Fluent in three languages with an academic focus on metric phonology, the study of stress in phrases and sentences, Biggs’ has always been rhythmically focused.

Biggs’ linguistic skills attracted attention, and by 2003 he had had been dubbed “Dean by Day, Rapper by Night” by media pundits including Anderson Cooper. Donning a yellow button down and slacks, Biggs is seemingly the opposite of the egotistically flashy rappers bombarding the music scene today.

Following completion of an undergraduate degree in classics from Harvard, a Ph.D. in Romance linguistics, a masters in computer science, a business degree and a JD, Biggs is now working towards a masters in French law. Throughout his many years in academia, Biggs has also worked to develop his unsuspecting rap persona, Headmess, which began to flourish during his years as a Ph.D. student at the University of California, Los Angeles.

“My dissertation had a really sexy title: ‘A Statistical Analysis of the Metrics of the Classic French Decasyllable and Classic French Alexandrine,’” Biggs said while chuckling. “So the copies really just like flew off the shelf.”

While Dean Biggs pursued his studies in Romance literature, he collaborated with younger Californians in a number of different bands, including one named Hay Knuckle. Since Biggs was in his mid-twenties at the time, he admitted the age difference between band members made for interesting nights.

“It was very funny because I’d perform and they’d say, ‘we want to finish [the night] with your song,’ because I had this one song called ‘Bang Bang You’re Dead’ that was very hard and got a great response,” Biggs said. “But the problem was that I was already sort of a geeky old fart, so I was like ‘Dude, I can’t stay up that late.’ So, they would have me perform at the end of the first set, so I could go home, go to sleep and take my vitamins.”

Biggs continued to be successful outside of the Los Angeles scene and was signed as a solo artist with Requiem Records, a label owned by Mylene Farmer, the number one bestselling French female pop star at the time, or the “Madonna of France.”

“I remember my sort of period of superstardom when I got flown to Paris, and then I was picked up in a limousine every morning and performed my songs [in the studio] and then they drove me back home in a limousine,” Biggs recalled.

Biggs spent several months in Paris collaborating with Mylene on his premier record “Shade: Underbelly,” only to have it “die on the vine” before its release. Although American rap is commonly marketable to foreign countries, France had recently passed a series of laws mandating that an overwhelming percentage of music playing on their radios be only in French.

“So all of a sudden there was just this sort of chilling effect,” Biggs said. “We could have gone back conceivably and done the album in French, but it would have been terrible because the sort of ingenuity that you have in one language, well you’re a fool if you try and pretend you can do that in another language.”

Unable to sell his album in France and falling behind in his studies, Biggs returned to UCLA with a new shock of red hair—a requirement of all Mylene’s artists—and a determination to complete his Ph.D. After working as a night secretary, finishing his dissertation on metric phonology and marrying his wife, Biggs was soon hired at Houghton College in upstate New York where he taught French.

Houghton College was a small, conservative liberal arts school, enforcing a strict no dancing, no drinking, no gambling policy for all teachers, putting Biggs’ rapping career on hold for a while longer. After four years there, working for a time as head of the World Languages Department, Biggs was recruited by Dean McLeod to become an Assistant Dean at Washington University. Originally from St. Louis, Biggs accepted the offer, moved his family, which now consisted of his wife and three kids—eventually a fourth would be added to the clan—and revamped his rap career on the side.

“I was very secretive at first,” Biggs said. “I actually shot a video called ‘Rhythmry’ that had a certain Run DMC type of quality to it. I had a friend who said, ‘Hey man, this is how we think this video is going to work: You are going to be just a total loser geeky professor, right’—so a big stretch for me—‘and then you are going to pull up to a stop sign and you are going to see these gorgeous women and you are going to imagine what it would be like if you were actually cool and these women like wanted you. You are going to have crazy costumes too,’ so I had a Dalmatian suit, I mean every weird thing you could find.”

Through a series of fortuitous events, Biggs’ lawyer’s boyfriend, who worked for St. Louis’ Channel 4 News, re-launched him into the spotlight, and Biggs was branded “Dean by Day, Rapper by Night.” After Biggs was featured on Anderson Cooper’s show, the Associated Press requested to see Biggs, who had not performed since his UCLA days, in concert.

“I thought, well this will be interesting because I don’t have a band, and I don’t perform at night. The whole thing is kind of a myth.”

Biggs’ performance may have been a last-minute collaboration, but his music is clearly crafted over much longer periods of time. While “Rythmry” may be reminiscent of a stereotypical music video replete with images of seductively dressed women, corvettes and “bling,” Biggs’ rap lyrics reflect many years of schooling in the dynamics of language and a unique compositional talent.

“I think what became a driving force for me is how do you take this stuff that’s in these ivory towers and how would you apply it and make it actually sound good in a modern context,” Biggs posited as the goal of his rap projects.

“I remember my professor even saying once, ‘You know this rhythm sequence exists in no tradition of poetry. It’s never happened.’ Well, what would you think if someone said something like that to you?” Biggs paused for a moment. “You’d think, ‘I’m going to do that.’”

