Emma Elizabeth Casey, a University of Kansas freshman from Overland Park studying flute

KU flute student wins young artist competition in Hays.
Emma Elizabeth Casey, a University of Kansas freshman from Overland Park studying flute, won the $500 first prize at the Hays Symphony Orchestra Young Artist Competition.

The competition took place Nov. 11 at Fort Hays State University.

Casey, who studies under David Fedele, assistant professor of flute, was one of three finalists in the competition. Finalists performed a piece from memory with the Hays Symphony Orchestra. Casey won with her performance of “Concertino for Flute and Orchestra” (Opus 107, 1902) by Cecile Chaminade.

Casey is the daughter of Tim and Barbara Casey of Overland Park and a Blue Valley North High School graduate.

Casey began playing the flute at age 5 and has been a member of the Kansas City Youth Symphony for eight years. She was the principal flutist of the KU Symphony Orchestra for the 2005-2007 seasons, which included a concert tour of Italy. She also was principal flutist of the 2006-07 Kansas All-State Honor Orchestra and has been principal flutist of the Prairie Winds Festival at KU and in the KU Wind Ensemble.

Casey was a National Merit semifinalist and has received several scholarships at KU, including the Dominic Fedele Flute Scholarship and a Harley S. Nelson Family Scholarship in the Arts. She received a 2007 Shooting Stars Scholarship, awarded by the Arts Council of Johnson County and was a finalist in the 2005 Kansas City Flute Association Rising Stars Soloist Competition. She also is a vocalist and dancer, appearing in community musical theater productions throughout the Kansas City area.

Rise of Temperatures Health Could Decline

lifeDepending on where you are, this is going to be a hotter, wetter, drier, windier, calmer, dirtier, buggier or hungrier century than mankind has seen in a while. In some places, it may be deadlier, too.

The effects of climate change are diverse and sometimes contradictory. In general, they favor instability and extreme events. On balance, they will tend to harm health rather than promote it.

That is the majority view of scientists trying to solve an equation whose variables range from greenhouse gas concentrations and the El Ni¿o weather pattern to mosquito ecology and human cells' ability to withstand heat.

"We are not dealing with a single toxic agent or a single microbe where we can put our finger with certainty on an exposure and the response," said Jonathan A. Patz, a physician and epidemiologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. "Climate change affects everything."

Predictions of how global warming could affect people's health are crude. They are based on the experience of the past several decades, when there has been a small, well-documented rise in the temperatures of the planet's atmosphere and oceans. What that says about the future -- a time when warming is expected to accelerate, but people may be able to prepare for it -- is quite uncertain.

In the last quarter of the 20th century, the average atmospheric temperature rose by about 1 degree Fahrenheit. By 2000, that increase was responsible for the annual loss of about 160,000 lives and the loss of 5.5 million years of healthy life, according to estimates by the World Health Organization. The toll is expected to double to about 300,000 lives and 11 million years of healthy life by 2020.

The biggest tolls were in Africa, on the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia. Most of that increased burden of death and disease was from malnutrition, diarrhea, malaria, heat waves and floods. But those diseases will play a minor role, at best, in many regions that nevertheless will feel the effects of global warming.
The most obvious effect of global warming is hotter weather.

Scientists predict that heat waves will be longer and more frequent in the future. Their worst-case effects may have been glimpsed in Europe's summer of 2003, the hottest spell there since the 1500s. About 30,000 people died of heat-related illness, including 14,800 in France in three weeks in August.

People who were old, very young, ill, immobile or poor were at highest risk. Although the human body can adapt somewhat to chronically higher temperatures, those groups will remain vulnerable -- and they are likely to make up a bigger slice of the population in the future.

About 20 percent of people in industrialized countries are over age 60 today. That figure will rise to 32 percent by 2050. More people will also live in cities -- 61 percent of the world's population by 2030, compared with 45 percent now. Cities are "heat islands," 9 degrees Fahrenheit warmer on average than surrounding rural areas and resistant to the cooling effects of night.
Aging and urbanization -- and possibly more obesity -- will put people at greater risk for heat-related illness. Nevertheless, that consequence of global warming may be easier to avoid than others, as a study published three years ago suggests.

