07.09.08

Reconsidering the Presidency

Posted in Jacob Canon, Politics, The Oscar Show, UVa College of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia, history at 11:04 am by Jacob Canon

In today’s show, written by Brevy Cannon, General Assignments writer for University of Virginia Media Relations, we look at a recent Center for Politics event, “Reconsidering the Presidency” held at the University of Virginia in April 2008.

“The vast and ever-increasing amounts of money spent on U.S. political campaigns are a detriment to our democracy. And, contrary to public opinion, the Electoral College is a quirk of American politics that should not be tampered with…”

Those two opinions were shared by three former governors, John Sununu of New Hampshire, Lowell Weicker of Connecticut and Virginia’s Doug Wilder, during the Center for Politics event, “Reconsidering the Presidency” in April 2008.

Center director and event host Larry Sabato noted in his introduction that he expected a lively debate from these three political veterans from across the political spectrum, and the trio did not disappoint, offering many diverging suggestions on how to reform U.S. politics and the presidential nomination process.

Sununu, a former three-term governor of New Hampshire, White House chief of staff and co-host of CNN’s “Crossfire” political news show, defended the widely criticized tradition of his home state being the first to hold presidential primaries.

Critics contend that being first gives New Hampshire an outsized influence; that the predominately white population isn’t reflective of the nation; and that voters there get the opportunity to personally meet with each candidate several times, while voters in other states may not even be visited.

Doug Wilder, former governor of Virginia, recalled his own run for president in 1992 and complained that recent presidential candidates haven’t campaigned enough in Virginia. He said, “It’s not right for certain areas of the country to be constantly courted to the degree that the residents there expect it … and others are surprised just to get a handshake or a chance even to be in the room with a presidential candidate.”

Sununu went on to say, “I think people don’t understand that the nominating process should demand from our citizens an equal commitment to the election process as the general election.” If another state goes first instead of New Hampshire, contended Sununu, that state should have some of the same merits as his state: a voter turnout rate near 75 percent, engaged citizens who ask serious questions and a place that doesn’t require lots of money to start being noticed by the public.

Wilder, who became the first African-American governor in U.S. history when elected in 1989, suggested that primary election rules could be “modernized” by having a longer timeframe, such as two weeks, in which to cast ballots, rather than just one day.

Weicker was elected governor of Connecticut in 1990 as an independent after serving three terms in the U.S. Senate as a Republican. He drew attention to the “extra hoops” that those outside the “two-party duopoly” must contend with in order to run for office. He proposed a constitutional amendment that would standardize the requirements for a presidential candidate to qualify to be on the ballot in any given state, replacing the widely varying requirements that inhibit independent candidates.

According to opinion polls cited by Sabato, contrary to the view of 70 percent of Americans who would like to do away with the Electoral College, all three governors felt it should stay. Weicker and Sununu both said that the current system (wherein a candidate wins all or none of the electors representing each state) makes candidates campaign in all 50 states.

All three panelists condemned what they all termed the “obscene” amounts of money involved in today’s politics, with Weicker going so far as to declare, “I think money is destroying politics in the United States.”

Only Wilder offered a substantive suggestion of how to address that issue. He said, “Copy a little bit from the British system, shortening it and saying the campaign will start on such and such a date and end on such and such a date… rather than as soon as George Bush took his hand down from swearing… taking his oath as president, this campaign started. That doesn’t make any sense at all, we got to shorten that.”

Sununu also decried how today’s media have “poisoned the minds of the public” with flawed coverage of political issues like the Florida recounts in the 2000 presidential election. While one questioner defended the role of the media as “the fourth branch of government,” no participants even entertained the idea that political advertising might benefit the political process, such as by increasing voter knowledge and participation, as recent research from U.Va. politics professor Paul Freedman has found.

You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon. Join us next week when we look at the annual Walter A. Ridley Distinguished Lecture at the University of Virginia, held recently in the Rotunda’s Dome Room.

For more information about scholarship, creativity and research, please visit www.oscar.virginia.edu. Did you miss a show? Then go to www.wtju.net and click on “blogs & pods” or visit www.cvillepodcast.com. Question about this program; please call WTJU at 434-924-0885 or email at wtju@virginia.edu.

Permalink Comments

06.11.08

100 Year Anniversary of UVa’s Skinner Organ

Posted in Jacob Canon, Skinner, The Oscar Show, UVa College of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia, history, restoration at 12:04 pm by Jacob Canon

In today’s show, written by Jane Ford, Senior News Officer for the UVa News Department, we celebrate the one hundred-year anniversary of the E.M. Skinner Organ, which was installed in UVa’s Cabell Hall in 1907.

