eatures Terminally Single gets a date by Julie Karasinski Collegian Feature Editor One evening on my way to the Wintergreen Cafe, I passed the Reed lecture hall and heard loud music coming from behind its clos ed doors. Curious, I peeked in and found that some others had the same idea I had. There was a small crowd enjoying the music of an in triguing assemblage of musicians who call themselves Terminally Single. Five rather animated fellows were playing guitars, beating on drums, playing keyboards and run ning around, putting on quite a show. - So I sat down and decided to stay for awhile. After that, I found that they were practicing quite fre quently and becoming somewhat well- known. In fact, one night Behind the buffet at Dobbins by Lynn Popovich Collegian Staff Writer Behind the scenes at Dobbins is a bunch of wild and crazy, creative and bizarre college students who work together as a team. Being one - of them, I can honestly say it is a pretty good time. Granted, there is work to do, but there is also a lot of fun which is put into the jobs. Mor ning shifts are always the highlight of the day when the bodies of hung-over students greet each other with dry mouths and half cracked smiles. The servers dish out the morning grub for the all-too-happy students who seem to get up much too early to eat. The weekends are the rewards for the work-filled weeks. The workers look forward to them because the shifts are shorter, giving them more free time to do more things. There are no really bizarre nicknames. Sometimes someone comes up -with an off-the-wall name out of-nowhere, but no one really seems to mind, though, because it's all done in fun. There are some funny things that happen -every once in a while. When Ed Applegate's birthday just happen ed to be a day he was working, Ronnie Sue Kowal and Erin Gallagher got a nice little pie to throw in his face to remind him that he was loved. People always know when there are new workers because the students and everyone else in Dobbins Hall can hear the dishes crashing to the floor or the glasses shattering everywhere. Horror writer hits home by Holly Lew Collegian Staff Writer "I lost myself in his story for a span of days, and that's the greatest gift a story or a writer can give," wrote Stephen King of The Ceremonies by T. E. D: Klein. T.E.D. Klein, horror fiction writer and former editor of Twilight Zone Magazine, read selections from his novels The Ceremonies and Dark Gods, March 19 at 8 p.m. in the Reed lec ture hall. Klein read the prologue from his first book, The Ceremonies, published in 1984, to an audience of 50 ranging from late teens to senior citizens. His second reading, from Dark Gods, a collection of his novellas, received intense audience response. He read with such expression that I felt as if I were Nadelman, the main character of "Nadelman's God," the last novella in Dark Gods, published in 1985. Klein read for an hour and answered questions from the au dience for an additional half-hour. The reading was followed by a reception in the Memorial room in the Glennhill Farmhouse. Born and raised in Long Island, New York, Klein grew up in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood. In an interview with writer Douglas E. Winter, Klein described his hometown as "a fair ly unromantic place with a lot of split-level homes." He continued to say, "That's why going to school in Providence, Rhode Island, just bowled me over. The neighborhood--Lovecraft's old neighborhood—was so terrifically Colonial. When it snowed, I felt like I was living a Christmas Card." Klein, a great admirer of H. P. Lovecraft, graduated from Brown University in 1969, taught high school English for one year in Maine, and then earned an M. F. A. in film at Columbia University. To his friend of several years, Chris Dubbs, English lecturer here at Behrend, he wrote that his first job was with Paramount Pictures where he worked as an assistant when there was a dance with a live band in the Wintergreen Cafe and Terminally Single was practicing in Rll7, the lecture hall had to be cleared of spectators because they were stealing the crowd from the dance. Terminally Single is a diverse collection of Behrend students who, in addition to being academically inclined, are musical ly talented as well. Barry Hilgert is the lead vocalist and plays rhythm guitar. He's been very involved in music during his life. At age 12 he got a guitar and began taking lessons at age 14. But that only lasted for about 1 1 / 2 years because it was all theory and he couldn't stand it. "You know how you are when you're young and you practice for half an hour before your lesson," says Barry. He's played baritone, trumpet, sax- There were times when the loader of the dishwasher put trays in the wrong way only to have certain other co-workers climb into the machine like "He-Men" and pull the mangled objects out of the' machine to see that the tray you put into the machine just wasn't the same tray you pulled out. Greg Radick is always a good one to work alongside, and his great sense of humor makes things bearable even when his co-workers show up for work a half-hour late. Fellow worker Lisa Hahn, with her dishroom abilities, seems to pull off her morning shifts with agility and style. You can always see her running back and forth between the dishwasher and the water foun tain. She says, "Even though there