page five
The springtime sun gets soaked up as the cafeteria serves a picnic
lunch.
"Techies" tackle
By Richard Ashley
It all began at Woodstock.
The strange and exciting idea of
gathering together a crowd of
festive people for a few days of
sun, sound, and celebration. In
honor of what Woodstock did to
hearts and minds and in the
continuing spirit of peace and
love, Guilford College each year
presents Serendipity.
But it ain't easy and it ain't
cheap. The few days of Seren
dipity are the culmination of
months of hassles, outrageous
long-distance phone calls, ciga
rettes and coffee.
This week it all comes to
fruition as musicians from Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Washington,
Greensboro, and other exotic
lands converge on this campus
to make sure everyone attains a
nice orbit. They will take off
where the "techies" leave off to
weave notes of audio wonder
and songs most have never
imagined before.
Most times a techie is called a
roadie, but since the Union here
never does a tour they can't
really be called roadies so
they're techies. Simple, huh?
What they do is simple also.
Techies get up early in tbe
morning to break their backs
lugging steel scaffolding
around; they try to hook up
electronic devices (and not get
killed); they try to please the
ever-so-wierd pleasures of rock
'n' rollers; and they try to make
sure the folks who see the show
have a good time. Because of
this techies are often considered
to have masochistic tendencies.
If techies as a social group
can be said to resemble anv of
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natures' other creatures the bee
would be a good example. How
many bees do you see on
Johnny Carson?
The reality of Serendipity
techie-hood will begin this
Wednesday when some poor
snook will wait at the bade of
Bryan Dorm for a big truck laden
with metal parts to dump them
all on the ground. Then this
snook will run and get some
other snooks and for the next
two days they will try to build a
steady, even stage. Lotsa' fun!
Next these snooks will go
hide in Dana Auditorium for
about a day to try to make the
lights work. Hanging by their
slippery hands high above the
floor no fear will cross their
minds. They feel just great
knowing that their friends are
consuming vast amounts of
malts and hops while they
selflessly avoid electrocution.
The fun really begins when
the rock stars arrive and wonder
where the champagne is and
how come the groupies are late
and, "Excuse me, but would
you mind lifting that piano for
me, I must go now and smoke
something in the back."
Ah yes, then the show be
gins. The band is playing to a
raving crowd. The magic of the
evening is splendid, and what
does a techie see. The rear of
several furry heads. Tension
will be tight, not a moment to
make a mistake. The next act is
on in three minutes and, "Ex
cuse me, I seem to have blown
this 50-amp fuse. You gotta
spare on ya?"
Eventually the show is over.
Everyone is going home but the
faithful techies must begin to
Guilfordian
Russo: wife, cop, mom, student
By Alanna Tirkot
Candace Russo is not just a
student at Guilford earning a
degree in police science. She is
already an official 7-day swing
shift patrolman on the North
east side of Greensboro. She is
not only a part time student and
fulltime police officer, but also a
fulltime wife and mother of two,
"Missy" (Melissa), 8 yrs and
"Stevie" (Stephanie), 3 yrs.
Every student learns that if
tear down the lamps and amps
and axes and boards. They must
move everything away so they
can set it up outside tomorrow
at eight a.m. When they sleep
that night only a few hours will
be granted before they do it
again.
The sound truck pulls up to
the stage. The heavy crates are
lifted out. The cables are run
and soon it's all assembled. A
band comes on to play. They
will finish, tear it down and set
up another. And again.
At the end of the afternoon it
is all whisked away to reappear
in three hours inside for a
dance. Once more the sound
and light equipment is erected.
And torn down at the end and
put in the boxes. Again the
weary techies will crawl into
their rumpled beds for a few
meager hours of sleep, for
Sunday is no day of rest because
they must again assemble the
sound and change the sound
and find food and drinks for the
players and towels to wipe their
brows and change the sound
until finally the event is all over
and the tear down occurs for the
last time and the darkness
approaches and the last bit of
trash has been stuffed into a
yellow plastic bag.
