s daily Karate team practice where I fell in love with the martial arts. We climbed mountains together, Kento and I, visited huge temples and even joined in a Shinto religious holiday parade by lifting a massive wooden god (with the help of about two dozen other men) and chanting as we walked through the town streets.

The last major event on the trip was the observance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki days. It was by far the most humbling feeling I’ve ever known. Reading about it in text books is nothing like seeing the memorial itself as an American surrounded by Japanese. My host grandmothers and especially the great grandmother were alive when the bombs really dropped. I think had it happened to any other nation I’m not sure if there would have been the same level of accepting and even should I say forgiveness to be an American in the house of people who lost family members and friends in those attacks.

After coming home, I already felt the need to travel again, to have a new experience like that again with new people and places. That is why I’ve chosen my major and minor of journalism and cultural anthropology. I want to explore the whole world, meet every people and then come back home and tell everyone about it through my writings, like I am right now. I believe that I’m already on this path. The question is, “Where shall the winds blow me next?”