Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Sept. 21, 1984, edition 1 / Page 5
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ft t. Skating, bubble-blowing Wacko defies tradition By MARYMELDA HALL SufT Writer Many people on the UNC campus know Eric V. Walker, if not by name or face, then at least by feet. Walker is, as he puts it, "that damn fool on the roller skates." Walker and his skates entered UNC a year ago and created a bit of a stir on campus. Although roller-skating to class, in class, and up and down stairs was a fairly novel occurence in the Chapel Hill community, for Walker it was nothing new. I started skating my sophomore year in high school," he explained. "I lived too close to catch the bus and too far to warrant walking. And at my high school, you didn't really take your bike if you didnt really like it, and you didnt mind it going home with someone else." Walker hung up the skates when he got his driver's license his senior year, trading the eight wheels for four. Then he came to Carolina and saw those bricks. "Hey, skating on bricks. No problem!" The hills under the bricks were a little more challenging. "When I'm coming down hills I stick a whistle in my mouth and blow for all Vm worth," he said. "Contrary to popular belief, there are no brakes on skates." Skates do have toe stops, and with these he climbs up and down stairs. About the only obstacle that defeats him is rain, which rusts the metal bearings on the wheels. Walker wears the skates everywhere he needs to go, but skating on campus means dodging a lot of pedestrian traffic and making many sudden stops. But has he ever fallen? "Not in public," he says, laughing, "although I have come close a couple of times." Walker has a nickname which fits a kid who braves traffic and roller skates on the UNC campus Wacko. And like the skates, the nickname also started in high school. Walker played goalie on his high school soccer team. "I don't really have the build to play goalie, so I developed my own style," he said. This style involved rushing out of the net and throwing himself onto the feet of whoever had the ball. A large forward for the opposing team decided he had to be crazy, Walker said. But students at Walker's high school disagreed. "He's not crazy, he's wacko! Wacko Walker!" And the name stuck. When Wacko Walker isn't skating to classes, he's skating to meetings lots of meetings. Walker is a member of the Ebony Readers, the N.C. Fellows Program and the Order of the Bell Tower, whci e hs'SCTvestE,chs2rman of " fm , .mm m1. " p V1 rmwfmmfy frfm Pfl(f f3-" JlL.i. m. .ViL J k --J-.rJ ' irf-hiMif U WwJIl Ybu pcobsbty already know about our exceptional service and expert repairs for BMW's and Porsches. AJ Bloodvvorth and Rick Thompson have each been at it 13 years. But you may not know that we also specialize in after-market modi fication and salvage. Service. Repairs. Modification. Plus salvage. Making fine cars finer. That s the whose ABMw story Highway 54, one mile east of Triangle Square. Ca'A 544-4542 for an appointment THE Daily Crossword By Bemice Gordon ACROSS 1 Large area in Afr. 7 Vernon of a dancing team 13 Threefold 14' Cupidity 16 Joint knowledge 17 Teacher's aide 18 Ramblers 19 Flavorful 21 Timetable abbr. 22 Chooses 23 Turk, money 24 Son of Aphrodite 25 Exclamation of triumph 26 More depressed 27 Carpentry tool 23 Regards highly 30 Of greater height 31 Trireme equipment 32 " Mable" 33 Very nearly 38 Course of study 39 Distributed 40 Catches the . breath 41 Lunar vehicle 43 Small amounts 44 Blouse 45 out (annihilate) 46 Hagenthe actress 47 nez 48 Island in the Aegean 49 Most depressed 51 instruction books 53 State policeman 54 Kind of scout 55 Smart 56 Commences DOWN 1 Gr. chorus movement 2 Bristle like structures 1834 Tribune Media Services, Inc. All Rights Reserved 3 Apiaries 4 Cuckoos 5 Rodent 6 Small white flowers 7 Portable dwelling 8 To have: Fr. 9 Beach stuff 10 Precederof corn or pod 11 Verbatim 12 Environmental area 15 Student item 16 Indonesian boat 20 Primates 23 On one's toes 24 Glasgow the author 28 Beauty's friend 27 Eur. city 29 Contents of a chest 30 Provoke in a way 32 Dinner courses Walker also serves as president of the Carolina Comic Book Club. "The club is a forum for people who like comic books," he said. "Comic books are really pretty good truly intelligent reading." His seriousness about comics can be seen in his extensive collection (he has about 800 comics here at school) and in the comic book posters which line his walls. Alongside the comic book posters hangs a poster of Bruce Lee. Bruce Lee? "Bruce Lee was a bird chest. That's why he's on my wall," Walker said, grinning. "I'm about to start a new club on campus Bird Chest of Caroli na. I'm tired of being pushed around by big no-neck football players, tall gangly basketball players and these boozing womanizing lacrosse players and frater nity guys. It's time for us birds to unite!" When Walker isn't organizing the bird chests or going to class (and sometimes even when he should be going to class) he can be found sitting in the Pit blowing bubbles. UNC students spend a lot of time Pit sitting. Bubble blowing, however, is a different matter. "I get on these childish whims every now and then, like whenever I'm awake, and I saw these bubbles in a toy store, and I liked them and I bought them," he said with a smile. "On a very sunny day in the Pit I started blowing bubbles. It's great to see people's reactions." Walker also got a friend, Tom Maxwell, into bubble blowing. "We're forming Bubbles for