Biggs’ knowledge of the classics and metric phonology allowed him to create not only raps, but also puzzles within his raps. Perhaps the most complex of all the messages on his appropriately named album “Puzzles is Wrap,” an acrostic. When solved, the puzzle negates what the lines of sexual lyrics espouse, stating: “Don’t listen, it’s all lies, here is the truth, miserable and reviled, I’m marking time dying slow, abject and desolate and forsaken.”

Biggs’ influences range from Homer to vulgar French troubadours to Big Daddy Kane, Common and Eminem. He taught a Rap Through the Ages class for three years at Wash. U., but soon became bogged down with other responsibilities. Although Dean Biggs is well known for Headmess, he is also a respected figure on campus for his energetic, welcoming demeanor and involvement in various academic programs.

“You know, Biggs is a Ph.D., he went to Harvard, he has four kids, but he is still loving life,” Associate Dean of Students, Jill Stratton, said. “He’s pursued so many degrees, an undergraduate, a Ph.D., an M.S. in computer science, an M.B.A. and now a law degree. I told him I’d have no respect for him until he got a medical degree. Until after I said that I thought, ‘Oh my God, he may go do it!’”

Sharon Stahl, dean of the First Year Center, summarizes Dean Biggs in just a few words, “You know, he’s just a renaissance guy.”

His office shows no overtly visible signs of his Headmess years, but is rather organized and sparsely decorated, with a few law books scattered around and a small corner of his bookshelf devoted to his dear friend Dean James E. McLeod. On one wall hangs a framed medal and picture from one of the many marathons he has completed, and on the other wall rests a map of his swimming route across the English Channel. Following the path on the map with his finger, Biggs explains the bet; if he became a Rhodes scholar, he would swim the English Channel. He didn’t become the scholar, however he decided to swim the Channel anyway.

“What happened, interestingly, is it was like around hour seven, and I was like I’m toast, I’m all done, I have nothing left,” Biggs remembered. “Well, so I said, you know what, stay positive. You aren’t going to make it across, but it’s a pretty cool run that you are going to be able to tell your buds. So now that you lasted seven hours, don’t you think you could last 15 more? Just so you can tell your buds, ‘Hey man I lasted seven hours and 15 minutes.’ So then I made it to seven hours and 15 and I said, I could probably go 15 minutes more. And that’s what I did for the last five hours. I just always felt like I had 15 minutes more.”

Although Biggs retired his rap persona a few years ago with a final benefit concert, Headmess will make a reappearance this February, recording one more “silly” song and performing near Blueberry Hill. Biggs made it a point that any Wash. U. students are welcome to take part in this final video.

Whether Biggs is earning another degree, expanding the Undergraduate Research Department, caring for his family, or rapping at Blueberry Hill, he always seems to have 15 more minutes left in him.

Student Life: How did you come up with the idea for uBuckle?

Louis McLaughlin: My brother Peter actually came up with the idea for uBuckle over a year ago, but at the time it was just that—a cool idea. We thought, “Why isn’t there an easier way for college students to find part-time jobs?” But it took a while for the potential of the idea to sink in. Sometime around Thanksgiving last year I brought it back up, and we just dove in headfirst.

A lot of us could use the money, but it’s the hassle of actually searching for a part-time job that keeps many students from getting one. So we feel like we’re not only helping the students who would have already searched the hard way save some time, but we’ve found a way to help those who might have otherwise not had the time to drive around town looking for “We’re Hiring” signs. And the fact that businesses search [for] students by major on uBuckle makes it more likely that a student could be contacted about a part-time job opportunity that actually has something to do with what they are studying.

SL: Could you describe the process of starting your company? How long did it take to come up with the idea?

LM: We probably spent at least four months just refining the idea and strategizing. We went through three or four versions of the business plan before anyone even got a chance to see it. We had conversations as to how the site would flow and what kind of content would be present on each page, but the first concept sketches for each page didn’t happen until months into the process. The logo was the first thing we designed, and that took almost two weeks alone.

Building a tech start-up from the ground up isn’t easy. Everything has a learning curve, from figuring out what kind of corporation you should file as to developing marketing strategies that effectively explain exactly what your product or service does. And one of the most ironic things about the start-up is that often the more original your idea is, even if it solves an obvious need, the more difficult it is to explain to people.

SL: How does your site differ from competitors like Monster.com? Why, in your opinion, is it more suitable for college students?

LM: The most obvious difference between uBuckle.com and other job sites is that uBuckle is just for current college students looking for part-time work. But instead of just creating another job board, we reversed the formula so that the businesses do the searching and they search students by major. This way, students have a good chance at being contacted for more interesting part-time jobs and jobs that would look more relevant on a résumé as they search for full-time employment after graduation.

Amazingly, uBuckle works in a way that gives more power to both the students and the businesses on the site. For students, it’s a tool that can help them get a part-time job without the hassle of the search; for businesses, it’s a chance to actively find a quality employee to fill a part-time position, instead of waiting for the right one to walk through the door.

