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Spring 1990 Gumbo Magazine, Spring 1990 Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College

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Page 2 Gumbo Magazine SpringUniversity 1990 Office: 387-1404 Scenic Office: 356-4584 Main Office: 377-8218 GUMBO P u b lish er LSU Office of Student Media Editor Melinda Stichweh Creative Director Steve Pitalo Managing Editor Wendy Lavender

Feature Writers Jennifer Futch Johnelie Lamarque Lennart Larson Wendy Lavender Garilyn Ouruso Erika Prelow Stephan Pitalo Paul M. Varnado II FR EE D aiquiri buy any size daiquiri and get next sm aller size FREE Fiction Colleen Keogh

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' m a g a z i n e - Volume 1 Issue 2 Spring 1990 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 3 Copyright Gumbo Magazine 1990 Table______of______C ontents

MAGAZINE

FEATURES 2 WHEEEEE! Lennart Larsson chases down the pedal pushers in bike-happy B. R. 8 LOOK AWAY, LOOK AWAY Johnelle Lamarque draws the double-edged sword of the old South. 12 DRAMATIC PAWS Jennifer Futch watches two drama grads hit the Hollywood streets. 36 A ROOM WITH A VIEW Garilyn Ourso lays out an plan for furnishing that bare abode. COVERSTORY 40 FOREIGN EXCHANGE Gumbo Magazine hits the road as Aimee Edmondson follows LSU students on their academic travels to the four corners of the Earth.

DEPARTMENTS MUSIC FILM & DRAMA Better than Ezra 18 The top ten college films of all time 16 LEISURE FITNESS Alternative spring breaks 25 What the cool kids are doin’ 22 FICTION CALENDAR Fishing for condiments 30 What, when, where 28

Cover: LSU student abroad Casey Bass soaks in the splendor of Innsbruck.

Page 4 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 VOTE

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Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page W h e e e e e e !

Y oung an d old p ractice their w heelies as

LSU an d B aton R ouge go bicycle crazy.

LSU Triathletes, Mike Volt (left) and Rich Sharp (right) compete on River Road. Fhoto by Lennart Larson

By Lennart Larsson

Page 6 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Did you ever ride a bicycle? Sounds like a silly question, for every one female biker. doesn’t it? Just about everyone knows how to ride a bike, and the DeLoach sees other developments than the male/mountain trend these days seems to be that more people are making use of bike domination facing the market in the near future. Looking for the skill that they first learned on the driveway back home at about speed and durability, people are starting to demand a combined age six. Chances are that the bicycle was the first vehicle many racing/mountain bike which is known as the “hybrid” in bicycle of us eveV mastered, if we disregard the tricycle. lingo. Today, people are using bicycles for a variety of purposes. “The typical commuter does not need the weight and Some go to work or school on them, others take them off-road to sturdiness of the traditional mountain bike, but he likes the experience nature and exercise at the same time, and some are straight handle bar and the durable tires,” he says. “He also wants involved in competitive biking. Bicycle racing in one form or the speed that you can get from a good 10-speed, so you’re going another is one of the oldest Olympic sports in the modem era. to see a combination of the two hit the market in greater numbers Newer developments include the triathlon (swimming, biking, soon.” and running combined) and the biathlon (biking and running). The Gumbo Magazine talked with people around LSU and Baton Rouge who have made biking a part of their lives. In this article, they tell us about some of their experiences. Another interesting aspect of biking is the bike polo that is starting up in different parts of the country, says DeLoach. Using ATB ’ s instead of horses, innovative bikers have found a new way to use their vehicles. The Dealer “It would give people with mountain bikes something to get The tougher and more durable mountain bikes are taking together and do on a Sunday afternoon,” he says. “It would be over LSU’s campus# and Brent DeLoach is happy to provide them. really fun to get a bike polo college series started here.” The owner of World Class Bicycles on Lee Drive, DeLoach says the campus market is big on racing bikes as well, but the mountain bike sales are rising more. “It’s gotten to the point where the manufacturers are cutting back on the number of racing bike models and are putting out more mountain bikes instead,” he says. “The traditional 10-speed bike The Commuter is slowing down, and I think that’s a trend that will be going on for a couple of more years.” Trying to get from A to B on LSU’s campus can be Butler Murrell of The Bicycle Shop says he sells about 90 annoying, especially if it means walking from an 8:30-class in ATB’s (all terrain bikes) for every one racing bike at his Highland CEBA to a 9:30-class in the School of Music building. Getting Road store. on and off campus in a car can be equally difficult, with rush hour Hovyftver, a college campus environment does not necessar­ traffic jams and packed parking lots. ily represent the general population, says Kathryn Ryan, a sales Some students solve the dilemma by biking to school. It representative from Ryan’s Schwinn Cyclery in Alexandria, makes for easier and quicker transportation than walking or where ATB’s and road racing bikes are selling about 50-50. driving, most commuter bikers think. However, there are disad­ “Proh{ibly there would be more mountain bikes on a college vantages too. Bikers fear cars driving too close or turning in front campus,” Ryan says. “Sales trends like this usually begin in Cali­ of them, and pedestrians complain about bikers in the wrong fornia, then they move to college campuses, and later you can see places, such as the quad or on sidewalks. the trend in the general population. I would speculate that the rate Despite the controversy, biking remains one of the faster of ATB’s to road bikes in California is about 80 to 20 right now.” and easier (and cheaper) methods of getting around for the Murrell estimates 90 percent of his customers are LSU college student. Greg Jeansonne, an LSU senior, uses an Outpost students or faculty, and says that for every 10 customers he serves, mountain bike (“they don’t get flats”) to get him where he’s about seven are male. going. He says his fraternity friends leave the house to catch the That seems to holdfor other parts of the state as well. Ryan bus to class much earlier than he does, “but I get on my bike and says that substantially more of her customers are male. beat them there all the time.” For Jeansonne, there is no question “There are very few ladies who are campus riders or com­ which is the better mode of transportation. muters,” DeLoach says. “Biking is convenient,” he says. “I get all the conveniences Simple observation seems to confirm this. An entirely of walking, without the exertion.” unscientific study of the bikers passing by the Student Union Senior Cheryl Wilson uses her $89 Huffy commuter bike to building during 30 minutes at lunch time on an October Thursday get from her apartment to class and practice every day. Though showed that the vast majority were male. Of the 31 bikers that a competitive spirit, Wilson has no place for race biking in her passed, the distribution was as follows: life. A runner-up in the heptathlon at the 1989 NCAA national * Males on ATB’s: 16 track and field championships and a member of LSU’s national * Females on ATB’s: Two championship winning track team, she thinks of the bike only as * Males on racing bikes: 10 a way to save her legs for practice and still go places. * Females on racing bikes: Three “I ride my bike because I don’t have a car,” Wilson says. “If That’s a total of 26 to five, or about five male campus bikers I had a car, I’d be driving.”

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 7 J “You have to be really careful biking in traffic on track distance ace for LSU. She took Edwards’ advice and is campus. There are just so many people out there.” now reportedly riding professionally in Austin, Texas. Zipping up the front of her Sports Festival wind jacket on Edwards, a retiree from the highway department, has a sunny afternoon at Bemie Moore Stadium, she says: “It may seen biking develop during his almost 20 years with the sport. not be windy out today, but when you’re riding it’s always For him, it has meant moving up to a 15-speed Fuji which he windy.” uses both for touring and competition. “The bikes have been tremendously improved,” he says. The Veteran “They are so much lighter now than they used to be.” As for the people in the sport, Edwards says they are the You don’t have to be young and strong to get into biking. same kind of people now as they were when he started. The Old and determined will do the trick too, as Bruce Edwards has bikers tend to separate themselves into two groups: the shown. competitive bicyclist and the touring biker, he says. Edwards, 65, started biking in “The interest in biking fell 1970 when he and off in the early ’80s,” Ed­ his Raleigh 10- wards says, “but it’s coming speed joined the back strong now.” Baton Rouge Bi­ Probably there would be more moun­ cycle Club. A victim of a recent wreck “I had seen tain bikes on a college campus. Sales in a biathlon race, Edwards some bicycles ad­ trends like this usually begin in Cali­ has some ideas on how to vertised, and I make biking saferfor every­ thought it would be fornia, then they move to college one. fun to try*it,” says campuses, and later you can seethe the graying but fit- looking New Or­ trend in the general population. I leans native. would speculate that the rate of “Everybody should wear a The biggest helmet,” he says with con­ inspiration, how­ ATB s to road bikes in California is viction. “Falling is no fun, ever, might have and it been his friend about 80 to 20 right now. happens very fast. Iflhadn’t Fonville Winans, a worn a helmet, I could have well-known por­ - Kathryn Ryan been killed. Also, I think trait photographer seats for children on the back and one of the or­ of bikes should be looked at ganizers of the very carefully. I don’t think BRBC. Winans they are a good idea, be­ rode his bike to cause the kids are totally unprotected back there.” work a lot, and Edwards says that inspired him to get involved A major goal for this active age-group athlete is the 1991 with biking. Even though he fell on his first ride, and despite track and field World Veteran Championships in Turku, Fin­ doubting his abilities at first, Edwards is still biking. land. Staying in shape, whether it involves biking or running, “I thought, ‘Well, Bruce, you can’t do this kind of stuff, or both, is a way for Edwards to get more out of life. you’re too old. This is for kids’,” Edwards says. “But then I “I want to enjoy the places I go to and the things I see,” saw this little old fat man, he must have been about 75 years he says. “If I have to be able to ride 40 miles hard in the old, and he was biking really well. He didn’t look athletic at mountains to be fit, that’s what I’ll do.” all, and I thought, ‘If he can do it, I can too.’ A couple of years later, I did a 100 mile ride.” An avid pyclist since, Edwards has done several biathlon The Road Racer competitions (running and biking combined), raced or toured in many places including Arizona, Maine, Florida, and Texas, Bicycle road racing has a special sort of charm, but few and won the Louisiana Veteran Championship in his age people at LSU seem to know about it if you look at the group. His best time in the “century,” as the 100-mile ride is participation in Leisure Sport’s Intramural Racing Club. From commonly known, is 5 hours, 56 minutes. a high point of 35 members in 1985, the club has shrunk to six Edwards first got into biathlon after a break from biking enthusiasts, says club president Chris Bowler. in the late ’70s, when he took up jogging and later realized he “Many wanted to get in,” Bowler says of the club start in .could combine the two. 1982, “but they didn’t stick with it. It takes a lot of time and “I met a lot of new people who were combining running effort to be competitive, and not everybody is ready to make and biking,” Edwards says. “ I saw some who obviously could the commitment.” be a lot better bikers than runners, and I told them so.” Lots of time, indeed. Bowler says anyone who wants to One of the runners he saw was Elaine Gomez, a former be competitive in road racing will need to practice about 350 miles a week, although it is not necessary to be looking for

