Behrend collegian. (Erie, Pa.) 1971-1988, October 01, 1987, Image 8

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    Collegian
PAGE 8
Magic moments at their best
.7, - .
by Lori Beals
Collegian Staff Writer
:With fire shooting from one end
of his black wand, magician/come
dian Bob Garner starte his show
Friday September 18th. After• he
put out the fire by waving the wand
in :the air, the crowd settled back
for a night of amusing magic. First
he made his pet, an Indian
parakeet, appear from a long
bunch of red ribbons he was
holding. To get the audience
loosened up, he told a story about
ho'w a con artist got away with ten
dollars of his by pretending to burn
it up. Getting ten dollars from a
Volunteer in the audience, he put it
in: an envelope and had the
Vplunteersign it. Then he proceed
e:d to burn the envelope to the
volunteer's chagrin. But as luck, or
magic, would have it, the envelope
with the signature and the ten
dollar bill was found in a zippered
wallet inside the jacket of his
tuxedo.
His next trick was to take needles
and put them in his mouth, put a
string in his mouth, and drink some
Water. After some odd facial
movements, he pulled the end of
the string out of his mouth. As he
continued to pull, the needles he
h4d "eaten" came out attached .to
the string.
Next he did a "telepathy" trick
using three volunteers from the au
dience. One picked a card, one
chose a city, and one thought up a
name.- He wrote what he thought
There's a lot of dangerous information
about sex. Dangerous because its just
plain wrong.
If you doxit know the facts, you can
get into extremely serious trouble. How
many of these mistakes have you heard
others make?
"YOU CAN'T GET •
r, f2, PREGNANT DOING IT
STANDING UP."
Gravity has nothing to do with getting
pregnant. The millions of sperm in each
ejaculation can live for two or three days
inside of you. Jumping up and down
worit stop them. Doing it standing up wont
faze them. It takes just one sperm to get
you pregnant.
"YOU CAN'T GET
PREGNANT WHEN •
YOU'RE BLEEDING!'
Oh, yes you can. Some girls can have
bleeding when they ovulate—the most fer
tile time—and think it's their period. Think
of bleeding as the start of a cycle, not the
end of one. Because few girls have periods
like clockwork. calculating the actual low
points in your fertility cycle is the most
difficult birth control method there is.
Even when you do it right, it's the one
that's most likely to go wrong.
"DOUCHING
WITH SODA POP
REALLY WORKS."
MEM
If it did, you can bet the companies who
make the stuff would be selling it for a lot
more than they do! The fact is, douching
Gyne Exams • Birth Control Prescription Services • PAP Tests • Pregnancy Tests
Thanks to Planne:d Parenthood for use of this ad.
were the items the people had pick
ed on a chalkboard. To the amaze
ment of the audience, he got all the
answers right, even the city of Har
dheim, W. Germany.
After this he had three people
write down -three numbers in a
notebook, while he wrote down
what he thought the sum of the
numbers would be. Of course,
when added, somehow the
numbers added up to 1,023, the
amount he had written down.
He chose Matthew, age five,
from the audience to help with his
next trick. He had Matthew ex
amine and knock on a small mirror
to make sure it was solid. Then he
put the mirror in a paper bag, pull
ed a knitting needle through it, and
bent the mirror in half.
He chose two guys to come on
stage to help with his hoop tricks.
They each got a hoop around their
necks, and two people in the crowd
were given hoops. The guys tied his
thumbs together and the people in
the 'audience threw the hoops at
him and he caught them, somehow
getting past the tied thumbs. He
also retrieved the hoops from
around the necks of the guys.
His next trick was the mandatory
"Saw a Lady in Half' trick. By
some twist of fate (maybe the fact
that I was sitting near the front had
something to do with it), this
hapless reporter was chose to be the
one sawed in half! He told me to
come up front, I put down my pen
and paper with which I was recor
ding the show, and mounted he
stage, I sat on a long table, then
was told to lie down, which I did
',•:z: - .7."t -, •-::::.?;i,;.-- - .. , _•. , -....:;-•%....f.;:• - ,: .-,fs
with some hesitation. As he gave
his patter he put a red (of all colors)
towel over my stomach, and also
an arch shaped board, which he
also placed over my middle. He
asked me questions such as what
instrument he would cut me in half
with, and prompted me with the
answers. He showed me and the au
dience the tool with which he
would carve me up—a Bldck and
Decker electric hand saw with a
sharp blade! At this point I was a
little nervous, but became more so
when he bent down and whispered
to me "Don't move." A pause.