Finally, once a student creates a profile on uBuckle, if a business contacts them, the message goes straight to the student’s .edu email, so they never have to return unless they want to update or turn off their profile.

SL: What has been your most successful advertising strategy?

LM: Facebook has actually been extremely helpful for spreading the word. We’ve used printed materials, things like bookmarks and handbills, but when you’re trying to promote a website, if your audience is already online, you’re only a click away.

Grace Fung | Student Life

Professor Loewenstein meets with project manager and 2011 WUSTL alumnus Michael Dango. Loewenstein is an English professor who studies Edmund Spenser.

“I don’t want to hog the graduate students—I like working with undergraduates.” Loewenstein said about working with students in his Spenser Lab, a part of the HDW. “I try to get them when they’re freshmen and sophomores because then they learn the ropes, and, by the time they’re juniors, they’re explaining how to do stuff to the graduate students.”

That’s one of the things Loewenstein loves most about working at Washington University. Loewenstein began teaching here in 1981 and has enjoyed working with undergraduates ever since.

“Right now, I’m having a terrific amount of fun working with students on the Spenser Project,” Loewenstein said. “And in general, it’s been very satisfying working with undergraduates.”

Loewenstein grew up as one of three children in Charleston, W.Va. He attended Wesleyan University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in theater. He went on to get his master’s degree in English and comparative literature from Columbia University, then spent a year studying Renaissance intellectual history at the Warburg Institute in London, and finally obtained his Ph.D. in English at Yale University in 1982.

Loewenstein didn’t always want to pursue English; he was first interested in drama. He acted in both high school and collegiate plays.

“I was pretty terrible,” Lowenstein laughed. He hasn’t altogether abandoned acting these days; the Wash. U. faculty occasionally puts on dramatic readings, in which he has participated.

“I used to kill time in high school reading plays,” Loewenstein remarked. “I think that’s what held my interest in literary study.”

Loewenstein first entertained the idea of becoming a professor during his junior year of college.

“It’s kind of embarrassing, but I was having such a good time in college that I thought it would be good to keep at it.”

So he kept at it and came to Wash. U. in 1981, where he met his wife, Professor Lynne Tatlock, at a reception for new faculty members.

“I was late for a meeting and the only seat in the room was next to her,” Loewenstein said. “We started talking after the meeting.”

Since joining the Wash. U. faculty, Loewenstein has been part of a committee that spearheaded the Interdisciplinary Project in the Humanities, began the FOCUS Writers as Readers program and started his Spenser Lab through the Humanities Digital Workshop.

According to English department chair Professor Vincent Sherry, what makes Loewenstein such a great professor is his dedication to his students. “[It’s his] unflagging dedication. I think they know that he cares that they get it. He’s able to hold enthusiasm for subjects that to others would remain obscure,” Sherry said.

As a colleague, he excels as well. “He’s a tremendous resource for his early modern colleagues, and for undergraduate life,” fellow English professor, Steve Zwicker, added. “And beyond the English Department he is involved with a number of University projects.”

One of those projects is The Collected Works of Edmund Spenser and includes his Spenser Lab in the HDW. In 1998, Loewenstein got a call from his friend and colleague David Miller, which initiated his work on Spenser and led to his HDW. Miller asked Loewenstein what he thought a Spenser edition would look like for the 21st century, and Loewenstein responded that it would be both a digital and a print edition.

“I had no digital skills whatsoever,” Loewenstein recalled. “I just sort of knew what you would want to do.”

Miller and his friend Patrick Cheney, a professor at Penn State University, were already working on a new edition of “The Collected Works of Edmund Spenser” for Oxford. They wanted Loewenstein’s help.

“They didn’t really know the technical side of editing—neither did I. But they thought I did,” Lowenstein said.

He had first studied Spenser when he was in graduate school at Yale with Professor Bart Giamatti (the father of actor Paul Giamatti and former commissioner of major league baseball). After that class, Loewenstein wrote a few articles on Spenser. But it wasn’t until working on the edition that he really became invested in the poet.

When it is complete, the collected works will include a multi-volume scholarly print edition, a large digital version of the entire archive with open access, and a single volume student edition that is, according to Loewenstein, “something that a poor, downtrodden undergraduate can stick in her backpack and tear its seams.”

For the collected works, Loewenstein does a lot of the editing and organizing. He compares multiple editions of Spenser’s works and decides which variations may have been intentional, and which may have been typos. He and his colleagues compare these variations and choose which ones they want to include in the edition they’re working on. Then, they work on commentary, introductions, and all other supplementary work that will go into the edition.

“When I started, I really had no conspicuous computer skills,” Loewenstein said. “And I knew that the digital side was beyond me, so I started lobbying to get more and more help from the University.”

There hadn’t been many digital projects in the humanities before Loewenstein began his research, and he didn’t have a lot of personal help. An undergraduate student, Laura Young, asked Loewenstein if he knew of any professors in need of a research assistant. This invariably led Loewenstein in 2004 to teach his normally offered Spenser course in two ways— one regular course and one that was titled, The Spenser Lab and consisted of an additional lab that worked on the edition as part of the HDW.

