Vol. 5, No. 12 February 21, 2008 IN THE WORKS History made with a drum beat By Carol C. Bradley Editor’s Note: As Black History Month continues, drum instructor Billy “Stix” Nicks provides an account of life in South Bend in the 1960s and his years as part of the Phasing in a new Motown music scene. recycling system He was born the son of a Mississippi sharecropper, and went on ...page 2 to become a Motown success story, playing with Junior Walker and the All Stars on hits like “Roadrunner” and “How Sweet It Is To Be Loved By You.” Bill “Stix” Nicks and The Rhythm Rockers played live on television station Today Billy “Stix” Nicks is 73 years old, with five children, eight WNDU, then known as Channel 46. From left, John Berry on trombone, Bill grandchildren, “and six great-grandbabies. God blessed me to live to see another Nicks, Junior Walker and Fred Patton on piano. At right, one of the station’s generation,” he says. emcees, pretends to play Junior’s saxophone. Photo provided. But you can’t exactly call him retired. He teaches drums for the Notre Dame was an equal-opportunity employer Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. band program, and he still plays in a combo—The Three Souls—that performs at long before anyone else.” with Louis Armstrong, Sammy Davis venues like the Bistro on the Race and Club LaSalle. Jr. and soprano Leontyne Price. Nicks was drafted into the army, Nicks was born in Greenwood, Miss., one of seven children of Wyze and Alma and the band didn’t last long with Junior But it wasn’t until the late 1960s, A boost for Nicks. Sharecropping, he points out, “was a form of slavery also. Sharecroppers Walker as the leader. “He couldn’t he says, that he taught himself to read language studies couldn’t leave, because they owed the company store.” get along with the station manager,” and count. “I faked my way through Nicks remembers. In the late 1960s, he school, and through the 449th Army ...page 3 But his parents were lucky—when settlement day came, “By the grace of God,” Nicks says, they had enough money to buy tickets and come north to South rejoined Walker’s band—they went on Band Music School,” he says. Bend, where his father got a job at Studebaker. to record on the Motown/Soul label and tour nationwide. Reflecting on his life and career, Nicks was a junior in high school, he says, when he realized his calling in life Nicks says, “You are looking at a was to play the drums. With Junior Walker and the All well-blessed and thankful old man. Stars, Nicks shared the stage with the Knowing where I came from…I’m the A friend borrowed a pair of drumsticks for him, he says, and he started Temptations, Marvin Gaye and Gladys son of a sharecropper. I’m not a rich practicing at home, playing at first on chairs and books. His first set of drums was Knight and the Pips. They played the man,” he says. “Most people equate an old set bought second-hand from a pawnshop. The nickname “Stix” he acquired Dick Clark Show, the Apollo Theater in success with money. But I know my from fellow musician Jackie Ivory, because he carried his drumsticks with him New York, and the Regal in Chicago. life has been successful by the way my everywhere. heavenly father has blessed me—and The highlight of his career, he says, continues to bless me. It was only by In 1954, Nicks formed a band called “The Rhythm Rockers,” with South Bend was a benefit for the United Negro the grace of God I made it this far.” Inspired by a dark native Junior Walker on sax, and Fred Patton on piano and vocals. College Fund. The band performed at episode ...page 3 Nicks’ connection to Notre Dame dates back to the earliest days of his career—in 1956, the band was hired to play for television station WNDU, which had opened the year before. The station was then Channel 46, and the band was hired by the station manager to play for the Saturday afternoon dance party for teenagers, “Club 46.” They were the first African American group to play live television in South Bend, Nicks notes, Performance fever something he attributes to the influence of Rev. Theodore Nicks’ band (at upper right) played live on WNDU’s ...pages 4-5 Hesburgh, C.S.C. “WNDU Billy “Stix” Nicks played the drums with Motown great Junior Walker and Saturday afternoon dance show “Club 46.” Photo the All Stars. Photo by Carol C. Bradley. provided. ‘Magical’ Faust story energizes campus classrooms, productions The chemistry of safety ...page 7 By Gail Hinchion Mancini magical powers. After he died participate. The Faust story, they might in a laboratory accident, the argue, is magic in itself, opening doors Once upon a time, in the 16th century, a German named Johann to knowledge in ways the charlatan powers of folklore