Alumni Columns - Northwestern State University Alumni

ATHLETICSDEMONS2008 FOOTBALL SCHEDULEAug 30 TEXAS A&M - COMMERCE 6:00Sep 06 Baylor 6:00Sep 13 GRAMBLING STATE 6:00Sep 20 CAL POLY 6:00Sep 27 SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA 6:00Oct 11 NICHOLLS STATE * 6:00Oct 18 Southeastern Louisiana * 6:00Oct 25 SAM HOUSTON STATE 2:00(Homecoming) *Nov 01 Texas State * TBANov 08 Central Arkansas * 4:00Nov 15 McNEESE STATE * 6:00Nov 22 Stephen F. Austin * 6:00Purple bold text indicatesHOME games at Turpin Stadium* indicates Southland Conference gamesVisit www.nsudemons.com for moreinformationSON prepping for afull slate of excitingperformancesThe Spirit of Northwestern DemonMarching Band has exciting programs instore for Demon fans this fall. In additionto seven home football games, the SONwill offer a performance at the ParkwayHigh School (Bossier City)Marching Contest inOctober, the Natchitochesmarching contest inNovember, a trip to theSteven F. Austin footballgame and the ChristmasFestival.Dr. Bill Brent, directorof bands, and head of theNSU Creative andPerforming ArtsDepartment, expects to addabout 80 new freshmen tothe ranks of the SONresulting in more than 300 musicians andauxiliary performers on the field.“It is interesting to see them arrive fortheir first rehearsal because the majority ofthem were the leaders in their high schoolbands, either drum majors, section leadersor officers,” he said. “We train ourupperclassmen to go out of their way tomake the adjustment period a positiveexperience. It seems to work because ourretention is really pretty good compared tomost university bands.”Widely regarded as one of the bestuniversity marching bands in the southeast,the Spirit of Northwestern is a focal pointThe 2008-2009 Demon Victory Fund annual fund drive campaign has begunas the NSU Athletic Association prepares to close the books on a bannerfundraising year for Northwestern State athletics in fiscal year 2007-2008.The Demon Victory Fund, which generates monies through the NSU AthleticAssociation for athletic scholarships for NSU student-athletes, is “the lifeblood of NSUAthletics. It provides support to the areas most critical to ensuring that Demon studentathletesare adequately prepared and substantially supported to compete at the Division Ilevel,” said Executive Director of the Athletic Association Dr. William Broussard.“Support received through the NSU Athletic Association has directly contributed tothe many success stories enjoyed by the Northwestern athletic program in recent years,”said Director of Athletics Greg Burke. “At the same time, it is exciting to know that there isstill tremendous potential for growth and that increasing both donors and dollars for the‘Demon Victory Fund’ will not only sustain what has been accomplished, but will enableour student-athletes and coaches to take their programs to a higher level.”The 415 Athletic Association 2007-2008 members, who donated nearly $217,000 lastyear, took the new slogan, “Securing our Tradition, Ensuring our Future Excellence” toheart in 2007-2008.Other areas of focus for growing the DVF and Athletic Association membership in2008-2009 include introducing no-cost memberships to Demon Rewards participants,former student-athletes graduating after 2005-2006, and providing members withincreased incentives to donate.Anyone who wants more information about the DVF or wishes to contribute whodoesn’t receive a packet is encouraged to contact Broussard at (318) 357-4295, or by e-mail at broussardw@nsula.edu, or click on the Athletic Association button on thewww.nsudemons.com website.at athletic events and represents theuniversity at functions throughout the year.“I have personally had Demonfootball players tell me more than oncethat they miss the Demon band when theytravel to out-of-town gamesand that the band helps getthem fired up,” Brent said.“If we are helping motivatethe team, I can’t help butbelieve the fans like theexciting sounds of theSpirit of Northwestern aswell.”The band is currentlyin the midst of a fund drivefor new uniforms andthrough student technologyfees was able to purchaseseveral much-needed newinstruments.“We started a campaign forinstruments and uniforms in the fall of2007 and have raised a little over$10,000,” said Brent, who is in his 25thyear as director. “It is not going as fast asI had hoped and we have delayedpurchasing the uniforms for another year,but we are going to complete our goal,which is $100,000. The uniform willretain the cape that has become atrademark of the band and we actuallyhave some students who partly come toNSU because they want to wear ‘thecape.’”According to Kevin Richardson(1997), associate director of bands andassistant professor of music, the new brassinstruments include 25 saxophones, 25baritones and 25 melophones, a marchingFrench horn, which will greatly enhancethe sound of the band.“One of the sousaphones we have isolder than Bill Brent. It was built in the40s,” he said. “When Bill started, we hadfive tuba players. Now we have 25.”With seven home games, Richardson,who arranges music and writes drills, hasplanned several exciting shows.“Our goal is to do three differenthalftime shows in addition to our otherprograms,” said Richardson, who began inDecember 2007 selecting themes for thisfall, with some student inputThe band will open with a DaveMatthews show that will feature twosoloists: professors Paul Forsythe onsaxophone and Andrej Kurti on electricviolin. The Sept. 20 halftime willincorporate All Honors Band Day, DemonDrum Line and Color Guard Dayparticipants with an expected 600 visitinghigh school students joining the band onthe field for a patriotic salute to the ArmedForces. Next will be a “television mysterymusic spy-theme show” that will includethemes from “Shaft,” “Dragnet,” “MissionImpossible,” “Perry Mason” and “HawaiiFive-O.” The season will end with a Latinshow featuring Latin standards.continued on page 11Alumni Columns Summer 2008 / 10Visit our website at: