71th:remit Totlegian Volume XXI X No. 15 At Wednesday's Coffeehouse Vocalists shine By Mary Jo Santini Collegian Staff Writer Last week's Coffee House . featured Drew Decrease and Gay . Catania, who together put on one of the finest Coffee House per- - formances I've seen all year_ Drew, a Behrend student and a newcomer to Behrend Coffee Houses, was a pleasant surprise. He first started playing guitar when he saw the Beatles on Ed- Sullivan. That was 1964,_ his. twelve years of experience really show in his extraordinary guitar work. The Beatle: influence is strong in his music. His style was reminiscent of the Beatles pre- Sgt. Pepper's transitional period. Many of the selections he played were from the albums of this period—Rubber Sole, Yesterday and Today, and Revolver. His voice was smooth at times, and on some numbers, like Long Rail Cat and Rocky Raccoon. his voice had a country twang that was extremely effective. Black bird and Mother Nature's Son, two Beatle Ballads, were just exquisite. His treatment of these metric merits _By Diane Shafer To most Americans, the International Metric Study is like a foreign language. In a survey conducted for the U.S. Metric Study, only 40 per cent of the representative sample could name a single metric•unit. The International Metric System is the measurement language of almost every country in the world. As of 1972, the only countries not yet committed to the metric system were Bar bados, Burma, Gambia, Jamaica, Liberia, Muscat, and Oman, Mauru, Sierra Leone, Southern Yemen, Tonga; Trinidad, and the United States. Thus, the U.S. is the only major industrialized nation in the world not on the way to metrification. The metric system's, basic unit of length is the meter, now defined as a. given number of wavelengths of light from the element Krypton. It consists of only six basic units. The unit of mass is the Kilogram ; the unit of temperature is the degree Celsius ; and the unit of time is the second. Amperes and candlas complete the six. With these basic units, it is possible to derive all other measurements in the International Metric System. Its decimal base is another im portant aspect. Units of any given measurement are always related by multiples of ten. The debate over the relative merits of the metric and customary systems, and more specifically -over - whether the U.S. should adopt the _metric system, : - has been a long one, extended over a period of more than 150, years. The battle of the metric system may have begun in 1821, when J.Q. Adams submitted his Report' Upon Weights and Measures to Congress. Congress took no action on the report, so the issue subsided and lay dormant forabout 40 years. It came alive again in 1865, after a committee led by physicist Joseph Henry wrote a report favoring adoption of the metric system. Congress in 1866 legalized the use of metric weights and measures withoitt making the metric system compulsory. - Although the U.S. had now softer tunes was tender and sensitive. For No One. the haunting Lennon McCartney tune about dead love was also done in the same delicate manner. Drew is a unique talent, and his Coffee House debut was im pressive. Hopefully, he'll be playing again soon and I urge everyone to - catch this fine act next time around. While new talent started off the show, the second half featured Gay Catania, a former Behrend student, who has played many Coffee Houses in the past few years. Gay's performance was superb; she possesses one of the finest voices I've ever heard. Power, emotion—Gay gives everything she's got to her music. Her guitar playing isn't strong, but Gay could sit up on stage and' sing without any accompaniment and she'd do as well. Her guitar serves background to her real instrument—her voice—it's adequate enough for this purpose. Gay displays a special presence while performing. She communicates directly to her legalized _ the - system and en dorsed it as the "preferred system of weights and measures," there was still no organized attempts to convert the nation to use of it. . Through' the following years, many pro-metric bills were proposed, but none were acted upon.. Through pre- and post- World War I activity, the metric controversy again lay dormant. It was not really awakened until the Soviet Union launched the first Sputnik in 1957, spurring worldwide interest in science. Since the metric system is the measurement language of science, the U.S. government began to consider increasing its use. In 1968, the U.S. Metric Study Bill was passed. Several bills, regarding the conversion to the metric system have been in troduced into Congress. The most recently proposed bill' is the Metric Conversion Act of 1975, which establishes a U.S. Metric Board to develop a program to accomplish gradual change to and increasing use of the metric system in the U.S. The decimal base and the logical relationship among metric units make calculations both easier and quicker. A study - sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science demonstrated that "slow" children 'can learn metric units more quickly than customary English units. Also, by continuing to use a measurement system which is alien to over 