are jobs to be done, all the good times that go on outweigh the work. And the paychecks don't hurt eitherS" When Cindy, one of the cooks, left Dobbins, Greg Radick, Dave "Ralf" Letson, and Mike "Spike" Murbach put on their own rendi tion of " A Chorus Line" and add ed special kicks and swings to the dance. , With those three guys put ting on a show like that, how could she not feel touched? To make the time pass more quickly, we try to see just how much we can get away with. When no one is looking, there's always a bunch who perform their grape throwing techniques and sometimes they even make it into their partner's mouth. When clean up comes around at the end of the editor for three years, reading screen plays, new novels, etc. Having helped write the original proposal for Twilight Zone Magazine, he became its editor upon its founding in 1980. He ex plained that he stayed for "its first 40-odd issues, leaving in the Spring of 'B5 to write full time." He resigned after 4 1 / 2 years at Twilight Zone Magazine in order to com plete Dark Gods, his second novel. Of horror fiction, Klein com mented that "there simply aren't any fresh plots. What's important is the freshness of the writing." During his years at Twilight Zone Magazine, Klein noted some of the most submitted story types which he called "horror cliches." Of the 21 he described, the one I most remember, which happens to be number 13 on his list, is the one about the "milktoast," "henpeck ed hubby." Klein said that these stories "often end with 'Come in Dear, I have something to show you,' as husband waits for wife in room full of carnivorous plants. (long pause) Usually submitted by men." After he finishes his third novel, Niglittown, he hopes to depart from horror fiction. "I'm actually sick of horror stories, " said Klein, "and when I finish my present book, I want to bid 'goodbye' to horror (fiction). I really do." Klein commented about some of his fears, which often are sources for his stories. "I stay awake until dawn," he said. "When dawn comes and I hear kids going to school, and the garbage man, and walking on the sidewalks, there's something in me that breathes • a sigh of relief saying I can go to sleep," he added. The fears he has are the same ones that all of us have. "The ac tual nightmares I have are embar rassingly trite, like being chased by a bear or a lion. And even in wak ing life, the essence of horror is, for me, quite crude--downright primitive, in fact. It's as simple as an ugly face. It's when suddenly the trunk is unlatched, the closet door is opened, or the trap door in the attic flips up, and there's a hor rible face with teeth and a kind of photo by Paul Duda Terminally Single 1. to r. Carmen Romano, Rich Drury, Barry Hilgert, Matt Filippi, Bruce Wujcik. _ shift, the person sweeping can tell how bad the catchers are as they sweep up the dozens of grapes scat tered across the floor. Cleaning tables at the end of the meals is always a feat which must be paid particular attention to by the worker. Certain people who enjoy the food at Dobbins seem to like it so much that they leave it for the workers to enjoy by leaving it in glasses left out on the table or by so generously letting some food fall out of their mouths onto the table. One incident which was pretty sex ist happened one Friday, when everyone was excited for the weekend to come. Usually there is always something the girls can do physically that guys cannot. But, contrary to this belief, this par ticular Friday there was not one thing that this bunch of guys couldn't perform. By placing his head against the wall, Jim "Cruz" McDermott picked up a chair and placed it back down on the floor without falling over. He then pro ceeded by going out into the cafeteria and bringing back Kelly "Shu" Shuman and having Shu prove that- guys can -bend -thei - thumbs all the way back to their wrists. Jim showed all of the girls that guys can do anything girls can do. Maybe so, but girls still do it better! All in all, Dobbins Hall is a fun place to work. There is work to be done but, along with the work. there are a lot of good times right along with them ( not to mention the paychecks!). leathery skin and staring eyes. That sort of thing scared me when I was four years old, and it scares me today." He left us with some advice on how to deal with these fears. "You know what I tell myself?" he ask ed. "That if there's something out there, it's probably going to get me 7, - ' : ' , ophone, trombone, and has taken piano lessons too. Near the end of his high school career, he was drum major. All through high school he was involved in musicals and has had additional singing experience just by singing along with his guitar. According to Barry, learn ing the lyrics for the songs is not that terrific. Says Barry, "What people don't realize is that you listen to a song on the radio and catch the lyrics somewhat, but when you sit down and actually copy down every single lyric for 40-odd songs, it's not that easy." "Well, when I was back in England..." began Matt Filippi of the story of his bass guitar success. After much laughter, he revealed that he's been in a band since the first day he got his bass guitar, which was before he even knew how to play it! A guitar- playing friend of his wanted to start a band, so he took his bass and taught himself how to play. He's been in many successful bands