4 | Behrend Beacon l
|ll October 9,2009 I 111
I I www.thebehrendbeacon.com v 4. J.
MICHAEL BILZ
The tree that once held a
long-famed rope swing in the
Wintergreen Gorge has been
cut down.
Should students venture
down into the gorge, they'll no
tice not a dangling twine, but
the remains of a stump. While
the gorge in itself is a treasure
to Penn State Behrend, many
have returned disappointed bv
the disappearance of the swing.
Any student walking down in
the gorge near the creek will be
met by an array of activities.
Remnants of fires and random
trees with dates on them from
the 1990 s dot the landscape;
and, of course, the creek is
right there.
The tree that the rope was
hanging from has been sawed
off, reduced to a stump no
more than four feet high. This
staple at Behrend’s campus has
been around for years and
countless students have used it
to take a plunge into the first
deep spot in the creek.
Wade, walk, or leap in, but
no matter how one enters,
many students promise a great
time. The rope swing made it
easily accessible for students to
CAMPUS MUSIC
Bassoon in the Wild
JOE GOETZ
McGarvey Commons was
filled with the sounds of a quar
tet called Bassoon in the Wild
at noon on Thursday.
The quartet was led by
Michael Rabinowitz on the bas
soon, with Diana Herold on vi
braphone, Bob Bowen on string
bass and Grish Alexiev on the
drumset. The concert was the
second in a series of six that
get fully immersed very
quickly.
Students were upset or
shocked to find out that the
swing had been removed some
time over the summer.
'•U// U lilt 7
Because they are unaware of
the circumstances of the
swing’s removal, some stu
dents believe the tree was cut
down in malice.
“I can’t believe some jerk
would do that," said Jonathan
Lauser, a senior mechanical en
gineering and technology
major.
The spot, while not easily ac
cessible, was indeed a highlight
for students looking for some
fun in the wilderness.
“I didn’t even know that it
was gone until my roommate
told me,” said Matthew De-
Fusco, a sophomore creative
writing major.
“That stinks, but that wasn’t
the only way to have fun in the
creek. I'll just wade in a bit fur
ther to one of the waterfalls.
That spot is even deeper.”
Others, however, have many
memories attached to the rope
swing.
“I used to go down a lot with
the Outdoors club, and it was
so much fun. It was a genius
idea for someone to put it
make up Music at Noon, the
Logan Series.
sf.l I! Wilt Cl
The series is celebrating its
20-year anniversary during the
entire 2009-2010 season. The
quartet hopes to bring the un
derappreciated bassoon to the
forefront of modern music with
a show that includes jazz stan
dards, Latin, bebop, rhythm
and blues, as well as several
original compositions.
Their first selection, entitled
Oblivion, which was written by
there,” senior English literature
major Allison Maino com
mented.
Still, others have remained
uniformed about all that the
gorge has to offer.
While a lot of mystery still
shrouds the removal of the at
traction, many rumors are fly
ing around.
One is safety. As one enters
the gorge, blue signs are there
to warn hikers and venturers
with what is permissible.
Swimming is prohibited, as are
campfires. But traces of fires
all around display evidence
otherwise.
However, it’s clear to many
that the swing's removal was
one of a liability concern, and
not one out of spite. Any stu
dent harmed in the use of the
swing could have easily laid
blame on the school, consider
ing that the section of the gorge
which contained the rope
gorge is campus property.
While the question may re
main unanswered, one thing is
certain: the legacy will live on
when it comes to the rope
swing at the Wintergreen
Gorge.
caters to large audience with originality
Bud Powell, was a very upbeat
fast paced number. The piece
had a heavy jazz feel to it and
included solos on all four in
struments included.
Following with the theme of
this year’s series, Bassoon in
the Wild has already performed
on the Behrend campus once
before. During the 2000-2001
season, Bassoon in the Wild
opened the series, helping to
kick off the 10th anniversary.
During his introduction, pro
,rer.v >eacon
Left: bassist Joe Fonda has co-led the Fonda-Stevens group since 1991 and has recorded 10 albums to date.
Above: Rabinowitz, the frontman for Bassoon in the Wild has performed in a myriad of locations, including New York City and Pittsburgh.
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Students hopes to use the rope swing this summer season were cut short.
gram director Dr. Gary
Viebranz admitted that the
quartet was invited, back be
cause they were his most mem
orable act in the 10 years he’s
been at Behrend.
The quartet performed six
songs during the hour long
concert, three of which were
written by Rabinowitz. Herold
and Alexiev also had original
compositions included in the
concert. The quartet chose a
range of different songs to per
form so each instrument would
get an opportunity to shine and
also to showcase compositions
by members of the band.
In addition to the Behrend
students, faculty, and staff in at
tendance, students and teach
ers from Diehl Elementary
School were also bused in. The
Logan Music Series is a co-op
program with Diehl.
All artists that perform in the
series also sign on to do an ed
ucational concert for the ele-
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mentary school. This aspect is
one of the most important to
the series.
After the concert came to a
close, the quartet remained on
stage to play for Dr. Viebranz’s
MUSIC 007 class. Students
were treated to a mini concert,
as well as a question and an
swer session with the band.
The next concert is the Ethos
Percussion Group and will be
on Wednesday, Nov. 18.