“Basically, it has students in the humanities working in the way students in the sciences work.” Loewenstein described how in a science lab professors might ensure students have the basics, but then they rely on those with more experience in the lab to explain things to newer students. This is exactly what happens in his Spenser Lab

In terms of when you can expect to see “The Collected Works of Edmund Spenser” in print, or in its digital version, Loewenstein can’t promise it’ll be done tomorrow.

“My goal is that it should be finished before I die,” Loewenstein laughed, “give or take a couple years.”

Grace Fung | Student Life

Phillip Sutherland works at Cherry Tree Café, winning students over with his unique sandwich creations and his friendly personality.

Phillip has lived in St. Louis for all of his 26 years. He was born to Robin Sutherland and Antonio Miles and has three siblings: older brother Timothy, younger sister Mary and younger brother Andrew. Mother Robin primarily raised Phillip and his siblings, while also taking classes to become a teacher. She started teaching elementary school after her kids were old enough to care for themselves.

Phillip has been married for two years to his wife, Tanesha. They met shopping—he was shopping for musical instruments and she was shopping for something for her twin sister. “They’re almost identical, but I can tell them apart,” Phil said with a laugh.

Phillip has worked at Bear’s Den for two years. “I started on Halloween. That was an interesting night to start working.” He came in as a cook originally, but Dining Services was short on porters, so he helped out where he could. He began making sandwiches at the Cherry Tree Café about a year and a half ago. He’s also been a shift leader for production.

In addition, he plays in the worship band at the Lively Stone Church of God, the church he has attended his whole life. He started on drums when he was two years old and developed a great love for music. In fifth grade he learned how to play the violin and read music, which led to him pick up the piano, the bass and the organ. The drums and organ are his favorite instruments, and he plays primarily gospel and classical music. For the church band, he originally just played the drums, but one night the band’s piano player was working during the service. Phillip played the piano for that night, then he learned how to play the organ the next time the organist was out, and soon his musical versatility led to new doors opening up for him.

“I was asked to play for a kid’s choir. At first I was reluctant, because I had never taught vocals or anything like that before,” Phillip said. But he kept an open mind, and despite a rocky start, everything worked out. The choir has played four concerts under Phillip’s direction.

Making music is only one of his many talents, though. He’s created a line of custom sandwiches for the Cherry Tree Café: the Phillippe sandwiches. The original Phillippe was just a variation on the custom meat, a sort of fusion of students’ ideas and his own ideas. But now there are many spinoffs, including the Phillippe XP—a PB&J with apples, bananas and honey—and the Phillippe Cheese, which takes five different cheeses (Swiss, American, feta, Provolone and mozzarella) and toasts them to a nice crisp. Phillip also recently invented the Veggie Phillippe. “What about the veggie people? Y’all need a sandwich, too,” he joked. The Veggie Phillippe is a combination of hummus, olive relish, eggplant, sauerkraut, mozzarella cheese, lettuce and tomato on two slices of nicely toasted wheat bread. Lately he’s been working on a new sandwich with roast beef, ham, Swiss, American and a touch of honey mustard on an herb roll. “It’s currently untitled, but I’ll probably call it the Phillippe PS,” he said with a smile.

The Phillippe XP, along with a healthy dose of Phillip’s great attitude, recently made one student’s day. Phillip tells the story of a student who had just done poorly on a midterm and came to the café close to tears. She told Phillip that normally she would call her dad, but he was in a meeting all day. So Phillip offered to make her the Phillippe XP, with a special twist.

He wrote “Dad Loves You” in chocolate syrup on the sandwich and the girl started bawling. “You just made my day so much better,” the girl said. She credits the Phillippe XP for the much better grade she got on her next midterm.

This is only one of the many instances of Phillip’s kindness. “I can always look forward to Phil’s smiling face and warm conversation. His positive energy always puts me in a good mood,” said sophomore Tabia Yapp.

Freshman Archer Brock agreed.

“He makes a wicked PB&J and an even better mozzarella caprese. But the fact that he’s joking around with the students while he works makes the wait for food fun, so that’s what’s really awesome,” she said.

Phillip says things like that are the least he can do.

“I’m here to make your day better and to make your college experience as easy as I can make it,” he said.

Cole Bishop | Student Life

Dr. Guido Weiss, the Elinor Anheuser Professor of Mathematics, in his office. Weiss is the oldest serving professor at the University.

“You may wonder why I was not in the U.S. Open,” Weiss said, smirking. “I actually did something very foolish, I hurt my left leg on a backhand and played for five days when I shouldn’t have, I had torn the biggest muscle in my leg and the tendon and I’m still healing. So I’m out of tennis now, but I’ll be back in shape for the Australian open.”

Weiss’ office is cluttered with stacked papers and books, and family pictures hang from every wall. Proudly pointing to the trophies in the corner of the room, Weiss explained that he is a three-time champion of the Herman Open, a lesser-known tennis tournament here in St. Louis. However, before Weiss’s athletic career blossomed, he was an Italian boy living in Europe during the pre-World War II turmoil.