It examined mortality on hot days in 28 cities in the last third of the 20th century. Death rates were lower in the 1980s and 1990s than in the 1960s and 1970s in most places, with the least reduction in cities of the Northeast and the Midwest. (A heat wave in Chicago in 1995 caused more than 500 deaths, the biggest U.S. toll in years.)

This steady decline in heat-stress death was almost certainly the consequence of air conditioning, better awareness of the problem and improved medical care.

"If there is a very effective response system, then even in hotter temperatures you may not see more deaths," said Kristie L. Ebi, an epidemiologist and consultant in Alexandria. She helped write the health chapter of the most recent report of the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was this year's Nobel Peace Prize winner along with Al Gore.

Extreme Weather

Climate change is expected to increase the severity of storms, especially ones associated with cyclical events such as the El Ni¿o Southern Oscillation.

Flooding is the most common weather disaster, responsible for the deaths of about 100,000 people and the displacement of 1.2 billion from 1992 to 2001. The worsening of this hazard will vary by region. It is expected to change little in Southeast Asia by 2030, but it may increase 50 percent in West Africa and quadruple in Central and South America.

In addition to storms, rising oceans threaten coastal populations. Of the world's 20 megacities, 13 are at sea level. Storm surges, while short-lived, can cause permanent damage, eroding land and damaging water supplies and cropland with saltwater.


Greater variability in weather patterns along with higher temperatures may lead to droughts and water shortages. Today, 1.7 billion people -- about one-third of the world's population -- live in places that have periodic water shortages. That number is expected to increase to 5 billion by 2025.

When it comes to food production, climate change will have varying effects. Overall, it will tend to slow the long historical decline in the number of hungry people.

In 1990, there were 520 million people at risk of hunger, according to a study by British and American scientists published in 2005. In the absence of global warming, that number was predicted to fall to 300 million by 2080. With global warming, it is expected to fall to 380 million, although under various scenarios of greenhouse gas reductions it could drop to 320 to 340 million, according to recent mathematical modeling.



Air Pollution

Climate change affects air pollution in two ways.

Heat speeds chemical reactions and consequently may worsen pollution from ozone and airborne particulates, or soot. It may also spur pollen production by some plants, which could in turn worsen asthma and allergies in some people.


One model of global warming's effects on air pollution in 15 eastern U.S. cities predicts that the number of days exceeding ozone standards will rise from the current average of 12 to 20 per summer by 2050. Deaths linked to that pollutant -- nearly all in people who have lung or heart ailments -- could go up 5 percent under that scenario.

Waterborne and Food-Borne Disease

Higher temperatures and torrential rains are likely to cause outbreaks of some diarrheal diseases.
The incidence of cholera -- a bacterial infection whose home is South Asia but that circles the world in slow epidemics -- depends in part on water temperatures in the Bay of Bengal and on monsoon rains. A recent study of waterborne-disease outbreaks in the United States in the past 50 years found that 67 percent were preceded by heavy rainfall.

Researchers in Australia have shown that the number of food-borne infections from salmonella bacteria goes up in hot weather.

Overall, climate change is expected to increase the burden of diarrhea, mostly in developing countries, by 2 to 5 percent by 2020.

Vector-Borne Disease




Scientists suspect that many diseases transmitted by insects and animals will become more common, although there is more uncertainty about this than other consequences of global warming.

Dengue and malaria, carried by mosquitoes, are most likely to increase. Under some projections, Africans will be exposed to malaria 25 percent more of the time in 2100 than they are now.

That risk, however, could be offset by controlling mosquitoes with pesticides, the use of bed nets by children and pregnant women, and better medical care.


Other diseases that may become more prevalent are yellow fever (also carried by mosquitoes), schistosomiasis (by snails), leishmaniasis (sand flies) and Lyme disease (ticks).

The Role of Planning



In the United States, most public discussion of global warming has been about ways to slow the phenomenon, and not about ways to dampen or prevent effects that are already inevitable.

"We are a good decade behind Europe in designing and developing adaptations that will decrease our vulnerability and increase our resilience," said Ebi, the epidemiologist.

