The Michigan Daily-Thursday, September 10, 1981-Page 9-F MARRIAGE MADE IN... GENERAL HOSPI TAL' Students and soaps By PAMELA KRAMER Mind rot. That's what soap operas are: absolute mind rot. Until a few years ago I could honestly, say the only daytime serial I had wat- ched was Dark Shadows, and I con- sideeed it way out of the soap opera league. BUT ONE YEAR, all that changed. I'm not sure why-my mother and father never watched a soap opera in their lives-I found myself casually watching the ABC afternoon line-up. It was probably more out of curiosity than anything else. Oh, sure, I made jokes about my newly-formed habit at first. I felt em- barrassed about spending several hours a day watching the ridiculous, predictable lives of the characters un- fold, fold back up again, and twist ronl in an endless pageant alter- nating between pain and joy. BUT EVERYTHING They say about soap operas being addictive is as true as everything They say about the con- tent: being ridiculous. I'm no longer ashamed to admit it: I'm hooked. And" I'm not alone. Soap-watching has, in, deed, become a collegiate epidemic. Case in point: Near the beginning of the summer, an Associated Press wire story headline caught my eye: " 'Soap addie3ts' receive daily fix of 'General Hospital' at bar." THE STORY was told about a bar in New York that has a daily General Hospital Happy Hour catering to droves of college students, many of them dressed in surgical greens. I haven't heard of anything like that in Ann Arbor. Maybe this town is too full of the intellectual elite for any bar to try it. But if one of them did-if, say, Dooley's had a wine and cheese hour (to catch the elite who also happen to be fans of General Hospital) featuring the soap on the big screen-I'll bet they'd make a killing. Just look at the student lounges in the dorms. Ten years ago, students were out protesting against wars, sexism, and racism. Now, they sit trasfixed before the screens in these lounges, waiting with bated breath to see what will hap- pen next on their soaps THE ROLE OF soap operas on college campuses is no small matter. The University of Alabama offers a class on soap operas; several other universities, including this ones have done studies on their impact; and many students schedule classes around "their" soaps. Some of the side effects of these habits are vaguely disturbing. The other day, University junior Jill Schultz went out shopping for an unusual dress. But that's not the way she looked at it. "I'm not going to get anything that the normal person would wear," she said. "I'm going to get an Alexandria Quar- temaine dress." (Ms. Quartermaine is one of the newer members of the GH gang). Not everyone gets quite so involved, but there's a little bit of it in all soap fans. In a high-pressure environment, an hour of mind rot can be comforting now and then. Prep hood If there has been one concrete, campus- wide movement during the past year it has been the "preppy" movement. While many students have eagerly pur- sued "prephood," through fashion or general "acceptable" preppy behavior (daily parties, conservative politics, etc.), other students have just as eagerly joined the "anti-preppy" for- ces. The war should continue well into this fall. Doily Photo by PAUL ENGSTROM Religion on campus more 'traditional, 'still varied EMBASSY HOTEL Downtown Residential Hotel 200 E. HURON (The corner of 4th 8 Huron) Ann Arbor, Mich. 48104 $14 Single $16 Double MAID SERVICE SPECIAL WEEKLY RATES OverseasVsitorsMostWeIcom. By PAMELA KRAMER In keeping with the national trend, rganized religion has enjoyed in- creasing 'acceptance on campus during the last few years. Students are more comfortable with these religions than they were 10 years ago, when many thoughtof them as "establishment" in- stitutions, local religious leaders say. "On a continuum, the glory days (for campus religions) were in the late fif- ties," says Rev. Bob Kavasch of the University Lutheran Chapter (Missouri Wynod). "Then the bottom fell out in the late sixties, and now we're part way back." AND, KAVASCH says, the approach and goals of his Church have changed. "Many years ago, we (the campus ministries) were aimed at keeping (parents') daughters' virginity intact. Now,, I think we're in the business of. trying to provide