AUDIO SLIDE SHOW: E.M. Skinner Organ Celebrates 100 Years

On March 29th, 2008, UVa celebrated the 100th anniversary of the E.M. Skinner Organ, an iconic fixture of the University of Virginia since its installation at Cabell Hall in 1907. At the turn of the 20th century, pipe organs were models of cutting-edge technology and American engineering, an organ expert told an audience celebrating the 100th anniversary of the E.M. Skinner organ.

Laurence Libin, research curator emeritus of musical instruments at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, said, “I have come to congratulate the University of Virginia… This is really a monument. The organ here is a benchmark of American taste and ingenuity.” He added that there could be no better place to have the instrument than at a University, where engineering, architecture, music and other disciplines could play a role in the “wider scope of inquiry” and “create benchmarks for future evaluation of the state of the organ. At 100 years it has a lot to teach us.”

The March 29 tribute included organ historian Barbara Owen, who said, “The organ was a gift to the University from Andrew Carnegie, the man who built a steel empire and spent his later years as a philanthropist. Valued at $7,000 at the time, it is estimated that to replace it today with an organ of that complexity and workmanship would cost in excess of $600,000.”

The session was concluded with U.Va. associate professor emeritus of music Donald Loach presenting a history of Skinner’s organ at the University. Loach shared details about the 1907 dedication recitals, at which University President Edwin A. Alderman and Skinner gave brief remarks before Samuel L. Baldwin, organist of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Brooklyn, N.Y. performed musical selections chosen to highlight the organ’s special features. Loach delighted the audience with recordings from the rededication concert held in 1983 and from a second rededication concert in 2000.

Following the symposium, evening concertgoers were entertained with a recital by organist Ken Cowan of Westminster Choir College, who played music contemporary with the time of its installation that showcased the instrument’s unique features.

Paul Walker, who teaches organ at the university said, “Ken Cowan’s recital was amazing. The music he played was most appropriate to the organ and the time when it was installed, and his program brought out the organ’s obvious strengths: a deep, rich tone and colorful solo stops. Most impressive to me was Cowan’s own transcription of the Mephisto Waltz #1 of Franz Liszt, a technical tour-de-force which made dazzling use of the organ’s resources. The audience particularly responded to Cowan’s encore, a piece by George Thalben-Ball played almost entirely by the feet.”

The U.Va. organ, although built in the early years of Skinner’s long career of organ-building, incorporates unique innovations that he continued to pursue throughout his career. It boasts a movable console of the rare “batwing type” as well as more than 1,500 pipes, ranging from three-quarters of an inch to 16 feet in length; a piston system with combinations set by Skinner and features one of the first examples of his famous “Erzahler” stops, said Owen. The Erzahler is his first foray into creating tonal color by adding the sounds of orchestral instruments, such as French and English horns, oboes, clarinets, strings and flutes.

Loach, who played a major role in preserving the Skinner organ, noted that while it was primarily used at ceremonial occasions such as baccalaureate ceremonies, it was included in several musical performances and served as a practice instrument for budding student organists. Occasionally, after a full rehearsal of the Glee Club in the auditorium, he would play a few pieces on the organ which “the boys seemed to really enjoy,” he said.

Only a few years later, one of those students, William R. Piper, class of 1977, offered funds to restore it. The two-year project was completed in 1983. Loach oversaw the work conducted by the A. Thompson-Allen Organ Company of New Haven, Conn. The goal was “not to improve or alter the tonal or mechanical character of the instrument.” Leather membranes were replaced, new valves were installed and springs and pipes were cleaned and refinished.

After a remodeling of Cabell Hall in the 1990s a new restoration was instigated by Marita McClymonds, acting chairman of the Music Department, and begun in 1998 by Xaver A. Wilhelmy of Satunton, Va. A second rededication on Sept. 15, 2000 featured organist Peggy Kelley Reinburg. The organ continues to be played occasionally for concerts.

Libin said, “The organ here is irreplaceable and historical. Skinner’s vision was in the vanguard a century ago. Organs like this just aren’t built any more.”

You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon. Join us next week when we look at a University of Virginia study, which indicates that air pollution from power plants and automobiles is destroying the fragrance of flowers and thereby possibly inhibiting the ability of pollinating insects to locate flowers, and may partially explain why certain populations of these pollinators are on the decline.