and rumor alchemist could only dream. Faust made a reputation for himself as an alchemist who claimed shaped his story with this plot twist: Perhaps he had made a Throughout this academic year, one version or another of the Faust pact with the devil. story is being taught, performed This is one version of the cultural or screened. The overall effort, origins that inspired one of the most coordinated by Stuart Greene, enduring stories in literature, music, associate dean of the College of Arts art and cinema, about a man who has and Letters, bears the humorous title turned away from God and made a “Life in the Faust Lane.” It culminates The world of deal with the devil to gain ultimate in April with several student knowledge and power. performances, films and an academic amateur radio seminar. (Details of the overall effort ...page 8 Attention to this story across are available at nd.edu/~faust.) the University this academic year is providing an energizing experience Jan Hagens, associate director of for faculty, who make the case College Seminar, suggested the Faust that no member of the University family should pass up the chance to Continued on page 2 SHORT TaKES Single-stream recycling program is introduced million pounds of recyclables. The percentage of waste the University recycles rose “It has become a wasteful act to ND Works staff writer from less than 10 percent in the early 1990s to almost 60 percent in the 2005–06 print the ‘Hours’ books in these large academic year. numbers, and we have discovered that An easier method of waste disposal, called single-stream printing just a few copies will cost Increasing the availability of containers and decreasing the steps necessary nearly the same due to printing set-up recycling, is being phased in across campus to increase faculty, to recycle are key to a successful recycling program, Coughlin says. Further charges,” he says. staff and student participation in the University’s recycling information about the University’s recycling efforts is available at green.nd.edu. program. The most current information about classes will be presented in the online Campus recycling facilities that provide separate receptacles for newspaper, version, which is updated regularly at glass, mixed paper and plastic bottles will be relabeled over the coming months Paper version of class registrar.nd.edu/ClassSearch.shtml. to inform employees that almost any recyclable item may be deposited in any receptacle. The decision to suspend printing schedule is phased out of “Hours” was made by a committee Single-stream recycling premiered this fall in the residence halls and already of assistant and associate deans who has increased participation, according to Amy Coughlin, director of project were concerned about the unneeded management for Business Operations. The first residence hall to experiment with ND Works staff writer volume and who recognized that single-stream recycling collected as many items through September as it had in the the most up-to-date information is The “Hours of Instruction” book, the official University class schedule, will previous academic year, she says. available online. The size of the not be produced in a print version beginning with the fall 2008 schedule, the Office undergraduate schedule had grown to of the Registrar announced last week. The University’s recycling partner, Waste Management, accepts mixed a point that a more expensive binding recyclables. Therefore, any item can be deposited in any recycling bin, even if The staff just couldn’t justify producing something that resulted in “piles left would be needed. They determined the the containers continue to be labeled for a specific material. One exception: the over after each registration cycle,” says Registrar Harold Pace. Besides the unused decision makes sense “financially and University asks that cardboard not be included in bins, but instead be broken down copies that accumulated in the Registrar’s Main Building office, deans reported environmentally,” Pace says. and left near a recycling container. their own accumulation of unused books. The decision does not solve a Paper, plastics, aluminum, steel or tin cans and containers; clear, green and “Hours” information is provided online, the version of choice for most Registrar’s office dilemma: What to brown glass, all are welcome in recycling containers. Wax-coated, foil or plastic- students. Academic advisors use the paper version during advising sessions with do with the almost 250 leftover copies lined paper should be excluded, as should plastic bottles with motor oil. Although students. For that reason, the Registrar’s Office will produce the document in its of the spring 2008 version.