But it ain't over. Monday
morning the stage must be put
away and sent back to the
construction company. Eight
a.m. will dawn again. By noon
all the activity will be exhaus
ted; absolutely nothing else
need be done. The techies can
shuffle off home, and remove
the grungy bluejeans. One last
cigarette. Oh blessed sleep,
regale with pleasant dreams.
one has a fulltime job while
attending college, let alone
taking care of a toddler, it will
take a lot of work to keep those
grades up Russo's husband,
Jefferson College professor
Russ Russo, who is completing
his Ed.D , loves to help with the
children, and as a result the
whole family is closer.
Russo must hire a babysitter
every Monday and Wednesday
for 4 classes and every Thurs
day, if she works or not, to catch
up on her homework. Russ
quips, "When there's a noise in
the basement she goes down to
see what it is."
Courage is one thing most
people never know if they really
have. It is never tested. In the
job that seems to need so much
of it, Russo says you don't think
of fear or courage. "When
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there's something you're sup
posed to do, you do it."
Besides, she likes challenges.
"I work best under stress. A lot
of factors pushed me towards
this job, but especially the
wanting to help people aspect
which influences most police
officers," she explained. She
also has some family influence,
some uncles and cousins as
Spring infects student
vestiges of the past.
Still, all things considered, I
listened when they talked of the
horrors of Hitler and only
wondered where he fit in be
tween the jonquils and the
dogwood, knowing that he must
have spied a spot for himself to
wait for the Second coming.
No doubt he was disappoin
ted that he didn't bring it off,
the first one must have taken
too much out of him. Either that
or Hilda or Frau Stephens or
whatever the hell her name was
had an upset condition and poor
little colonel had to lie back and
watch Freud bomb the butt off
of Berlin.
Sir, please deposit another
dime for three minutes. I've
looked back wondering if I was
the big fool and though it cost
me a lot of quarters that I
couldn't hear, or that reeled off
the machine I just have to
contend that I'M only dealing
with an underachiever and
when my time comes I'll go
ahead and dance off with that
crazy sickle-bearer.
Sir, please come with us. If
I've learned anything in the
April 4. 1979
well as a next door neighbor,
who were officers. Russo grew
up with and grew into her job.
"It gets a little grisly some
times. It's a tough job You
have to make decisions right
then and there You can't
discuss it. It's a lot of responsi
bility," she commented.
"That's why you have to be
super together to handle it. You
can't be one that flies off the
handle or goes to pieces, and
you can't go around worryin'
about it."
The people she comes in
contact with at the station help.
"They're really good people.
They're there when you need
them. But not only that, they're
fun and interesting." She works
with other departments such as
Social Services and Mental
Health. All are willing to help.
"The ambulance attendants are
the best. They'll give you
something to do to help at the
scene like aim a flashlight. They
can always use an extra hand."
When asked if she's ever
saved a life, Russo replies,
"I've been in a lot of situations
where I've helped or prevented
an injury but it's hard to sav
whether I've actually saved a
or not."
past few years it's that we all
ought to go into animal husban
dry. Face it, we all need the
milk and eggs. Artificial insemi
nation may not be sex with
someone you love but it beats
the hell out of going blind.
Crab him NOW! Before he
gets away! Look what they've
done to your son, ma! Dressed
me up in this crazy outfit, tell
me to shake hands with
what'd you say his name was?
Honestly, familiarity breeds
comtempt and April must be too
familiar to me.
After the rush it will be a little
quieter and I'll be able to sit
down and enjoy stories about
strong brown gods, women
named Ursula, Harry Clifton,
and princely conscientious ob
jectors.
Until then I'll take something
and try to relax my way through
the breeding program this
Month of April is going to try to
put me through. Maybe there's
an incantation at the end of the
road to soothe my dried bones,
my humble masses yearning to
breed free.