UpDate - Vol. 11, No. 22, Page 5
March 5, 1992
Up and coming

Rapper KRS-One to speak in consciousness celebration
     A guest lecture by rapper KRS-One and a talk by Yosef
Ben-Jochannon on the "African Origins of Western Religions" are
scheduled during the next two weeks of the University's African
Consciousness Celebration, "Ancient Egypt and the Afrikan Destiny."
     KRS-One will speak at 7 p.m., Monday, March 9, in Clayton
Hall. His talk is part of the HEAL (Human Education Against Lies)
project. Tickets-at $3 with a University I.D. card and $5 for the
general public-are now on sale at the Perkins Student Center.
     KRS-One, the stage name of Kris Parker, is an acronym for
Knowledge Reigns Supreme Over Nearly Everyone. The rapper has been
dubbed "the conscience of rap" and its "leading activist" by Alan
Light of Rolling Stone magazine. "In these cynical times, KRS-One
is an inspiring example of the role pop music can play in social
discourse," Light wrote.
     Known as a credible and well-spoken activist, he spearheaded
the Stop The Violence Movement two years ago after fights broke out
and one youth was stabbed and killed at a concert in which BDP and
Public Enemy were appearing.
     He gathered rappers from throughout the movement to record an
all-star rap singl,e "Self Destruction." It raised over $300,000
for National Urban League programs that target black on black
violence and education programs for ghetto youth.
     The project also heralded a new more socially conscious
attitude among rappers.
     Parker's next project was "Ghetto Music: The Blueprint of Hip
Hop." After its release, The New York Times asked him to write an
op-ed piece on the city's public school curriculum. After its
appearance, Parker was invited to lecture at Harvard and Yale. His
next album "Edutainment" went gold in two months.
     Parker's current undertaking, The HEAL project, brings rappers
together once again for a collaborative record, "Heal Yourself."
Profits from the recording are earmarked for production of a book
entitled "Civilization vs. Technology," which challenges American
history and rails against AIDS. Parker plans to distribute it free
to schools and other outlets.
     Scheduled at 7 p.m., Tuesday,  March 10, is a lecture by Yosef
Ben-Jochannon on "African Origins of Western Religions." The free
public lecture will take place in the Rodney Room of the Perkins
Student Center.
     Jochannon was born in Ethiopia and spent most of his youth in
Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
     He attended college and graduate school in Puerto Rico, Cuba,
England, Spain and the United States, earning degrees in law and
civil engineering and a doctorate in anthropology.
     He currently teaches at Cornell University. He has lectured
throughout the world and is the author of eight books.
     He frequently lectures on the term "diaspora," a Hebrew word
used to mean living outside of one's homeland and culture.
     For more information on these events or the African
Consciousness Celebration, contact Vernese Edghill at the
University's Center for Black Culture, 831-2991.

PTTP to re-create two classic plays
     The University's Professional Theatre Training Program will
revive two classics, Shakespeare's Love's Labour's Lost and
Chekov's The Cherry Orchard from March 18-22.
     In The Cherry Orchard, which opens Wednesday, March 18, Chekov
tells the story of an aristocratic family unable to accept the
imminent Russian Revolution. In what has been described as one of
the "most heart-breaking comedies in the modern theatre," Madam
Ranevsky, her daughters and her brother are unable to save their
cherry orchard and their patrician ideals as history marches in.
     In Love's Labour's Lost, which opens Thursday, March 19, the
young King of Navarre and his three schoolmates renounce the
earthly pleasures of wine, women and song in order to devote their
lives to study. But are they able to keep those vows after they met
the beautiful Princess of France and her three lovely ladies? Find
out in this witty and delightful comedy.
     The Cherry Orchard will be presented at 7:30 p.m. on March 18,
20 and 22. A 12:30 p.m. matinee is scheduled Saturday, March 21.
     Love's Labour's Lost is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. on March 19 and
21; with 12:30 p.m. matinees scheduled on March 20 and 22.
     All performances take place in Hartshorn Gymnasium.
     Weeknight performances are $9 for the general public, $6 for
University faculty, staff and senior citizens, and $3 for students.
     Weekend evening performances are $10 for the general public,
$7 for University faculty, staff and senior citizens and $4 for
students. Matinee and Sunday evening performances are $8 for the
general public, $5 for University faculty, staff and senior
citizens and $2 for students.
     For ticket information or reservations, call the Mitchell Hall
 box office at 831-2204.

