people
Disco, polyester, bellbottoms, velvet
Top, Chris Manly, on left, Boston graduate student, enjoy the disco moment with Mary Baldwin, Lawrence graduate student, Left, Jamie Stratton. Wichita senior, posing in his glittery, synthetic and open retro shirt, tends the bar. Above, Jennifer Poison, Kansas City, Mo., is the center of attention on the crowded dance floor. To her left is "The Disco Pimp," Steve Noble, St. Louis junior.
Disco fever revives '70s in Lawrence
A disco ball whirls and glitters as lines of young people do the bus-stop to "The Hustle" by Van McCoy. Bardenders in bright yellow polyester hip-huggers and butterfly collars serve up drinks while the D.J. slips a BeeGee disc into the sound-system. On the dance floor, a man who calls himself "The Disco Pimp" wears a maroon velvet hat complete with a feather and jewel.
Welcome to Disco Night at Duffy's Lounge at the Quality Inn, 2222 W. Sixth St. Outside the tiny hotel bar, it '1983 Inside on Thursday nights, it '1975 as KU students and Lawrence locals relate that shameful decade of knit polyester, which until recently, no one would admit they enjoyed.
Brebca Clothier, manager of Duffy's, said, "We never expected it to be as big as it is for us."
Clothed she noticed disco showing up on play lists from trade magazines and decided to try a disco night because the trend seemed to be taking off on the East and West coasts.
"it was a time with the only true dance music," she said. "As a whole, it is kind of stupid and silly, but you tap your foot when you hear it and shake your butt."
Johnny Medina, a D.J. at Manhattan's on the eight floor of the Ramada Inn on 87th and I-35 in Kansas City, Kan., said disco is definitely coming back.
"We've noticed a resurgence in it," he said. "If you play 'Night Fever' or 'Staying Alive' people laugh, but it always packs the dance floor."
Cynics who would rather keep their lava lamps and leisure suits in the attic may ask, why disco, and why now? Why are students, most of whom were in grade school during the 70s, suddenly lining up to dance to Abba and to the Brady kids singing "Sunshiny Day?"
"it's the music we grew up with," said Mark Dominic, Lawrence senior.
"I used to roller skate to Abba," he said.
Wade Freeman, Lawrence senior, said disco reminded him of his childhood.
But are childhood memories enough to make people wear platform shoes to class or listen to Donna Summer on their car stereos? Many would agree the charm of bringing back
the '70s lies in making fun of that decade.
Pointing to his black and white polkadotted polyester shirt, Windell said, "There's no way I'd wear this on campus. It's fun to wear polyester as a joke, but I can understand why it went out of style after wearing it for five hours."
Gary Bartz, a Lawrence resident who was in high school during the 70s preferred to sit at the bar and wax nostalgic
about shag carpets rather than join the crunch of bodies on the dance floor.
"What a turbulent, weird time it was," he reminisced. "It was so bizarre, it's almost laughable. They could never have as much fun with any other decade."
Steve Noble, St. Louis senior self-
proclaimed "Disco Pimp," said people
can forget about the problems of the '70s by making fun of the '70s.
"It was a pretty free era when people wore ugly clothes and didn't care," he said. "That ten-year span is one that everyone looks back on with humility and disgrace. It was even tacky politically. You can't get any tackier than Carter. These days, people are down and we need something to make fun of."
William Tuttle, professor of history and American studies, said people
in the '90s may be looking wistfully back on the freedom of the '70s.
"There was a great deal of personal freedom," he said. "There were few STDs and getting caught smoking a reefer was like getting a parking ticket. It was a time to be self-indulgent in a most extraordinarily mansicistic way."
Whether they truly enjoy Sister Sledge, or they just want to have fun, young people are giving the 70s another
look. It is a frightening prospect for some.
Kevin Lyons, Tulsa, Oka. senior,
stood against the wall, shaking his head
in dismay as he watched Duffy's patrons
boogie to "Stavin' Alive."
"I hope the '70s don't come back," he said. "I think they should just let it die."
Story by Sara Bennett Photos by Tom Leininger
From school to street — pet peeves abound
Bv JL Watson
Kansan staff writer
Some are big, some are little. Some cause huge fights, and others are laughed about. Everyone has them, even if they try to hide them. They are pet peeves, those small and sometimes irrational annoyances we encounter in life.
"I know I have about 50 million of them," said Sumitra Ghate, Chicago senior. "There are a lot of things I hate about people, like when they whine. Another thing I hate is when people put their feet on me. When my boyfriend puts his feet on me it's like Ewww!"
Paul Sobieski, Emporia junior, also has a hang-up with feet. "My big pet peeve is when people walk around barefoot with stuff between their toes," he said.
Rue Cromwell, professor of psychology said that minor irritations are well within the range of normal behavior.
Cromwell said it was better to show emotions and resolve conflicts as soon as they arise rather than holding them in. "If people restrain their anger instead of getting it out, then it builds up until it really bugs them," he said.
