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A RESPONSIBLE STUDENT NEWSPAPER
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Practice Rooms
Perhaps the most important angle in a musician’s development is practice. The
significance of ample practice time well-spent cannot be overemphasized for someone
who intends to make a living as a professional musician.
When a music student does not have the proper facilities for practicing his medium, it
can be quite an obstacle in his path to success. Imagine a dancer being offered one class
a week with a teacher and being left to work out the rest of the week without benefit of
mirrors or bars, except for what he might arrange in his own dorm room. Yet NCSA’s
brass and wind majors are being faced with a situation quite similar to this hypothetical
one.
We feel it is and has been obvious that poor practice rooms are a problem here.
According to the December 10 issue of the Essay, two wind faculty members felt the
music practice rooms were not adequate for their students’ needs. A third wind faculty
member stated the practice rooms had been a problem for seven years. The Institutional
Self-Study report, prepared for NCSA in March, 1974, stated that “the existing practice
rooms were...acoustically poor for practice, forcing many students to practice in their
dorm rooms.” The music students that meet regularly with the school of music
administration, discussed this issue as a problem at a meeting early in November.
Martin Sokoloff, vice-chancellor, demonstrated an awareness of the problem when he
instructed maintenance to install carpeting in a room to see if it might improve the
acoustics.
Furthermore, we feel thU problem could feasibly be ameliorated. Buddy Engelbert
school accountant, has said funds could be made available for improvement of the
rooms. Caiyeting for deadening the rooms might be obtained and fire-proofed quite
cheaply if the right companies were approached by the right school administrators. D &
P majors volunteered their services for installation of carpet in practice rooms during
the quiet hours controversy last term. Unfortunately, whether or not these solutions are
actually feasible remains to be seen. There has been a plethora of verbalization without
consequence.
The problem is perennial, it is obvious, and there must be no doubt as to its
seriousness. The question seems to be whose responsibility it is to initiate action on this
problem.
We feel the responsibility should he on the administration of the School of Music. It
appears to us that Schillin and Dean Harsanyi have been more than negligent in this
matter. When approached by a reporter in November, they claimed there was no
problem as far as they could see. Although they have reversed this stand, Schillin now
says there IS no money to do anything about it. We cannot believe it had not occurred to
the administration of the School of Music to investigate that question with the school
accountant. In fact, it does not seem to us they are taking any action whatsover towards
solving a conflict which eminently threatens students’ development. For some
unconceivable reason, they have chosen to ignore the problem, a position which we feel is
totally unfair to students.
If the administrators of the School of Music have some cause for believing the
condition of the practice rooms unimportant to the department, let them state it If not
let us see some action now. ’
kiHHrkit
Fuzzy Faces
By SHELLY McPHERSON
With an air of owning the campus, Simon strolls down the steps of A-B lounge
Someone calls out “Here, kitty,” and waits for him to stop. Feeling amiable, Simon
awaits the inevitable. The person pets him clumsily and starts baby-talking at him. This
is too much for Simon’s ego; lifting his tail, he stalks off, leaving the person feeling
somewhat inferior to a beautiful grey cat.
Simon, along with Scarlett, Zeke, and Sascha, are just a few of the superstars here on
campus. Somehow, just having them around, makes this school an easier place to live.
Scarlett has had numerous fans since the beginning of last term when she was just a
pup and wouldn t go down stairs. Now that she has sprouted long legs, her close friends
and casual acquaintences have increased too. Her talents now range from running from
Sue Slawter to a pretty good imitation of wrestling Simon. Simon and Scarlett share
Apartment B wUh Sarah Lu Bradley, residence administrator.
ON THE OTHER hand, there’s Zeke, a visiting artist. He’s the handsome Irish Setter
belonging to composition major Bryan Evans. Who can resist a four-legged redhead the
former of this pair? All you have to do is say “Hi!” to Zeke and you have a friend and
running companion for life. After that, any time you feel the urge to race, just find him.
Zeke s more than just an athlete-Jie’s a good sport - sometimes he’ll let you win.
Sascha is the quiet, poised Borzoi of Alton Buzbee. If you haven’t seen her around
lately, it s because she dehvered seven healthy puppies January 22. She’s doing well, and
her fans hope to have her back with us soon. They’re all waiting to see how motherhood
has affected one of such great sophistication.
These four are just a few of the superstars to be found at NCSA. Along with the other
animals on campus, they are much loved and appreciated by the whole school
community. Now that the problem of keeping animals away from the snack bar area has
been solved, we are all free to enjoy these characters. Let’s keep it that way.
