—The Daily Collegian Wednesday, May 9, 1979
Traveling 'Dead heads' follow their idols
By LORRAINE RYAN
Daily Collegian Staff Writer
They began gathering in front of Rec Hall
yesterday morning at 5:30. They came from as far
away as California, and arrived by car, motorcycle,
van and thumb. They wore, for the most part,
regulation faded jeans, long hair, blood-shot eyes
and T-shirts bearing various symbols and slogans
that have seen better days. They call themselves
the "Dead heads."
The scene outside Rec Hall last night was like a
carnival a messy one. Scalpers were out by the
dozens, trying desperately to sell their $lO tickets at
cost. "I'm not interested in making a profit, I just
don't want to lose my money," one girl said. "One
guy offered me $l5 for both of them, but I told him
no, it'll get better later when people start coming
late."
It didn't get better. Tickets were selling for $5 and
$6 each.
People wandered around aimlessly, taking sips
from brown paper bags, wine-skins and un
concealed beer bottles. Grateful Dead T-shirts were
selling for $6, Dead stickers for $l. The steps and
side walks in front of Rec Hall were strewn with'
cans, bags, wrappers and empty and half-full liquor
bottles of every variety.
When asked why they liked the Grateful Dead so
much, most people gave the same reasons.
Talmadge accuser's truthfulness questioned
WASHINGTON (UPI) Daniel
Minchew, Sen. Herman Talmadge's
chief accuser, was given a mixed report
on, his truthfulness yesterday as the
Senate Ethics Committee heard
testimony from two more lie detector
experts.
Of the three experts who tested
Minchew on different occasions, two told
the committee Minchew was truthful
when he said Talmadge received cash
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"They're completely different from any other
band. They're like a true religion," said Mark, a fan
who has been following the Dead since their tour
opened about seven months ago. •
"They are like total nirvana. When they started in
the '6os, people needed drugs to help them get by
and to have a total experience. Now in the '7os,
we're more into ourselves, and the Dead gives us
our fix of enlightenment and outside energy.
They're just a total energy band," said traveling
partner Donna.
"I went, I enjoyed myself, and I went again," said
Nancy, who alSo has been following the band since
the beginning of the tour. Monday night, she and her
friends saw the Dead in Easton. Before that, in
Hampton, Va., Charlotte, N.C., and Philadelphia.
"I'm following them right to Red Rock, Colo.," she
said.
Bob from Long Island, N.Y., said the people who
travel to see the band "are like families on the road.
We get to know each other. We're friends."
But for the most part, Dead heads had a difficult
time explaining to a non-devotee just what it is
about the group that attracts such devotion and
strong feelings. The Dead heads kept using words
like acid test, life-style, space, consciousness and
cosmic experience.
One former Dead head said he still likes the Dead
from a secret bank account. The third
said Minchew lied when he said
Talmadge knew of the account.
To further cloud the issue, the experts
sometimes endorsed and sometimes
disagreed with the results of
examinations given by their colleagues.
The committee is holding hearings on
five charges of financial misconduct
against Talmadge, the most serious
involving conversion of campaign funds
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to his private use and obtaining reim
bursement funds from the Senate for
false expense claims.
Minchew, one-time aide to Talmadge,
has said he set up a secret bank account
with Talmadge's knowledge to
launder $39,000 in illicit funds, mostly for
use by the Georgia Democrat. Talmadge
has denied the charges.
The only actual conflict in the
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Standing in front of the open doors to Rec Hall,
one could feel blasts of hot air, which reeked with
the smell of burning joints, mingle with the balmy
night air. "In the words of Jerry Garcia," said
dedicated Philadelphia Dead head Gary, "op
timism is another way of saying space."
Middle Initial
very much, but feels they're becoming too com
mercial.
"They used to be a lot better. Now they've become
mildly more commercial and less personally ap
pealing," said Ben from Long Island.
