_Dwight Collins celebrates
Black America writers
by Tracy Muffett
Collegian Staff Writer
Approximately 30 people attend
ed the Friday, Feb. 13 Dark Sym
phony in the Reed Lecture Hall at 8
p.m. Nearly an hour and a half
I,iier, approximately 30 people
walked out of the lecture hall much
richer for an experience that no one
should have missed.
Actor Dwight Collins, an impos
hip who has appeared in The
Color Purple, stood alone on a
stage adorned with only a podium
and a stool -- and even these he
rarely used, in what he called "My
own personal interpretation of
some legendary works by some
le, , J.endary authors."
Like a musical symphony, Dark
S: mph on y has movements, each
with a central and unifying, theme.
The "Middle Passage" from
ica to the Caribbean, life as
sign es anJ later as "free" men, and
V, amen arc but a fess of these
themes. Simple and eloquent, the
symphony includes poetry and pro
se, and dance. and it lasts
several hours. Collins, due to time
reslrictions, performed only some
e eerpts from the symphony;
1 - .;_ , ;.ever. the fact that the perfor
The )regs" take first place in Valentine's Day Air Band contest
43 Jill Tourville
Staff Writer
an occasion
foi mu h entertainnlent on cam
<ponz,oreci by the Student Pro
441:_mminf... Council. The evening
n with the Air [laud contest.
i‘.lnn) students filled the
Wintergreen Cafe to cheer on and
laugh at the contestants. The
all students of Behrend,
i)oug Gainor. Greg Goldsmith.
fin ei re Green and Andrea
Sullivan, awarded "The Dregs"
the first prize of S5O. "The Dregs"
cons;sted of nine guys from Sigma
Kappa Nu: Pat Espin, Dave
S:arsnic. Chris Jordan. Kirk Rex
\viral, Rob Boyle, Greg
Garrison, Todd Raible, and Brian
They performed the song
- You Can Call Me Ai" by Paul
Simon. "The Dregs" were well
coordinated, all drassed in crisp
white shirts and black tics, and had
quite a stage presence which lifted
the spirits of the audience. When
o , ked why they called themselves
"The Dregs", Chris Jordan
expended emphatically, "SKN
was referred to as 'the dregs of
~oc i ety' by Collegian staff writer
Michelle Grasrnick...we just
wanted to show people that that is
not true.•' Also from SKN, imper
sonating The Beastie Boys, was
__au Fontana, Chuck Hess, and Ed
Nlaeser. With their convincing per
lormance they took the second
prize of $25 with the song "You
Cotta Fight For Your Right (To
i'arty)." Then because two of the
bands cancelled at the last minute,
the master chairman, Ralph Let
son, also a student at Behrend, and
.0 cadets learn winter survival skills
by Michelle Grasmick
ar:d Lari Beals
Collegian Staff Writers
On Saturday. Jan. 31, all ROTC
cadets participated in the first lead
lab of the semester, entitled
- Winter Survival -i6 Rifle Fir
ing." Due to the freezing
temperatures, most cadets reported
to the first formation with extra
sets of long underwear lining their
Battle Dress Uniforms, while still
rubbing the sleep from their eyes.
The day began at the Wilson Pic
nic Grove, where MS-11l Cadets
Greg Durkac and Calvin Fryling
launched the day's activities with a
briefing on cold weather injuries
and prevention. This proved to be
timely, as many of the cadets were
neginning to jump around in order
to keep Old Man \\Tinter from nip
ping at their toes. Durkac and Fryl
tng taught cadets how to prevent
hypothermia and frostbite by layer
ing clothing, drinking warm fluids,
conducting buddy checks, and
maintaining constant bodily move
ment. The cadets were also taught
to recognize frostbite and
hypothermia. Cadets snickered
when they learned that one of the
treatments for hypothermia involv
ed getting into a sleeping bag naked
with a nude but warm buddy.
Cadets were then led to a station
conducted by MS-IV Cadet Tom
Milley. Milley instructed a class on
finding your direction and orien
ting yourself when you're lost and
without a compass. This involved
using the hands of a watch in com
parison to the location of the sun.
By this time, quite a few cadets
were beginning to get twinges of
mance was abridged made it no less
powerful.
The actual works that Collins us
ed in his performance -- excerpts
from novels, poems, and plays by
Black American writers, primarily
from the Harlem Renaissance
period of the 1920's -- are dramatic
in and of themselves; yet Collins,
with expressive voice and face and
fluid gestures, brought to them a
life of his own. There was joy and
celebration, as in James Johnson's
"The Creation"; in a piece by
Countee Cullen, there was sadness
and deep bitterness toward a Fate
that would "make a poet black,
then bid him sing." There was
laughter and grief and hatred; but,
mostly, there was deep pride in be
ing Black. "My soul has grown
deep, like the rivers," quoted Col
lins from a Langston Hughes
piece...black and white alike, the
rapt audience believed it.
On a more serious note, Collins
expressed to the audience his deep
love for and feeling of unity with
all Blacks. "If you see a junkie
shootin' dope in the alley, or a
wino layin' in the alley, you're
lookin' at me; if you see a doctor,
or a lawyer, or a minister, you're
lookin' at me," he said at the end
"The Dregs" from L to r. Dave Starsnic, Pat Espin, Kirk Rexford, Chris Jordan, Dave Wirth, Robert Boyle, Todd Raible, Greg Garrison.
hunger in their bellies, so MS-111
Cadet John Moscato demonstrated
how to kill and prepare a chicken
while living in the field. This class
proved to be more painful for some
cadets to watch than for the actual
chickens being killed. Moscato
demonstrated two diffeient ways to
kill a chicken: 1) by pulling and
biting its neck off, and 2) by hang
ing it upside down from a tree
branch and breaking its neck with
an entrenching tool and letting it
bleed to death. After both chickens
were dead and the necks were
severed, Moscato demonstrated
how to skin and gut the chickens
properly. They also demonstrated
the correct method of preparing a
chicken over an open fire.