80 per cent of the world's population, we place ourselves at a competitive disadvantage in world markets because trade with some coun tries is limited, also because we strengthen our economic and political role in the world if we join in a common measurement system. Many U.S.' firms producing in foreign nations and in• the U.S. have been using metric standards for years. The _process has already begun. The experience of the other countries has indicated that metric conversions are both easier and less expensive than anticipated, and conversion to the system in the U.S. may only be a matter of time. Put)fished by • the Students of the Behrend College Pennsvylania State University Station Road, Erie, Pa. 16510 audiences, not unlike • Joni Mit chell who is a strong influence in her style. She does especially well on Mitchell numbers, which are usually difficult to sing because of the tricky rhythms and complicated melodies. The spirited energetic tunes such as You Turn Me On, Big Yellow Taxi, and Raised on Robbery. were done as well as the quieter tunes. Little Green was per formed with just the right amount of control and restraint. But her best Mitchell tune was For Free from Ladies of the Canyon, one of Joni's early albums. Her powerful, climatic version of this song is comparable to Joni's—Gay does justice to the imitable. Gay also has a definite jazz influence in her style which was especially apparent in her ren dition of Norwegian Wood. Her jazz interpretation of this tune was considerably different than the Beatles, but it was excellent. She does some blues too. Summer Time, a classic Ger shwin tune was unique—her blues style was strange and soulful, I'd never heard a folk singer do Summertime before, but her version was one of the best I've ever heard. _. The show ended on a -campy note, _ her last two numbers— Twisted and Sentimental Journey gave Gay the opportunity to really ham it up. Gay's voice is an important part of her music while Drew's guitar playing seems to dominate his. They make a great com bination. I was surprised they didn't do a few numbers together. Next time, hopefully they will. With Gay's outstanding voice and Drew's beautiful guitar, they could make some great music together. Summer finance Financial Aid applications for summer term are available at the Financial Aid Office, 2nd floor RUB. The University will be awarding Work-study (part-time and full-time), NDSL (loan), and SEOG (grant) for the summer term. All applicants must file either a PCS or, if independent, an SFS, along with . the Summer Aid Application in order to be con sidered for an award. Deadline for summer ap plications is March 15. PCS's or SFC's should be submitted no later than March 1. Concorde noise Behrend students, now is your time to take part in the decisions that your government makes. This week and next week, members of the noise groUp of Bi Sci 3 will pass out information by the RUB desk concerning the environmental , problems of the Concorde, plus addresses of congressmen to write to. Right now, we're =letting the supersonic jet, the Concorde, land in the U.S. for a 16-month trial period. Your letters of concern could be just what Congress needs to ban the harmful Concorde from the U.S. of the seen recovering from its winter freeze as temperatures soared into unseasonal highs in the mid-50's. This small, scenic spot by the Administration building flows unnoticed by most passers-by. Pools for A recent survey conducted by the Bi Sci 3 Transportation Group has shown that Behrend College students are concerned with the ecological problems involved in daily transportation. Of 189 commuters surveyed, 79 per cent felt carpooling was necessary; 77 per cent felt that carpooling would be helpful to them per sonally; and 81 per eent felt they might carpool if they were in:- formed of students in their area with whom they might carpool. - At present, only 33.5 per cent indicated that they carpool. In order to generate a greater interest in carpooling, and to furnish information to those who might wish to form carpools, the group has also made a computer print-out of commuters in the various zip -coded districts of Erie and surrounding areas. The print-out includes names, ad- Drew's debut.. . at last Wednesday's coffeehouse proved to be extremely suc cessful as he warmed up the audience for a Coffeehouse favorite, Gay Cantania. Thursday February 19, 1976 big dresses, and phone numbers to assist students in forming car pools. It is expected that the print-out will be posted in the RUB main hallway during the week of February 16th. The group has also compiled a booklet on "topics on trans portation." Topics include summaries on such things as alternative forms of trans portation, and other pertinent issues such as emission control laws. The booklet will be on closed reserve in the library by February 20th. It is hoped that this information will be helpful to Behrend College students who are interested in transportation issues and in the preservation of the enviornment and its natural resources. We also wish to thank those commuters who responded to our survey.
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