since he got his bass in 9th grade, playing at local dances and opening for Friction. Some of the bands he's been in were called: Prisoner, The Rage, The Young Profes sionals, Avant Garde, and Special Forces. In his younger and wilder --days,,, he and his.. fellow band members used to do such bizarre things as wear makeup and chew on those purple things that show you if your teeth have plaque on them. "We chewed them up and spit it out; it looked grosss" says Matt. Rich Drury launched his musical career by playing classical violin for five years. In Bth grade he got sick of it and started playing his violin anyway. And being vigilant, keep ing watch for it is not going to help." So the next time you think there's something hiding under your bed, be brave and take a peek because, according to Klein, if it's out there waiting for you, there's nothing you can do about it. mom Horror writer T.E.D. Klein like a guitar. He then traded in his violin for a guitar and took lessons for a year. He never really got anything out of them, though, and so he kind of just learned on his own. At home, he had a band and they went through "every single person that could possibly play any type of instrument. We never had a really good vocalist, but we had a good time." says the band's lead guitarist. Carmen Romano, Terminally Single's keyboardist, began by playing piano. After playing piano since he was in the 2nd grade, he decided it was time to move on to keyboards. "I begged my parents and they finally gave inS" remark ed Carmen. The day he got his keyboard he got offered to be in a band called The Roxx. Under his own belt he's got 5 original songs, one of which he played at his high school graduation. The drummer for Terminally Single is Bruce Wujcik. He actually got his start by playing the flute. One day, however, he took his flute apart and started beating on things with the two longest pieces. He thought it was cool, but his parents didn't. "So they bought me a pair of sticks and it was bye, bye flute." said Bruce. Since he began playing drums in the 6th grade, hes been in some bands, two . of which were called Ernie's Raiders and Paradox. He was also in the stage 4. Remedy 9. Belonging to (suf.) 12. Is (p.t.) 13. Amphitheater 14. Give approval 15. Sedative 17. Correct 19. Wan 20. Two plant 21. Arinatic animal 23. Engine cooling device 27. Danger 29. Window 30. Box Office (abbr.) 31. Order (abbr.) 32. Smell 34. Second smallest U.S. state (abbr.) 35. Southern New Eng. state (abbr.) 36. Wide-mouthed pitcher 37. Rent 39. On the same team 42. Gr. god of war 43. Clock face 44. Melodious song bird 46. Record keeper 40. Place where fruit is canned 51. Policeman (slang) 52. Joyful 54. Bring action against 55. Small bed 56. Measures 57. Number , , photo by Holly Lew ACROSS Collegian PAGE 5 band at his high school. How did these five get together? It all started with Rich and Barry. They played guitar together last year and wanted to put a band together this year, but weren't hav ing much luck. Then one day Matt heard Barry playing and went and knocked on his door. He introduc ed himself and said, "I heard you playing guitar so I thought I'd stop in—l'm looking to start a band, I play bass." They hadn't been able to find a bass player so, according to Barry, "It was a blessing from God that Matt came cruisin' into the room." Rich was friends with Bruce and Carmen was introduced to Barry through a mutual friend. The band was organized before Christmas Break but the first prac tice wasn't until the beiginning of the new semester because Bruce had to bring his drums to Behrend. Even though they've all had ex perience writing and playing their own songs, they won't be playing any of their own compositions in performance because when you're a campus band "you have to play what people want to hear," says Barry. Besides that, they all have such different tastes in music they don't know what they'd come up with. Says bassist Matt, "If we decide to do a song, I think that it would be kind of off-the-wall and not too serious." Coming up with a good name for a band is something that often times just happens unplanned. Such was the case with Terminally Single. One night they were all in Rich's room and they were all hav ing girl problems so Barry said, "We should call ourselves Ter minally Single." Everyone liked it, so it stuck. "Being in a band isn't all hunky dorey," says Barry of band life. "People see the band up there hav ing fun, but what they don't know is that you have to put up with the ...guy standing next to you." But there are bound to be disagreements in any band and even though they don't agree on everything, they do agree on one thing: they're out to have fun. And that's just what they'll do on April 11 in the Wintergreen Cafe, Ter minally Single's first date. DOWN 1. Flap 2. Mhtake 3. Spotted animal 4. End S. Arrangement 6. Born 7. Not out 8. Red bird 9. Molded metal 10. Variant of no (Japanese) 11. Time standard (abbr.) 16. A republic of Africa 18. Family names In zoology (suf.) 20. Cheese 21. Game 22. Sassy 24. To the left (mut.) 25. Fat 26. Positions • 23. Senator 33. In fact 34. Blackest - 36. Prince (Arabian) 38. Deserve 40. Good at doing 41. Make happy 45. Medical prefix 46.300 (Rom. num.) 47. Card game 48. Feline 49. Feel remorse SO. Yearn 53: Southern state (abbr.)
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers