Published by Baltimore Student Media for the Towson University Community
November 30, 2009
Go online to
thetowerlight. com
for videos and photos
from the Macy’s parade.
nvson University Marching Band makes
vay througfiTirnes Square in the annual
i Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Photos by Eric Gazzillo/ 77ie Towerlight
The Big Apple
welcomes Towson
TU submits proposal
for The Senator Theatre
CARRIE WOOD
Staff Writer
Somewhere between the Winter Wonderland float and
the giant Smurf balloon, the Towson University TIGER
Marching Band took the spotlight. For the first time in
the school’s history, the band played in the nationally-
televised Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade before an
audience of thousands in the streets and millions watch¬
ing at home Thanksgiving Day.
Those viewing at home may have experienced some
confusion when NBC labeled the band with a graphic
that read "Towson High School" instead of "Towson
University." Band director John
Miliauskas - said he heard about
what hap-
entirely dis-
with it.
pened, but wasn't
pleased
\
(TS
x-J, IK'ne •
eAND
“Those are things out of our control. That’s someone
else’s performance issue, not ours. If that's the one thing
that goes wrong amongst the possible things that could
have gone wrong, that's not so bad," he said. “You have
to wait six years to apply for the parade again, and I will
certainly drop a little hint, like ‘you can make it up six
years from now when we apply again."’
Throughout the parade, the band played and sang
the Towson fight song, “Hail Towson," as well as "Strike
up the Band” and the drumline’s cadence. For the NBC
cameras, they played a medley of music by Bill Chase
- a piece they performed as part of their field show in
2006.
Miliauskas said he was pleased with the end result.
"From a performance standpoint, I think we did as
well as we were going to do. Throughout the parade
route, I thought we looked good and we sounded good,"
he said.
Band members also expressed how excited they were
with their show.
"The performance was fun. There were a few slip-ups
that happened, but overall it was a lot of fun," senior
environmental science major Nicholas Zahn said. "It
was a lot of work getting here; that’s no lie at all. But I
think the excitement of last night's rehearsal and today’s
performance was amazing."
The band had been up since 2 a.m., when they
received a wake-up call and loaded the buses to practice
See MACY'S, page 7
TYLER WALDMAN
Associate Arts Editor
Towson's oft-heard marketing slogan is "Thinking Outside." If a
recent proposal to the Baltimore Development Corporation works
out, "outside" could mean just a few miles down York Road.
On Nov. 23, the BDC released four proposals, including one from
TU, made to operate The Senator Theatre in Govans. The landmark
Art Deco movie palace has had well-publicized troubles in the last
year. After a foreclosure in March, Baltimore City officials stepped in
to buy the note and, in July, won the theatre at its own foreclosure
auction. Previous owner Tom Kiefaber has since continued to operate
the building, showing older films and hosting community events until
a final plan is in place.
Towson put in a bid to operate the building, perform "historically
sensitive" renovations, use the office space as a new home for WTMD,
the public radio station currently housed in the Media Center base¬
ment, and serve as a showcase for student work and electronic media
and film department events.
Steve Yasko, WTMD’s general manager, was optimistic in an e-mail
sent to station supporters the day the proposals were revealed.
‘‘WTMD’s outgrown its space," he said in an interview last Monday.
"This was kind of a happy coincidence that the city was looking for a
new operator of The Senator."
Ellen Stokes, associate vice president for University marketing, said
the deal, if approved, would also provide the University with a more
visible outlet for community and University activities, including film
festivals, science demonstrations and arts events.
See THEATRE, page 10
