April 11, 2008 Focus B-5 Powell juggles law, education careers Silvis recipient of Continued from Page B-1 bright students...it was a very tough school to get into.” Honorary Doctor Two weeks ago, Powell received an award that recognized practice of law,” Powell said. “Members deal with licenses and are his service with the Butler County Bar Association and also the also the ones who accredit law schools.” Pennsylvania Bar Association. of Letters Degree At the beginning of Powell’s law career, he mostly dealt with local “I was honored with 50 years of service in the profession,” Powell civil cases. said. “It recognizes those in the fi eld of teaching and practicing Continued from Page B-1 “I worked in the Butler and Pittsburgh areas dealing with civil and law.” criminal court cases,” Powell said. “I did family law cases such as Powell, who in 2005 set up a $1,000-per-year scholarship for pre-law the Mexican folklore, which soon became divorce, wills, or real estate issues.” students at SRU, currently teaches several courses at SRU: American the cornerstone of his work. His tale went In 1991 and 2000, Powell became an exchange professor, which National Government, The Courts and Criminal Law. He also is the on a journey from short story, to novella, to means he temporarily took another professor’s job and that professor pre-law adviser for students wanting to attend law school. screenplay and fi nally, to novel, which Silvis took his. He taught American studies at the Shanghai International “My fi rst love is teaching and teaching college students,” Powell found to be a perfect fi t. University of China. said. “Looking back to when I started teaching in 1951, it has been The work was published by Omnidawn Books “People wanted to learn about America so we covered reading, an interesting career.” in April 2007 and went on to get a starred writing and speaking English,” Powell said. “I taught some extremely review from Publisher’s Weekly, along with many other positive marks from literary and genre reviewers. The Bloomsbury Review has UPB's choice of country singer receives mixed reviews compared his “haunting imagery” to Albert Camus’ “The Stranger.” His writing has also Continued from Page B-1 portions of our student body,” she been paralleled with that of Gabriel Garcia said. Marquez’s “100 Years of Solitude.” concert. The maximum occupancy for Rocus said that the performers for UPB “It’s one of my favorite books,” Silvis said of concerts held in the ARC is 1,900. concerts are chosen after a committee “100 Years of Solitude.” “(Marquez) depicted “Tickets sales are wonderful, and of almost 45 students sit down and a realistic life with elements of magic in it, and of course, our goal is to sell out the suggest artists they would want to see that’s the way I saw the world. It’s very fl attering concert,” Rocus said. come to campus. The committee then and complimentary that certain reviewers made Some students at SRU are excited to goes down the list to find out about the that comparison.” have the country singer visit campus. potential artists’ availability. In 1984, his fi rst book, a compilation of short “I love Dierks Bentley,” said Megan “We (the UPB) want every student stories called “The Luckiest Man in the World,” Wislie, a 21-year-old education major. to see at least two concerts they would won the Drue Heinz Literature Prize, one of the “I’m really excited for the concert enjoy before they graduate,” Rocus most prestigious awards for short fi ction in the because I go to all the country concerts said. country at that time. in the summer, so it’s nice to have such Jennifer Shuniak, a 20-year-old dance “I was the fi rst Pennsylvanian to win it,” Silvis a big star come to SRU. It’s a great PHOTO COURTESY OF MCT CAMPUS major, said that she would prefer seeing said, “and at the time, I was the youngest writer way to kick off my summer country Dierks Bentley will be forming at SRU this Sunday at someone other than a country artist. to receive it. I was struggling for a long time, just concerts.” 7:30 p.m. in the Aebersold Recreation Center. “I pretty much hate country,” Shuniak selling a few short stories here and there, and all Allison Avolio, a 23-year-old pursuing said. “I think that they should get of a sudden, to be given that kind of validation her master’s degree in student affairs, artists Trace Adkins and Chris Cagle someone that everyone would enjoy, like was a wonderful thing.” said that she is pumped that a country (2005), emo rockers Hawthorne Heights Dave Matthews Band. Who doesn’t like The award won him a deal with a New York artist is performing live at SRU during (2006) and rapper T.I. (2007). them?” City agent and also the momentum he needed her last year on campus. Janelle Risser, a 20-year-old business Bentley is nominated for the 2008 to take on the literary world. “I am definitely going to see Dierks major, said that she would prefer an artist Country Music Television “Best Last winter Silvis received an honorary Doctor on Sunday because I am a huge country that would reach a variety of students. Performance of the Year” award for of Letters degree from IUP. He is continuing to music fan and he is the kind of artist “Getting someone who is of one the song, “Free and Easy Down the write and currently has two novels in the works, that has a devotion to writing and living genre but stretches across others and Road I Go,” from his “Long Trip Alone” one of which he hopes to fi nish by the end of the his music,” Avolio said. “He builds his is featured with a lot of other artists album. summer. He is also putting the fi nishing touches fan base by being real, not by being like Justin Timberlake or Chris Brown The CMT awards will be held April 14, on a book of creative non-fi ction, “Standing Still: famous.” would be nice because I think it would at the Nashville’s Curb Event Center at A Writer’s Journey,” which he hopes will be The spring concert in past years have reach a larger audience, rather than the Belmont University in Tennessee. entertaining while providing useful information featured rapper Ludacris (2004), country extremes who only appeal to smaller to people interested in becoming writers.