comfortable spaces for students, in a community where they will be affirmed," he said. Religion is "one of the first things to go" when a person leaves home for college, according to Rev. Andrew Foster, chaplain at Canterbury Loft, the Episcopal student ministry. I But by the time students finish up at the University, they often decide it may be time to re-examine religion and its role in decisidns 'concerning "ethics, values, the meaning of life-'the pur- pose of it all',"Foster said. AND, WHETHER students hold traditional or non-traditional beliefs, if they want to participate in a com- munity that shares those beliefs, they will almost certainly be able to find one in the area. "There's everything from Atheist to Zen here," said Rev. Bob Hauert, direc- tor of the University's Office of Ethics and Religion. The office publishes a list of nearly 100 religious and spiritual organizations available to students. According to Hauert, who has been in Ann Arbor for 21 years, some of the newer, non-mainline religious movements, such as Siddha Yoga Dham and the Word of God Com- munity, have become solidly established in the area. Craig Harvey, a staff member of the Church of Scientology, said his group provides "a way for a person to discover himself or herself spiritually through more knowledge." As a free service to the public, the Church will evaluate a personality questionnaire which "gives a clear pic- ture of what areas of life you're doing well in, and shows where improvement might be beneficial," Harvey said. One of the most active campus religious organizatons is the Jewish Hillel community. With a mailing list of several thousand, Hillel offers coun- seling, concerts, films, dancing, and countless other activities to students in- terested. Local musicians: A review (Continued from Page 4) e same name). Dick Siegel started out playing his blues standards and quirky originals alone before graduating to a full band sound which brought the money- and exposure of the bigger bars in town. Similarly, Steve Nardella played acoustically. and -r . various aggregations before he moved on to the Ropkabilly revival of his present band. BOTH MEN have "paid their dues," *an , it shows in their professionalism and poise on the stage. Consequently, both bands are an almost certain good time live, and they are two of the most, popular ones in town. In a similar vein, virtoso harmonica player Peter "Madcat ' Ruth enjoys a fair.sized local following. Madcat plays straight old-fashioned blues harp like a magician, and his piano and bass players are talented, as well. Other local talent in the more traditional acoustic sphere are the *Gemini Brothers, identical twins who are best known for the beautiful har- mony of their blending voices. WHILE ALL OF these traditional ac- ts are fine on one level or another, they don't exactly break any new ground, musically. But this is not to say that such ground-breaking is not being done in Ann Arbor; several local bands are attempting to fusee: together x dichotomous styles or expand the boun- daries of others. It's in this area that the most exciting things are happening musically. The Flexibles, for instance, is a local and relatively new band that is quite successful at moulding white funk and pop_ together. Although it plays primarily originals, every number is danceable, and one can enjoy them. at first listen. Both the Ragnar Kavaran Band and Gary Pryka and the Scales mix reggae, R&B, and heavy metal with more pop concerns. While both bands present somewhat of a challenge to the ear (both play almost all originals) the ef- fort is well-spent. Pryka and Kavaran are unusual and engaging singers, as well as talented songwriters. THERE ARE so many bands in the city that it may be more useful for the newcomer to think in terms of clubs rather than types of bands. For starters, Second Chance and the Count of Antipasto are, on most nights, the home of the top forty cover bands: Such bands are usually from Detroit. Two or three times a week Second Chance deviates from this pattern, and these deviations are worth checking out. An altogether different attitude per- vades The Ark, a small club that features a great variety of acoustic per- formers ranging from major artists like Tom Paxton or Pete Seger to amateurs, who