Page i Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 competition to join the club initially. The so-called criterium, traffic and pedestrians. racing laps on a closed course in a city, takes about the same The most common injuries related to biking on campus amount of practice time. Bowler says the challenge may be are broken arms and having the skin scraped off legs and face one reason why few women, at LSU and elsewhere, get into when falling or being knocked off the bike, according to competitive biking. Student Health Center records. Clara Franklin of Medical “There is even sex distribution at the recreational level, Records at the infirmary said the injuries are usually painful but there are not enough women who are serious about the but not very serious. The accidents are usually not caused by competitive aspect of biking,” he says. “That’s the irony of it reckless driving or biking, but rather attributable to road all, because men have to start at a much younger age to be good conditions, she said. in the long run than women do. There are women coming from “To be truthful, on this campus, I don’t know how to other sports, like speedskating, and they make the national avoid the accidents,” Franklin said. “They are not caused by team in road racing.” the people driving or biking, there’s just not enough room. The Bowler mentions a 31-year-old female speedskater who streets aren’t wide enough.” made the national team recently. Even though it is harder to Franklin said the Student Health Center receives more do the same in the men’s division, the male counterpart would victims of biking accidents during the summer months, but be five-time Olympic gold medalist speedskater Eric Heiden, that the total average of accidents is as low as about 10 per who after the 1984 Lake Placid Olympic Games became a semester. successful bicyclist. LSU Police Captain Connie Swain estimated about 12 There are some outstanding female road racers from accidents involving a bike and another vehicle are reported to Louisiana, however. Baton Rouge native Elaine Gomez has LSU Police during any given semester. There are no separate been on the national team and was an alternate in the 1988 statistics kept for accidents involving bikes specifically, so no Olympic Games, Bowler says. official figures are available, he said. Many traditional summer sports see European competitors Joe Nicolosi of the Baton Rouge Physi­ travel to the United States for cal Therapy Clinic said recreational training during parts of the year. bikers usually come to him for treat­ Not so with biking. Instead, ment following “all sorts of crashing.” Americans make the trip to In nine out of 10 cases, this involves Europe to develop and to race in shoulder injuries like a shoulder separa­ high-level meets. Big meets like tion, he said. Other common problems the Tour de France attract the are neck aches, lower back tightness very best from the U.S. as well and knee pains. as Europe, and American Greg Lemonde who won the Tour in “Those types of problems usually come 1989 has lived in Europe for from being in a constant position on the years. bike for a long time, and they can be Bowler says the win helped fixed by changing the position,” Ni­ in boosting interest for the sport colosi said. in the U.S. even though ABC, which had covered most of the Tour, missed showing the final Nicolosi treats triathletes and people who combine biking and day of the race. running, but more seldom sees the “true cyclist.” He said “Cycling is a big sport in Europe,” Bowler says. “It’s women tend to take better care of themselves and need less like Little League baseball in the States - everybody’s doing it, treatment than men, but men and women are about equally and they start at an early age.” represented among his patients. There are road racers from Louisiana who go to Europe To reduce the risk of injuries in biking, Nicolosi said the to race and train, Bowler says. The consensus among serious advanced bikers should know how to get their feet out of the bikers is that you have to do altitude training in order to be toe clips quickly in case of an accident when they need to get competitive, and that necessarily means leaving the state. off the bike in a hurry. Having your feet caught on the pedals in a fall greatly increases the risk of serious injury, he said. For competitive biking, Bowler suggests that a $300 - “Also, all bikers should pay attention to the road and $400 racing bike is a good start. However, it’s not the know the terrain where they are riding,” he said. “You have to equipment that makes the biker, he says. An inexpensive bike look for the pot holes.” can still be fast, if the right person is riding it. “We were training down on River Road with a guy who Apart from crashing, one of the biker’s nightmares is was a speed skater on roller skates,” Bowler says. “I was on having the bike stolen. A good lock is usually a good way to my racing bike and he was on his $120 department store prevent this from happening, but sometimes it is not enough. special, and you couldn’t lose him for nothing. He just had the Bike dealers encourage customers to buy a quality lock (called strength.” “Gorilla,” “The Great Protector,” “Kryptonite,” or some other of the fantastic brand names around) and use the quick release The Risks feature for the front wheel in order to lock all parts of the bike No sport is free from risks, and biking is no exception. to a rack. Butler Murrell of The Bicycle Shop said the best way Anyone who has experienced a fall from a bike, or being hit by to prevent having the wheels picked off your bike, and still not a car, knows it can happen in an instant. Biking on campus have to take them off yourself, is to lock the bike to a rack and roads is especially hazardous with narrow streets and lots of run a cable through the wheels and the lock.

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 9 All the same, bikes are stolen. Police patrols make nial of Montana and Baltimore’s League of American Wheel­ several arrests every semester when juvenile offenders are men. Clubs like these provide detailed maps of tour routes found trying to steal bikes at night, Swain said. throughout the United States. In Louisiana, the Jambalaya “If an officer sees someone tampering around a bicycle Tours through the Felicianas in November is one of the biggest rack on campus, he will look into it,” Swain said. Thirty-five touring events. bikes were reported stolen with LSU Police from January “Seeing the country from a bike is a whole lot different through June of last year, up from 27 for the last six months in from seeing it from a car,” Troy says. “You can bike 40-50 1988 but low compared to the 80 stolen bikes in the first half miles in a day and you’ll feel great afterwards, but if you’ve of 1988. been driving all day, you just feel beat.” “If the trend keeps up (for the rest of 1989), it looks like LSU junior Fred Vosloh has experienced tour biking on we’ll do a lot better in ’89 than we did in ’88,” Swain said. an international level. A former exchange student in Sweden, In the meantime, the advice is clear: if you want to keep Vosloh spent the summer of 1985 biking from the northern it, you’d better lock it well. parts of Norway south to Denmark’s capital of Copenhagen, a distance of about 800 miles. Three years later he switched directions, biking 450 miles from the central parts of Sweden to the northernmost town of Norway, Nordkap. The Touring Cyclist “The most amazing thing about those trips was the Picture a more laid-back version of a competitive cyclist, midnight sun,” Vosloh says. “It never got dark at night. You’d one who stops on the side of the road to look at things that be biking at 2 a.m. and the sun was up. I always wanted to go interest him, or her, rather than racing on, because the scenery was so beauti­ for the goal line as fast as possible. ful that I was afraid to miss something That’s a fairly accurate description of if I stopped.” the typical tour biker. And even though they use the same mode of transporta­ The Velodrome Racer tion, the tour biker and the competitive cyclist don’t combine interests a whole If you had to guess which was the lot, says tour biker A1 Troy. biggest money sport in the U.S. in the Just back from an eight-day, 320- early years of this century, what would mile tour in Wisconsin, Troy says: you pick? Baseball? Football? Think “There doesn’t seem to be a lot of racers again, unless you guessed velodrome that tour also. Either you race or you racing on bicycles. As funny as it may tour.” sound, people placed large bets on Troy started tour biking in 1972 different teams racing around a wooden when back problems kept him from his oval for six days straight, day and two favorite sports, tennis and waterski- night, alternating teammates during the ing. In 1980 he got serious about it when run. he “married someone who really was into the same thing.” Today, it has evolved into an Olympic Having toured in Maine, Vermont, sport, but one that faces financial prob­ Nova Scotia and British Columbia, lems and suffers from a lack of facili­ among other places, Troy and his wife ties in the U.S., says bicycle fan and go on all tours together. Troy says more men than women are velodrome racer Paul Kerst. involved in this type of activity. However, he considers it a The three main events of velodrome cycling are as sport well suited for women and says they generally can be as follows: good riders as the men. * The match sprint. A tactical, three-lap race over 1000 “Bicycling is easy on the body, there are no shocks to the meters in which two racers follow each other closely, waiting joints,” he says. “You don’t have to be perfectly fit, you just for the other to make a move and then kicking wildly for the gauge your time and pace yourself accordingly.” finish line. A former president of the Baton Rouge Bicycle Club, * The timed event. One racer against the clock from a Troy represents the club on the recently created Louisiana standing start over 1000 meters on the 33 degree banked Bicycle Advisory Committee. The committee is seeking ways curves. to develop and promote bicycle touring, promote tourism, and * The pursuit. Two racers, starting on opposite sides of assess the future of bicycling in Louisiana. One of the steps on the track not to interfere with each other race 12 laps (women the way will be to create a map outlining good touring routes and juniors do nine laps) and use each other as checkmarks to in the state, Troy says. see who’s leading. Kerst won the Louisiana state champion­ “There’s a lot of good places to tour bike in Louisiana, ships in this event in June. He qualified to go the National but wedon’thave a bike map,” he says. “This state has the least Championships, but bowed out due to financial considera­ interest in biking in the country. It’s not really a ‘hot’ activity tions. here, and I don’t know why. You can ride here all year In addition, there are points races with several competi­ around.” tors where every five laps end with a sprint and points are Troy contrasts this lack of interest to the enthusiasm for awarded to the top four racers in every sprint finish. These the sport shown by biking organizations like the Bikecenten- points races vary in length between 10 and 200 laps. In the

10 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Louisiana State Championships, the race is contested over 120 California and Colorado are concerned with bikers taking over laps, or 40 kilometers (about 25 miles). hiking trails and posing high-speed threats to backpackers. “You have to be a serious biker to go out on the velo­ This danger is not as great in Louisiana however. drome,” Kerst says. “A track racer has to spend more time in “We don’t have as many people biking here as they do (in the weight room than a road racer. If you want to be a national California), and we have bigger areas where people can ride,” or Olympic level racer on the velodrome, you have to put in at says Brent DeLoach of World Class Bicycles. The Depart­ least 30 hours a week of hard training.” ment of Wildlife and Fisheries recently opened up wildlife Kerst, who will be giving weekend clinics in velodrome management areas to all terrain biking, he says. racing this summer, won’t discourage anyone interested from “Hunters here in Louisiana are starting to use the moun­ trying, however. He says he coached two young boys on the tain bikes to get out to their hunting camps,” DeLoach says. track for six months, with one of them making it to the National “The bikes are quiet, they don’t give off any exhaust, and the Championships and finishing ninth. hunters can get where they ’re going without tearing up the land Blessed with one of about a dozen Olympic size velo­ with truck tires.” dromes in the U.S., Baton Rouge is better off than most parts There are not a lot of hilly trails around here, especially of the country. However, lack of funds due to advertising in the southern part of the state, but Baham says there are still policies of the Department for Culture, Recreation, and Tour­ plenty of good places to ride. ism (BREC) keep the Baton Rouge Bicycle Racing Club from “It’s uneducated to say that you can’t ride a mountain putting on big meets to promote the sport, Kerst says. bike in Louisiana because it’s flat,” he says. “There are good “We need the money that advertising would bring,” he trails out there, you just have to find them. Anywhere there’s says. “BREC does not try to get sponsors to advertise on the a river there’s going to be hills and valleys cut out by the river, surface and on the boards around the track. That’s the way it’s and that makes for great places to ride a mountain bike.” done on other tracks, but BREC won’t allow that.” In the Baton Rouge area, Baham and his friends go to a However, Kerst says the Baton Rouge racers are better trail off the Choctaw extension or a smaller trail off Lee Drive. off now than before 1984 (the velodrome was constructed for To find even better riding, they sometimes make trips to the Sports Festival here), when the closest track was in Atlanta, Alexandria. Out of state, the favorite spots are the trails in Ga. Percy Quinn, Black Creek, and Jackson, Miss., along with He says recently decreased interest in velodrome racing Austin, Texas. Strapping a head-set lamp on the helmet (an may have something to do with more people getting into essential part of an off-road bikers equipment, Baham says) triathlon and biathlon, leaving other bicycle-related sports and riding in the dark adds excitement to the sport, he says. with less participants. A determined and serious biker who owns two mountain The basic mountain bikes usually cost about $300, while bikes, one time-trial bike for both road and track, one track the advanced competition versions will run up to 10 times as bike and one road bike, Kerst still says: “It’s a lot of fun, that’s much. Compared to road bikes, they are easily cared for and what it’s all about.” built to take lots of abuse, Baham says. The Mountain Biker “You can punish it, to a certain extent, and it will come through without a whimper,” he says. “The fat tires make for His bike and body covered with mud and leaves, Craig a softer ride and they cut down on flats. That lowers mainte­ Prejean pedals up the final hill of the trail and stops. nance costs and appeals to students even more.”/&> “Look, I’ve got a wreath around my foot,” he shouts to his friends, inspecting a wad of leaves and weed clinging to his ankle. “I just got the Golden Leaf Award for best rider.” There are some sports that from the outset seem to be reserved for the rough and ready, and serious mountain biking, or all-terrain biking, certainly seems to be one of them. But you don’t have to ride the muddiest of trails or the steepest of inclines to enjoy this form of biking, which is proven by the sharp increase in sales of mountain bikes in the past few years. “Mountain bikes are dominating the bicycling industry,” says competitive mountain biker Kiley Baham, an LSU archi­ tecture student. “They’re outselling road bikes almost two to one.” Baham says more people are getting interested in this off-road type of biking because of the closeness to nature and the outdoor experience that it provides. The exercise comes with it, he says. There was an estimated 200,000 mountain bikes in the U.S. six years ago, but that number is expected to grow to 10 million in 1990. But the increased number of bikers that take on the trails and the open ground in parks and public land have caused problems in some areas. According to a Wall Street Journal story, park officials and public land managers in Edward "Tlni" Steinmann of Switzerland bikes through Norway. PtotobyFYedVosbh

