1978-09-11; Central Michigan Life

              -CM UFE PHOTO BY MICHAEL C. MEYERS
Carl Martin playing mandolin for the group Martin, Bogen and Armstrong flashes an
 infectious grin Saturday for approximately 10,000 fans at the weekend's Wheatland.
Bluegrass Festival in Remus. This group from Chicago was welcomed by the crowd with a
standing ovation.
Diverse crowd enjoys Wheat/and
rass lovers unite
by JACKSON TELFER
LIFE Copy Editor
It was very hard not to enjoy yourself this
weekend out in Remus country.
The weather was excellent, and the music
provided at the Fifth Annual Wheatland Old Time
and Bluegrass Festival continually brought
persons to their feet dancing.
There were young mothers with babies slung
around their backs, elderly couples sitting in
lounge chairs and frisbee fanatics.
But the bulk of the crowd consisted of persons
in their 20s who spent much of the weekend
drinking beer and screaming their lungs out.
It was a wonderful scene.
Bruce Bauman, a member of the Wheatland
Music Organization which sponsored the fest,
said, "Everything was lovely, just lovely."
Bauman estimated the size of the crowd
Friday, Saturday and Sunday at 10,000 persons.
License plates on cars from as far away as
Florida and Missouri to neighboring Ohio could
be seen.
And persons attending the festival had many
different perceptions of the event.
Terry Baker, Heart sophomore, said, "I've
never enjoyed myself more in my whole life. I can
take a break from reality and become part of my
own little Wheatland world."
Paul Audette, Weidman senior, who was attending his fburth festival, said he has noticed
some changes during the last four years.
"There's been quite a bit of change," he said.
"They didn't even have a real stage when it first
started. All they had was a thrown together
plywood stage.
"The music wasn't as good either," he added.
Audette said he liked the diversity of the
crowd and age groups.
"There's no particular minority. Like last year,
there were four nuns out here and I think that's
pretty neat," he said,
One female, who wished only to be called
Sandy, said, "The festival is everything I expected and more."
Sandy, who was attending her first bluegrass
festival, said, "I love it. The music's fantastic; it's
a nice quiet serene atmosphere; the weather's
great. What more can I say? It's just great."
An elderly man who didn't want his name
published; said, "It's not quite what I expected.
I've been here ever since it began, but it's sure
different this year. They seem to be moving away
from bluegrass music and coming in with more
big-name bands. But I'm still enjoying myself."
Cindy Austin, St. Clair Shores senior, said of
the festival, "I just wanted to see what it was like
and I'm very satisfied. The music's nice and they
couldn't have picked a nicer spot for the show."
Becky Whipple, from Lansing, summed up the
festival with these words:
"There's good friends, good beer and a good
time."
  Mount Pleasant, Michigan 48859     Monday, Sept. 11,1978,
Competency test
raises objections
by PETE ENGARDIO
LIFE Ass't News Editor
At least one major point in a
set ofrecommended competency
requirements is likely to be
contested when the long-
awaited policy goes before
Academic Senate Tuesday.
Apparently, a summer task
force which drafted the
proposed system and several
Department of Speech and
Dramatic Arts faculty still
sharply disagree on what a
student needs to be competent
in oral English.
In a special meeting in Pearce
138 beginning 3:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Senate will consider
and act on ways which freshmen
this year may satisfy competency in mathematics and
written and oral English
suggested by a summer task
force.
The meeting is open to the
public.
A proposed way for students
to test out of the oral English
requirement has aroused objections from some SDA faculty,
who say the procedure
inadequately tests speech
proficiency.
The option is one of four that
students may take to exhibit
proficiency. The others would be
to pass SDA 101 with at least a
C, pass a four-stage test through
the speech department or to get
a C or better in other specified
speech courses.
Jim Walling, assistant
professor of speech, said two
major concerns of SDA faculty
probably will be voiced Tuesday.
One problem is speech faculty
.., speech faculty had been under the
impression the competency was to test "oral
communication," rather than "oral
English"...
had been under the impression
the competency was to test "oral
communication," according to
Walling, rather than "oral
English," which the task force
addressed in its policy.
"Senate originally had interpreted this as oral communication. Somewhere between then and the time it went
through the task force, this was
changed to oral English," he
said,
Oral communication is a much
broader skill, as Walling explained it, which along with
being able to express one's self
effectively, means the person
has no speaking or hearing
impediments.
A particularly controversial
provision in the task force's
recommendations allows a
student to test out of the
requirement by developing a
detailed outline on a speech and
presenting it in front of a class
and faculty in any department.