Non-Dead head Leslie said, "I like the Dead, but
the Dead heads are. all worn-out hippies come alive
again. They're all so burned out."
Not all those who attended the concert were Dead
heads. Many came out of curiosity, or because their
friends were big fans who persuaded them to come.
It seemed that most of the hard-core Dead heads
were not Penn State students.
From what was observed, the police checking the
doors seemed to turn a blind eye to all but the most
blatant violations of the no liquor policy. However,
police did perform spot checks on bags and back
packs, confiscating their contents.
"They were surprisingly calm. The first five
minutes after we opened the door, there was quite a
bit of pushing and shoving, but afterwards they
were really calm and considerate," said Dwight, a
ticket taker. .
questions centered on Talmadge's
knowledge of the secret account.
FBI Agent James Murphy, the second
expert to 'test Minchew, said Minchew
lied when asked if he had been truthful in
claiming Talmadge knew of the secret
account. .
Murphy ran three tests two on Jan.
11 and one on Jan. 22. He concluded that
in all three cases, Minchew was
"deceptive in his•responses."
Illy 111" s
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`PA* REC
Blacks find administrators
unable to relate to them
Continued from Page 1.
by three from 1976 to 1978, the number of
Asian instructors rose from 68 to 75
during • the same period, even though
Asian students comprise approximately
.5 • percent of the undergraduate
enrollment. ,
Asbury noted that the University's
long-range black recruitment blueprint
was not destroyed by last summer's
Bakke decision. In that case, the U.S.
Supreme Court ruled that the University
of California medical school could not
refuse admittance to Alan Bakke while
reserving 16 openings for black ap
plicants in a class of 100 students.
"The Bakke case caused more
pysthological damage to black
recruitment drives than legal damage,"
Asbury said. "The Bakke case said you
can't have special admissions, but you
can have special recruitment. In other
words, you can't say you want `X'
number of blacks, but you can say you
want to bring blacks into the total
University pool.
Asbury said he believes that if the
University heavily stepped up its black
recruitment drives, it might face strong
resistance from many white alumni and
students. "There may still be people
who'd stand up and say there shouldn't
even be blacks at Penn State," he said.
However, Asbury added that the
University has exhibited signs of
gradual change to the black community
by establishing black recruitment and
cultural centers.
On the other hand, a•few black, student
leaders consider these moves to be less
conscious signs of change than they were
mere concessions.
"Ten years ago, black students were
blacklisted, had grades dropped and
\\Ot- C
5\ or
,'h
were thrown out of school when they
fought for that (Paul Robeson) cultural.
center," said Takesha Dockery, newly
elected president of the Black CaucuS.,
"They sacrificed a lot to get that cen
ter."
Dockery claimed the center i§-
deteriorating, needs a paint job and
inadequately equipped for in-hogy
theater productions. Other "con;-"
cessions: that soured, she said, include
black study lounges in several dor
mitories, which are constantly locked,
and the Black Studies Room in Patte? .
Library, which is poorly situated amid.i.!
the chatter and typewriter clatter 7tf
clerical employees.
"If you read black students correc
tly," Asbury said, "if they get through
Penn State, they feel they've done so
with more effort than white students." .:
Some black students, though, said
their experiences at the University had,
been quite smooth. ..
For example, Vicki Goins (3rd
mathematics) said she is accustomed to
the racial imbalance at the University,
as she was the lone black in her high
school graduating class in - Apollo, Pa.
She says she likes meeting students ft
i
the tutoring center in ‘Boucke where
blacks and whites meet on a friendly,
mutual-help basis.-
Lorrie Fambro (9th-broadcast jour
nalism), said she'd rather not attend ,a
predominantly black school. "That
would be a little too much social life,"
she said. "You • learn to conditi9
yourself here. It's a disciplined at
mosphere."
The University may yet improve its
understanding, of its black population.
But Asbury, at least, isn't optimistic:
"The image here will never change." ;
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