"If someone has a recurring pet peeve, the likelihood is great that there is a background or history to it." If a person had a recurring similar circumstance in the past.
Traffic, even on a good day, can be the source of irritation for some people.
Amy Sparks, Lawrence graduate student, finds slow-paced people irksome. She lacks patience for slow drivers or walkers. "I want them to get out of my way!" she said.
For Lee Hombrook, Lawrence graduate student, it is drivers who leave their blinkers on after they have turned who annoy him most.
"My big pet peeve is people who don't take their turn at four-way stops," said Carol Estes, professor of English.
small as cleaning practices. "My sister is super clean," said Alana Farrar, Denver freshman. "She's always cleaning her room, and I'm just a messy person."
Sometimes annoyances can be as
"Another thing I hate is when people put their feet on me."
Sumitra Ghate Chicago senior
Adam Bozich, Kansas City senior,
said his biggest source of irritation is
fake people. "Like when people try to
act like something they're not," he said.
Ruth Gross, Setauket, N.Y., sophmore, agrees. "I bothers me when people aren't real," she said. "They try to act like what they think you want them to or be something they're not. I just want them to tell it like it is."
Amy Watkins, Topeka senior, once had a roommate with a problem alarm clock. "It was right beside her bed and it would go off for probably 30 minutes and they not hear it. Eventually I'd have to get out of bed, walk all the way across the house, and wake her up. She slept right through the noise and it was so loud you could hear it outside."
"I hate it when my roommates walk around naked, especially in the kitchen," said Matt Keel, Glen Ellyn, ill., senior. "It's OK if they are in their own room but not in other parts of the house."
Roommates, no matter how compatible, sometimes get on each other's nerves.
Dave Pahl, Edmond, Okla., junior,
has a much bigger problem. "My
roommate is dating my ex-girlfriend
and he wants her to have her own
kev," he said.
Perhaps the biggest sources of student aggravation are school related.
"I don't have that many pet peeves," said Tina Huang, Hillsboro graduate student. "I'm pretty easy going, but I don't like it when people talk in class."
bakee Hyland, Topeka senior, has
several Universitetspee. "I do not
See PEEVES, Page 10.
Students serve to irk professors
By JL Watson Kansan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
It is still early in the semester, but already the minds of some students are in a whirl. They ponder the consequences of skipping class or attending class unprepared. What's the worst that can happen? At the least, they should expect an irritated professor. Unexcused absences are number five on the list of KU professors' top pet peeves.
"Thad a student a few years ago who was taking birth control pills in preparation for marriage, and they only made her sick at 9 a.m. on Tuesday and Thursday," said Donn Parson, professor of communications studies. "The quality of excuses is getting better." My computer broke' is replacing 'My grandmother got sick.'
When Gail Bossenga came to KU she didn't realize how much family meant to students. "This is the first place I've taught where so many grandmothers got sick," she said. "At least we can say that KU is family-oriented."
Paul Fallon teaches Spanish and doesn't have a problem
See PROFS, Page 10.
Professors' pet peeves
in informal survey of KU professors resulted in this list of top pet peeves on student behavior.
1. Unprepared students with unbelievable excuses.
3. Students who make and don 't I keep appointments
4. Students who sleep in class.
KANSAS
Source: Kansan staff research
People and places at the University of Kansas.
calendar
LECTURES AND SEMINARS
Hallmark Symposium:
Estelle Ellis, promotion/marketing, Business Image, New York, N.Y., 6 p.m. Monday, auditorium at Spencer Museum of Art.
"Canyon Revisited: Rephotographing the 1923 Grand Canyon Expeditions"
Exhibit runs through Sept. 26 at the Museum of Natural History.
EXHIBITIONS
"Contemporary Czech and Slovakian Photogranhy"
Exhibit runs through Oct. 3 at Kress and Balconies Galleries in the Spencer Museum of Art.
"American Indian Baskets from the University of Kansas Museum of Anthropology Exhibit runs through Oct. 10 in the White Gallery in the Spencer Museum of Art.
Czech film series—"Alchemist of the Surreal"
1964-83
7 p.m. Thursday in the auditorium of the Spencer Museum of Art.
Czech film series — "The Apple Game" 7 p.m. Sept. 16 in the auditorium of the Spencer Museum of Art.
"NCAA Laugheed Collection"
Exhibit runs through Sept. 11 in the gallery on level 4 of the Kansas Union.
RECITALS
Free concert by musicians from Milyagl
Gakuln Women's College, Sendal, Japan.
Sponsored by KU Department of Music and
Dance at 8 p.m. Monday in White Concert Hall
at Washburn University.
Free concert by Miyagi Gakulin Women's College.
7:30 p.m. in Plymouth Congregational Church 925 Vermont St.
Band Day Parade
9 a.m. Sept. 18 downtown Lawrence
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