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 11 G ive y o u rself a hand agains GRAD STUDENTS breast cancer

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Page 12 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 D R A M A T I C

PAWS

tw o LSU acting

school grads

go fo r the

b rass ring

i n L A .

b y

Jen n ifer Futch

One year ago the two friends were working John Mese rolled over and answered the phone with highly respected director Barry Kyle of the on the first ring. Royal Shakespeare Company in the LSU produc­ The 25-year-old Baton Rouge native graduated tion of “Macbeth.” from LSU s Masters of Fine Arts in acting program They were teaching acting improvisation and last May before moving to California in the sum­ scene work to inexperienced undergraduates. mer. They were doggedly honing their own mono­ This morning Mese is lying in bed, marking logues and scenes for the day when they would time until he must get up and go to work as a waiter/ leave the “ivy tower” of LSU to audition in the host in a “hip little cafe on Melrose Boulevard.” offices of Los Angeles casting directors. But Mese can afford to lounge in bed for a They were full of hope, enthusiasm and a while. Though he has not acted since moving to special kind of naive confidence, typical of aspir­ LA, his progress (in a town that thrives on breaking ing actors, that their dreams would eventually aspiring actors) has been remarkable. com e true. Mese signed with agent, Century Artists, less One year later, Joe Chrest and John Mese are than one month after arriving in town. struggling to forge careers in Hollywood. And though LSU theatre professor John Den­ One year later, how much has changed? nis warned him not to expect work for six months

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 13 after landing an agent, Mese got something tomorrow.” theatre prpductions. his first job after only one month He paused. Chrest landed his first role in of auditions. “I’m actually kind of nervous a LA production of “Grease” Cast in a small role for a fall now,” he said. playing Kinicki. The play fin­ replacement situation comedy, But the stress passes and Mese ished its run last month, how­ Mese was to play the boyfriend laughs. ever, and he must decide what to of Moon Unit Zappa’s best Mend. Yeah, at 11:00 I’m audition­ do next. “You can only be so picky ing to be an alien in ‘Alien Na­ “When I first got here, my right now,” he laughed. tion,’ and at 12:00 I’m at Mark objective was to get into any­ “I had three lines as far as I Tapor. Shows you how weird thing as soon as possible, iust to knew. I was going to go into the this place is,” he sighed. get seen as soon as possible, to studio for three days, rehearse it, Auditioning for the regional give myself that extra boost of and do it in front of a studio theatre will put Mese back in confidence that I could do it,” audience the third day,” Mese touch with his training at LSU. Chrest said. said. Before moving to LA, he had The experience was not all Unfortunately, the part was little experience in film. the West Virginia native hoped it written out of the script a few In fact, his only filmwork was would be. weeks later. a piece with rising director Ste­ The play demanded little of The change, however, did not ven Soderberg, also of Baton him as an actor. Chrest discov­ adversely affect Mese. He was Rouge. ered that simply being onstage paid for the job, and is now eli­ To date, the relationship has was not enough. gible to join the Screen Actors not boosted his career much. “I had to re-evaluate where I Guild, the union all actors must “It’s added good small talk to stand with my acting,” Chrest join if they hope to work in tele­ explained. “‘Am I happy being vision or film. onstage?’ And the answer was “Basically I’ve been trying to ‘No, I’m miserable.’” get in the union,” Mese explained. I want to do “When you’re onstage just “I like the way the situation trying to connect with somebody, worked out because Ihaven’t sold something re­ ou reel very alone. I found out my soul, so to speak, to get into ow frustrating it can be. After it. ’ being pushed to do good work Though Mese has auditioned ally worth­ and really discriminate, it’s not numerous times in the past satisfying anymore just to be months, he felt the lack of the acting,” Chrest continued. “I union card keenly. while. I want to want to do something really “A lot of directors say they’d worthwhile. I want to work with like to hire you, but without the work with good good actors.” SAG card... you’ve got to break Despite his desire to work, in the union first,” Mese said. Chrest found himself in the same Presently Mese is re-examin­ actors. position as Mese: he needed an ing his audition prospects. He Equity card to prove member­ said the scripts he sees are less - Joe Chrest ship in the theatre actors union. than thrilling. Chrest had one advantage, “It’s all s—t down here,” he however. fumed. “A lot of things have my conversations,” Mese re­ Already a member of the looked like someone wrote them marked. “But it’s really weird... Screen Actors Guild, he was only down this morning while they it might be the thing to turn the required to wait one year before were eating breakfast!” trick one day.” being eligible to become an At the moment Mese is ex­ He said the biggest advan­ Equity actor. His wait was al­ cited about his coming audition tage of the Soderberg connection most over. with the Mark Tapor Forum. The has little to do with landing a job. “I’m only shooting for Eq­ theatre is one of the most prestig­ “As weird as it sounds, you uity jqj?s now,” Chrest said. ious on the West Coast. It is also get real tired of talking about “You have to be Equity to get the theatre at which Dennis, yourself. I talk about Steve in­ auditions to the good theatres. Mese’s mentor, directed profes­ stead,” Mese admitted. There are so many bad actors out sionally before teaching at LSU. “But I wouldn’t put it past me here that the really serious re­ Mese is uncharacteristically to ask him to give me a part,” he gional theatres, like the Mark anxious about the audition. added. Tapor Forum- and those were my “For months I’ve been audi­ primary targets- only hire union tioning for sit-coms,” he fretted. Not far away, Joe Chrest actors, Chrest added. “And V m going to be auditioning prepared for another day of solic­ But Chrest learned that per­ for someone who actually knows iting agents and auditioning for sistence helps. page 14 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 “I’ve just been able to keep brown hair and cocky grin suit “It’s like we could gang up on the going down to Tapor. I did fi­ Mese’s outgoing, live wire per­ casting director,” Mese laughed. nally get an audition with them,” sonality. Mese noted that usually inter­ he said. The man is notoriously self- views were intimidating or bor­ In this instance his LSU train­ confident, witty and aggressive. ing. ing was a serious asset. These traits led one good friend, “It’s hard to know when the “They are a little more likely LSU student Claudia Ancalmo, auditioning starts and the acting to see you with an MFA degree, to say that “one thing about Mese: stops. I mean, you just don’t he noted, “and just being able to you either love him, or you hate know what they want, and proba­ mention names helps,too. him.” bly they don’t know what they “Being able to say I worked Chrest is the perfect compli­ want,” Mese said. with John Dennis, or that Barry ment to Mese. Chrest said that frequently Kyle of the RSC directed me, Tall and lanky, Chrest is less casting directors attend show­ gets attention here.” intense. He is quiet and more apt cases for screen union actors. To Chrest said, however, that if to think before he speaks. He that end, Chrest and Wayne Pere, fighting a lack of union member­ possesses a wonderfully subtle also a former LSU student, are ship was difficult in LA, it was sense of humor, as well as a bril­ attempting to put together a show­ equalled by the emphasis on liant, easy smile. case themselves. Chrest and looks. The two together have an inter­ Mese plan to do the scene there, “They tell you at home that esting chemistry. Though to date, should the showcase come off. head shots are so much more they have not tried this chemistry The two realized that some­ important in LA than in New on the stage. times they might be competing York,” Chrest said. They have performed together for parts, but right now, it is not “Well, a casting director was recently, however. an issue. talking to me about how impor­ “It’s kind of hard to make it tant they really are. Out of 1,000 competitive at this point because head shots sent in, they won’t I have an agent and he doesn’t,” even turn over 500 of them to " It's slow Mese said. look at your resume; that’s how “And having an agent makes important the look is,” he clari­ it a lot easier to see people,” he fied. getting in noted. “The face is it out here,” So far the men definitely work Chrest acknowledged. to help each other. The dogfight to get a good the doors at “It s slow getting in the doors audition, much less a part, is at first,” Mese allowed, “but the exhausting. Chrest misses the people at the doors we do get in comfort of LSU. first." seem very impressed.” In an April interview last year, Chrest said that “where we are [at Though the men run them­ LSU] right now is just the ideal | John Mese selves ragged in Los Angeles, place for artistic security.” they haven t forgotten the people His feelings haven’t changed. “John and I do this scene from back home. Mese calls home “This is the first time I’ve ‘Hurly Burly’ together,” Chrest weekly, and periodically dashes been out of school in my life, and explained. off postcards to family and it’s strange,” Chrest reflected. “We both agree,” he contin­ friends. “In school you are really there ued, “ it’s the best work we’ve Nor have the home folks for­ to fail, and learn from those mis­ done together,ever. That’s sort gotten them. takes, “ he added. “Now you can of one of our long-range dreams, Gordon Mese, John’s younger fail in the rehearsal process, but if to do a project together. We brother, is a 22-year-old land­ it proves to not be worth any never got to, really, at school.” scape architecture student at LSU. person’s while, particularly an Mese was enthusiastic about Normally calm and cool, when a audience’s, then you feel, why doing the scene for a casting di­ postcard arrived from the brother did I dedicate my time to this?’ ’ rector at Universal Studios. to whom he is closest, the excite­ But most of all, Chrest said, “Joe was real hip to it, too,” ment was evident. “I miss the football season.” he added. “Look at this,” he com­ “We haven’t heard anything manded, holding up a postcard . Chrest and Mese became yet,” he said, “but it went well. with a picture of a voluptuous friends when they joined the MFA The whole interview went so Nancy Sinatra. The significance in acting program the same year. much better than a lot of them do. of the picture, Gordon explained, They seem drastically different. I know it was because Joe was was that, while waiting tables Mese is the showman. Over there.” John met an actress whom he six feet tall, the shoulder-length Instead of getting bulldozed, first saw in a film with Sinatra.