Guido Weiss

Guido Weiss draws a tufted Guidobird, which bears a striking resemblance to him.

His father was invited to the Menninger Clinic, a prominent psychiatric clinic in Topeka, Kan. Weiss, his father, mother and older brother fled from Italy to the United States in 1939. Although Weiss eventually became “a Topeka boy,” he had previously served in the youth army, the Balilla, where he was in the same platoon as Mussolini’s son.

After a few years in Kansas, Weiss moved to Chicago where his father joined the Chicago Psychoanalytic Society. In Chicago, he started high school, and his athletic career continued to thrive.

“I was a pretty good athlete,” Weiss said modestly. “You name it, I played it. I was an All-City football player in Chicago. I played basketball, ran track, played baseball. I was also a canoe racer and a pretty fast runner, about second best in Chicago. I had football scholarships offered from Purdue, Northwestern and a couple other places.”

Although sports dominated his life throughout his high school years, Weiss knew he wanted to have a career in academics. He was accepted to the University of Chicago; its enrollment at the time consisted mostly of veteran students thanks to the GI Bill. Before rejecting his sports scholarships and committing to Chicago, Weiss trained with Otto Graham, member of both the College and Pro Football Halls of Fame.

“Otto came back from the war and for that summer he ran a camp at Northwestern for people who were going to be on the team,” Weiss recalled. “He called me and asked me if I would change my mind. And I did spend quite a bit of time with him, caught more passes from Graham than almost anybody, and I do remember that I enjoyed it. But the last week he asked me whether I changed my mind, and I said ‘Not really, Chicago is such a fantastically good school, I really want to go.’”

Graham assured Weiss that he was making the right decision, as he was probably too small at 185 pounds to have a career in the professional leagues. Weiss attended the University of Chicago for all four years, where he continued to play basketball and baseball and participate in track while also pursuing various studies and working with world-renowned individuals.

“Among many things, University of Chicago had a very good math department,” Weiss said. “But I studied many things. I started off in both chemistry and physics. I worked with [Enrico] Fermi. He is the father of the atom bomb, a Nobel Prize-winning, very famous physicist also from Italy. I probably would have become a physicist and worked with him, but he died of cancer.”

Although Weiss worked closely with Fermi, it was not Fermi’s influence that led him to a career in mathematics. Rather, a dog and an unexpected turn of events resulted in Weiss’s lifelong commitment to math.

“Actually, I used to be a canoe guide in the aquatico-Superior regions in Minnesota if you know where that is,” Weiss said. “You could probably drop me in a large, very wild region there and I could probably tell you within a few minutes where I am.

“I used to take parties there and one late August I took a party out, and I had a bad case of mononucleosis and then a dog bit me. I didn’t have an ounce of fat in me at the time and I took rabies shots in the stomach, which was all muscle, so I was bedridden when I got back to Chicago. My fiancee, who became my wife, was taking some math courses and it was agreed that I could take some courses and she would report back to me. I had to stay home most of the time and I found reading these math books very interesting, so I very much got interested in it.”

“But I was interested in many other things too,” Weiss added, as if it wasn’t already clear that his activities were not limited solely to mathematics.

He finished school and married his first wife, Mary, whom he refers to as “one of the best mathematicians in the U.S,” then the two of them searched for a place where they could both find jobs. After briefly working at DePaul University, Weiss and Mary were offered teaching positions at Wash. U., where Weiss has remained ever since, aside from a few sabbaticals.

In keeping with his diverse interests, Weiss is fluent in Italian, Spanish, French, German, English and a little Mandarin. Out of his home he teaches an Italian literature class to a group of 12 adults, including a former interim dean of the engineering school. Throughout his educational career, Weiss has also had the opportunity to broaden his teaching environment beyond the American classroom.

“I have taught almost everywhere in the world,” Weiss said. “You name it. I have an Italian mafia, a Chinese mafia of Ph.D. students, a Spanish mafia, even an American mafia. I now am having my 42nd Ph.D. student throughout the world.”

Weiss’ first wife died in the early ’60s and he married his current wife, Barbara, a molecular biologist and ceramicist, in 1964. They have two sons. One owns the Big Shark Bicycle Company here in St. Louis, while the other runs an athletic and training center in Manhattan. Both have inherited their father’s love of sports.

In addition to teaching as a professor, Weiss is responsible for revamping the athletics department of Wash. U. in the 1970s, a sign that athletics follow him wherever he travels. Throughout his life, Weiss has also written over 150 publications on his specialty, harmonic analysis and wavelets, received honorary degrees in multiple foreign countries and worked with thousands of undergraduate and graduate students.

“I find math fascinating,” Weiss reflected. “It’s very different from what most people think it is. Well, it helps you understand the world.You have to become a mathematician, you have to become one of my students in order to understand the world.”

Atop his file cabinets in the corner of the office sits a small blue and white ceramic jar labeled “Ashes of Problem Students.” No worries, there are no real ashes in the jar. Weiss, an athlete and academic with a love for jokes, said he creates interminable bonds with many of his students, even the problematic ones.