"I'm serious! " A comedian who's
serious? That's trouble.
He started the saw and carefully
began to cut me in half, his face
contorted with the effort. After
what seemed like quite a while to
me, he finished, and to my relief I
was still•all in one piece. Then slow
ly he removed the board and towel
to show the audience that I was still
whole, and I finally was allowed to
sit down and watch the end of the
show.
His last tricks were to make the
bird that he made appear at the
beginning of the show, disappear.
The bird was in a glass box, which
he covered for a moment with a
gold cloth, but the bird was gone
when he removed the cover. His
last trick, which he admitted to us
was his favorite, was the "Rip up
the Newspaper and Make it. Whole
Again" trick, which he performed
to music. He ripped the paper unitl
it was in two inch squares, then
magically made it reappear whole
again.
My, MY, .. THAT MUST - //il*"
tf - E - /v om& - h/544
e if ..?Llie,&2_
with any kind of soda pop is not only use
less. its extremely dangerous. Douching
with anything is no substitute for the
simple, effective birth control methods
you can buy at any drugstore without
a prescription. We wish there was an easy
way ,to prevent pregnancy "after the fact. -
but there isn't.
"YOU CAN'T
GET PREGNANT
THE FIRST TIME!'
Its all the same to eggs and sperm. They're
ready the first time, every time. even if you're
not. Ifs not a matter of "luck." Its just a fact
of life. If you have sex and don't use an
effective method of birth control. you are
going to get pregnant. If you dorit want it to
happen. you have to do something to stop
- it from happening.
This year, a million teenage girls will
get pregnant because they didn't know how
not to. Or because they "thou,ght" they
knew, but really didn't.
Getting pregnant is easy You dorit
have to be smart. You don't have to be pop
ular. You don't have to be anything except
mistaken. Just once, about one thing.
Nobody's born knowing the facts of
life. Everybody has to learn them. And the
best way to learn is by asking people youre
absolutely sure know the answer. Like your
parents. Or your teacher. Or the people
at Planned Parenthood. We're listed in the
phone book. We can help. That's what
were here for.
for more information call
University Health Center
898-6217
The audience of about 60 people
gave him a well deserved round of
applause, and he dissappeared into
the room behing the stage. A few
moments later he reemerged, and
called me up to the front saying
that since I had to go through the
experience of being sawed in half, I
should at least have an autograph
ed picture of him to remember it
by. He also signed autographs for
the others who came to the front.
In talking about how he became
a magician omedian, he said he
became interested in magic "when
I was a little kid." He started by
picking up tricks out of books, and
eventually became good enough
that he was "groomed by the top
dogs," such as technical directors
from the magic shows of
Blackstone, Jr. and David Copper
field. Bob Garner has been in the
magic business for seven years,
after turning pro at age 20. He
worked doing magic shows in
resorts, hotels, on cruises, and at
colleges. But the comedy side of his
show, he admits, "happened by ac
cident...l started being myself."
He told me that much of his humor
comes from the fact that "I res
pond back to the audience." And
they respond back to him. What I
want to know is, how was I cut in
half?!
Reptile World—
Scales above the
by Michelle Gasmick
Collegian Staff Writer
Picture yourself in a tropical
jungle or a. dense swamp,
somewhere in the heart of Africa.
As you make your way through the
thick vegetation, you encounter a
wild, exotic reptile with each step
you take. This is very close to the
feeling Behrend students had at
Reptile World on September 21st.
Reptile World was presented by
Michael Schwedick, a reptile ex
pert, who travels along the East
Coast dislaying his various reptiles
to enthused audiences.
Michael began his presentation
with some history about himself
and information about reptiles. He
and his brother co-own a reptile
center in Landover, Maryland.
Ever since his youth, he'd been
fascinated with reptiles and their
lifestyles. (Especially snakes, which
his mother refused to let him have
because they have no legs.) Michael
went on to explain that reptiles do
not regulate 'their own body
temperatures; instead, their body
temperature equals that of the
tmperature in the room. However,
they prefer warmth, and are much
more active in a warm
environment.
