Young ladies at UMB have something to scream about. Several professors in the College of Math and Science have started a boy band in an effort to draw more young ladies into those fields of study. They call themselves Boiling Point. While many female students are required to take general distribution classes in the departments, very few end up majoring in subjects like Biology, Chemistry or Engineering. The College of Math and Science has historically had trouble trying to generate interest until it found that several of the part time faculty had a band aptly named Boiling Point. In a last ditch effort to raise enrollment the school’s provost scheduled the band to perform at an Open House in October. Allison Melrose, a senior in high school was in the audience that October day. “I couldn’t stop myself from screaming. Those guys are so frigin hot. ” Allison was originally planning to become Women’s Studies major until she found out the performers affiliation with the Math and Science College. “When I found out they were professors, I almost peed myself. To think I could sit in a room with one of them. Have them look at me and know my name. It was a dream come true.” Allison was not the only woman smitten with Boiling Point’s performance. Trudy Melrose, Allison’s mother commented “Those young men have some nice moves, they’re really working it up there.” Later in the day, Trudy reported that she had singed up for Math 495, an independent study with Mac Jonas, Boiling Point’s angel–voiced lead singer. Boiling Point is comprised of three members from the Chemistry, Biology, and Math departments. The group formed organically. They had not originally intended to be used as a marketing tool for the college. “The guys and I got to talking about how much we missed the 90s. Bands like O-Town had so much heart. We wanted to bring back that sound,” explains Angel Patrick Andrews, adjunct professor of Chemistry, and choreographer. ” We started as a jam band, mostly did covers of N’Sync and Backstreet Boys.” Recently, Boiling Point competed in a faculty talent show. The group placed second in the show, being beat out by a ventriloquist act from the Modern Language department. It was then that the male vocal group decided to record their first album, 100 Degrees. Howie Cho, a part time Biology professor and Boiling Point’s self-proclaimed bad boy said “Recording was such a natural step for us. You don’t have to tell RNA to make codons, it just happens! You feel me?” Boiling Point plans to release their album in early September in late August, in hope of attracting more ladies who have not yet registered for fall classes.
Temperatures rising
By Jordan Lloyd
| November 17, 2010
| November 17, 2010