Once a scholar graduates, they do not cease to be a student of Professor Weiss, as his fondness for teaching both undergraduates and graduates extends beyond the classroom. When asked if he continues to communicate with previous students, Weiss said affectionately, “Oh yes, I still stay in close contact with my whole caboodle.”

“No one was going to record it,” she exclaimed. Kolk’s dismay stemmed from her position as a member of the American Culture Studies faculty and as a leader of the American Lives project.

The American Lives project aims to capture the wide range of stories and experiences that ease understanding of American life and experience. Of chief interest are data relevant to the St. Louis area. Researchers will gather different types of historical information: oral histories, legal documents, newspaper articles and other media.

The project aims to compile these data into a single archive, from which researchers can search for a specific event, person or neighborhood and find a wealth of sources and perspectives documenting the query.

One of the events that American Lives is particularly concerned with is Sept. 11. Kolk pointed out that the general reactions of St. Louis natives, students, professors and other residents have a place in the project alongside firsthand accounts of the events.

“To some extent we are using the anniversary to invite reflections,” Kolk said. “We hope this will inspire us to pursue similar projects in [the] future, and on these occasions for contribution we need to be somewhat more deliberate about seeking out groups of people in St. Louis who have stories to tell.”

Sept. 11 is just one facet of the project. Other topics of interest include “Desegregation of St. Louis Schools,” “The History and Development of the St. Louis Hill Neighborhood,” “The Life and Music of Miles Davis,” “Gay and Lesbian Activities in St. Louis,” “The History of Women’s Studies at Wash. U.” and “Life as a Student at Wash. U.”

Professor Wayne Fields, one of the project’s founders, described its beginnings. “The project began in conjunction with a course co-developed by Professor Henry Berger and the American Culture Studies department called ‘Cracks in the Republic.’” The course dealt with topics related to student unrest in the 1960s and 1970s. A former student who had been incarcerated during the turmoil had been pardoned. He and others involved in the campus protests were invited back to the University and were interviewed by members of Berger’s class.

At that time, the American Culture Studies department was developing an interactive website to aid research. Ideally, students and faculty would enter a subject or specific artifact, and the website would return four or five related items in addition to the original item of interest.

Eventually these two initiatives merged. Students collecting oral histories recorded them into the database. They also digitized and entered related artifacts, such as magazine articles, television interviews and legal documents.

“We soon found the whimsy of finding not only what you were looking for but also things you didn’t know existed—a useful and fun aspect of this approach—and hoped our small effort to model it would encourage others to join us in the effort,” said Fields.

The intersection of the national and local is a key aspect of this project. Understandably, Kolk felt an urge to document the Sept. 11 memorial. It’s nearly impossible to see it as anything other than necessary.

Fields believes the project will also provide unique insight when interpreting the past. “All these particulars could, if webbed together, provide a fuller view, one both more complicated—even contradictory—and subtle than the view a bound textbook can provide.”

If any readers have stories to tell about Sept. 11 or just want to learn more about the project visit http://remembering911.wustl.edu/.

Student Life: So, first things first—why did you choose “A Midsummer Night’s Dream”?

Henry Schvey: Well, it’s one of my very favorite plays. I’ve directed it before, and I just really love the play. I think it presents terrific challenges for young actors, and it has a balanced cast; it’s not a show with just one or two big leads—there are all of these wonderful parts. It’s also appealing to me because the Performing Arts Department has a dance component as well as a theater component, and this show has all of the fairy roles, so there is a lot of opportunity to work with movement—my colleague Cecil Slaughter is choreographing the show. So, it really has that scope and that ability to utilize all the resources of the department: dance; acting, obviously; theater studies, in the sense that you are performing Shakespeare so there is a lot of textual work; as well as all of the technical possibilities. You have a world that is set in the supernatural—a world of magic—which is the essence of theater.

SL: Have you made any difficult or unexpected directorial choices with this production?

HS: Well, you know, every show has [a] conceptual framework that you need to find. I guess deciding how to balance modern dress [with traditional Shakespearean costuming], how to make this show speak to people today while still keeping to the spirit of magic. I thought about setting the show in the sixties. The Athenians are dressed in modern suits, and the Mechanicals are [in the clothing style of] today—T-shirts and stuff like that—but the fairies are dressed for magic. I didn’t want to keep them in the sixties; I wanted it to be much more universal than that. So, that decision also inspired other decisions like, for example, Athens is modern, but it’s white; the set is white with [the] columns, which suggests sort of a nod to Athens, but it’s still modern. Then that transforms into the forest through lighting and through things that fly down, fly at you, foliage and so on.

SL: You’ve directed “Midsummer” here at Wash. U. before, right?

HS: Yes, but it was like twenty years ago, maybe more than twenty years ago. You are working with different actors too, and the space is different, the concept is even different. The capabilities of the actors are different, everything, so it really feels like a completely different show.

SL: So why do you think “Midsummer,” or Shakespeare’s plays in general, have lasted for so long?