The first reptile to go on display
was "Buttercup", an albino
Siamese, soft shell turtle from
Thailand. Instead of being Army
green, Buttercup was the bright
yellow his name implies. Had he
not been rescued from nature, it
would have been quite unlikely that
he would have surived due to his
lack of camoflauge protection. His
shell was very soft, about the hard
ness of leather, through which his
backbone and ribs could be seen.
Michael then presented the au
dience with "Iggy", a South
American green Iguana. He seemed
to be quite a hit among the au-
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dience, especially due to his bright
streaks of color and prehistoric
looking spines on his back. His
spines are used to absorb
ultraviolet rays from the sun to
warm' his body and ward off any
potential predators. Underneath
his chin ws a flap of skin called a
"dulap," which when blown - up,
would also intimidate his enemies.
, Cookie the, crocodile, was the
next reptile the audience had the
opportunity to see. The crocodile
and the alligator are the two
smartest reptiles, and even..display
maternal instincts. Crocodilisiero
nudge their young to water and
keep a special eye out for them un
til they can fend for themselves.
Unfortunately, crocodiles are on
the endangered species list, mainly
due to the use of their hide to make
shoes and purses.
Tex, the alligator, was caught in
Maryland, and had nearly starved
to death. Most likely, someone had
taken him from Texas, grown tired
of him, and left him to die in a lake
in Maryland. However, Michael
and his brother have done an
Retreat Progress
by Susanna Jalosky
Collegian Staff Writer
One warm fall afternoon, 39
students from Behrend college
boarded the blue Bus carrying
sleeping bags, footballs, and duffle
bags stuffed with sweet pants and
munchies. Before they had a
chance to start a chorus of their
favorite travel-ditty, the bus pulled
onto the grounds of Camp
Glinodo. Every student seemed
eager to spend a weekend in the
wild. These 39 students were the
participants of this years Leader-
eatures
Bob Garner, Magician
outstanding job of nursing him
back to health,
Finally, Michael tempted fate,
and brought out his wide variety of
snakes, fanging from boa constric
tors to pit Vipors which spit venom
all over the table while attempting
to strike. A large portion of the au
dience got to experience the sound
of the rattle from a rattlesnake for
the first time.
The crowning glory of the entire
performance was the disply of
"Junior Miss," an eight year old,
fourteen foot long python weighing
-1:62 . :-ixiiieds.- —lt-- took seven
'Volunteers from the audience to lift
her from the box. Everyone was
quite openly impressed. When the
show ended, the audience was in
vited to experience Junior Miss in
person. . .
The show was quite impressive
and left the audience with a greater
understanding and appreciation of
reptiles. Some even overcame
misconceptions and fears of the
animals. Michael Schwedick kept
his audienc • fully entranced, as he
most surely does everyday along
the East Coast of the United States.
ship Retreat. The agenda consisted
of nine hours of seminars and
workshops, with plenty of time left
for outdoor or indoor recreation.
Some students, however, chose to
use their free time catching up on
homework.
Some of the seminars were
Leadership Styles •by Chris Reber,
Assertiveness Training by P.J.
Brown, and Meeting Management
by Jamie Grimm. In an interview
with John Downey, assistant to the
Dean of Student Services, he con
veyed a very enthusiastic attitude
toward Behrend's student involve
ment. He also reported that he was
happy with the success of this years
retreat.
A lot of stress was placed on stu
dent involvement: How to get in
volved, utilizing abilities to the
benefit of the organization, and in
creasing commorodery with both
students and faculty. A seminar
given by Mary Beth Peterson on
Activities and Your Future Career,
showed the students how involve
ment can aid in job search, self
assessment and maturity.
The students also had a chance
to participate in a question/answer
session with Jack Burke. A tremen
dous amount of topics' were
covered during this time. As John
Downey put it, "The studnts truly
did act as the voice and representa- 7
tion of the student body."
At the end of the retreat the
surveys were collected and
tabulated. John Downey said the
general consensus was great.-The
seminars were helpful as well as in
formative and everyone really had
a good time. John chuckled, "The
most entertaining part of the
retreat was finding my boxer shorts
strung up the flagpole!
The participants of this years
Leadership retreat benefitted from
the leadership skills taught,
however, 39 students out of
Behrend's entire population is few.
Many others may be equally as in,
terested. For those people a leader
ship class is in the making as well as'
a Leadership Seminar Series which
is said to begin on October first. •
rest