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page IS Mese related the postcard’s sleep. The fast pace of the city occasions are few and far be­ contents in detail. John appar­ was a shock to them. tween. ently met Woody Harrelson of “Up until now, my time has “I’ve gone out a couple of the sit-com “Cheers” at the Im- been filled with just working and times, but the thing is, it costs prov one evening. Knowing going to auditions,” Mese said. money. You’ll spend $9 on two Harrelson to be a fellow Sigma ‘And I don’t think, “ Mese beers,” Mese said. Chi fraternity brother, Mese continued, “that I’m finished “I see movies by myself a lot approached him and “slipped him making the adjustments yet. here,” he continued, “because it’s the grip,” quoted Gordon. Baton Rouge is slower, simpler hard to hook up with people here.” Gordon drank in every word and nicer. I think when I can I’ll “There are loads of movies before putting the postcard away. move back. I don’t want to live out here that you don’t get in “We’ve always tried to outdo here forever. Baton Rouge,” Chrest said, “but each other,” he mused. “But once I land a job, I think you’re struggling financially, so “John’s drive to impress the things will loosen up.” you think you can’t afford that family is a big part of his ambi­ Chrest agreed that the LA luxury.” tion,’ he added. atmosphere was more harried Chrest acknowledged that, But the younger Mese was than that of Baton Rouge. for an actor, seeing movies and not jealous or his brother’s good “I’ve never been this busy in plays is more than light enter­ fortune. my life!”he said. tainment. “I think he has the potential “It’s so expensive to live “It’s a luxury, but it’s also to be a great success. And I’d here,” Chrest said, “and then you research- it’s part of the job,” he love for it to happen, “ Mese said. see so much luxury around you said. Another person rooting for every day.” For this reason actors are Mese and Chrest is close mend Mese concurred that “money allowed to subtract ticket costs Claudia Ancalmo. The 19-year- is very tight. I work two jobs, and and movie rentals from their tax old college student first met the I’m making just enough to sur­ returns. two in the spring of 1989, when vive right now.” “I have to scrape up money to she took Mese’s improvisation Part of the problem is the go see plays, “ Chrest asserted, class. high rent. Mese lives in Glen­ “but that’s how I found out I The friendships lasted beyond dale, California, about 30 min­ didn’t want to work at one the­ the final exam. Now Ancalmo utes outside of central Holly­ atre, and why I sent resumes to helps keep up morale by sending wood. He shares a three bed­ others.” letters, pictures and assorted care room, one bathroom house with The men threw caution to the packages to California, which two other men. wind a month ago and had a huge often mclude such diverse addi­ “I live with two other guys I barbeque. They felt they needed tions as cheesecake, cookies, beef didn’t know before I got here,” the break. jerky, bumper stickers from local Mese said, “but it’s really like a “It was fun,” Mese said, “but bars, and Pat O’Brien’s Hurri­ hotel; when I close my door, I’m that barbeque cleaned me out cane mix. alone. And Glendale is like sub- financially. I’ll be recovering “I hated John when I first met urbia- a pretty nice thing to come from it for weeks.” him,” Ancalmo said, “but once I home to.” Meanwhile the graduating got to know him I found out he Mese pays $380 a month for MFA candidates are watching the was really a good person. He his share of the rent. progress of their predecessors certainly brought out the best in “The same house in Baton with alternately anxious and his students. Rouge you could get for $350 amused eyes. “He’s exciting and fun to be total,” he sighed. “Ah, Mese,” MFA candidate around. He’s just a cool dude.” But at least Mese has a home. Graham Frye laughed, “audition­ Ancalmo readily admitted Chrest’s lease ran out at the start ing for‘Alien Nation.’ Nowthat’s that her favorite MFA candidates of the month. Since then he has interesting.” ; were Chrest and Mese. been living on the floors of vari­ Yet all of them know the truth “I love Joe. It was great that ous friends in the Hollywood area. of Chrest’s words from the previ­ he got a part so soon after he got “Yeah, I’ve been moving my ous year: “there are no co-ops for to LA,” Ancalmo smiled. stuff around from people’s actors.” This class firmly sup­ “I think they’ll both do well floors,” Chrest remarked. ports its predecessors. out there. They are really confi­ “It’s really boring. All my And while one class prepares dent- if they were wimpy, they time is eaten up working [as a for graduation, Mese and Chrest wouldn ’ t have the power to move waiter in a Beverly Hills restau­ meet the challenge of Holly wood you when they were onstage,” rant] or looking for affordable head-on. she maintained. living quarters, he added. They always keep the words For the first few months, Chrest Still, both men occasionally of John Dennis in mind. and Mese were much too busy to find time to relax. Because of “You can never be totally do anything except work and money problems, however, those prepared,” he said, “but I think this class is going to work.”

Page 16 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 C A L E N D A R Movies, Plays, Speakers, Etc.

January Events Union Colonnade Theater Royal Cotillion Ballroom Film, “New York Stories” J a n . 15 Feb. 15 Martin Luther King Com- February Events Union Colonnade Theater mermorative Film, “Some Like It Hot” William Raspberry Feb. 1 12:30 p. m. .Union Theater Union Colonnade Theater F eb. 16 Film, “Beyond the Valley of Union Colonnade Theater J a n . 18 th e D olls” Film, “Earth Girls Are Easy” Union Colonnade Theater Film, “Polyester” Feb. 2- 3 Alvin Alley Dance Ensamble Union Colonnade Theater Master Classes J a n . 19 Film, “License To Kill” 5 - 8:30 p. m. Union Colonnade Theater LSU Dance Studio Film, “Polyester” F eb. 4 The Bartok Quartet Feb. 18 LSU School of Art Chamber Music Series Passport To Adventure Graduate Student Art Show 4p. m., Union Colonnade Travel Film Series (Jan. 19 - Feb. 4) T h e a te r “South China Seas” Union Art Gallery 4 p. m., Union Colonnade Feb. 8 J a n . 2 2 Union Colonnade Theater Feb. 2 0 Me & My Girl, Broadway Film, “Amarcord” Perspectives Speaker F lay H. Ross Perot 8 p. m. Union Theater Feb. 9 8 p.m ., Union Theater Union Colonnade Theater J a n . 2 3 Film, “Crimes of Passion” Feb. 22 Blacks in Film Union Colonnade Theater M ahogany Perspectives Speaker Film, “Bombay Talkie” 7:30 p. m .t Union Theater Joyce Carol Oates 8 p. m., Union Theater The Royal Lichtenstein J a n . 2 4 C ircus Perspectives Speaker Figures in Clay 12 p. m., in front of the Julian Jaynes A National Invitational U nion 8 p. m., Union Theater (Feb. 9 - Mar. 10) Union Art Gallery March Events

M ar. 1 J a n . 2 5 Union Colonnade Theater Union Colonnade Theater Feb. 11 Film, “Rashamon” Film, “Blade Runner” Soviet Acrobatic Revue Great Performances Series M ar. 2 Julain Jaynes 3 p. m., Union Theater Union Colonnade Theater 7:30 p. m.. Union Film, “Whatever Happened to Atchafalaya Room Feb. 14 Baby Jane?” Charmaine Neville J a n . 2 6 Qumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 17 M ar. 4 “Alaska”, 4 p. m., Union The Alexander String Quartet C o lo n n ad e Unusual Destiny On an Azure Chamber Music Series August Sea” 4 p. m., Union Colonnade M ar. 2 0 T h e a te r Blacks in Film April Events Carmen Jones A pr. 1 M ar. 7 C o lo n n ad e Passport To Adventure Wallace Terry Travel Film Series 8 p. m., Union Theater M ar. 2 2 “Scotland”, 4 p. m., Union Union Colonnade Theater C o lo n n ad e M ark N izer Film, “In Cold Blood” 8 p.m ., Union Cotillion A pr. 3 B allro o m M ar. 2 3 Blacks in Film Union Colonnade Theater A World Apart M ar. 8 Film, “True Stories” 7:30 p. m., Union Colonnade Union Colonnade Theater Film, “Purple Rose of Cairo” Undergraduate Student Art Show A pr. 5 M ar. 9 (Mar. 23 - Apr. 9) Union Colonnade Theater Union Colonnade Theater Union Art Gallery Film, “Blood of A Poet” Film, “Bugs Bunny Festival M ar. 2 7 A pr. 19 Great Performances Series Perspectives Speaker American Scenes Art Exhibit Texas Opera Theater James Randi (Apr. 19 - May 18) Romeo & Juliet Union Art Gallery 8 p. m., Union Theater M ar. 2 9 Union Colonnade Theater A pr. 2 0 M ar. 16 Film, “On Her Majesty’s Union Colonnade Theater Union Colonnade Theater Secret Service” Film, “Live and Let Die” Film, “Dr. No” M ar. 3 0 A pr. 2 7 Passport To Adventure Union Colonnade Theater Union Colonnade Theater Travel Film Series Film, “Swept Away By An Film, “Willy Wonka”

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Page 18 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 LEISURE Flig h t Of Fancy Bummed by the beach? Go somewhere else. Check out some alternative spring break spots.

BY WENDY LAVENDER This April, students will begin their an­ lo’ es “going there because we camp out in the nual pilgrimage to various vacation spots to par­ mountains. My dog is allowed there and we always ticipate in a ritual known as spring break. The most bring her with us. The weather is great— cold at popular locations for this ritual are Florida and night, cool in the day, but always sunny. We kayak Colorado. Despite the popularity of the beach and or raft on the river.” the slopes, many students seek out alternative areas This unique spring break option permits to spend their spring break. a student “to see the beauty of nature that is missed Students who want to spend time at the in Baton Rouge.” beach, but want to avoid the typical spring break Music proposes another option for spring scene, often migrate to California. break. The break is long enough to justify trav­ Suewan Johnson, abusiness management elling to see a concert. major, enjoys the California beaches because “there Richard Valadie, a graphic design major, is beautiful weather and there are always places to plans to see the Grateful Dead over the break. 5? go. Valadie claims that “it doesn’t matter where they California allows one to enjoy the bene­ (the Dead) are in March, (he’ll) be there.” fits of the beaches which, according to Shelly Devoted R.E.M. fan, Stacy Miller, a Miller, an English major, are “no responsibilities, psychology major, spent spring break last year in sleeping late, eating a lot, doing nothing, and listen­ Dallas. She travelled home with her roommate to ing to the crash of the waves.” One can enjoy these see her favorite band perform with Robyn Hitch­ benefits while still avoiding a routine spring break. cock and the Egyptians. California is not the only beach area Miller stated, “I got to see where my outside of Florida. Renee Smith, a psychology roommate is from, what her family and friends are major, plans to spend spring break in the Bahamas. like, and R.E.M. in the same week.” Smith says that the Bahamas offer the Miller plans to spend spring break this perfect opportunity “to relax, to do something year in New York City. “It’s the greatest and different, and to get away from it all.” coolest thing I am able to do at the moment. I’m Water sports and fresh air are not limited going to see everything and spend as little money to the beaches, however. Students can enjoy the as possible by staying in youth hostels. I’ve always outdoors by camping for spring break. wanted to go to New York.” Pre-veterinary medicine major Carla According to travel agent Charlotte Richardson likes to spend time on the Nantahala Buhler, New York is one of the most interesting River in North Carolina with her family. Richardson Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 19 places that a student can spend spring break. For stated Amy Swatling, a business major. people who have never been there “it is one of those Furthermore, one can relive childhood towns that you just must visit.” during spring break. Gina-Rae Freeland, a French major, will According to Rena Holmes, a psychol­ be a first time New York traveller this spring. “I’ve ogy major, “Disney World is the best. I’ve had the never been and I just can’t wait. I’ve got friends up most fun there on family vacations.” there that I will stay with. It’ll be great,” stated Victoria Goldstein, an English literature Freeland. major, agreed, “Disney World is the best place to The big city is not the appealing choice spend spring break. It’s much better than dealing for all students. Some choose to come to the aid of with drunken college students all week long. I’ve others during the break instead of exploring unfa­ been there many times, and each time is better than miliar areas. the previous one. I guess I’m just a kid at heart.” Nadine Neswadi, a psychology major, Several students prefer the versatility of spent last spring break in Kentucky. Neswadi the East Coast. participated in a “Habitat for Humanity. (She) built Kathleen Merritt, a Zoology major, pre­ a house for the poor and it was very interesting.” fers Bar Harbor, Maine. “I love the ocean, the However, helping others does not neces­ mountains, the sailing, the fishing, and everything sarily mean assisting strangers. One can spend else Main has to offer.” time with the family and be a great help at the same Only one thing is certain in selecting an tim e. out of the ordinary spring break locale— the op­ “I worked for my Dad in his income tax tions are limited only by the individual’s imagina­ processing firm. Spring break is right before the tion. From Maine to California each student is sure April 15th deadline. The company gets so many to find his or her niche somewhere in the vast returns and everyone needs to pitch in and help,” country.

Snow and Suntan Oil More LSU students will spend spring break along the Florida coastline or in Colorado than anywhere else, according to Union Travel Agency employee, Celia Rose. Whoever said that there was strength in numbers must have been involved in this annual migration. “Florida is a great place to get away close by,” stated Heather Hall, a graphic design major. Hall plans to spend spring break in Florida this year with a group of friends, but claims that “Colorado is (her) favorite vacation spot because (she) loves the mountains.” Hall’s vacation preferences are not unlike those of many other students. Zoology major Scott Daigle prefers Fort Walton beach for its “sun, fun, and women." Fort Walton is one of the most popular Florida beaches. Destin and Fort Lauderdale are, also, prime choices for college students. Brent Herman, an accounting major, has spent spring break in various areas of Florida every year. “Once you go for one spring break, it’s hard to stop going back for every other one. It’s the place where most of my friends go, and it’s the spot where all the LSU students hang out. People from all over the United States go to Florida for the break.” In the opposite extreme, if one wants snow insteads of sunshine and skis instead of suntan lotion, Colorado is the place to be. Many students would agree. Colorado is the second most popular spring break choice among students. Many ski resorts offer special spring break rates for advance reservations. According to travel agent Celia Rose, a student on a . limited budget can spend a fairly inexpensive week skiing in Colorado and living in the lodge. There are, also many towns such as Frisco, Colorado, which are surrounded by ski resorts and offer cheaper lodging than the resorts. Most of these towns also provide a shuttle bus service to the nearby resorts. Kimberly Belzer, a zoology major, prefers Colorado to all other spring break spots. “The scenery is so beautiful. I’ve always loved the view from the mountains.”For many students the cold weather is a welcome change from the humidity of Baton Rouge. Furthermore, the mountains offer the opportunity for skiing, a rarity to Louisianians. Casey Bass, a Microbiology major, enjoys skiing because “it’s like flying. It’s as close as anyone can ever get to really flying. It’s such a challenge.” Whether crashing through the waves or gliding down the slopes, Florida and Colorado remain the most popular spring break choices among students.