HS: It’s so funny. I mean, I think it’s so funny. There are moments of this show that definitely do not feel 400 years old at all. It feels as though it’s speaking to us directly because it’s dealing with questions of love and what we see in someone else, whether it’s something that is entirely in our own heads or whether what we love is something that we really see in that other person, and that’s a very modern issue. Do we judge by appearances, or do we judge by essences?

SL: So, big overall question—why do you think A Midsummer Night’s Dream is a particularly valuable show for college students to experience?

HS: Well, I think it presents tremendous opportunities for college students, period. There are so many things that relate to the history and the culture of Shakespeare’s time. But it also speaks to contemporary issues—the play is amazingly funny; it just does so many different things. It’s education without being in a classroom. It teaches you about the language. Everybody has been in love, everyone thinks about that kind of thing or the way we deal with other people in our lives. It also has this kind of meta-theatrical subtext too—a play within a play. On almost every level, it touches something, and it’s such a funny play. It’s such a beautiful, uplifting play. I really think the humor of the play is the key thing, is what makes it so valuable, and it really celebrates the actor’s relationship to the audience on different levels. You know, I could wear the professorial hat and say, “It teaches us valuable lessons about Shakespeare and about the actor/audience relationship” but it’s also, at the simplest level, pure entertainment. And it’s so much more than pure entertainment at the same time. It raises questions about sleep, about dreams, about the subconscious. It is so great that it can bridge popular entertainment with sophisticated literary study or even psychology. That’s the kind of texture that it is—and all in two hours. It’s just amazing.

Although his background is in music and film, Stepp recently wrote his first novel, “Lost and Found,” which draws heavily on his time here at the University. His burst of creative energy was chiefly inspired by the writings of F. Scott Fitzgerald, specifically the classic “This Side of Paradise.”

“I was about 30 or 50 pages into it—and I just went to my computer and started writing,” Stepp said.

At first, the novel simply revolved around the main character Jacob, who serves as the embodiment of Stepp’s memorable days as a freshman. However, this was not enough for Stepp, who was looking to write a more profound piece than simply the story of a kid at college.

Taking the plot in a darker direction, Stepp introduces a conspiracy thread as Jacob and his older mentor, professor Yuri, hunt for a valuable music manuscript. This journey is littered with references to the University.

“There is a basement in [the music school], and it’s creepy as hell. I snuck down there one night; it’s full of just old filing cabinets and stuff from the ’70s,” Stepp said. “I always had this idea that the basement was something secretive or hidden. That sort of spawned the whole manuscript that somehow got lost in this basement that nobody ever goes to.”

While Jacob strongly reflects Stepp and his experiences at Wash. U., other characters in the novel were completely original or amalgams of people he knew or encountered. This includes Yuri, whose relationship with Jacob is the primary focus of the novel.

“I wanted to write a story about the relationship between the young and old—not in like a romantic way, not in an evil way. Just sort of these two wandering souls that happen to meet each other,” Stepp said.

Stepp does not solely consider himself a literary author. He also has a tremendous passion for writing music, a process that captured his interest when he was only 8 years old. He contends that the two art forms are actually very similar.

“[The process of writing] is very organic. The stuff I write musically, I don’t sit down and think ‘OK, I’m going to write a song about X, and it’s going to sound like this,’ I just sort of start playing it. It’s exactly the same way with my writing,” Stepp said.

Stepp comes from a family of authors—both his mother and father are published writers. And now, Stepp has become part of the family legacy with his own unique style that cannot yet be slotted into any single genre.

Fans of “Lost and Found” can look forward to another novel from Stepp in the future, which will be more action-focused and surreal. For Stepp, writing will always be a part of who he is.

“[Writing “Lost and Found”] was a really rewarding experience. It’s made me realize that this is what I want to do. I love my job; I love the industry I work in, but when I’m 40, 50 years old, I would much rather be writing novels. This is where my head’s at long-term,” Stepp said.

Read a review of “Lost and Found.”

Juniors Alex Plutzer, Max Wenneker and Max Solomon Bennett are the co-founders of BandScramble, a new musical social networking website, started right here at Washington University.

Music is universal. Whether you are a fan or a musician, music reaches each of us in a unique way. Yet there is often a barrier between those who create and those who listen. Plutzer, Wenneker and Bennett hope that BandScramble will be the answer to overcoming that disconnect.

“We’re emphasizing that we’re a team; we’re not a bunch of ragtag musicians with just an idea,” said Plutzer, Chief Visionary Officer of BandScramble. He is a musician currently marketing his own music to major record companies.

Wenneker, the Chief Executive Officer, is also a varsity baseball player and founder of WenneCorp, a half-million dollar company that buys and re-sells used cellular phones. Bennett, the Chief Financial Officer, is a musician and successful student who is already balancing his work on the website with an outside job.

“BandScramble could be the next huge thing,” Bennett said. “And you’re seeing it in the beginning stage. This is exciting because you’re part of it. Something big is starting here [at Wash. U.].”

BandScramble is the ultimate connection between bands, fans and musicians. It is a combination of all the sites you know (Facebook, Myspace, PureVolume) and more. This innovative new website promotes the unification of these social and musical sites and syncs them into one great space. BandScramble is comprehensively connecting all types of users like never before.

