re pleasures
Book bargains at the Salvation Army store in Altoona first turned Charles
Mann's interest to old literary works. As curator of the Rare Books Room,
' Mann still pursues his first love.
Blow your horn
'Blue Band.-
By SALLY HEFFENTREYER
Collegian Staff Writer
Half-time at Beaver Stadium: fight
your way to a 45-minute wait at the
restroom, hunt for the friend you were
"s upposed to meet at the gate before the
game, or stay in your seat so no one will
take it.
Whatever you do at half-time on a
football Saturday, you're bound to see or
hear the Penn State Blue Band. Just who
are the people - behind the
,conglomeration of clarinets, trombones
r and drums? What makes them pump the
air from thier lungs and put blisters on
their feet to entertain the Saturday
rowdies?
"Students join the marching band for
any number of reasons," Blue Band
Director Ned Deihl said. "They enjoy
k.; the spirit and comradery involved, and
most of them simply love to perform."
"Most of the kids are in the Blue Band
just for fun," Joe O'Leary (11th, pre
med.), right guide' in the band, said.
Since not even music majors are
required to be members of the marching
4 . band, everyone is in it purely because
they like it, he said.
dtai:l;Collegian living
Battle
of the
bands
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- In their usual unconventional style, the Incomparable Leland
Stanford Junior Varsity Marching Band rehearses in the
"Band Shak East," otherwise known as the HUB ballroom.
In fact, more than half of the band
members are not music education
majors, Deihl said.
"There is a fantastic mixture of
` .students from all different areas of in
terest," he said. "We have people from
pre-med to agriculture marching with
us."
-0 , - • 1.,1
talented teamwork
Sight reading music is the major
concern of the director in musical
audit ions for the Blue Band. "The main
thing I look for," Deihl said; "is for the
student to be able •to struggle through a
piece of music the first time he sees it."
"We don't have much time to fool
around once the season starts, so they've
got to be able to pick up the music
quickly," he said.
Deihl directs the Blue Band, with help
from an assistant director, a graduate
assistant, and directors for the flag unit
and majorettes.
About 175 students make up the entire
marching unit, including band mem
bers, majorettes and color guard, Deihl
said. Every Monday, Tuesday evening,
Wednesday and Friday they assemble to
drill until the field show comes out right.
"When you've got nearly 175 people
Books Room holds rare treasures
By SUE FITZGERALD
Collegian Staff Writer
%.;harles Mann makes it his business to know books;
but more important, he makes it his pleasure.
As curator of the University's rare books and special
collections, Mann enjoys talking about the more than
45,000 volumes housed in the Rare Books Room located
on third floor of Pattee.
Walking into the Rare Books Room, an immediate
sense of uniqueness is apparent. Dark,' heavy Chinese
furniture, made of teakwood and inlaid with marble,
occupies the entranceway.
Moving further into the room, long glass bookcases
filled with strange-looking volumes line the walls.
Display cases artistically display one of the Rare Books
Room's many collections.
Mann tf.lks fondly of the books in this room, making
them each seem a personal part of himself.
"There's a sense that I reach the personality of the
people in the books," lie said.
, The :.: • _ Books Room contains an excellent !
collection of books on science fiction, utopia, American
and English literature, aerospace and German culture,
according to Mann. The room specializes in three
American writers: John Updike, Conrad Richter and
John O'Hara. •
Mann's eyes were lit with pride as he spoke about the
- most unique feature of the Rare Book room. Housed
within its confines is the John O'Hara study, containing
all the original furnishing and memorabilia.
Man explains that when O'Hara, master of the short
story, and a native of Pottsville, died in 1970, his wife
donated the study to Penn State.
The Rare Books Room also contains the original
manuscript for Joseph Priestly's autobiography, a
' Divine Alphabet printed in 1466, and one page of the
Gutenberg Bible, printed in 1455.
and you've got a week and a half to get a
show perfected, the hours we practice
don't seem like much," Steve Bell (9th,
music education) said. "In fact, a lot of
times we could use more."
The Blue Band prides itself on
producing a quality field presentation,
Bell said. The unit works more seriously
and longer than bands such as Stanford,
which rolled into town this week for the
season's first gridiron clash.
"The Stanford band attracts a lot of
people when it's here," Jim O'Leary
said, "because what they do is different
crazy."
"They carry off their style well. But
the Blue Band also does what it does
very well," he said.
On Saturday afternoons the Blue Band
puts all its ability to the test in front of
countless football fans some sober,
some slightly under the influence. The
swift drum cadence and run onto the
field are Blue Band trademarks.
Once on the field, the band's goal is to
entertain, and to entertain well.
"A style like Stanford's could wear
thin aftef a few weeks because there
isn't much behind it," O'Leary said.
Hamming up
Stanford:
If insanity is your style, 'chances are
you'll forego those refreshments
Saturday until after the halftime antics
of the Stanford University Marching
Band.
The band, better known as the
Incomparable Leland Stanford Junior
University Marching Band, named after
the University's founder, prides itself on
its zany reputation.
