Sunday, December 7, 2025

Take a peek behind the curtain and test drive the NEW StateNews.com today!

Features

FEATURES

Hand over hand

Fayetteville, W. Va. - Hanging from a rock 30 feet above the ground with only a thin climbing rope and a trusty belayer determining her safety, Dawn Smith hears the slight murmur of the New River hundreds of feet below her and searches for the next minuscule crack or ledge to propel higher on the almost-flat rock face. MSU Outing Club members on the ground called out advice to the deaf education junior, giving her advice as to where to go next. “You’re going to want to bring your right foot up to that crack just above your right knee,” one member shouts. From the ground, the cracks in the rock look enormous, but staring at them head-on, they only go a centimeter or two deep - and each hole’s circumference is tiny.

FEATURES

Three in the Back offers complex, conspiracy-filled drama

Lindsay Frederickson
October 16, 2002

Opening in pitch black to the tune of a mournful jazz trumpet and a light dusting of piano keys, the Department of Theatre’s “Three in the Back, Two in the Head” briefly evokes the image of a of a private eye’s office in the moments before the play begins. But as soon as the lights come up, the audience is thrust into the cold world of the play and never looks back. “What did he do - that was so wrong?” Paula Jackson (theater senior Kelly Cavanagh) demands of CIA agent Katherine Doyle (theater graduate student Sarah Reule). Paula’s quest to trace the bullets referenced in the play’s title - bullets used to murder her military scientist father - drives the action in the play through the Pentagon, the U.S.

FEATURES

U graduate finds success with Bachelor Party

When Adam Miller received a letter from Creators Syndicate last July, he thought it was nothing more than another form letter.“I had gotten other rejection letters, and they all used form letters and I thought that’s what this was,” said Miller, 27.“I was about to stick it in a file and forget about it.”But after reading through it carefully a second time, Miller was shocked, and even thought it was a joke.In the letter, the California-based organization offered Miller a syndication contract for his comic strip “Bachelor Party,” which explores the lives of recent college graduates.When Miller attended MSU, the comic was called “Student Ghetto” and featured younger versions of the same characters in “Bachelor Party.” The comic ran for about three semesters in The State News. After graduation in 1999, Miller immediately began sending his material to syndication companies throughout the nation.“I got a lot of good response from it at first, but people didn’t really want to syndicate it to college kids - they didn’t see the college market as strong enough for a national paper,” he said.For that reason, Miller changed the name of the comic to “Bachelor Party” and marketed it toward an older crowd and a bigger market.John Newcombe is the director of development at Creators Syndicate.

FEATURES

All American Pita to host CD release party for promising musician

Ben Landes
October 15, 2002

All American Pita, 553 E. Grand River Ave., is hosting a CD release party from 6 to 9 p.m. today for Jason Mraz’s debut album “Waiting For My Rocket To Come.” The 25-year-old was born in Virginia but spent the last two years of his life in the sunny streets of San Diego playing regular gigs at coffee houses until the day he was signed to Elektra Records.

FEATURES

Rules of Attraction dark look at college life

Casey Mcnenly
October 15, 2002

If “The Rules of Attraction” promotional posters, featuring stuffed animals showing off what they learned from Kama Sutra didn’t carry enough shock value, the actual film did. The posters came very close to attracting more attention than the movie. Roger Avary directs a very dark and humorous look at college relationships.

FEATURES

Three in the Back begins this week

A five-member cast will play to all four sides of the Auditorium’s Arena Theatre stage when “Three in the Back, Two in the Head” opens tomorrow night. The title of Canadian playwright Jason Sherman’s 80-minute one-act play refers to bullet holes in the body of the main character’s father. Theater senior Kelly Cavanagh plays Paula Jackson, a young woman looking for the truth behind her father’s murder. With a minimalist set and few props, the audience is forced to focus full attention on character development.

FEATURES

Writer proves Body Thong Cher cant be beat

Tara talked me into it. Sure, I was a Cher fan, but to actually dress up like her? It wasn’t something I had thought about until we saw the advertisement for a Cher look-alike contest at Club Paradise, 224 S.

FEATURES

Esteemed painter, pianist plays to Union crowd

Ben Landes
October 11, 2002

A gleaming black piano graced the Union Ballroom on Wednesday night.It quietly basked in the presence of two towering speakers, a small drum set and the eager ears of about 100 students.Following a few delays, Magdalen Hsu-Li emerged to the delight of the audience, with an acoustic guitar in hand and the inception of her set.Mentioning just one of a number of talents doesn’t do her justice.

FEATURES

Knockaround Guys pleases with experienced cast

Casey Mcnenly
October 11, 2002

Where did “Knockaround Guys” come from? All of a sudden, there is a cast of promising actors teaming up with seasoned veterans in a Mafia flick. After a long wait, a wait only matched by the Tyson-Lewis fight, “Knockaround Guys” opens today.