Page 20 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 W e e k e n d G e t a w a y s

Graphic Design major, Richard W hether for fun, recreation, or to Valadie likes to spend his weekends cam p­ visit the family, LSU students often feel the ing nearby. “It’s relaxing, I can get in need to escape the pressures of school.- touch with nature, and I get to play with W hen the urge to escape calls, students , fire,” Valadie said. flee to a variety of places on the weekends. Carla Richardson, a sophomore in “Sometimes I just need a break Pre-Veterinaiy M edicine, also enjoys from school— I’m taking 18 hours and spending her weekends outdoors. “I go working. I ju st need to relax,” stated Eng­ sailing on Lake Pontchatrain in Mandeville. lish m ajor, Victoria Goldstein. I love sailing, because it’s relaxing, quiet, W herever hom e m ay be, it is one of but still exciting.” Richardson spent a the top weekend excursions among stu­ weekend with the LSU sailing club at the dents. According to Shelly Miller, an Eng­ Pontchatrain Yacht Club “to get everyone lish m ajor from Lafayette, hom e is a great acquainted with the new boats.” place to spend the weekend “to get free Another nature lover, Patti Tra­ food and laundry service.” m ontana, a Zoology major, loves to go In addition to the practical aspects “anywhere that the fishing is good.” of going home, m any students go to visit Of course, not every student would their family and friends. be thrilled at the idea of spending an entire Jeneska Lovette, a finance major, weekend outdoors. Some students prefer goes home, because “it’s peaceful. (She) the m ad rush of the city. Travel agent, goes there to relax and to see (her) friends.” Charlotte Buhler, claims that m ost stu­ “I ju st like to spend tim e with the dents who come through the agency people I care about,” stated Amy Swatting, choose to spend their weekends in New a Business major. Orleans and Houston, because they are O ther students choose to go to the “close and inexpensive.” beach for their weekend escape. Limited Ben Mizell, a microbiology m ajor, by time, m ost weekend beachcombers has spent weekends in both cities. “I like choose the beaches in Biloxi, M ississippi or Houston, because it has some fun clubs. Gulf Shores, Alabama, because they are New Orleans is also fun, because it has the closest. m any interesting daytime things to do, like Susan Richardson, a zoology m a­ m useum s, antique stores, leather shops, jor, prefers these beaches, because “they witchcraft shops, and bookstores.” are convenient and usually aren’t very M echanical Engineering major, c r o w d e d .” Oscar Pereda summ ed up the m ain objec­ The more recreational students tives that students consider in choosing enjoy weekends outdoors. The Louisiana the ideal weekend getaway, “wherever is area provides m any opportunities for close and cheap enough to go.” cam ping and sailing. - W endy Lavender

U/in/i-iM#_

by Jennifer Futch tour of the Elvis shrine up­ stairs. they are incredibly like Better The house is exemplary three frolicsome puppies. of the residents. Today the band has They, too, are laid back, just returned from play­ Than with interesting, funny ing in Oxford, Missis­ quirks. sippi. Despite an eight At first, it is as hard to hour drive through a Ezra distinguish between their rainy night, the three personalities as it is to dis­ members present are ani­ tinguish between three lively mated and psyched to puppies. They are all witty talk about their band and and alert, continually inter­ their debut cassette “29.” a four man band rupting one another in their No one answers the efforts to answer the ques­ tells of their door at the house where tions. beginnings, three of the members Yet once they settle down live-just knock and walk the road, and to the business at hand, three right in. their debut strong, distinctive characters The decor is messy album "29" emerge. and comfortable. Empty First, there is Cary Bon- cans and glasses are scat­ necaze, the tall, lanky “bare­ tered throughout the foot drummer.” house. The worn beige Frolicsome puppies. Bonnecaze Hies on the sectional sofa, littered Yup, that’s it, frolicsome floor with his head on his with stray pieces of mail puppies. hand while he absently turns and Tiger Gold coupons, Just watching three of the over a bottle of window sits opposite a four-foot- four members of the Baton cleaner. At 26, he is the tall, bright orange “Slice” Rouge band Better Than oldest band member, as well can. The guys quickly Ezra as they lay sprawled as the most vocal. point out the strange out on couches and the floor, “I just like to talk,” he feather mask nailed into swapping hilarious one-lin­ says cheerfully. He main­ a comer of the ceiling. ers, one must conclude that tains, however, that “if Kevin They also offer to give a [Griffin, the lead vocalist/

Page 22 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 guitarist] were here, he’d their origins. practice, they opened up for probably dominate “ the Bonnecaze says he and a band called Will and the conversation. Griffin had known each Kill in Baton Rouge. To his right is Tom other for about a year. After spending the sum­ Drummond, the 20-year-old “They met at Opinions!” mer of 1988 in Boston, the bassist. Drummond sits Drummond interjects. band returned to Baton languidly in a comer chair, Bonnecaze and Griffin Rouge. They began playing watching and listening with had toyed with the idea of fraternity parties and local amusement to the proceed­ starting a band, but in the bars such as Murphy’s and ings. Though he periodi­ winter of 1987-88, they acted the Chimes. cally tosses out witty obser­ upon the notion. “We ended up by sign­ vations of his own, the shy, Griffin contacted Run­ ing with a booking agent, dark haired musician leaves dell, a high school friend. and then started playing a most of the talking to the Rundell was living in Mo- whole hell of a lot,” Bonne­ others. roe at the time, but he quickly caze says. Across the room is gui­ moved to Baton Rouge. While some local bands tarist Joel Rundell. This 24- Lacking a bassist, the sneer at more “Greek ori­ year-old changes positions three took out an advertise­ ented” bars like Murphy’s, restlessly throughout the ment in the Reveille to rem­ Better Than Ezra enjoys the conversation. Neither shy edy the situation. Drum­ shows there. nor nervous, he contributes mond answered, and the Such bars offered the his opinion on most every band was complete by March band a chance to incorpo­ issue. 1988. rate their two types of audi­ Better Than Ezra is a “We got together to play ences- the Greek crowd and band out to have fun and and make money while the following that appreci­ make their fortune, in that going to school,” Bonnecaze ated the original songs. order. said, “but then we got a little Better Than Ezra made They are so vibrant that bit further into the music the astute observation early it is difficult to tell when deal. It got to the point where in their career that they they are serious and when we quit school.” would need separate sets for they are teasing. All of them agree that their fraternity functions and For instance, they refuse they have “never regretted it their club dates. to divulge the significance yet.” “There are different (assuming any exists) of the All four are self-taught audiences between frats and band’s name. musicians who had played original clubs,” Bonnecaze “It’s a secret- very Bib­ in bands throughout junior allows. lical,” Bonnecaze says high and high school. Unlike many bands that archly. “We’re all self-taught, start with covers before “There are a few people except Joel. He’s still learn­ progressing to original who know,” Rundell chimes, ing,” Bonnecaze laughs. songs, Better Than Ezra did “but it’s stupid anyway.” Rundell concurs. just the opposite. “We’d rather leave it to “On every song the band “The first few songs we the imaginations of our is playing, I’m playing worked up were originals- fans,” Drummond peacea­ ‘Stairway to Heaven,”’ he none of which are on the bly offers. jokes. cassette,” Bonnecaze re­ They are just as ram­ Once together, the four­ marks. He adds that a song bunctious when speaking of some wasted no time. After called “CDU” is the only only a couple of weeks of Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 23 song on the cassette that had roots in those fraternity and sorority functions, garnered them early originals. a following that increases with each show. “The lyrics stayed the same,” he says, “ In fact, they are amazed at their own popu­ but the music completely changed.” larity. The creative and business workings of the “We used to know everyone at the shows,” band are purely democratic. Lead singer Bonnecaze says, “but recently a lot of new Griffin writes the lyrics to the songs, while people are coming up that we don’t even Bonnecaze, Drummond and Rundell collabo­ know, but they know us.” rate on the music. “Yeah,” Drummond adds, “and the weird “Everybody does everything,” Bonnecaze thing is, they know the words to the songs asserts. already.” “All of us manage the band, “ he contin­ When the Trash bash organizers claimed ues, “ so we all get equal cuts.” the band drew one third to one half of the total Better Than Ezra recently released their crowd, the group responded with skepticism. debut cassette, entitled “29,” in the United And Rundell was astounded when a girl at States, Europe and Japan on an independent a show in Ruston told him that she came to see record lable. them on the recommendation of Alabama Again they refuse to elaborate on the college students. meaning of the title. But being courted by such record labels as “It’s Cary’s favorite age,” Drummond and Mammoth and Chameleon is a dead giveaway Rundell insist. that bigger things are on the horizon. “It’s another Biblical meaning that you While Better Than Ezra will fight to get can’t say,” Bonnecaze replies. national and international acclaim, they do The cassette consists of eight songs. realize that success will have a price. Among the eight are local favorites such as “To make it, we’ll have to be on the road “CDU,” “Circle of Friends,” “Winter Coats,” constantly,” Bonnecaze acknowledges. “And We’re Fine” and “Hold Me Down.” “We’ll have to play even the smallest The band members say they had similar towns. You just can’t stay in the big cities. I tastes in music from the start. They list the don’t know if that’s a drawback or a plus,” he same high energy progressive bands as their muses. biggest influences. They admire good live “Right now you can never do anything you bands such as Drivin and Cryin, Let’s Active, want to do,” Rundell added. Guadalcanal Diary, and the Replacements. “And we don’t get a chance to practice They describe their own music style as anymore,” Drummond notes, “because we’re “very diverse.” playing all the time.” “We have songs that are heart-touching,” Yet all the inconveniences seem minor. Bonnecaze says, “and very driving songs!” For the moment, Better than Ezra is on top. . Curiously, Better Than Ezra are trying to This band is a tightly-knit group whose squash rumors that their cassette was released biggest strengths are their friendship and their with Martini Records. They were unwilling to ability to laugh at themselves. comment on their reticence. “We are strong, we are men, hear us roar,” Presently Better Than Ezra is at a cross­ Rundell jokes. roads. The guys don’t know what is coming, but The band has reached a level of local fame they are enjoying the suspense. rivaled only by that of Dash Rip Rock. Their “We’re all virgins at this, too, you know,” frequent appearances at local bars, as well as Drummond grins.

Page 24 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 This space contributed as a public service.

LUMP BETWEEN LOWER TWITCHY, WIRED LOOK LIP AN D GUM. CAUSED BY NICOTINE. A high nicotine content makes smokeless tobacco just as addicting as cigarettes.

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STUBBORN ATTITUDE. W O N T LISTEN TO STAINED FINGERS SOUND MEDICAL ADVICE.

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N O FRIENDS. WHITE PATCHES AN D SORES. Leukoplakia. In time, could lead to oral cancer. TOBACCO JUICE. RECEDING GUMS

HOW TO SPOT A DIP.

