The Akron Beacon Journal from Akron, Ohio • Page 24

Page B2, Thursday, October 8, 1998 2 1 The Beacon Journal www.Ohio.com Scene Speaker's heart broken, but not her spirit Now advocate for disabled, woman tells crowd how Goodwill helps workers attain sense of accomplishment 1 -j ft' 2 At a young age, Villines learned to keep her sadness inside, never revealing her emotional pain over her disability. In high school, she was voted best student, best personality, best singer. But the bright, happy personality was all an act Inside, Villines' heart was bleeding. She was given the lead role in her high school operetta. For a moment, Villines dreamed of shedding her disability and being a star.

But her director took that joy away when he told Villines she would sing from behind stage, with another girl playing her part in front of the audience. That director was telling her that her disability was ugly, something people didn't want to see. "I sang that lead role, and I died a little," Villines said. As an advocate for people with disabilities today, Villines aims to help them achieve lives of self-respect and dignity. Goodwill's job training and employment programs give people with disabilities a sense of accomplishment so they no longer have to hide behind their pain, she said.

Villines challenged her audience to become involved with Goodwill and make a difference for others. "Let's help to make their lives real, so they don't have to pretend anymore," she said. DAVID A. SHOENKKLTSpeaal to the Beacon Journal Evelyne Villines (left) meets with Summit County Juvenile Court Judge Judith Hunter at the Goodwill Industries of Akron awards luncheon. Villines, who uses either a wheelchair or crutches, still experiences prejudice toward her disability.

But through her experiences, she has become a leading national speaker for people with disabilities. She is former vice chairwoman for the Goodwill Industries international board of directors and was appointed by President Clinton to the Committee for Purchase from People Who Are Blind or Se 7r jJ-wfKr i cVN' 1 1 little easier." The average starting salary for lawyers is $49,000, but the price tag is higher in more glamorous locales. According to Trade Mox-ley in the ABA's marketing and research department, top firms in New York start lawyers at just over $100,000. However, a lot of that money goes straight back into oan payments; the annual tuition or a full-time day student at UA is just over $7,000, and the cost bal-oons to $12,000 if the person isn't an Ohio resident "I didn't know what else to do," 24-year-old Mark Weber says when asked how he ended up in Akron's law program. "I had always done well in school especially in science and math so I got an undergraduate degree in chemical engineering.

But when it came time to graduate, I suddenly realized I never went to any of those job fairs. I didn't even have a resume. So I went to law school instead." Weber is the kind of law student that probably drives his classmates crazy. He mailed in his Law School Admission Test application on the last possible day, and after almost two years of school he still didn't know the official name of Akron's law school building (in case you're curious, it's the McDowell Law Center). Unlike his hypercompetitive peers, he took off last year to travel in Europe.

When pressed, he admits that Ohio Chamber Orchestra. Dick Feagler, master of ceremonies, said he has known Towns since they were in college. Among those enjoying the fashions from Peter's Store for Women were: Deanna Katz, Susan Trilling, Fredda Pollack, Kathy Ozan and Brenda Brown. Towns said she was thrilled to see so many people she has known for a long time. She told the crowd her life has had many amazing moments, including riding a camel up Mount Sinai, but the party topped the list.

Author of 'Midnight' Kent State University Stark Campus was the scene of a reception for author John Berendt after his keynote speech at the 30th annual Midwest Writers Conference on Friday and Saturday at the Jackson Township campus. Bob Sammartino, Peg Hawkins, Libby Jacobs and Kaeth Brown were among the fans who enjoyed meeting the author, whose book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil appeared on the New York Times best-seller list for four years. Berendt said he loved the movie version of Midnight and enjoyed having actor John Cusack portray him in the film Staff writer Kerry Clawson way be reached at 330-996-3527. Correspondent Betty O'Neill-Roderick contributed to this report him the opportunity to pursue other things with his free time (he has a lot of interest in biology). He places no stock in the glamour of the profession; in fart, Weber says being a law student doesn't even impress girls.

"I can't talk to womea I love women, but I just can't go up to them and start a conversation. And even if I could I don't think they'd care that I was a law student" he says. "Mothers always talk about marrying their daughters off to a doctor, not to a lawyer." Weber may be right perhaps moms would rather see their kids walk down the aisle with physicians than ambulance chasers. But the two jobs will always be connected as the pantheon of American success. When Willie Nelson told mamas not to let their babies grow up to be cowboys, he suggested they become doctors and lawyers (and such).

But even law students will admit that diagnosing torts is a far cry from diagnosing cancer. "It's lot harder to get into med school than it is to get into law school," says 23-year-old Beth Peckinpaugh, a second-year law student who grew up in Lima. "If you want to be a lawyer, there is some law program out there that will eventually admit you. It's not nearly as selective as people assume. But once you get here, it is demanding." Some listeners may assume that Mitchell's preference for more peaceable grooves is a function of age, but closer listening suggests that what she's ultimately trying to convey is the gentle, undulating rhythm of adult sensuality.

