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.