After this very explicit and
detailed demonstration, cadets
found their appetites either nonex
istent or ravenous, and were en
trusted to the care of MS-IV Cadet
of the show•. Perhaps an excerpt
from Collin's closing piece, a
monologue from Charles Gor
done's play No Place to Be
Somebody, best sums up Collins'
message to people of all races:
"They's mo' to bein' black than
Ken Lesher for chow around a rag
ing fire, where toes soon began to
thaw out. Just as cadets settled
down to a scrumptious lunch of hot
dogs, potato chips, hot chocolate,
and soup, as well as the infamous
chicken stew, MS-111 Cadet Craig
Paske discovered the head of one
of the chickens in the bottom of the
pot in which the hot dogs were boil
ing. Simultaneously, everyone's
mouths stopped chewing and drop
ped open, while shrieks of shock
and dread were sounded. However,
as soon as Paske broke down in fits
of hysterical laughter and admitted
it was a practical joke, cadets relax
ed and went on munching in order
to prepare themselves for the next
quest of the day, which allowed
cac:_:ts to learn about the M-16A1
Rifle.
Each platoon was transported to
the Lawrence Park indoor rifle
range, where they were given a
TROUBLED?
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'E CAN HELP...WE
ARE ABOUT YOU!
IN STATE-BEHREND
AMPUS MINISTRY
ant Affairs Reed Building
898-6245
F CAMPUS WORSHIP
OPPORTUNITIES
RANSPORTATION AVAILABLE FOR
11.00 a.m. SERVICES
BUS LEAVES REED
10.15 a.m SUNDAYS
ON CAMPUS WORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES
ROMAN CATHOLIC MASS
with The Rev. Ron Toven• (Fr. Ron)
SATURDAYS, 5:30 p.m. m
THE REED LECTURE HALL
PENN STATE•BEHREND
CAMPUS MINISTRY
Dwight Collins
meets the eye! It's all the stuff that
nobody wants but cain't live
without! It's the body that keeps us
standin'! The soul that keeps us
goin'! An' the spirit that'll take us
th 000! Yes! They's mo' to bein'
black that meets the eyeS"
class on the assembly and
disassembly of the M-16. After a
safety briefing, 5 people at a time
were put on the firing line, each
with an instructor from Behrend's
Rifle Club. Each person was given
15 (.22 caliber) rounds to fire at
silhouette targets. They were in
structed on loading, siting, and
clearing the rifle, and on different
firing techniques. Many people en
joyed this, and did very well hitting
inside the inner circle of the target.
The cadets went home with a
more complete knowledge of M-I6
rifle marksmanship and winter sur
vival techniques.
.......
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Levi's __ .___, -.....-- Farr
_ , _ 6 *Cary Samoa
ariTh
lig ?Jr,/ litilffii In
46.0.
DeLONG SPORTSWEAR ll SPORTSWEAR.
Photo by Wendell Bates
Drill team
shows off
March
by Michelle Grasmiek
Collegiate Staff Writer
• .new,pCsheylliaS'ineri established of
awarding blue,' berets to those
cadetS ,Who rierfonn two color
• .guard exercises artd•megt other par-
The beginning of the Spring 'B7 , 6:War Criteria,, •
semester saw the birth of a new • trend's drill • team Aral corn
club on campus: the ROTC Drill' pete wkb other,,Penn State College
Team. Many people are already , 4rillteattisitiFort - Indiantown-Gap
familiar with the drill team after, inlvlarch. Most of the meetings are
watching the Color Guard perform spent in preparation for this event,
at basketball games. The Color Bebrend ROTC ; has the obligation
Guard has participated in other oftipholding the tradition of dean
such events such as high school - ing upon awards. • -
football games and Erie Blade Other events, in which the Drill
games. ' Team will participate include the
_
The club's purpose is to give "ROTC"Awards Ceremony,
cadets the chance to learn moves Behrend ComMencement Exer
with the M-16 rifle and teach eise4 and the Reserve= Officer's
precise marching techniques. A Association Military Bail.
If you have a story for the
Collegian, call 898-6221
Photo by Holly Lew
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411
FEBRUARY 26,1987
Collegian
PAGE 5
the judges decided to open up the
stage to anyone courageous enough
to do an impromtu for the third
prize of $lO. Only two acts
volunteered. First, the sisters from
Sigma Theta Chi lip-synched to,
according to Susie Jalosky: "one
of their favorite songs, 'The Suit
case Blues' by Triumph." Finally;
with much persuasion from the alai
dience, Bill Packwood agreed to
take the stage. He impersonated
Prince by dancing to the song
"Kiss." This entertaining perfor
mance won third prize. Despite all
the fun of the Air Band Contest,
Chris Jordan said, " It was sad that
the only two bands participating
were fraternities:..more people
should, get iny6lved.j.:The fun con
- tattled later with 'a:ddriee held in the
Wintergreen Cafe.
The dance started off a bit slow,
but by midnight the Cafe,
decorated with red and white
streamers and hearts, was full with
more than eighty students. To com
plete the warm and friendly at
mosphere of the dance, heart
shaped cookies were served, com
pliments of SPC. The music for the
dance was provided by Ralph Let
son and included a wide variety of
musical tastes from "Twist and
Shout" to "Purple Rain." Several
sessions of slow songs were includ
ed, perhaps to provide an oppor
tunity for students to ask someone
to be his or her Valentine. The
dance seemed to be an excellent
time for students to relax by danc
ing, socializing or just sitting back
and watching the action on the
dance floor.
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