She hints at that fondness for pleasures of the flesh in Harlem in Havana, a jarring, jazzy recollection of a youthful trip to a hootchy-kootchy show, but it's not until Love Puts on a New Face and Stay In Touch that Mitchell makes herself clear. Both are songs about newfound love, and in them, Mitchell not only conveys the passion and pace of grown-up romance, but suggests musically and lyrically -that love does indeed get better with age. Moreover, because she's focused on personal concerns instead of social issues, Mitchell engages the listener at an emotional level, drawing us in and letting us feel as if we have something deep in common. That may not be the stuff of which hits are made, but it's far more satisfying in the long run and definitely isn't boring. Navigating around the ghbe? Come home, to 0hio.com, The intuitive Web site.

http:www.Omo.com verly at Bst only If i day is a resurgence of love," Villines said. As part of the Goodwill event, Summit County Juvenile Court Judge Judith Hunter presented awards to Jonathan Kelly, Goodwill Graduate of the Year, and Laurie Gannon, Achiever of the Year. The Radisson Hotel in downtown Akron was named Employer of the Year, and Steve Hill and Andrea Franks received Community Partnership Awards as counselors. Sterling, Cornwell Quality Tools and Burger King received Corporate Community Partnership Awards. Indian Trail School of Stow and Streetsboro Middle School collected the most donated items for Goodwill's retail stores for School Bundle Days.

Finally, Boy Scout Randy Clutter was honored for collecting 256 donation bags and Girl Scout Ashley Swartz was honored for collecting 300 bags for Boy Scout and Girl Scout Good Turn Day. Milestone in society The Ohio Chamber Orchestra Council presented "Around Towns" in honor of Currents editor Martha Towns' 60th birthday. More than 400 people gathered Friday afternoon at Landerhaven's Grand Ballroom to wish a happy birthday to the editor of Currents, a monthly newspaper covering Cleveland society. Patti Fine and Norma Glazer chaired the luncheon and fashion show, which was a benefit for the KEN LOVE Beacon Journal Center listen to a lecture. Women Let's face it I'm spoiled." Weber's hope is that a career in law will ultimately give him freedom He considers himself a blue-collar guy, and the financial rewards of lawyering should give JONI Songs on new album most accessible in years Continued from Page Bl whole thing's gottenBoring!" she pronounces.

In any other singer's hands, a song like Taming the Tiger would likely come across as sour grapes, the why-don't-you-buy-my-CD? griping of a star past her prime. But there's something so transcendent about Mitchell's singing, so focused and relaxed about her music, that there's no way her scorn could be mistaken for envy. If anything, what comes across in the song is confidence and be-musement not to mention the understanding that she has better things to do than chase after hits. Funny thing is, the songs on Taming the Tiger are her most accessible in years. Between its tart, chatty melodies and smoky, atmospheric instrumental tracks, the album recalls the jazzy intro spection of the 1976 album Hejira.

Where Hejira emphasized the improvisatory energy of Mitchell's studio band (particularly bassist Jaco Pastorius), however, Taming the Tiger is cooler and more contemplative, relying largely on Mitchell's overdubbed guitars and keyboards and using other players (particularly saxophonist Wayne Shorter) mostly for color. The music oozes more than it surges, letting her verbal cadences set the pace, and keeping the rhythm section understated to the point of inaudibility. That's not to say Mitchell's music doesn't occasionally kick Lead Balloon may not sound like Led Zeppelin, but it has more than enough drive to convey the lyric's angry edge but she's far more likely to opt for a flowing, brushes-and-acoustic bass pulse, as on the slyly swinging The Crazy Cries of Love. When Evelyne Villines was a little girl growing up in Iowa, her parents institutionalized her in an effort to rehabilitate her crippled legs. Villines had been stricken with polio at age 3 and could only dream of one day running with other childrea "As a very small child, I knew that I did not walk pretty.

I didn't want to walk in front of anybody," said Villines, who was keynote speaker at the Goodwill Industries of Akron annual awards luncheon Tuesday at the Akron West Hilton in Fairlawa At the Crippled Children's Hospital in Iowa City, where Villines lived from age 9 to 16, she learned not to cry or she would be punished. As a teen, she went through 14 operations in hopes of one day walking. At medical conferences, the young Villines was required to disrobe for doctors to prod at her body and mark it with black ink. Doctors saw her as a specimen, never noticing her tears of humili-ation. LAW Average starting salary for lawyers is $49,000 Continued from Page Bl University of Akron, the application includes a "personal statement," which is really just an essay that's supposed to explain why the candidate wants to be a lawyer.

