100N
Holy Rock-n Rollers
Can anyone say "Footloose"?
STUDENTS AT BAYLOR U., TEXAS, KICKED OFF THEIR Sunday shoes in April for the first time in the history of the Baptist school's 150-year-old ban on dancing on campus.
But religious conservatives across the nation, particularly Southern Baptist ministers, are blasting the decision.
And depending on what side of the fence you sit on, the day was either a Texas two-step in the right direction or a fast tango to hell's disco inferno.
Bill Merrell, a spokesman for the Southern Baptists Convention in Nashville, is one of the more outspoken opponents of the ban's reversal.
"It's about time," says junior Sandra Plaza. "This is definitely going to be a part of Baylor history."
"I haven't heard anyone say [dancing] is a way to draw closer to God," Merrell said in a Los Angeles Times story.
But Plaza says Baylor's new president, Robert Sloan, is on the right track.
"President Sloan is incredible," Plaza says. "He knows what college students are interested in, and there have been incredible improvements and changes."
The dance, held on Baylor's all-campus "playday," Diadeloso — or Day of the Bear — featured local bands representing a variety of musical tastes.
The Haskett-Burleson Big Band won the honor of playing the first notes on campus.
"We were just tickled to death that we were chosen," says the big band's Ed
Burleson. "It's a great honor."
But the dance wasn't all fun and games. Planning for the first ever on-campus dance wasn't exactly an electric slide in the park.
When the president announced the decision to reverse the ban, local and national media latched onto Sloan's casual mention that "lewd gyrations" would not be allowed.
Junior Collin Cox, the student body president, insists that the hubbub about the phrase was all for naught.
"Banning lewd gyrations was never a rule," Cox says. "It was just an expression [Sloan] used, and suddenly people thought it was policy."
Ironically, the ban on dancing was never a rule either.
"The dancing rule wasn't even on the books," Cox says. "It was a tradition that administrators finally agreed to change."
Cox says the decision is likely to encourage campus interaction.
"The dances on campus will truly be all-university," he says. "It's going to be huge. We won't be able to do it every weekend, but it's good to have all-university activities three or four times a year to bring the students together."
Yeah, but how close together can they get?
Barring any disasters, the information in this story was complete and accurate at press time. — ed.
By Colleen Rush, Assistant Editor / Photos by Josh Jacquot, Baylor U., Texas
On the Movies
AS THE CAMERA ROLLS,THE VOICE-OVER begins, "Welcome to the Movie Show, coming to you from the University of Nevada in Las Vegas!"
Run tag line.
"Free buffet with every class."
Like Siskel and Ebert, the Movie Show reviews several movies every week. But that's where the comparison ends.
Zoom in on two wacky college guys, Jeff Howard and David Neil, who have been dubbed the collegiate version of Siskel and Ebert.
"The affiliates tell us that we're the staple in all of the local programming." Howard says. "Because we're a constant — on once a week." (Check your local listing for time and channel.)
The chemistry works. After 37 shows taped since January 1995, their Movie Show is a hit with U. Network — a satellite link of more than 100 campuses across the nation and in Europe.
Howard, an ex-video store owner and senior at UNLV, clowns around before settling down to review movies. Neil, also a senior and a retro hippie, plays the straight man and urges Howard to get serious.
"They're really boring," Howard says. "We're fun."
The show's producer, Frank Barnas, says it's the fun factor that makes the show so appealing to college students.
"Straight reviews get so boring." Barnas says. "We try to do something insanely stupid every week."
Insanely stupid includes everything from an "under the sea" episode complete with fake fish to "smell-o-vision," for which viewers were told to bring props to the screen and sniff them at the appropriate time.
In the "Movie Show from Hell" episode, the guys are condemned for a bad review and sentenced to fire, brimstone and repeated viewing of the movie Mr. Wrong.
"Hell is a Duraflame log," Barnas says. "And Mr. Wrong just sucked. It was the worst movie of the year."
Howard and Neil don't get paid for their performances, but they are hoping to take their show on the road after graduation in May. And they're enjoying their newfound fame.
"Anywhere we go we get recognized," Neil says. "People say, 'I can't believe you like that movie.'"
Barnas says he judges their popularity by the number of people who recognize Neil and Howard on the street.
"We're hoping for stalkers," Barnas says. "Stalkers would be good."
Ready to roll.
By Deidre Pike, U. of Nevada, Reno / Photo courtesy of The Movie Show.
Moon Over Reno
LOOK OUT, STANFORD U. STUDENTS AT THE U. OF Nevada, Reno, broke the Guinness record for the most simultaneous moonings in one place and they're crack-happy about it.
Kirsten Mashinter, vice president for student programming, estimates that more than 1,000 students dropped their drawers on Feb. 7 to beat Stanford's measly 262moon record from last June." We were expecting about 400 people, so we were very happy and surprised when over 1,000 showed," she says.
Unlike Stanford, the UNR moon-off was no psych project. It
was part of UNR's winter carnival festivities. Students shucked their skivvies and painted their buns for one reason: to boost school spirit.
"The moon-off showed that we're not as apathetic as people like to label us," Mashinier says.
But it all boils down to pride, says UNR freshman Jaime Ficco.
"I'm glad I could bare my ass for my school," he says.
The Buzz
- In March, a federal appeals court ruled against affirmative action practices at the law school of the U. of Texas, saying the school could not consider race in admitting students. The decision, in part, reads: "The law school has presented no compelling justification, under the Fourteenth Amendment or Supreme Court precedent, that allows it to continue to elevate some races over others, even for the wholesome purpose of correcting perceived racial imbalance in the student body."
- In February, a 10-person jury found the U. of Arizona Recreation Center negligent in caring for Stacy Spiegler, a 20-year-old senior who suffered a heart attack in 1990 while riding a stationary bicycle at the center. Jurors concluded that the failure by rec center employees to administer CPR led to Spiegler's permanent brain damage. They awarded Spiegler $5 million in damages.
- A federal investigation into admissions practices at the
U. of California, Berkeley, cleared the school of charges that it discriminates against white students applying for undergraduate admissions. The seven-year investigation also concluded that affirmative action has not diminished academic quality at the school. The report found that in 1993, grades and test scores actually increased, as did the overall performance of students after they were admitted.
- Three weeks after eliminating the men's basketball program at Rutgers U., N.J., school officials decided to reinstate the team. In February, provost Walter K. Gordon opted to drop the Pioneer team, owners of an NCAA-record 108-game losing streak, because of its "demoralizing quality." But Gordon and other school officials later bowed to student and alumni pressure, reinstated the team and hired the first full-time men's basketball coach in the history of the nearly 50-year-old program.
- Eleven members of the U. of Southern Maine baseball team have been suspended by the NCAA for periods ranging from four games to the entire season. The players were suspended for gambling on college sports.
10
U. Magazine - May 1996