A M E R I C A N DIPPING IS FOR DIPS. * C A N C E R DON’T USE SNUFF OR CHEWING TOBACCO.S O C IE T Y ®

Gumbo Maeazine Spring 1990 Page 25 LiGHTs! CAMPUS! AcTioN! Hollywood's fascination with college gave us the great and the gross by Stephen Pitalo

When Ronald Reagan played a college professor oppo­ site Virginia Mayo in “She ’ s Working Her Way Through College” in 1952, Hollywood was continuing its tradi­ THE GRADUATE (1967) - A post-college entrant, but tion of fun college films (that year’s included the a film that all graduating seniors should see. Mike masterpieces “Bonzo Goes To College” and “Francis Nichols won the Best Director Oscar, and Dustin Goes To West Point”). Hoffman gave his first major film performance here The college movie was a light snack: rooting for the opposite Anne Bancroft and Katherine Ross. Hoffman ’ s home team and dancing the nights away were the freshman year of life becomes complicated by rela­ heaviest thoughts on a coed’s mind in the earlier half of tionships with mother Bancroft and daughter Ross. As the century, and Tinseltown churned out one after he struggles to maintain his sanity through the compli­ another (1938 boasted fifteen college films in thea­ cations, he wrestles with his own wants and the uncer­ ters). The sixties’ social conscious slowed campus- tainty of his future after undergrad. When dad William oriented film production to a near halt, but a resurgence Daniels asks Hoffman what all that work was for, he in 1970 boosted the college movie status with a new replies “You got me.” A soothing and beautiful score image of the college student as a troubled soul. Right by Simon and Garfunkel rounds out a very funny and up until today, the silver screen has painted a portrait of very real film. college life as a balance of drunken weekend baccha- nalia and the rites of passage to adulthood. THE FRESHMAN (1925) - The great Harold Lloyd Now, grab the popcorn, warm up the VCR and check plays Harold “Speedy” Lamb, the lowly newcomer out this list of top ten college flicks: trying to make good with the in-crowd of upperclass­ men. Oft hailed as the first great college movie, the NATIONAL LAMPOON’S ANIMAL HOUSE (1978) naive Lloyd stumbles and bumbles his way through his - The grand daddy of ‘em all. John Landis directed first year, showing that attempts at fitting in are as old the tale of Delta Tau Chi quest to turn their Faber as college itting in is as old as college itself. College years into an exercise in hedonism, drive Dean Wormer crazy and created an indelible picture of the American college experience. The images are etched THE PAPER CHASE (1973) - Okay, it’s a law school in our brains: John Belushi sucking down the Jello in movie, but as Oscar nominee John Houseman so fondly the cafeteria line, the toga party, the pledge nicknames, said, they earned it. His pre-Smith Barney perform­ the general disrespect for authority, and ultimately, the ance as the stodgy, hardline professor plays well off fraternity’s blazing finale at the Homecoming parade. Timothy Bottoms first year student and his woes. All Fhis was parents are worried about to this day. It’s pre-law majors should see this film before signing up anarchy with a devilish grin; it’s irreverence with a for that LSAT. t>rew (“Don’t cost nothin’.”). Unforgettable.

Page 26 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 WHERE THE BOYS ARE (1960) - The original in front of a warm VCR and a warm fire with a warm spring break film, but from the girl’s point of view. Mr. person and enjoy this warm movie. Memorieeeees... Tanmaster himself George Hamilton stars with Connie FRATERNITY ROW (1977) - This stark and true-to- Francis in her first screen role. Fort Lauderdale is as life account of traditional hazing of fraternity pledges packed in 1960 as in 1990, and the attitudes on premari­ at a typical college stars a cast of virtual unknowns, tal sex may see out of place in what could have been save Trapper John M.D.’s Gregory Harrison and Scott dismissed as a silly go-go romp. The film stands up Newman, the late son of Paul Newman. The tale pits well after thirty years, though, and look for Timothy brother against brother in this tale of mindless and Hutton’s father as a goofball college kid. A pre-Easter embarrassing pledge ritual tradition against the actual m ust see. ideals of brotherhood. A film for all students.

LOVE STORY (1970) - This adaptation of an Erich Seal weeper, Uppercrust snot Ryan O’Neal meets ethnic downtowner Ali MacGraw, and the goo goo eyes commence. The two must hurdle the usual ob­ stacles of different backrounds, and then MacGraw becomes afflicted with a fatal disease. A two box of tissue film (rent Oliver’s Story also if your really into depression). —HONORABLE MENTIONS—

SCHOOL DAZE (1988) - Spike Lee’s post- She’s KNUTE ROCKNE ALL AMERICAN Gotta Have It, pre-Do The Right Thing tale of the - Pat O ’Brien and company win one for the Gipper. tensions at a black college campus gave light to the CARNAL KNOWLEDGE traditions as well as the setbacks of the negro college - Jack Nicholson, Art Garfunkel, and Candace Bergen scene. The film explores greeks versus independents, get laid. light skin versus dark skin, and activists versus anyone THE STERILE CUCKOO not down for the cause. A bit long on insignificant Senior Liza Minnelli falls for a freshman. musical numbers, the film is still amazing thanks to THE NUTTY PROFESSOR Lee’s psyche-probing lens and a no-holds-barred look Jerry Lewis as the faculty bucktooth bungler. at black fraternity hazing. THE YOUNG LOVERS Peter Fonda and abortion in 1964. HORSE FEATHERS (1932) - All four Marx brothers THE MALE ANIMAL come barrelling into Huxley College for a madcap Professor Henry Fonda dedicates himself to acade­ romp through campus life. It’s hijinks and gags-a- mia. plenty as Professor Wagstaff (Groucho) becomes in­ THE WILD PARTY volved in a plot to recruit two ringers for the big game Clara Bow wants special tutoring (wink wink nudge versus Darwin U. Proving that the true reason for nudge). college is, of course, football, Groucho mistakenly EVERYBODY’S ALL AMERICAN- brings in Chico and Harpo. The result is a hilarious Hey, look! There I am! In the backround with every­ game and a haywire finale. A wisecracking hoot. one else! CHARLIE’S AUNT THE WAY WE WERE (1973) - Set in the 1930s, Classic Jack Benny on campus. Sydney Pollack directed this Academy Award winner- THE STRAWBERRY STATEMENT about (what else?) love. Although not totally set at Columbia University faces riots. college, political activist student Barbra Streisand and BMOC jock Robert Redford fall in love in college, and spend the rest of their lives trying to relive it. Cuddle up

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 27 FITNESS Looking for excitement but don’t know what to do with your time? Well, spring is in the air and that brings with it many opportunities for students to participate in many different activities. While watch­ ing the basketball team pave its way to the Final Four, you may find yourself wanting to get in on some of the action. Although you can’t join the basketball team, there are other alternatives to choose from. When it comes to sports, football, basketball and baseball pop into the minds of most people. But just because mainstream sports are the going trend, that doesn’t mean they are the only sports in which you can participate. There is another group of sporting events that has grown in popularity over the past few years at LSU. These sports are (not com­ monly) known as alternative sports. Alternative sports include such things as fencing, lacrosse, soccer, rugby, water polo, martial arts, etc. Some of these sports, although they are not supported by a varsity program at LSU, have become as m uch a part of the University as other mainstream sports. Many of the teams play against teams from the SEC and other major univer­ sities around the nation and some have become very successful. But the best thing about these sports is that all students can participate. All it takes is the courage to sign up, the desire to play, and the determination to stick with the game. “There’s a position for everybody,” said Francis Mayer, who is an LSU senior and team selec­ tor for the LSU rugby team. “At registration we are usually there to talk and try to sign people up, but we welcome people anytime,” he said. Mayer pointed out that rugby is a tough sport, but that it is one that anyone can enjoy. He said one of the problems in getting people to sign up for the team is that people have always had a negative view of rugby as a sport because of how rough it can get. But Mayer argues “It’s always been called a gentleman’s sport because you can go out and play hard and tackle hard, but after Students have a plethora of pulse-pounding the game you are good friends. You leave the game on the field.” possiblities to choose from Mayer said the sport has grown so much at LSU that the University has come to host one of the largest rugby tournaments in the nation. He said the Mardi Gras Tournament usually has about 42 teams from all over the country and Canada participating. “We may even have a team from Australia this year,” By he added. The rugby season is year round sport with breaks only P a u l M . between the fall and spring semesters. During the fall and spring semesters the teams play a normal game V a r n a d o I I with the regulation 13 players on the field at one time. But with the hot weather of summer, the teams are reduced to seven players. Mayer said the summer league, called sevens, is for “the Feraris of the rugby world" because of how demanding and fast-paced the game becomes. He added that although rugby is a tough sport “it’s just like any other sport, it’s rough but it’s fun.” Now that you have heard a little about rugby, let’s take a look at lacrosse. “It’s known as the fastest game on foot,” according to Pat Freyou, a graduating senior and vice president of the lacrosse team. Freyou described the game as somewhat like

Page 28 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 a cross between hockey and football. He said It is like younger generation students have grown up with soc­ hockey because the game has many of the same rules, cer that trend is changing. “This year our starting line but it’s like football because many times there is up has seven American players and a lot of the rough contact. younger kids are American,” Daigre said. Any student, The lacrosse team has been around LSU for full or part-time, is welcome to join the team, but a fewyears, but a couple ofyears agoitalmost ceased Daigre stresses he must have “desire and dedication to exist. Participation was low then, but Freyou said, for the sport." “because of people working hard, the program is doing real well now.” Lacrosse season goes on during the fall and spring semesters with breaks during the Christmas holiday and during the summer. “The fall On the other side of the coin is the Women’s is pre-season and we play about eight games during Soccer Club. Unlike the Men’s team, the Women’s that time,” Freyou said. He added, “But during the soccer team just started in the fall of 1988 and has not season, which starts in early February, we’ll probably met with as much success. Although the team is in its play about 16 games in conference.” He said LSU developmental stages, club president, Jill Richert, plays teams like Tulane, Texas A & M and Oklahoma said things are getting better. She said the team University. started out in the Baton Rouge Women’s league, but “It doesn’t matter if you have experience," has since moved up and is playing more universities. Freyou said, b u t, “you have to be in shape.” With the Richert said last spring the team played a few teams coordination it takes to control the lacrosse stick and like Stephen F. Austin and Baylor in the Team’s first to catch the ball being thrown to you, it seems like it major tournament. “We didn’t win, but it was fun. It would take a long time to learn to play. But according was the experience that was important,” she said. to Freyou, it’s not as hard as it looks. “It takes a while Although the team is all-American, Richert said any­ but it’s not hard,” he said. He said sometimes players one from any nationality is welcome on the team. She join that have never seen a lacrosse stick before, but said the fall semester’s team had 21 members, which with coaching and practice they have become good is a big improvement from last year’s turnout. “It gets players. Freyou said it takes the average person about bigger every semester,” she added. two weeks to get used to passing and receiving the ball. Speaking to prospective lacrosse team mates, Well, if you have considered some of the alterna­ Freyou pointed out that “anybody is welcome to come tive sports and haven’t quite found the right one for out and play, but they have to be devoted.” you, maybe you need something new. You might think Looking at other alternative sports, one can’t to yourself “but there isn’t anything new.” Ah, but help to think about soccer, or futbol as it is called in there is. For those of you who haven’t heard, there is Spanish countries where the sport’s popularity com­ ultimate frisbee. You might ask “what is ultimate pares to our football. The sport is not quite that frisbee?” Well, according to Jill Richert, LSU senior popular here at LSU, but has grown since the club was and ultimate frisbee spokesperson, “it is a worldwide formed in 1978. Men’s Soccer Club president, Robert sport which I don’t think people are aware of. "She said Daigre, said the team has grown so big that the club the sport is often erroneously called frisbee football, had to form an A and a B team last year to accommo­ but “it more closely resembles basketball in that date all of the players that turned out to join. Daigre players cannot run with the disc but must establish a said the older more experienced players are on the A pivot foot and pass the disc down the field to score in t e a m and the younger players with lower skill levels the endzone.” are on the B team. “We had a real good turnout this Richert said the exercise a person gets from this year. We had a lot of young players come out,” he said. sport is great for the cardiovascular system. “It’s a lot Daigre said the past soccer teams have had a of running. You can run anywhere between three and great deal of success playing teams in the Southeast­ five miles in a game,” she said and pointed out that the ern Conference. In 1982 and 1985 the team won the exercise is ranked above tennis and soccer as a good SEC tournament and in 1983 and 1984 the team cardiovascular exercise. “One of the most important placed second. In 1986, the Gulf States Conference aspects of the sport is what is called the spirit of the was formed and LSU was placed in the conference game," she said. She explained the spirit of the game with many other teams from Louisiana and Missis­ as the sportsman’s code that places the responsibility sippi. “We won the conference in 1986 and 1987 and of fair play on the players themselves since there are we finished third last year,” Daigre said. “At the end of no referees calling the game. Richert said student par­ our season is the Southeastern Conference Tourna­ ticipation is a must for the sport to survive at LSU. ment. Our goal this year is to win that.” Now that you have a taste for some of the more popular alternative sports and how much they have The Men’s Soccer Club plays games year round grown, it’s now up to you to choose one in which to and usually has games every weekend during semes­ participate. If you have difficulty choosing, you might ters. Although the team does not play teams where try them all until you find the one that is right for you. soccer is a varsity sport, Daigre said, “I feel confident Remember that you can find out about the alternative that our team could compete with a lot of varsity sports that I have talked about and many more schools.” He said in the past many of the players have through the Leisure Sports Department, so don’t just been from other countries, but now that many of the think about it, do it . ^