The most popular answers range from the staunchly idealistic want to assist the underprivileged" and "overcome to the shamelessly honest want to fulfill my dad's dream of becoming a lawyer" and "I was influenced by watching L.A. However, no one says, "I want to get rich," which truth be told -would be a pretty stupid thing to write in an applicatioa But that doesn't mean they don't think about it "For some people, I think money probably is the big draw for going to law school," Dobbins said. "But at this point in my life, it doesn't seem like a reality. The money is so far off. Right now, I'm still eating Ramen noodles.

But sometimes when things get tough and I'm studying for hours and hours and hours I remind myself that someday I'll have a really nice car. That makes it a TV Shows balance romantic love, modern realities Continued from Page Bl ly at a time when news about presidential peccadilloes, domestic violence and killer children as well as a raft of Married With CMdren-inspired crudity fills the airwaves. These new hourlong drama series push the pendulum a little in the other direction' And they're not alone. A couple of new sitcoms, NBC's Jesse (8:30 p.m. Thursdays) and ABC's The Secret Lives of Men (9:30 Wednesdays), also incorporate romance into their premises.

"If you want reality, watch a documentary," jokes Joanne T. Waters, the creator of To Have and to Hold, which pairs a beautiful public defender (Moira Kelly) with a sensitive, hunky cop (Jason Beghe). "We don't go to the movies or yatch TV to see what's sitting next to us on the couch. We go to ay, Wouldn't it be nice if he was itting next to us on the At the same time, these new omantic shows don't trade in mre fantasy. Idealized views of ove are balanced by the harsh re-lities of modern-day relation-hips.

The romantic comedy Cupid, or instance, pits a man claiming be the god of love (Jeremy Piv- en) against a more practical-mind- od relationship therapist (Paula Marshall). While she advises her patients to look for a mate with imjlar interests, he implores "hem to "have a beautiful train vreck." "We wanted to do a romantic how that was not without cynicism and deal with romance in a realistic way," says Scott Winant KERRY Clawson Students in Wilson Huhn's constitutional law class at the McDowell Law make up 53 percent of this year's class at the University of Akron. verely Disabled. She works to gain millions of dollars in contracts for people with disabilities in manufacturing, packaging and other work. At her speaking engagements, she tells guests she's "speaking in the name of love," offering hugs to all who meet her.

She speaks warmly of her three grown children, who have blessed her with love and devotion. "What we need in America to class late. I'm the guy who falls asleep in class," he said somewhat sheepishly. "But maybe that's because my dad's a lawyer and I already have a job. I'll probably never have to write a resume.

Flockhart) on its cover as a sign of feminism's death. But the show caught on with viewers who identify with Ally's confusion about how to balance a professional career with a love life and how to balance the romantic ideals women have been taught with more practical concerns about compatibility, friendship and the ticking of the maternal clock. "With women my age, there are so many of them who have it together professionally, but personally they're a wreck," says To Have and to Hold's Waters, 34. "They think all the good ones are taken." These shows trade in what we'll call the Myth of the Lonely Beautiful Woman and its counterpart, the Myth of the Sensitive Hunk. Ally McBeal, Felicity Porter and Jesse Warner (Christina Ap-plegate's character in Jesse) -echoing such recent films as There's Something About Mary and Next Stop, Wonderland -serve as the perfect fantasy of the gorgeous, unattached woman who's sitting at home waiting for you to call.

Jesse, which stars the shapely Applegate as a divorced single mother with no time for romance, also has a humanistic-hunk-next-door in Diego, played by. the impossibly handsome Bruno Campos. Campos says that based on his experiences, the role is a bit of a stretch. "I went through a period when I was in my late teens and early 20s, when you are a jerk because in many ways you are expected to be a jerk and you're encouraged to be a jerk not just by your male friends but by women, because they respond to jerks," he says. "Now that I get to play a guy like this, it's wonderful, because here's a guy, he's very direct he doesnt care to lie, he has no interest in ever betraying her." academics have always come relatively easy for him, and just to add an extra dose of job security -his father is a local patent lawyer.

But Weber sure is likable. "I'm the guy who comes to that age when your emotions are on the surface and everything is possible. The show most responsible for the new romantic movement is Fox's year-old Ally McBeal (9 p.m. Mondays). At its core are the title character's fantasies about what it means to be a modern-day woman.

The show is so influential that Time magazine put Ally (Calista "4m is Xr iiiuaf ii --r ii mi Keri Russell plays the title role In Felicity, a WB show about a 17-year-old who goes against her parents' wishes and follows her high-school crush to college even though he hardly knows she exists. one of the executive producers of Cupid, Felicity, which has a less comic bent traces the adventures of a rjaive 17-year-old who defies her parents and follows her thigh-school crush to college, even though he hardly knows she exists. The romance in Felicity is not just with the object of her affection, but with the idea of being at.