THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 27, 1996 TAG: 9609270068
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ALICIA LUMA, CAMPUS CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: 63 lines
GRACE HSIU is not your average girl. That's why we picked her to be the replacement for our spunky ex-columnist Jennifer Dziura, who will be contributing only occasionally. You see, Jen has departed to pursue higher education and left a big, opinion-sized hole in our operation. And 16-year-old Cox High student Grace Hsiu is just the person to fill it.
Grace is very casual. She prefers to wear one of her many hats and plain, baggy clothes.
``When I was in Italy (she went there last year for spring break on a school art trip), I wore the same hat for days,'' Grace said. ``It was kind of gross, but you can't really trust the water there'' even for washing your hair.
But, if you get Grace talking, she'll floor you. Her flair for words and her sarcastic manner make her seem 6 feet tall and slightly intimidating.
``I always enjoy a rousing game of verbal tennis,'' said Grace.
Grace is a first-generation American; her parents are from Taiwan.
``But,'' Grace says, ``I was born in Ohio.''
She moved to Hampton Roads about 10 years ago, first living in Norfolk but moving to Virginia Beach before starting high school.
``There's only a few things to do in Virginia Beach,'' Grace said, ``but I'd rather live in Virginia Beach and hang out in Norfolk. Commute.''
This summer, Grace worked as a computer graphics intern at Eastern Computers, Inc., makers of the glow-in-the-dark paintball gun. She is planning a career in engineering but says she also has ``an artistic streak,'' which is evident in her super-cool, hand-drawn stationary and cartoons.
In addition to contributing occasional cartoons to her school paper, ``The Falcon Press,'' Grace is editor of Wingspan, her school's literary magazine, and is trying for the second time to organize a one-night coffeehouse called Wingspan Live in her school's library.
``PTA is like, `Oh, we'll bring the coffee,' '' Grace said. ``The problem with last year was that no one wanted to read their own stuff. We had all the forensics kids come in . . . it was such a pain.''
Grace is way into the Beat culture. Her older sister exposed her to it and Grace loves her for it. She had a tape with gooky stuff like Pearl Jam on it, but in the midst of it there were these two spoken words, one by John S. Hall and another by someone long forgotten. Grace was amazed and intrigued by the humor and intelligence they emitted.
From there she was hooked.
Grace draws her sarcastic writing style and lilting phrasing from spoken word artists, like Henry Rollins and John S. Hall, who walk a line between rap, rock and poetry.
``I really like John S. Hall,'' from King Missle, said Grace. ``He's a great poet.'' Grace sometimes reads her sister's words at various coffeehouses, but would never read her own stuff.
As for her new column, ``Priority-wise, money was the main factor'' in her decision to apply, Grace admits. ``Number 2 is that I felt I needed to do something more productive with my time.''
Grace's first column will run Oct. 4, and I won't give too much away about the topic, but I will tell you that there's a lot of profanity involved. MEMO: Alicia Luma, 16, is a freshman at Tidewater Community College. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot
GRACE
KEYWORDS: TEEN COLUMNISTS by CNB