While Plutzer originally had the idea to create a site that linked bands to lone musicians, BandScramble now provides not only that link but also exposure for local bands.

The key point, however, is that the site is not just for musicians. Fans can dive deeper into music than ever before—BandScramble separates the boundary between promotion and consumption.

“This is music up-close,” Wenneker said. “I love Coldplay, but I can’t go meet Coldplay. On BandScramble, I can type in ‘Coldplay’ and find bands like them right around the corner. I can find my own Coldplay here in Saint Louis.”

BandScramble is personalized to users because you can have your own profile. As Bennett said, however, “everyone has an equal profile, and it levels out—Radiohead and I have the same profile.” When you originally create a profile, BandScramble syncs your Facebook information into your new BandScramble profile.

On this profile, users can include basic information (name, location, age, a brief bio), musical interests (favorite bands or musical influences), musical talents and level of expertise, groups (what other BandScramble users you’ve chosen to connect yourself with) and a bulletin (similar to a Facebook wall).

This unique social website lifts the veils from your favorite bands. On the site, a band is like a Facebook group, yet you can access the individual pages of the band members to find more information about each member. While browsing the site and switching pages, you can have music playing consistently with BandScramble’s built-in music player. In the near future, users will even be able to purchase the songs they like.

The focus of the website is you, the user. Wenneker said that “the key to a good website is looking to do better for the user, not going just to make money.”

“I actually want to link people up,” Plutzer said. “This is coming from the real thing. We actually really believe in this, and we know it is going to happen.”

Currently BandScramble is in the beginning phases, just trying to get the word out to the Wash. U. community. The founders are actively looking for a full-time programmer. The excitement is that we at Wash. U. can be part of this new idea before anyone else.

Bennett explained that BandScramble has a tight corporate structure, with a sound business plan, legal backing and six classes of trademarking. “In the short term,” he said, “our goal is to just spread the word.

After witnessing Mark Zuckerberg’s fame from afar, now we can see a similar phenomenon unfolding right here on campus—among our own classmates. So jump on the bandwagon and become one of BandScamble’s first users before they go global. “This is going to be big,” Plutzer said.

“I’m trying to explain problems to people and give a substantive response,” Tamanaha said. “I’m a lawyer. I can do that.”

In June, Tamanaha wrote a post called “Wake Up Fellow Law Professors” in which he highlighted the discrepancy between the high number of students admitted to law school and the dwindling number of available positions for lawyers in the current job market.

He also accused some non-elite law schools of distributing deceptive statistics about graduates’ employment rates.

“It’s a concern for a lot of law professors, as it should be,” Tamanaha said. “It’s an irresponsible situation we should all be aware of.”

In his post, Tamanaha argued that many law schools mislead students about their prospects, which causes them “to enter a saturated legal market with long odds against them,” he said.

He followed up with an Oct. 18 post titled “The Irresponsibility of Law Schools.” The post included charts showing an increase in law school acceptance rates and an overall decline of legal employees in the workforce.

A newcomer to St. Louis, Tamanaha posted regularly for “Balkinization” for five years. The blog which was started by Jack Balkin of Yale Law School.

When Tamanaha began writing for “Balkinization,” the nation was embroiled in legal and ethical debates surrounding the Bush administration’s stance on torture.

“Initially, I was reluctant to contribute,” Tamanaha said. When he finally agreed to join Balkin’s project, many of his early posts focused on controversial torture-related issues. He has also blogged about natural law, racism within the law and legal reform.

According to Tamanaha, “Balkinization” is just one high-profile legal blog among many, including “Above the Law” and “Instapundit.”

“For whatever reason, law professors have really gotten into blogging,” he said. “It’s quite unusual in terms of blogs that there are so many in a particular area. Really, it’s quite an oddity.”

Originally from Santa Monica, CA, Tamanaha holds degrees from the University of Oregon, Brown University and Harvard University. Before coming to St. Louis, he spent 15 years in New York, where he taught at St. John’s University.

Tamanaha has also published six books throughout his career, though he feels that blogging may be a better vehicle for what he has to say.

“When I write a book, I have a very limited audience,” he said. “This is an opportunity to have exposure to a much broader audience and more immediately.”

While blogging is a very different and much quicker process than writing a book, Tamanaha makes sure not to post anything he cannot support with research.

“I’m not saying profound things on a weekly basis, but it does take work and I don’t ever want to put up something stupid,” he said. “This is not me as a scholar, necessarily, but me as an intelligent person with an opinion.”

Despite the controversy surrounding his recent posts, Tamanaha said that he does not regret his contributions to the blogosphere. In fact, his blogging has even provided him with several professional benefits; Tamanaha has been interviewed by several news corporations, including National Public Radio.

Although some of his recent posts have drawn criticism within legal circles, Tamanaha stands by what he has written.

“When you say something that means something, it’s often controversial,” he said. “I always ask myself, ‘Do I want my name attached to this?’ Because once it’s out there, it’s beyond your control.”