Such planning is wise not only for the federal government and states, but for cities and towns as well, Ebi believes.

"The impacts of climate change really do depend on your local context," she said.

Creating a parody soundtrack for film is no easy task.

Walk Hard" soundtrack ups ante for parodies

Creating a parody soundtrack for film is no easy task.

Just ask writer-director Jake Kasdan, who spent eight months with co-writer Judd Apatow and a gang of songwriters in the studio recording songs for the "biopic" comedy "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story," which Columbia Pictures will release in theaters on December 21.

"It was daunting at the onset," Kasdan says. "We knew part of the appeal to this was the opportunity to go for it right away and we enlisted the help of a bunch of really talented people."

To add pressure to the process, there's the Holy Grail of parody soundtracks -- "This Is Spinal Tap" -- looming in the background. It looms over any movie creating a canon of funny songs for a fake rock star.

"'Spinal Tap' is perfect and the record is insanely great," Kasdan says. "That's the kind of gold standard you aspire to when you're entering this world."

When Kasdan and Apatow sat down to write songs for larger-than-life musician Dewey Cox (John C. Reilly), they cast a wide net to bring in songwriters and a few musical legends to help pen music that spans seven decades.

"We wanted the music to be good music, even though it's a parody, even though it's funny," says Lia Vollack, president of worldwide music for Columbia Pictures. "Bad music unfortunately in a movie isn't funny, it's just bad. It actually becomes its own joke."

By the first draft, Kasdan and Apatow, who unlike their "Spinal Tap" counterparts are not musicians, had created titles and lyric fragments suggesting the kinds of songs they wanted for each sequence of the film. From there, they collaborated with a core group of songwriters, including producer Michael Andrews, Dan Bern, Mike Viola -- who lent his vocals for 1996's "That Thing You Do!" -- and with Reilly. They also recruited several indie artists (and friends), including Antonio Ortiz, Gus Seyffert, Charlie Wadhams and Benji Hughes.

Veteran musician Marshall Crenshaw was brought in to tackle the title track, the Johnny Cash-inspired "Walk Hard."

"It was an important one," Kasdan says of the song. "He just nailed it and just found that basic thing, that riff."

To tap into Cox's political period, Bern, known for his Bob Dylan folk influences, came up with "Royal Jelly," a song Kasdan says is "marked by incomprehensible metaphors." Cox also sings a pair of politically incorrect protest songs that take up the causes of "midgets," "injuns" and others.

Composer and producer Van Dyke Parks, who collaborated with Beach Boys singer Brian Wilson for the ill-fated "Smile" album, was brought in to capture the essence of late 1960s experimental sounds. Parks penned a three-minute, 45-second acid trip titled "Black Sheep," which is highlighted in the film by Cox's in-studio drug-influenced eccentricities.

By the end of the process, hundreds of songs were in the can, and they were eventually boiled down to 15 for the soundtrack. An additional 15 songs are on iTunes.

The finished product is certainly creating a buzz in the film and music community. "Walk Hard" and "Let's Duet" made the shortlist of 59 songs in contention for an Oscar nomination.

"I think the way this particular soundtrack is structured, and based on who's writing for it, it takes the 'Spinal Tap' experience up to 12," says Downtown Records president Josh Deutsch, who worked on parody soundtracks for "Music & Lyrics" and "Borat."

But can "Walk Hard" go down the same legendary path as "Spinal Tap?"

From elaborate press kits complete with concert T-shirts and "Walk Hard" lyrics "scribbled" on a cocktail napkin to the monthlong "Cox Across America Tour," Dewey Cox seems to be walking hard in that direction.

Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story

A Sony Pictures Entertainment release of a Columbia Pictures presentation, in association with Relativity Media, of a Nominated Films production. Produced by Judd Apatow, Jake Kasdan, Clayton Townsend. Executive producer, Lew Morton. Directed by Jake Kasdan. Screenplay, Judd Apatow, Kasdan.

