The Behrend Beacon I 7
Dr. Archie Loss explains the meaning of a cultural classic
By Tiffany Mak
staff writer/ty msool@psu.edu
Archie Loss, professor of English
and American Studies at Behrend, gave
a talk about the song “American Pie” to
the freshmen in Senat Hall on October
4 from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Loss was
successful in explaining the American
culture and music of the ‘6os and ;70s
to the attending students via the song
“American Pie.”
In order to give the students an awe
some opening, Loss played the song
“American Pie,” which is sung by Don
McLean. This song has long been the
hallmark of the fusion of rock n’ roll
music and folk music in the countercul
ture era. It achieved the number one
status on the charts in the U.S. in 1972,
but the album containing this song was
not released until later.
The reason that “American Pie” is so
popular among Americans even today
is not because of the popularity of
Study Abroad: The European experience from a first hand view
By Allison Gray
copy editor/amg34B@psu.edu
This past summer, I took part in a five-week study abroad pro
gram from July 8 to August 15, 2005. I took a History of
Renaissance Art course at the University College of Northampton in
England, located about an hour and a half north of London. The
program, available to students every summer, provides an opportu
nity to visit not only remarkable and historical sites in England, but
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McLean, but because of the lyrics and
the time when the song came out.
“It was only the ‘7os when the people
started to look back of their fifties and
their complexity,” said Loss. “After the
Broadway [musical] came out in the
seventies, people investigated beneath
the surface to get what the song is real
ly about.”
The entire song was McLean’s trib
ute to three prominent rock stars,
Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and The
Big Bopper, who died in the same plane
crash in February of 1959. The plane,
“Miss American Pie” which took the
lives of the rock stars at the time,
February 3, 1959, signified “the day the
music died”.
Since rhythm and blues began to
intrude into American music culture in
the ‘6os, the counter culture era was
hard for rock n’ roll music. While
lamenting the death of the three rock
stars “he admired the most”, McLean
also lamented the swift death of the
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rock music “that used to make him
smile”
Other than his view on music,
McLean also included his religious and
political views in his song. However,
some interpretations of his lyrics are
still unclear, such as the vague image of
“rollin’ stone” and “queen in a coat.”
Most of the audience thought that
“American Pie” was an interesting
song, and Dr. Loss focused well on the
details.
“We are going to enroll [in] his
American Studies class next semester,”
said Pat Sharbaugh, a first semester
chemestry student, and Ryan Mocniak,
who is in his first semester in the
Department of Undergraduate Studies.
“It is meaningful to leant about the
American culture and Dr. Loss did a
pretty good job,” said Chad Bosko, CE
01, another audience.
Grant Reschcnthaler, the Student
Academic Leader, expressed his satis
faction towards the program. He was
all over Europe.
During the five week program, classes take place Monday
through Thursday, leaving Friday open. On four of the five avail
able Fridays, optional day-trip excursions to places such as Althorp,
Oxford, Stonehenge, Bath, Warwick and Stratford-upon-Avon. The
third week of the program is devoted to a trip to one of three cities:
London, England, Dublin, Ireland or Florence, Italy.
I spent the majority of the third week in Florence with my class
and instructor. While, I had a once-in-a-lifctime opportunity to
view some of the most astonishing artwork in the world. Every day,
for five days, I visited a new museum. I got to see Michelangelo’s
David, Donatello’s David and Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, among
other amazing works of art. 1 ate authentic Italian food and drank
authentic Italian wine. The streets of Florence were full of vendors
selling leather goods, silk scarves, marble chess sets and souvenirs
of all kinds. A group of about five students spent the fifth day in
Venice and on the sixth day, we all visited Pisa.
Students were encouraged to travel outside of the program’s
planned trips as well. I spent my second weekend with a group of
nine other students in London. Over the course of a day and a half,
I visited the London Tower, London Bridge, Big Ben, St. Paul’s
Cathedral, The British Museum, Trafalgar Square and the National
Gallery. During the same weekend, another group of students took
the train to Paris where they visited the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.
FOR FALL 2006
'The three men I admire most: the father, son and holy ghost." Dr. Loss recants a favorite line.
happy to see that “American Pic” inter
ested a lot of the students.
“We hope we can organize a program
which is not that academic, but at the
same time the students can learn some
thing from it,” said Reschcnthaler,
Biology, 03. “It works really well.”
During the fourth weekend abroad, five students (myself includ
ed) visited Brussels. Belgium for a weekend. We stayed in a great
hotel within walking distance of the town center. We bought
Belgian chocolate and indulged in Belgian waffles. I had mussels
in Brussels and bought Belgian lace. The trip was amazing.
During the week, when we were in classes, we had local options
for entertainment. Across the street from the school is the
Sunnyside Pub. Mondays are quiz nights, Wednesdays are karaoke
and on Sundays, they serve roasts. Down the road from the town
center is the cinema, Sol Central, where a few friends and I watched
“Mr. and Mrs. Smith" and “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” For
students who wanted to stay close to the dorm, there is an on-cam
pus library and computer lab.
The program is open to students from all over the world and,
while I was there, I befriended students from not only the United
States, but also Hungary, Russia and Italy. Of course, I also got to
know some of the locals quite well and I still keep in touch with all
of them via e-mail.
I can’t recommend this program enough, as it was the most mem
orable experience of my life and one that I’ll cherish for as long as
I live. If you’re interested in this program and want more informa
tion, contact Dr. Dean Baldwin at dxbll@psu.edu or Dr. Ruth
Pflueger at rcpl@psu.edu.
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Friday, October 7, 2005
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Rcschenthalcr expects a similar talk
for his Senat freshmen a few weeks
later. Jill Forsman, the Coordinator of
Housing, will be invited to talk about
the “Mid-term Expectation.” It will be
held in the lobby of Senat Hall and is
open to all of the residents.