For more information about scholarship, creativity and research, please visit www.oscar.virginia.edu. Did you miss a show? Then go to www.wtju.net and click on “blogs & pods” or visit www.cvillepodcast.com. Question about this program; please call WTJU at 434-924-0885 or email at wtju@virginia.edu.

Permalink Comments

05.14.08

Is Candor Best

Posted in The Oscar Show, UVa College of Arts & Sciences, University of Virginia, history, sociology at 11:04 am by Jacob Canon

In today’s show, adapted from an article published on the Oscar Web site written by Margaret Grundy, we look at be the research of Richard Handler, UVa professor of anthropology, and how the popularized story of colonial Williamsburg, upon reexamination reveals different side of tale.

When Americans visit Colonial Williamsburg, they come to celebrate their nation’s history, to learn about the ways of the past and to experience firsthand the ideals and idealism of the Founding Fathers. They come to try on hoopskirts and three-cornered hats; to make their own candles and to take carriage rides down Duke of Gloucester Street. They come, in short, to have a good time.

Yet the story of Colonial Williamsburg is not entirely pleasant. While remembered for asserting the fundamental rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, colonial America was also a place of inequality, oppression and disenfranchisement. For Richard Handler, professor of anthropology and associate dean for undergraduate academic programs in the College of Arts & Sciences, Williamsburg was begging to be reexamined.

In 1989, Handler, alongside anthropologist Eric Gable, a PhD in Anthropology from the class of 1990, embarked on a major study of Colonial Williamsburg. They began their research guided by one overarching question: “How do you tell the story of the American revolution in a way that honors the founding fathers while still telling the story of slavery?

Although it was a complicated pursuit, Colonial Williamsburg seemed the perfect site for exploring this dispute. Handler said, “In history as a discipline, and academia generally, there’s been an ongoing argument about whether history is objective or relative. Different historians tell different stories about the same events; professional historians know that the facts are only the beginning. At a museum, this debate takes on a funny flavor, because museums are dedicated to objects, which are seen as straightforward facts.”

With this knowledge in mind, and using grants from the Spencer Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities, Handler got to work. During the next three years, he, Gable, and later Anna Lawson, a PhD in anthropology from class of 1995, conducted hundreds of interviews with Colonial Williamsburg staff; examined archival documents and in-house newspapers, and toured the buildings over and over again. Gable even enrolled in a docent-training course.Handler said, “We studied how a large corporation tells history to a large audience. At places like Colonial Williamsburg, there is a complicated hierarchy of historians, managers, trainers and front-line people. We were interested in exploring not just the story they were teaching but how that story changed as it worked its way through this complicated organization.”

Their exploration yielded interesting results. First of all, they recognized a palpable awareness of the tension between education and entertainment, as Colonial Williamsburg employees repeatedly emphasized that “this is not some historical Disneyland; it’s a serious place.” They also confirmed their initial suspicions that integrating candid discussion of slavery into a celebratory context was a delicate and difficult task.

Specifically, Handler noted the challenges facing African-American employees at Colonial Williamsburg. He said, “For African-Americans who work at these sites, it’s a really tough dilemma. On one hand, they want to talk about the oppression of the system, but they also want to portray their ancestors as strong survivors. And they have to deal with the psychological challenges of dressing up as slaves.”

For the most part, Handler’s research remained focused on Colonial Williamsburg employees, as visitors turned out to be challenging sources of information. He said, “Visitors are really hard to study. It’s very hard to get good answers from them. If you ask them why they’re there, they say it’s because they love history; if you ask them how they define history, they’ll tell you ‘telling the story of our nation’s past.’ It’s difficult to get beyond that. If you’re interviewing insiders, you have a lot of specifics to talk about; with visitors, it’s a lot harder.”

Overall, Handler’s investigation of Colonial Williamsburg illuminated the challenges of merging education and entertainment, fact and revision, celebration and candor. In addition to several scholarly articles, Handler and Gable used their research to write “The New History in an Old Museum: Creating the Past at Colonial Williamsburg.” Since its publication in 1997, the book has secured its position in a unique genre — that of the museum ethnography.

You’ve been listening to the Oscar Show, I’m Jacob Canon. Join us next week when our topic will be University of Virginia psychologist Amori Yee Mikami, her research of ADHD, and how intervening factors have made this disorder more complex and detrimental for young females.

Permalink Comments