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The Dead Parrots Society, a student improvisational comedy troupe, has won the national College Improv Tournament. The event took place in Chicago on Saturday, Feb. 26.
"It was the most amazing day of my life," says Alison Luhrs, one of the team's members. "It was really surreal. Such a rollercoaster. Absolutely exhausting in every way."
The team arrived in Chicago on Friday and had an evening to themselves to eat deep-dish pizza and talk strategy before arriving at the theater at 9 a.m. Saturday. They didn't leave until 1:30 the next morning.
"I think the entire team got about 40 minutes of sleep over the weekend," Luhrs says. "We spent a lot of time doing something we absolutely love doing."
With so little sleep and so much activity going on, all of the team members came down with a pretty nasty flu on Sunday.
"But it's OK; I've never had a flu that was so absolutely worth it," Luhrs says.
The tournament is a prestigious competition, with former participants now show regulars on Comedy Central and performing with professional improv companies.
Five members of The Dead Parrots Society competed on Nov. 13 at the Northwest Regional Improv Tournament held at the University Theatre in Seattle and took first place, qualifying the team for nationals. A total of 96 college teams competed throughout the tournament, with the top 12 competing in the all-day culminating event on Saturday.
The Dead Parrots Society was the first team not from Illinois to take the title in the tournament's history, Luhrs says.
"I guess people just assumed that they don't make funny kids anywhere else any more," she says. "We're just a bunch of hipsters from the Northwest who drink way too much coffee. I actually had someone come up to me and say that the Northwest is the unfunniest place in the country. I'm really happy to be the ones to prove them wrong."
Improv is totally made up, on the spot, Luhrs says. No planning went into any of the Dead Parrots Society's performances in the tournament.
"That's the magic of improv, being able to tell a story on the fly," she says. "We're kind of magicians in a really lame way."
All members of the Dead Parrots Society hope to make some sort of career in improv comedy, Luhrs says. It's a college hobby, but it's also a passion.
"We're all pretty much guaranteed jobs now, and that's exciting," she says. "We have a really, really shiny thing to put on our resumes now."
Overall, the experience at the tournament was a humbling one, Luhrs says.
"It was so nice to be surrounded by so many young, talented people whom you know you're going to be working with in a couple of years," she says.
In this video, Western's appearance in the finals begins roughly 35:40 into the video. The announcement of the winners begins at 2:04:00.
When the Dead Parrots Society was announced as the winner, the building erupted in cheers. The teams other members stormed the floor and everyone hugged and danced.
"Everyone was screaming, the girls were crying," Luhrs says. "It was amazing."
Founded in 1998, the team features WWU students who specialize in improvisational theatre: the fine art of performing hilarious scenes at the drop of a hat. In addition to performing regularly throughout the year at various venues in the Bellingham area, The Dead Parrots Society hosts open rehearsals each Tuesday evening at 8 p.m. in room 110 of the Humanities building on Western’s campus to help share the art of improv with the public.
To learn more about The Dead Parrots Society and their upcoming performances, please visit the Dead Parrots Society Fan Club page on Facebook.
In late January, a film crew from television station News10 in Sacramento, Calif., came to the Western Washington University campus to recreate WWU psychology professor Ira Hyman's research on cell phone use.
Hyman's research focuses on whether people talking or texting on their cell phones are "inattentionally blind" and fail to see strange objects right in front of them.
News10 reporter Lorraine Blanco and cameraman Brandon Atchison recreated the experiment Jan. 24. Their segment was posted today on the News10 website.
Jim Reavis, a technology security consultant and executive director of the Cloud Security Alliance, addressed the fall commencement ceremony at Western Washington University at 10 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 11, in Carver Gymnasium.
Reavis, of Ferndale, is an entrepreneur, strategist, speaker and writer specializing in the future of information security. As president of the Reavis Consulting Group, he advises Fortune 500 companies and government agencies on how to take advantage of emerging trends in information technology while maintaining high standards in security. And as executive director of the nonprofit group Cloud Security Alliance, Reavis helps promote the best information security practices throughout the computing industry and beyond.
A member of the Western Alumni Association board of directors, Reavis says new graduates can have a dramatic impact on the world.
“Whether it’s a business, social or political movement, one person has a greater ability to change the world now than in any time in the past,” Reavis says.
Western Washington University graduating student Bailee Bailey speaks at the fall 2010 commencement ceremony on Dec. 11, 2010.
Bailey received a Bachelor of Science in Manufacturing Engineering Technology at commencement. A Bellingham native, Bailey’s experience includes helping to design a gravity-powered laundry station for a small rural community in Guatemala.
Cultural Anthropology major Ariadnne Alatriste Peña was recognized at Commencement Saturday Dec. 11 as Western Washington University’s honorary 100,000th degree recipient.
Western officials knew the 100,000th degree would be awarded Saturday and selected a student at random to represent the recipient of the landmark degree. Alatriste, of Laguna Hills, Calif., had entered the drawing to be considered, but did not know she had been selected until it was her turn to walk across the stage at Saturday’s Commencement ceremony. She received a gift basket filled with Western Washington University memorabilia, including a blanket, clock, coffee cup, keychain and “Western at 100” book.