Foreign film series continues in Smith
     The University of Delaware's Spring l992 International Film
Series features an exciting lineup of contemporary foreign films
that are free and open to the public on Sunday nights through May.
     All films are shown at 7:30 p.m. in 140 Smith Hall.
     Taxi Blues, (USSR, 1990) will be shown March 8. Through the
experiences of a frustrated taxi driver, this Cannes Film Festival
winner provides a wild journey through the seamy side of
Perestroika. Janet Maslin of The New York Times called this film
"superb tragicomedy,"
     Life and Nothing But (France, 1990) can be seen March 15.
Bertrand Tavernier's film tells the story of a French officer in
charge of tracking down soldiers missing in action at the end of
World War I. Richard Corliss of Time called the film "monumental...
Tavernier has made his own 'Rules of the Game.'"
     A funny, unconventional look at some l00 residents of Austin,
Texas, Slacker (U.S., 1991) will be shown March 22. Peter Travers
of Rolling Stone called this "a scrappy and shrewdly hilarious
first film."
     April's offerings begin with The Killer (Hong Kong, 1991),
slated for April 12. Extremely violent, melodramatic and exciting,
this film noir concerns a hit man who takes one last job to get
money for a blind girl's operation.
     Dave Kehr of the Chicago Tribune called it "one of the most
intense, passionate pieces of filmmaking you are ever likely to
see."
     My 20th Century (Hungary, 1990) will be shown April 19. The
film offers a magic carpet ride through the 20th century with two
twins separated in infancy. Vincent Canby of The New York Times
called it "a bracing combination of wit, invention,  common sense
and lunacy."
     The April 26 film is Yaaba (Burkina Faso, 1989), one of the
most acclaimed of recent African films. The story concerns a
12-year-old boy and an old woman shunned as a witch by the rest of
the community.
     The last film in the series, Death By Hanging (Japan, 1968),
will be shown on May 3. In Nagisa Oshima's indictment of Japanese
prejudice, a young Korean is hanged for rape and murder, but his
body refuses to die. The Holt Foreign Film Guide calls this film
"startling, angry and blackly humorous."
     The University's film series is sponsored by the Faculty
Senate Committee on Cultural Activities and Public Events, the
University Honors Program and the Department of English's Film
Program.

Managing better is focus of conference
     The Department of Business Administration is presenting
"Managing Better in the 1990s and Beyond," a distinguished guest
speaker series consisiting of four seminars.
     Presentations will be delivered by senior faculty from leading
business schools in the country.
     A major objective of the series is to expose faculty and
business executives to the cutting edge of academic work that
focuses on important business issues.
     The first seminar is at 3:30 p.m., Thursday, March 12, in 114
Purnell Hall. The speaker is Barton Weitz, professor of marketing,
J.C. Penney Eminent Scholar and chairperson of the College of
Business Administration at the University of Florida.
     His topic, "Measuring Service Quality," will address the
issues of conceptualization, measurement and the consequences of
service quality.
     Many firms are attempting to develop a competitive advantage
by improving service quality.
     Weitz will compare SERVQUAL, a widely used measure of service
quality, with alternative approaches for examining service provided
by retailers.
     For more information, call 831-2554.

No. Atlantic tourney to begin Saturday
     Delaware will host the University of Hartford at 1:30 p.m.,
Saturday, March 7, in Delaware Field House. A sellout crowd is
expected to see the Fightin' Blue Hens, league champions of the
regular season, try to capture the North Atlantic Championship
(NAC) tournament crown and an eventual trip to the NCAA Tournament.
     For more information, call 831-2257.