have their own night on- ce a week. Rick's American Cafe and the Star Bar are more difficult clubs to categorize. Rick's presents everything from national blues artists (Son Seals, Jimmy Johnson), to local cover bands, to local original bands. The Star is a seedier version of Rick's, and the bands are usually original and new. The final word on music in Ann Arbor is to "explore." Whatever it is that you love in music, there is a very good chance that it is here somewhere. But like every other'service 'this town and this university offer, you have to look for it; it won't come to you. ti,.: Y Ali i.'r'. .' :' ' : i:i't' y: :r. $: {l;;?i' -. ?: Ann Arbor's Oldest & Finest Natural Foods Restaurant U +4 ~I f 4 vi 490 Ii-" a., 1 4 ~. 4 Pr r a * r~t pt a, Role of Major Events depends on economics (Continued from Page 4) is known as a "B market," because the population is only about 120,000. Being 45' miles down the road from Detroit doesn't help. AS YOUNG EXPLAINS, two percent of a market may be interested in buying tickets for a given concert; two percent of Detroit is considerably larger than two percent of Ann Arbor. Translation: The artists can often make more money by playing in Detroit. This is especially true of black ar- tists. MEO has come under attack several times for not booking black ar- tists. Young says they try to, but any show MEO books has to be within its economic reach. That is, they cannot afford to lose too much money. FURTHERMORE, many artists have certain markets they feel are im- portant to their'careers. Consequently, the richness of Detroit's musical history draws many bands there repeatedly. If a concert is scheduled in Detroit, it probably will not be scheduled in Ann Arbor, for economic and contractual reasons. The latter involves the usual "90 days, 90 miles" rule of booking-performers are often not allowed by contract to play within 90 miles of a city within 90 days. Sometimes this restriction is waived, as it was when Bruce Springsteen played If MEO makes money, the profits go back into the price of tickets. Tickets for the betroit Bruce Springsteen con- cert, for instance, cost $10.00 and $12.50 apiece. The Ann Arbor show cost $8.50 and $10.00. It was unclear at press time whether MEO broke even in 1980-81, since the total cost of overhead had not been determined. Young said the year was the leanest MEO has had so far, even though it sold out more concerts than it ever has. The problem, she says, is that there weren't enough concerts to produce the revenue needed to cover costs. EVEN SELL-OUTS have their problems. Ask anyone who stood in line all night for Bruce Springsteen tickets, only to get seats high up in the gold tier. The whole experience brought on a bit of an uproar-Springsteen apologized on stage-but Young says there is no better way to sell tickets for shows so heavily in demand. Selling tickets by mail, she says, is STAINED GLASS, LEATHER, PAPER CUT-OUTS, PRINTS, WEAVING, WOODWORK, POTTERY, JEWELRY expensive, and check-in systems discriminate against out-of-towners. Young insists there is no way to prevent people from standing in long lines with- out inviting worse problems. A parting word to the wise: Tickets to MEO concerts are sold at Crisler, the MEO box office, and other local outlets, but none of these outlets has better tickets than the others. The tickets are evenly distributed by a computer and printed on the spot. No matter where you buy the ticket, it is first-come, first- served. So there is no point in waiting all those hours in line at Crisler. If only the hundreds of Springsteen fans had known that last fall. Say hello to our whole wheat waffles & pancakes Every Saturday & Sunday 10 a.m.-2:30 p.m. 314 E. Liberty 662-2019 Open /fdays a week. _I * LES 0 N' 0 A1 0 O N, SONS * RENTALS * SAtES ---------- ------ We Moved HERB DAVID GUITAR STUDIO 302 E. Liberty Ann Arbor-665-8001 " EXPERT REPAIR N 0 2 70 m "n go. WA .: r 4J .it ARTIST SERIES 1981 -,1982. ti /' 7->''4 ~~x-'- ~. / i, .. /! ." . .r v i {i}re' t r y r i r i y/ j, 0- , "" " -I i1 r a f ti ' / -.- .R.. .....,.....,........ o.. ___,... . ... ... .... MIN IfElls nepajrs " N C We sell the YOUR tools we use; :M ESS'I I I FS INCA sSONS Power Tools UoNTS fl 6 TICKET TO A YEAR GREAT THEATRE I OF S / DI EC)I INT CN SFA SCN I . 51