Peace," he said. "We're going to sit in the Pit and blow off all our classes and blow bubbles." What does the president of the Carolina Comic Book Club, bubble blower and roller-skater that he is, plan to major in? "This week it's philosophy and sociology, and I think I'm pretty happy with it, except . . . what the hell can you do with a philosophy sociology degree?" Walker is currently writing a book of poetry Love and Other Stupid Stuff I Don't Understand, by Eric V. Walker. Walker said he always goes by Eric V. because he hated his middle name, Victor. What's wrftng with Victor? "What's right with Victor?" he asked. From skates and comics to bubbles and poetry, all make up Eric V. Walker. "I like to be different, just for the state of being different," he said. "Not to be different to arouse anyone's ire. Not to be different just to be a pain in the ass. just like tobe-different-because being rf if terent s tun . '" 7 j 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 , 10 11 12 17" 7" " Is"' TT " u 20 " " " TT Z2 """" 23"" """"" " """"" 24 ' laevux J i . 'i'i" ' 25 26 I 27 1 turn 1- iiiijii-y" 21 29 30 '-4 3 33MT35 W 36"" " """pM "39 40 41 42 BHH mmm m 1 ,11pm .hiMMmt m h Ujtual pmm " 43 44 45 """"ir" ----- 75 (p """" TT" 52 J I lH" " """" " 1 92184 Tesieraay : Puzzle Solved: ISlllMlsP'lBlAlllTlSr JcTaIT CROC ERGOT IG ABE 0IA T H A MTO U R JL J C. J, tjT T 0" ft s" J, roma FTJsJ A I T 0 MTiBlT R L E I R MA M II N I f ADMIT JEAJ AIM! I ISIJDI I I A IN I Al JO A S T s I pa t stJ t 1 1 e Lip o mjsr rnrrR 1 v a l.i "pro u rii, PjR e s e t IT P EC. A.C. Z JLJinA AN.X"TE0 L. A A L.A Si D 0 N.jL1 S;R.EW I p I a I p lZ i 1 In It Ie IrUe Ik IE Is" 92184 40 "Elmer " 42 Interfere 44 up (learns) 45 Shore bird 47 up (energizes) 48 Roominacasa 50 Bambi's mother 52 Nosh 33 Rectify 34 Outfit for dancing 35 Man in the corrida 38 Levant ketch 37 Sustenance 38 Explosive noises f"lu "" 1 ' - gow m s (;p JJ - dT$rfr lS cr?U J V 0 X V : :::::::: :-y- -.y : : . '' f...v!!t:!ft!ftaSi::.::sS! f v ' , ' I i " v Wacko Walker: an amusing campus vm . A Right now, about the only thing you have in common is the same room. But you and those strangers who moved in with you are going to crack a lot of books and burn a lot of mid night oil together. You're going to discover the people behind the nametags, the ones inside 7 t . ,rt t'l.,r ' ftMMMMM y ue iuwenuiau. I LOO fl 00 oweiipraiii x DTHJamie Moncrief personality, he skates across the Pit every roommate alboet to become a Meed. r- ? L .. Sw : li ,-c. pill n my - t 11 . " X t III M ' ;gl -.W - i ,ir.,HM,i mil ii.nm.-i.ij It II V t-- the roommates. And who knows? Before the term is over, your roommates may very wen turn out to oe gooa friends. . W A A 1 1 lo each 01 you we say, let it oIH The Daily Tar Opportunities for travel are many for students By JENNIFER KELLER Staff Writer College is a time for dreaming. Traveling, for many, is a dream that can be and is fulfilled while at UNC. With the abundance of study abroad programs, students can explore other cultures, and practice or perfect a foreign language for a summer, a semester or a year. "It's usually the first time you're able to detach yourself from your country's social norms and be critical," said Dr. Darryl Gless, advisor for study abroad programs in the Office of International Programs. UNC offers programs or exchange agreements in Montpellier and Paris, France; Manchester and Bristol, Eng land; Kansai Gaidai in Osaka, Japan; Gottingen, Germany; Rome, Italy; Copenhagen, Denmark; Seville and Madrid, Spain. The possibilities for study abroad are endless; students can set up programs through other schools. The Office of International Programs in Caldwell Hall is a fount of advice where students can glean information developing a study abroad experience tailored for particular needs and desires. "With advanced planning, there is no difficulty in getting credit and graduat ing on time," said Zerla Young, admi nistrative assistant in OIP. Increased popularity of foreign programs is IBM COMPUTERS O O o o Book store prices Immediate delivery Available to students and employees Rentals and leases COMPUTER CONNECTIONS Brlghtleaf Square, Durham 682-9492 ii .., ti I :: Sr! ,-: ,, i V frrT k re's to ood f irfemdSo Heel Friday, September 21, 19845 because of an accumulation of years of student travel and word has spread, Young added. Young also pointed out that there are fellowships, awards, and grants possible in easing the financial burden. Gless called study abroad "a wond erful, appropriate extension of what one comes to a liberal arts university to get." Many students come back with markedly different perspectives: Chal lenged values, introspection, independ ence, and a new tolerance of social and political structures are some of the changes, Gless said. Quillian Reeves, a senior from Atlanta spent last year in Montpellier with about 30 others in the UNC program. "It was the first time language was a means of communication rather than being strictly academics," Reeves said. Reeves lived with a French family, which he strongly recommends doing. The Mediterranean is 15 kilometers away, and the Pyrenees are a short drive away from Montpellier. "Some went with false expectations a trip to Disney World and they were shocked," Reeves said. "You get used to the atmosphere and living a simpler life, it's a question of learning to think in French." So dream a little. 1
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Sept. 21, 1984, edition 1
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