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 29 LOOK AWAY, LOOK AWAY

L o u is ia n a 's A ntebellum T r a d i t io n : B l e s s i n g o r C u r s e ? By JOJlNELLE

The Old South with its grand plantations, and ladies and gentlemen of leisure sits nestled in the ancestry of many Louisianians like Rosedown sits nestled among azaleas and live-oak trees, almost hiding the mansion from view. But for a small fee any 20th century sightseer can intrude on the old glory of Rosedown, as well as, many other surviving plantation homes in the South. What is the attraction of these survivors of time and war? What legacies have they left behind? Rosedown built in 1830 is considered the finest plantation-house in Louisiana according to Lyle Saxon, author and editor of Old Louisiana, copyright 1929. Saxon writes of Mr. Bowman, one of the last surviving owners of Rosedown: “Mr. Bowman died only a few years ago. He was the most distinguished-looking old gentleman that I have ever seen, and I cannot visit Rosedown nowadays that I do not remember him vividly, a white-bearded patriarch in a white linen suit, coming down the broad steps in the afternoon sunshine, a gold-colored collie at his heels.” The memory of white-bearded Mr. Bowman may represent a time come and gone, but a time that still influences the attitudes and actions of many southerners today. And at times, the Old South, particularly the early 1800’s before the Civil War, pulls back its shroud and touches Louisiana. Kappa Alpha fraternity’s Old South is one vestige from the mid-1800s. The fraternity members dress in confederate uniforms and their dates wear hoop-skirted gowns for the event that is a tribute to a time of gentlemen.

LAMARQUE

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 31 The election of David Duke to the Louisiana he felt at a “little red caboose” position the state’s House of Representatives by a district in Jefferson flagship university had taken in meeting the cultural Parish is perhaps a more controversial remnant of that needs of black students at LSU. Antebellum attitude, while in a similar way, even “The reason for my discontent is the lack of current Louisiana architecture may reflect its more sensitivity on the part of LSU in addressing the feelings benign historic past. of isolation, displacement, and separation felt by so “Down through the years (the philosophy of many African-American students, wrote Kirt Ben­ racial superiority) has been mostly dissipated by prog­ nett. A similar letter appeared the following day from ress and by changes in the law, but I suppose many another discontent black student. white southerners, probably more than would admit it, “Now here’s something blacks will say, ‘In the still feel as their ancestors did that blacks are inherently South, you’re either the son of a slave or the son of a inferior said an LSU Louisiana history professor slave owner. ’ How do you think black people dead with Mark Carleton that, I think it’s a major identity problem for blacks,” “But that feeling is no longer... as intense as it Sanzenbach said. was in the antebellum south nor is it shared by that A racial cleavage shows up not only in discon­ many people, but I’m sure it still exists.” tentment, but also in social patterns that nave arisen. The racial imbalance in enrollment of Southern Uni­ Things are better in 1990 than they were 30 years versity and LSU is one obvious cleavage, as is the ago. separation in LSU’s Greek system. When Paul Sanzenbach, a professor in LSU’s There are black fraternities and sororities, as well Social Work department, arrived m New Orleans in as, white fraternities and sororities. That is just the way 1960, he had never been in the South before and what it is and has been at LSU since the Greek system began he found surprised him. here. Also since sorority and fraternity houses have “Blacks had no political powers in Louisiana,” been on campus, house mothers have been white while he said. At the time there were only a handful of black cooks and maids for the most part have been black. voters in the entire state and it was very difficult, if not “A black person can be adored as long as they impossible for blacks to register to vote, he added. stay in their place, but as they try to move out of that “All this was a total surprise to me,” he said. “I place they become a threat,” Sanzenbach said. knew we had a segregated society, but until you come President of Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity Le­ into it, you don’t know how it permeates everything.” onard Castiglione said he does not see that applying to In New Orleans, there were no blacks in the City the fraternity cooks, maids or house mother. Council oson the School Board and many public places The head cook for Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity, had separate facilities for blacks and whites, an ex­ Bertha Roberson, started working as a salad girl for the ample would be busing or public restrooms. The school fraternity in 1957. Roberson, a widow, put her three system was segregated and blacks were legally not daughters through higher education programs. allowed in certain establishments. Castiglione said, “I don’t think just because “Blacks could shop at stores like D.H Holmes they’re black means they have to be a cook. Bertha and Maison Blanche, but they couldn’t use the bath­ probably gets more respect than anyone around here.” rooms there,” said Sanzenbach, who participated in the New Orleans Poverty Program in New Orleans. The Lambda Chi’s speak fondly of Roberson. “Those are residue from attitudes of Antebellum They seem proud of the fact that she has been around society,” he said. Since the 1960’s there has been a for so long and has managed to give her family so drastic change. Poll taxes and literacy tests, which much. restricted many blacks from voting, have been elimi­ “Everyone has a great deal of respect for both nated, schools are integrated and it is illegal to have (Roberson and their house mother, Grace Brous­ separate facilities for blacks. sard),” the chapter president Leonard Castiglione said. “We’ve eliminated almost all elements of legal­ “If Bertha left we wouldn’t know what to do.” ized segregation, but prejudice, or racism, is an indi­ Castiglione said Roberson is a connecting force vidual thing,” he said. “If a corporation has a racist between the alumni and new members because she is policy against hiring blacks, that can handled in the something familiar to both groups. courts, it’s against the law, just as if they had a sexist policy.” SOUTHERN COMFORT: “If I, as a male, am uncomfortable working with NOT A LADY’S LIQUOR women under certain conditions, I can be accused of Most people feel more comfortable with things having a sexist attitude - that can’t be eliminated by the that are familiar to them, but perhaps southerners hold courts.” onto the past stronger than people from other areas. Sanzenbach said these attitudes probably stem Several people interviewed talked about a conserva­ from history and from the way people have been raised. tism in Louisiana that is stronger than many other “If we’re brought up m a community where areas. blacks are discounted, we pick up those values,” he “The southern, I think, even in mobile 20th said. century, still retains more than easterners and western­ At LSU, one young black man expressed in the ers this sense of place and time, ‘ my home is Louisiania November2,1989 issue of the Daily Reveille the anger not where I hang my hat at this particular time.”

Pafe 32 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 This conservatism shows up in the state’s actions may want to keep them alive, she said. on feminist issues. The Equal Rights Amendment has “I like the fact that men and women are relat­ never gotten to a vote in this state and it was not untill ing to each other as people and they are emphasizing 1972 that Louisiana formally agreed with the 20th the similarities more and more, but I do think that’s Amendment that gave women the right to vote in 1920. slower to come in the South,” Cole said. “I’m proud “Despite the revolution for female equality, the to be a southerner, and I think heritage has been a big South is still the most traditional area of the country part of who we all are. I think it definitely influences with regard to seeing women in a more traditional role our view of life, growing up in the South.” as wives, mothers rather than equal to men in the work Cole said she thinks her parents generation place, although I think that is changing quickly,” held onto the “Old South” etiquette rules more so Carleton said. “But most of the states that haven’t than her children’s generation. She also said her ratified ERA are southern states, including Louisi­ children rarely think about racial differences. ana..” “I think my parents’ generation was operating Though many advancements have been made in on a lot of that Old South stuff that’s been around the area of women’s rights, an attitude that women forever,” Cole said, revealing a soft southern drawl. need to be protected persists among southerners, “I’ve learned a lot about today’s etiquette from my Sanzenbach said. daughter who’s a freshman in college and who The “steel magnolia” image of emotionally strong thinks nothing of picking up the phone and asking a women like the character Scarlet O’hara and rormer- guy for a date.” first-lady Rosalynn Carter are types of women who have been occurring in southern history for a long time, ARCHITECTURE Carleton said. Homes around Baton Rouge are signs that “Probably the first one’s were the women who tastes have swung back to that of the 1800s in were left behind while the men went off to fight the Louisiana. Many houses are built in the Greek Revival Civil War. They had to run the plantations, the farms, style that was the most popular in Louisiana in the take care of the family, pav the bills, supervise the 1800’s, Patricia Duncan, an architectural historian slaves and the servants and that kind of thing,” he said. with the Division of Historic Preservation, a part of “They became very tough; they had to be and most of the Office of Cultural Development. them did a very good job.” Madewood, built 1840 to 1848 in Napoleon- All that work gained these women a lot of respect ville, is “a very fine example” of Greek Revival with but no rights, Carleton said. its six fluted Ionic columns and “well-proportioned Currently LSU is working to offer a degree in pediment,” according to Dorothy and Richard Pratt’s women ’ s studies, said Emily Toth, an LSU professor in A Guide to Early American Homes. American literature and women’s studies. She directs “People in Louisiana in the 1800’s were veiy the women’s studies program and 25 faculty members conservative, what this means for architecture is teach a collection of courses about women. once , they decided they liked a style, in this case “We still live in a patriarchy,” Toth said. “We Greek Revival, they didn’t want to give it up,” she still have to manage things in a society run usually not said. “People were conservative ana didn’t want to to the advantage of women.” give up what was familiar and what they liked.” Toth also said that the southern belle stereotype Several homes that were built in the 1870s and is not helpful in the advancement of equality for 1880s (when the Victorian style became popular women because white women are not taken seriously elsewhere) prove Louisiana s stubbornness to and black women could never fit into that role. change. Modem homes in Baton Rouge evoke an “It cuts down their possibilities and choices,” she antebellum image with Creole roof lines and Greek said. Revival columns, Duncan said. “My guess would be that these styles still in­ ETIQUETTE fluence people in Louisiana today, because they do While the rest of America considers the South invoke what is perceived as a romantic and an an authority on etiquette, southerners are having to elegant past and they symbolize prosperity.” catch up with modem society, or more precisely, Besides the Creole roof lines and Greek Re­ women in the business world, said Joan Cole, author of vival columns, Duncan said today’s garages, espe­ Emily Post Talks with Teens about Manners. cially the one’s that are separate from the house, are “The South had tried to hold onto their tradition equivalent to former carnage houses. of ladies and gentlemen and manners and considera­ Front porches are coming back in style be­ tion much longer on the grand scale than the rest of the cause people want back “a sense of community,” country, but with women in business that is having to said Jerel Giarrusso, a media relations officer for the change," she said. State Office of Tourism. A man is no longer expected to hold the door The sense of community that is so important to open for a woman, if it is inconvenient for him, Cole many Louisianians is one reason people tour the said. She added that a table full of men at a business state, Giarrusso said. meeting should not be expected to stand up when a “Our people are our greatest resource,” she women enters the room. These courtesies are no longer said. “Tourists come to see our culture.” practical in today’s society, though many southerners “Louisiana is a state of mind."