Dewey Cox - John C. Reilly
Darlene Madison - Jenna Fischer
Pa Cox - Raymond J. Barry
Edith - Kristen Wiig
Sam - Tim Meadows
L'Chai'm - Harold Ramis
Ma Cox - Margo Martindale
Theo - Chris Parnell
Dave - Matt Besser

At first this "Walk the Line" sendup sounds more like a sketch than a movie, before director Jake Kasdan and co-writer/producer Judd Apatow broaden it to include every tic of the musical biopic, from "The Buddy Holly Story" through the current wave. "Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story" thus strums the genre for considerable laughs, with John C. Reilly playing the title balladeer from teen to senior citizen, generating enough goodwill to offset the flat sections and a decidedly juvenile streak. While unlikely to rival Apatow's recent hits, box office should sing a merry little tune as a raunchy Oscar-bait alternative.
Hewing more toward "Airplane!" territory than he has previously, Apatow incorporates members of his repertory company in what amounts to a variety of amusing cameos, such as Paul Rudd popping up as one of the Beatles. For whatever reason, this Sony release also features a vast assortment of NBC's comedy talent, starting with "The Office's" Jenna Fischer and "Saturday Night Live's" Kristen Wiig as the protagonist's overlapping wives.

Infused with a adolescent streak that revels in its R rating and never seems to tire of puns derived from Dewey's last name, pic dutifully chronicles the life of Reilly's Cox from well-telegraphed boyhood tragedy to unexpected stardom to drug abuse, despite half-hearted "You don't want to try this" warnings from band member Sam (Tim Meadows).

Along the way, Apatow and Kasdan (coming off the satirical "The TV Set") zero in on a surprising number of spoof-worthy conventions within these films: The star playing his character starting at a ridiculously young age (when Reilly takes over as Dewey, he's 14); black characters bursting into raucous dance when a budding white singer lets loose; nurturing Jewish (here, Hassidic) record executives; and the excess that invariably accompanies stardom -- in Dewey's case, not just drugs but destructive rages that consistently wreak havoc on bathroom fixtures.

Having worked out his comedy chops for Apatow in "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby," Reilly not only belts out the double-entendre-laden tunes -- one of which sounds impressively like Roy Orbison -- but unabashedly dives into the silliness of the role. Fischer also makes the most of her turn as the backup singer who wins Dewey's heart but, much to his chagrin, keeps withholding her body.

"Walk Hard" employs a quartet of songwriters -- among them Marshall Crenshaw -- to cleverly craft Dewey's songography, which should yield a dynamite tie-in novelty soundtrack. One suspects many a young lad will find himself humming, "In my dreams, you're blowin' me (pause) sweet kisses," perhaps even inadvertently.

By its very nature, the movie is episodic in its chronological stroll through Dewey's fictional life, and not all the bits (among them a "Yellow Submarine"-like acid trip) work equally well. Fortunately, there's a general exuberance and fondness for the musical material that eases the rough spots, down to meticulous technical touches ranging from the evolving costumes and hairdos to the conspicuous makeup as Dewey enters his "Driving Miss Daisy" years.

For Apatow, "Walk Hard" also continues to demonstrate that gleefully embracing R-rated comedy needn't be reserved for DVD extras; rather, it's possible to walk hard, laugh hard and still earn hard -- a formula that's surely music to any studio's ears.

Camera (Deluxe color, Panavision widescreen), Uta Briesewitz; editors, Tara Timpone, Steve Welch; music, Michael Andrews; music supervisors, Manish Raval, Tom Wolfe; songs, Dan Bern, Mike Viola, Van Dyke Parks, Marshall Crenshaw, Charlie Wadhams; production designer, Jefferson D. Sage; art director, Domenic Silvestri; set decorator, Claudette Didul; costume designer, Debra McGuire; sound (Dolby Digital/SDDS/DTS), Tateum Kohut, Greg Landaker, Bill W. Benton; supervising sound editor, Joel Shryack; sound designer, Bob Grieve; visual effects supervisor, Mark Freund; associate producers, Andrew Epstein, Melvin Mar; assistant director, Townsend; casting, Amy McIntyre Britt, Anya Colloff. Reviewed at Mann Chinese 6, Los Angeles, Nov. 30, 2007. MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 96 MIN.


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