Shelly McPherson is a college freshman Drama major.
Editor: Kay Crutcher
Advisors: BUI and M’Lou Bancroft
Maraglng Mltor: J„h„ Haas Business Manager. John Hubbard
Pulliml editor; Ken Ballard ph„(„ Edllor: Bryanl Arrington
>)E:W tooKS
wow 11
Nicky, Did You Hear Anything???
America, Wake Up!
By KURTESLICK
Consumers do not need to be told that
they have many problems. They ignore
one big problem completely. This
problem is the automobile industry. The
problem facing us can be solved, but not
until we do several things.
We must refuse to drive cars which are
too big and too heavy. We must learn to
drive properly. We must fight foolish,
hurried legislation in Washington that
causes costly reruns. And we must quit
believing cock-eyed commercials
showing Joe Average or Charlie Jack-
strap getting 26 miles per gaUon in his
Caddy, telling us how much safer and
nicer it is to drive the large American
luxury car.
In America, the way we classify cars
by size is completely warped. The
epitome of the large American car is the
Cadillac Fleetwood, with a 500 cubic inch
engine that gets 11-14 miles per gallon. In
Europe, a good example of a large luxury
car is the Audi lOOLS with a 114 cubic inch
engine which gets 18-28 miles per gallon.
An example of an American midsize car
is the Chevrolet Monte Carlo, with its 454
cubic inch eagine getting 11-16 miles per
gallon. Its European counterpart, the
Volkswagen Dasher, has a 90 cubic inch
engine and gets 23-35 miles per gallon.
Then we come to the “small” cars. The
American-made Chevrolet Vega has a
140 cubic inch engine and gets 19-28 miles
per gallon. The brand new, European-
made Volkswagen Rabbit has a 90 cubic
inch engine and gets 24-38 miles per
gallon. The Vega weights 2560 pounds
while the Rabbit weights roughly 1800
pounds. These figures are pretty
staggering. What’s more, the European
car will out-accelerate, out-handle, and
will give you a better ride than their
American counterparts.
Now we come to you, the driver. Oh
boy! How bad can one group of drivers
get? Certainly not much worse than us.
The average American driver is like the
proverbial accident looking for a place to
happen. Many Americans can’t even
drive a car with a manual gearbox. They
use automatic gearboxes costing them 20
per cent of their already had gas
mileage. They have no feel for the road
with their power steering and brakes.
They have little or no knowledge of skid
control. Driver’s Ed teaches you to turn
your wheel into the sUde and that’s about
It. The funny thing is, that won’t even
work in an understeering situation
where the front tires lose their grip first,
which is what American cars are
designed for. Those of you who are
reading this will say to yourself, yes “He
can’t be talking about me; I’m a good
driver,” because as Stirling Moss, the
great race driver, once said, “There are
two things a man will not admit that he
can’t do; they are drive, and make love.”
Next in my line of fire are the crazy
laws the hired help in Washington keep
cranking out. Next election year we will
have to screen our applicants more
carefully. Their five-mile-per-hour
bumpp law, enacted in 1973, cost
Americans $700 million; it was designed
to save money. The problem was, in
crashes of more than five miles per hour,
the bumpers were ruined and cost three
times more to replace than the 1972
bumpers. A bit of a miscalculation
wouldn’t you say?
Now they have done away with seatbelt
interlocks, the gadgets that keep you
from starting you car until your seatbelt
is fastened. I.azy Americans griped
about the energy it took to buckle up, so
Congress erased the law, and replaced it
with this crazy 55 miles per hour speed
limit. Consider the fact that about 60 per
cent of drivers of cars with interlock
systems wear their seatbelts and about
40 per cent disconnect them. Without
interlocks, wearers are expected to drop
about 30 per cent. According to
CALSPAN (formerly California
Aeronautical Laboratories), out of
drivers in 30,000 accidents, 500 were
wearing lap and shoulder belts. Among
those 500, there was not a single death
Congress has replaced a proven
lifesaver, seatbelts, with an unproven
and highly disputed one, the 55 MPH
speed limit.
Incidentally, in England, the first few
months after the speed limit was raised
to 80 mph after having it at 55 mph the
highway death toll dropped 15 per cent.
America had better wake up. Go out
and buy a truly small car before it’s too
late. Learn to drive it defensively and
don’t let Washington mess us up anv
more. Most of all, don’t be fuelish.
Kurt Eslick is a high school French
Horn major.
nth'il.®“>e Environmental Protection Agency
Other figures from Road and Track and Autoweek magazines.
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