The faculty judging the
presentation would use a form to
grade the student on 18 separate
points.
Jean Mayhew, speech
professor, said this option would
make consistency and quality of
the tests difficult to control.
"We think this is a pretty poor
option," Mayhew said. "It
presupposes an instructor has
expertise in speech. Maybe
those instructors have speech
impediments themselves or may
never have taken a speech
course."
Elaine Daniels, chairperson of
the task force, said this
provision was included as a
means of spreading out the
responsibility for administering
the tests.
"This way the burden of
evaluating oral English could be
shared by the University," said
Daniels, assistant professor of
business and administration. "It
would take the pressure off the
speech department."
Also, the task force's
stipulation that the tests be
judged by a three-member
faculty panel, with the members
appointed by their respective
departments, would ease the
potential problem, Daniels
added.
Walling also said the standards for acknowledging speech
proficiency as outlined by the
task force are too low for what a
graduate will need in today's
increasingly "technological
society."
SA hotline to offer
briefs on happenings
Starting Sept. 25, the Student
Association's Department of Communications will offer a campus information
hotline called "What's Line 3000."
"Anyone will be able to find out when and
where a club meets, as well as any special
events sponsored by student organizations
by calling 774-3000," said Bob Parsons, SA
communications director.
Information concerning meetings and
events will be gathered by the SA and
student volunteers from all of the student
organizations listed with the University.
After all of the organizations have been
contacted, the information will be separated
.into two file systems.
One file will list each organization, when
and where their meetings are conducted
and any special events sponsored.
The other file will be a calendar of events,
as well as meeting dates.
"We feel this service is essential, because
if more students know when and where an
organization meets, student involvement
will increase," Parsons said.
Inside
Ginsburg's collection large
Rock music librarian's forte
Vondell Robertson, (24), Highland Park senior; Robert
Jackson, Allendale sophomore; and Rick Waters,
Traverse City junior, view the action Saturday during
Central's victory over Kent State. See story on page 10,
—Competency   proposals    subject    to
Academic Senate hod, page 3
—CMU's Greek organizations gain support,
page 8
—Women's golf team sixth in tournament,
by JERRY MORLOCK
LIFE Staff Writer
David Ginsburg just doesn't
look like your average librarian.
His untrimmed black hair and
full beard make him more than
conspicuous among the
generally clean-cut CMU
population.
Besides, how may librarians
do you know wear T-shirts
emblazoned with "The Doors" or
"Velvet Underground," or have
four-foot color posters of Bruce
Springsteen and Elvis Costello
on their apartment walls?
To Ginsburg, rock and roll is
more than just music. It is his
love, his hobby and his pastime.
But, perhaps most importantly,
it is a subject of earnest
research and study.
In addition to his
alphabetically categorized
collection of more than 2,000
records, Ginsburg has a personal
library of innumerable books on
jazz and rock music.
Neatly stacked  in separate
cardboard file boxes in Gin-
sburg's hall and library are
hundreds of back issues of rock
and roll magazines and
newsletters known as "fanzines."
Ginsburg is using the
collection of rock and roll
literature to write a series of
articles to be used in libraries as
a reference guide for rock and
roll information - "sort of a
Reader's Guide to Periodical
Literature for rock and roll," as
Ginsburg described it,
Ginsburg decided to become a
librarian while doing research
for his doctoral thesis in
geology. "I found I liked digging
up the literature better than the
subject itself," he said.
His association with rock and
roll, however, began much
earlier.
"Like • everybody, I became
interested in the Rolling Stones
by listening to them on the radio
and then on records," he said.
Ginsburg     referred     to
Springsteen, Costello and Nick
Lowe as examples of artists who
have injected new life into the
rock scene.
Rock and roll performers in
the   1960s   "were   extremely
David Ginsburg
important. They were more like
leaders," Ginsburg said. "Music
was much more important - it
changed our lives.
"I   mean,  since   seeing   the
Stones for the first time, I have
never willingly gotten a hair-
ti cut," Ginsburg said.
"1960s rock and roll groups
changed a lot of attitudes and
not just superficial styles like
hair," he said. "They changed
our ways of thinking."
Ginsburg keeps in touch with
other rock and roll historians
and researchers through the
fanzines,
"There are a lot of people like
myself who don't gives a s—
about the Bee Gees," Ginsburg
said. "We are a relatively small
but close-knit group-in invisible college. Fandom is the
invisible college of rock and roll
except it's really invisible."
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