Speaking from the Sand Shak Ea - st,
the luxurious accommodations com
monly referred to as the HUB ballroom,
band manager Kent Blu mberg . said,
"The nonchalant, superinformal band is
very popular with the students."
Most of the Band's popularity stems
from their improvisations used on the
field. Unlike other marching bands, who
rigidly march onto the field, Stanford's
band casually strolls onto their stage as
if awaiting cues from the audience.
One pecularity of the band's 169 piece
band is the absence of music majors.
The only prerequisite of the members
tot° by Barry Wyshlnskl
.
4`i* 1 :4
' ;41.: 4,
Forward march
The Rare Books Room even has some clay tablets
dating back to 2400 B.C.
Mann said that a rare book is any book that because of
"special interest, cost of production, limited production
or age, has become looked upon as rare." He valued the
University's rare book collection at half a million
dollars.
Mann's enthusiasth for books is not new. He said that
he first got interested in books as a little boy when he.
made frequent trips to the Salvation Army store and the
library in his home town of Altoona.
"We welcome people coming in.
We oppose censorship in any form,
and to deny the use of a book is
censorship." •
This interest for books led him to earn a master in
English from the University in 1954.
While working on his master, Mann held a job at
Pattee acquiring rare books. In 1957 he became the
curator of the Rare Books Room.
"I realized somewhere along the line that I was as
interested in books as I was teaching English,"
Mann said.
So in 1961, Mann earned a master of library science
degree fiom Rutgers University.
A weekly look at the life
in the University community
By BERNADETTE MANSI
and CATHY BARNETT
Collegian Staff Writers
Members of the Stanford Band, along with their version of -
pom-pom girls—the "Dollies"—entertain dorm residents
as a traditional part of their visit to Penn State.
individualized
seems to be an appetite for insanity
One hundred band members and five
dancing girls, known as the "Dollies"
strutted their stuff for the dorm
'residents Wednesday night. The ser
enade, Blumberg said, is a tradition at
Stanford. The Band, he said, likes to get
students excited about the game. "We
arehams enough to enjoy the applause," .
he said.
Carrie Teagle, one of the "Dollies"
said "The band looks forward to coming
to Penn State all year because they know
they are going to have fun."
The informal attitude carries over to
the band's practice sessions, which
consume about six hours a week.
Blumberg said Monday is spent on
music practice, Wednesday and Friday
nights on marching, and Saturday is
spent "fooling around."
In fact, this week's halftime routine
will be discussed tonight over a case of
beer, Blumberg said. He added, "Of
course, all those discussing the pl f ans
will be over twenty-one."
The "Dollies," in 'contrast to the band,
.§pedds about five hours a day prac-
MEM
In direct contrast to Stanford's informality, the Blue Band
prides itself on precise drills and discipline.
Mann said that the acquisition of new books still
pleases him.
"I don't tire of books' and what I do," he said. "I get
the same excitement now when I find a book as I did
when I started."
Mann travels to Europe every eighteen months in
search of new books for the Rare Books Room. He said
that England, Italy and New York City are his favorite
hunting spots.
Close contact with dealers also keeps Mann in tune
with the latest finds in the book world.
Mann's enthusiasm for books is also carried over to
his dealings with people.
Mann quickly negated the idea of the Rare Books
Room being a museum, and stressed that the room is
open to anyone. •
"We welcome people coming in," he said. "We op
pose censorship in any form, and to deny the use of a
book is censorship."
Mann is more than willing to donate his time to
visitors in the Rare Book Room.
"Since the University's Rare Books Room is not
under the same kind of pressure as those in New York
and Philadelphia," he said, "We are able to give more
individual attention to those coming in."
As a further invitation to anyone interested or Just
plain curious, Mann said that the front door is always
oren. "In many rare books rooms, you must ring to get
in," he said.
With 45,000 books to choose from, is it possible to pick
a favorite? Smiling, Mann took a 1478 pigskin-bound
Bible with illuminated letters from the shelf, and
named that his choice.
"The book is going to be 500 years old in 1978," he
said. "I'm planning a party for its 500th birthday."
Now that's some party.
insanity
tieing. They receive the music from the
band Monday night and must arrange
their routines for rehearsal Thursday
night, Carla Murray, one of the dancers
said. "We have to make up the band's
lack of uniformity," she said.
Penn State's students may be confused
as to whom to cheer for at the game
when they see the band's unusual hats,
compliments of the Penn State Diner.
The band first donned the hats last
year, Blumberg said, when their hats
didn't arrive in time for the trip east.
While-eating at the diner, a student got
the idea to wear hats for the game, he
said. They were so popular last year -
they decided to wear them again this
year, he said.
Not only have Penn State's students
received the Stanford band so well, but
the band's fame back home has paid
their way here. The trip to Penn State is
paid for by a student volunteer fund,
Blumberg said.
So if you are lucky enough to have a
ticket to the Stanford game, don't lose
your seat for the halftime enter
tainment.
~ t.
Friday, September 10, 1976-5
Photo by Julie Cipolla
Ell