Tuesday, March 5, 1968
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
11
--easy this season with meets scheduled nearly every weekend.
Big 8 1000 champ likes to take it easy
Ey Jerry Bean Kansan Staff Reporter
The winner of the 1,000 yard run Saturday at the Big Eight Indoor track meet might not respond if called Gene McClain.
His friends call him Roscoe or Roscoe Duvoir and in classes he's called Ralph, McClain said.
The "Roscoe" originated when he signed a painting "Roscoe Duvoir" to keep his mother from knowing who painted it.
Paintings decorate the dorm room of the 57" senior, who claims to tip the scales at 138 pounds.
"I got a couple of paintings in a ski lodge in New Jersey," McClain said. "And a couple in a South Dakota bar," he added.
Asked about his success as a runner, McClaim mentioned his training schedule.
Some guys run real hard three days before a meet, but apparently not McClaim.
"I am known for kinda taking it easy. I think my secret is taking it easy," said McClaim, with an impish ear-to-ear grin.
McClain isn't able to take it too
KU Sailing Club to plan regattas
The KU Sailing Club will conduct a meeting at 7:30 p.m. today in the Kansas Union Parlor A.
Terry Williams, assistant director of Watkins Library, will speak on "Inland Sailing."
Plans will be made for the scheduling of some inter-club regattas and possibly one inter-collegiate regatta.
"It is hard to work out during the week and yet be psyched—up for every meet. It's tough, especially when you have a girl back at KU," McClain said.
"I have never had as much fun as this year, guess it helps to do good," McClaim said.
As a freshman, McClain won the National Mile Postal and bagged five firsts at the Big Eight Indoor Postal.
As a sophomore he was inactive because of an injured arch and made his comeback last year as a junior. He ran on the relay circuit last year.
McClain is known as a flashy dresser. Seldom seen without a sweater or a sportcoat, McClain pointed to a variety of colored sweaters and said, "I like wild colors."
Rugby teams win openers
The 1968 KU rugby season got underway Saturday, as the Jayhawk A and B teams defecated teams from St. Benedict's, here.
Final score in the A game was 13-3. Butch Clark scored two tries and Les Stekle tallied one, A try equals 3 points. Jay Clancey scored two after-try points, for the Jayhawks.
The B team won, 9-3, with Gordon Doward, Rick Katz and Mark Bedner scoring one try each.
The next outing for the team will be at 1 p.m. Saturday, on the practice between Oliver Hall and Stouffer Place.
By Mike Shurtz Kansan Staff Reporter
Jumping pleases 17
"Up, up and then down," would describe the adventures of KU's Parachute Club, as it practiced Sunday near Tonganoxie Airport.
All three have been parachutists for more than a year. Farmer learned to jump in Vietnam, during spare time while serving as a helicopter gunner in the Army. Petering learned while in Naval ROTC and Koenig was taught the sport by a friend.
On an average day a KU parachutist jumps five times. The cost per jump is about $4. In a year, a club member will jump around 125 times, said Matt Farmer, Cambridge, Minn., freshman.
"Gee! That was great," exclaimed Jim Turtle, Shawnee Mission freshman, after completing his first parachute jump.
In competition, parachutists jump out of a plane at an altitude of 3,500 feet. The object is to land on the dead center of a disc, 10 cm, in diameter, on the ground.
Three of the parachutists present Sunday are licensed instructors. They are Farmer, John Koenig, Rochester, N.Y., junior, and Bob Petering, St. Louis, Mo., senior.
Parachutes, used by the KU club, range in price from $50. to $500. The more expensive chutes are privately owned. A diver, besides wearing the main chute on his back, must also wear an emergency chute on his stomach. This chute must be repacked every three months by a qualified FAA rigger.
According to Petering, parachuting "definitely has its danger factors, but so does driving a car."
"Because the jumpers are more conscious of the dangers, the sport is much safer than many people realize," Petering said. "There is much psychology to jumping. If a person has confidence in his ability and his equipment, he is set to go."
Parachutists jump in rather adverse conditions, both hot and cold. It is imperative however never to jump through clouds,
because a jumper must always know his position in relationship to the ground.
The KU Parachute Club was organized in 1965 and now has 17 members. At present the club is having difficulty in finding airplanes to use on weekends.
KU's parachutists finished fifth in a field of 40 teams in the 1967 National Collegiate meet in Tahlequah, Okla. Farmer placed second in individual competition.
The group had been parachuting with members of the Topeka Sport Parachute Club, however, the plane they were using was sold.
The club will present a program, 7:30 Wednesday, in the Kansas Union Forum Room. They will show a movie on parachuting and give a general presentation about the club. The program is open to the public.
8-12 p.m.
50c WITH CLASS CARD $1.00 FOR EVERYONE ELSE
Three members of the KU Parachute Club prepare to take-off from Tonganoxie Airport, where they practiced jumping techniques, Sunday.
READY FOR JUMP