“I couldn’t believe it,” Alatriste said about being selected to represent the 100,000th degree recipient. Just days before graduating, Alatriste had experienced jitters about her finals and term papers and worried she wouldn’t graduate on time. “Next thing I knew, I was winning the 100,000th degree. Everyone got up and applauded. Western works in incredible ways.”
In addition to the celebration Saturday, Western is honoring the entire 2010-11 graduating class with a commemorative brick paver installed in the sidewalk in front of Old Main. Western began awarding degrees in 1933 and this recognition does not include certificates and other diplomas awarded prior to 1933.
During her time at Western, Alatriste was involved with the Ethnic Student Center and was an officer in Western’s MEChA club. She helped found Western’s Student Coalition for Immigration Rights to rally support for the DREAM Act. She studied at Hawaii Pacific University for a quarter on a student exchange, completing an internship in Hawaii with the grassroots prison reform group Community Alliance for Prisoners. And she showcased her academic talents during Western’s Scholars Week, when she presented “Epicenters of MDR-Tuberculosis: Russian Prisons,” a study of multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis in Russian prisons.
Alatriste, who first heard about Western from a family friend, says her experience at the university helped her bring an academic focus to her interest in human rights. “I like helping the oppressed and helping those who don’t have a voice,” she said. “I got to Western and the next thing I knew, I was studying with Associate Professor Kathleen Young about war and human rights, sex and gender issues, and I was thinking, ‘This is it.’ My major is Cultural Anthropology. It’s all about reaching out and mingling with people.”
Alatriste plans to attend graduate school at University of California, Santa Cruz or at University of Colorado, Boulder, to study colonization, war, human rights and sovereignty. But first, she plans to move to Mexico and work with youth in a drug rehabilitation center.
Western is also celebrating the milestone with a redesigned diploma. The new diploma certificate incorporates Western’s blue and marks the first redesign of the document in more than a decade. Fall 2010 graduates will be the first to receive the new diploma. Alumni may also order a replacement diploma in the new design for $40 by contacting the Registrar’s Office at (360) 650-3701 or emailing jana.schueler@wwu.edu.
State budget woes have meant classroom cuts and rising tuition at state colleges and universities. Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard talked with "Inside Olympia" host Austin Jenkins on Thursday, Dec. 2, about finding for higher education in Washington state.
Western Washington University co-hosted with the Human Rights Commemorative Project a panel discussion, “Chinese Expulsion - Legacy of Intolerance in Whatcom County,” on Monday, Nov. 8, in the Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies auditorium.
Speakers discussed the anti-Chinese movement in Whatcom County in the 1885-1890 period and issues related to Chinese residents in the Puget Sound region. The role of government, the press, labor organizations and local businesses will be a major focus.
Speakers included two WWU alumni, Margaret Willson and Jeffrey MacDonald, and former WWU Woodring College of Education lecturer Paul Englesberg, who is now on the faculty of Walden University's College of Education and Leadership. Joining them on the panel were Bettie Sing Luke, project chairperson of the Chinese Expulsion Remembrance Project (Seattle) and Xinrong Lynch, president of the Chinese Cultural Association of Whatcom County.
An exhibit titled “Chinese Expulsion in Whatcom County and Beyond” is on display in November and December at WWU’s Wilson Library.
For more information on the panel discussion, contact Christopher Wise at (360) 650-3237 or christopher.wise@wwu.edu.
Western Washington University co-hosted with the Human Rights Commemorative Project a panel discussion, “Chinese Expulsion - Legacy of Intolerance in Whatcom County,” on Monday, Nov. 8, in the Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies auditorium.
Speakers discussed the anti-Chinese movement in Whatcom County in the 1885-1890 period and issues related to Chinese residents in the Puget Sound region. The role of government, the press, labor organizations and local businesses will be a major focus.
Speakers included two WWU alumni, Margaret Willson and Jeffrey MacDonald, and former WWU Woodring College of Education lecturer Paul Englesberg, who is now on the faculty of Walden University's College of Education and Leadership. Joining them on the panel were Bettie Sing Luke, project chairperson of the Chinese Expulsion Remembrance Project (Seattle) and Xinrong Lynch, president of the Chinese Cultural Association of Whatcom County.
An exhibit titled “Chinese Expulsion in Whatcom County and Beyond” is on display in November and December at WWU’s Wilson Library.
For more information on the panel discussion, contact Christopher Wise at (360) 650-3237 or christopher.wise@wwu.edu.
An interdisciplinary panel of Western Washington University faculty, staff and students discussed the Western Reads 2010 book, "The Young & the Digital," by author S. Craig Watkins, on Thursday, Nov. 4, in Communications Facility Room 115.
Dawn Dietrich (English), John Farquhar (Academic Technology), Kathleen Saunders (Anthropology) and Kai Fritchman (English) explored the nature and significance of digital culture. The panel discussion concluded with time for a question-and-answer session with the audience.
Western Reads is a campus-wide reading program designed to promote intellectual engagement, community and conversation at WWU. It is sponsored jointly by The Office of Undergraduate Education and Student Affairs.