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 33

______J FICTION the electric fishbowl

By Colleen A. Keogh

Page 34 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990

A bright red Ford fishbowl with green lights Guilderbag. “Um. Mrs. pulled into a gravel drive­ on the sides. Jack Guilderbag, do you think way and up to an old walked over to the fish­ that maybe your cousins wood house. Jack Stone bowl and stared at the left in a hurry without. quickly got out of his odd symbols engraved on truck and ran to the door. a tarnished gold band “Good heavens no. He knocked feverishly on that encompassed the Cousin May is not one to the old wood door making bowl. The fish swam go around and expose the grayed white paint merrily in the bowl that herself. She is a tad peel. Before he could stood on a green and gold overweight, you know.” complain about the splin­ stand about four feet She walked to the antique ters in his knuckles, the high. The two three-inch loveseat and sat down. door swung open to reveal fish made bold loops and “Do they have a a small gray-haired flips in the water as Jack history of mental illness woman in a conservative watched on. or have they been acting brown plaid dress. “These are interest­ strangely lately?” “Thank God you’re ing fish,” Jack com­ “In our family? I here Sheriff. There’s been mented taken in by their should say not!” Mrs. a terrible accident.” Mrs. black and red horizontal Guilderbag’s face turned Guilderbag led the Sheriff striping. slightly red. “Cousin Ben through a white-walled “Yes. They are has been acting a little off room. “Cousin May and Tantalizing T Tailers. I lately since he has lost Cousin Ben came over for don’t know much about control of his bowels and dinner. I went into the them. I got them from an has to wear those dia­ kitchen to finish supper.” old friend of mine who is pers. But I don’t think She walked to the kitchen an antique dealer. He that would cause him to door to retrace her steps. said that they were very do anything really crazy.” “When I came out. . .” rare.” Mrs. Guilderbag “I’m sorry. I didn’t She walked to the middle pulled a wadded-up mean to offend you but of the living room and kleenex from her pocket you must understand looked around. “I looked and wiped her nose. that I have to ask these around for them and they “The electric fish­ questions for my investi­ were nowhere to be bowl is quite unique gation. Do you know of found. I glanced down at also.” Jack ran his fin­ any people that might try the sofa and all I saw was gers along the engraved to do them harm?” Sher­ their clothes underneath gold band, over some­ iff Stone sat down cau­ the coffee table.” Her thing that looked like a tiously into a rickety old index finger pointed to a sun and a pyramid. rocking chair. lime green leisure suit “It came with the “No. Not that I and a pink and green fish. ,It’s a little gaudy for know of.” She blew her paisley polyester house­ my taste though.” She nose loudly as a tear coat laying beside each leaned over the bowl and fromed in her left eye. “I other. There was a stared down at the fish. don’t know what to do, puddle of water that “They seem a little bigger Sheriff. They were close trailed from the clothes than they were earlier.” to me even though they across the room and right Sheriff Stone stood were my cousins.” The in front of an old gold up and turned to Mrs. tear was wiped away Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 35 before it hit her cheek. ing Vogue. Jack started to me that I rem ember Jack stood up and to talk, “Yo woe, woney.” som ething about an elec­ w ent to Mrs. Guilderbag’s “Jack, take the tric fishbowl in som e side. “Now ma'am. Take toothbrush out of your stories I used to hear as a it easy. I’ 11 have to do a m outh before you start to kid.” She got up and little investigating. I’m talk. I can’t understand a changed out of the robe going to take a look word you say.” Vickie into a short white cotton around the place for kept her eyes on the n ig h tg o w n . clues. Please stay where I m a g a z in e . Jack sat up in bed. can reach you. I’ll get in He walked to the “W hat do you rem ember touch if I find anything.” bathroom . “I just wanted about these stories?” “W o u ld y o u lik e to tell you w hat happened “Not m uch. My dad som e tea, Sheriff,” she today at old widow used to tell them before I said as Jack began in­ went to bed. He was specting the discarded always trying to scare c lo t h e s . m e.” She got back in bed “No thank you.” He pulling the sheets up to forced a smile. her neck. “It was some­ Two hours went by thing to do w ith fish w ith as Jack searched the supernatural powers that house and around the zapped people they didn’t sm all Guilderbag farm. like. Dad insisted that he The whole tim e he con­ didn’t m ake it up. I be­ ducted his search he lieve that he said it w as worried. This is a bizarre an old story that had situation for Jack end he been told in for m any didn’t know exactly w hat Guilderbag’s house.” He generations. Isn’t that a to do. The only apparent gurgled and then loudly weird story?” A short suspect was Mrs. spit. Vickie put down her gold chain was pulled Guilderbag, but Jack felt magazine and listened down by Vickie causing som ething inside him intently as Jack went the light to go off. “W ho that she w asn’t morally through the strange event would believe super pow­ capable of such an act. of the disappearance of ered fish?” Besides, how could Mrs. cousin May and cousin “Yeah, ferocious Guilderbag have done B e n . fish.” He turned over this crime, and why, if “D o y o u t h i n k t h a t with his back to his wife she was capable of such poor little old M rs. m uttering, “I hope it isn’t an act? He was begin­ Guilderbag did away with p o s s ib l e .” ning to believe in all those t h e m ? ” Bright and early science fiction comics “I really can’t believe Jack m ade a visit to the that he still read on occa­ that she would ever w ant sm all town’s library. He s io n . to do such a thing m uch looked at several books As Jack got ready less be capable of doing until he found one dusty, for bed that night, he it.” The comforter was ripped, and smelly old turned to his wife. She pulled aside as Jack laid book on The Beginnings sat on bed wearing a tan down in the bed. of Fish and Their Roles terry cloth robe and read­ “You know it seem s W ith Man. There was an hfe 3* Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 old redwood table and Do you have any news for a place that you can stay chair nearby. He plopped me?” for the night? I need to the book down and “Not just yet.” Jack do some investigating flipped through the was feeling uncomfortable that I believe would go pages. Soon he came and nervious. “I need to better if you weren’t across a page and a half ask you one more ques­ there.” Jack looked devoted to Tantalizing T tion, if you don’t mind?” around the lobby uneas­ Tailers. Some symbols “Why, no. Not at ily- were illustrated at the top all.” Mrs. Guilderbag “Well, yes. I could of the first page that sounded very helpful. stay at cousin June’s included a sun and a “Uh. When did you house.” She sounded a pyramid which were get your fish?” little shocked. footnoted as being from “Oh, well.” It “Good. Leave as an Egyptian cult thou­ seemed to Jack that Mrs. soon as you can and I’ll sands of years ago. In come by in a short while.” the short documentary, “Alright. I’ll leave the fish were said to have the key for the front door been worshipped by an in the mailbox. Help Egyptian cult that be­ yourself to the pecan pie lieved the fish came down that’s in the icebox and from the sky in a ball of there’s. . .” flames. The Egyptians “Yes, Mrs. Guilder­ believed that the fish had bag. That will be fine. I supernatural powers must go now. Thank you, capable of destroying Goodbye.” The phone people. Tantalizing T went dead, and he was Tailers were now thought Guilderbag felt that he out the door going toward to be extinct. The part had asked a rather un­ his house in seconds. about destroying people usual question. “I re­ Once in the garage, put a feeling of terror in member veiy clearly he opened a drawer in the Sheriff Jack Stone, who because it was the fright­ metal tool cabinet and was almost convinced ful day that my cousins pulled out a case of dum­ that the fish had played a died.” Jack began to dum bullets and loaded large role in the demise of sweat profusely as he his gun. He reached onto cousin May and cousin grew more terror stricken. a shelf for a box labeled Ben. He got up and “I’m really in a tizzy over “ACME Flame Thrower— quickly walked to the the funeral arrangements. Junior Model 30”, and phones in the lobby. The I don’t know what I took out the flame operator was fast in get­ should bury. Do you thrower, which resembled ting him through to Mrs. have any suggestions, a child’s water pistol, and Guilderbag. Sheriff,” the old lady fastened it to his belt. “Hello,” answered a continued. “Sheriff?” Sheriff Stone went sweet, gentle voice. Nothing could come from into the house and sat in “Hello, Mrs. Guilder­ his mouth. “Sheriff, are the lotus-position in his bag. This is Sheriff you there?” bay window to meditate. Stone.” “Uh, yes Mrs. After a half hour of “Why yes Sheriff. Guilderbag. Do you have “Ommmm’s, he felt he

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 37 had gathered enough d e m a n d e d . selves to be the guardians cosm ic energy for his The fish bugged of good taste.” confrontation with the their eyes at each other. The skinny fish f is h . “Actually, we’re tourists.” gurgled happily. “I know He climbed into his “Tourists?” Jack you w ant to destroy us, red Ford pickup truck plopped down in the old baby, but there’s only one and drove slowly toward rocking chair w ith a look way to do that.” M rs. Guilderbag’s house. of confusion. Jack sat up in the Jack fished for the “Yeah, honey, and chair and cried, “Your key in M rs. Guilderbag’s lem m e tell you, I’ve never dam ned right I w ant to mailbox, but the door been anywhere so destroy you, you can’t squeaked open before he gauche!” the skinny fish keep zapping people into touched the doorknob. s a id . n o t h i n g . ” He nervously walked “We were sent to The skinny one through the house toward shook his fins. “No, baby, the living room, glancing we zap 'em into fish and into the other room s for e a t 'e m ." hidden dangers. As he Jack noticed the rounded the hall and thousands of tiny fish entered the living room, skeletons at the bottom of he turned his head the fishbowl and gasped. quickly to the far right “How horrible!” com er. The fish were “The way to destroy leisurely swimming in us is to display exception­ their bowl. ally good taste. You have “It’s about tim e you to pass a taste test that got your buns here,” the we give you.” The fish wimpy fish on the right looked at him expec­ l is p e d . t a n t l y . “W e ’ve b e e n e x p e c t ­ T il do it.” ing you,” the other “Oh goody, goody,” a d d e d . the fish said. “It’s been a Jack cautiously long tim e since we’ve walked toward the fish, this planet from the Ar- done one of these. Oh, keeping his revolver gyle Nebula to preserve lets see—w hat can we ask pointed in their direction. good taste in the uni­ h i m ? ” His shin hit the coffee v e r s e .” “How m any ques­ table alm ost upsetting a “Yes, baby, our tions are there?” Beads glass with dentures in it home was ravaged, sim ­ of perspiration formed on The one on the right ply ravaged, by bad taste. Jack’s forehead, and the flipped his fin at Jack and So we cam e here to live arm pits of his shirt dark­ said, “You don’t need that and to destroy all bad ened with sweat. big gun, honey, ‘cause t a s t e . ” “Only three. And you can’t kill us that The fat fish m ade a here’s your first ques­ w a y .” dive through a little plas­ tion.” The fish swam “W ho do you fish tic shipwreck. He called around the bowl, as if think you are!?!” Jack out, “We consider our­ they were thinking. “If Page 38 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 you were stranded in the skinny fish said, “Okay, He won!” They laughed desert, 120 miles from baby, this is your last and and rolled around. “But civilization, in 110 degree final question. You’re the too bad, so sad! It weather, and you saw a ninety-ninth caller in this doesn’t matter, you’ve Maiy Kay Cosmetic Cadil­ radio station contest, so lost!” lac, would you get in and you win a thousand dol­ What are you talk­ drive? Or would you walk lars and a pair of tickets ing about? I won! I until you collapsed?” to your choice of three played your game and I Jack said, “Oh, events. Now you have to got all three questions that’s easy, I would walk.” go to one of these events right!” Jack fumed, he The fish looked at to collect the money. The panicked and ran up to each other in amazement. events are— the fish the fishbowl and shook it. The skinny one said, “It’s snickered together—” The “Whoa, cowboy!” my turn! Okay, suppose Chinese Roller Derby, the the skinny fish yelled. you were throwing a party Skoal Regional Champi­ “Don’t get us pissed off! on a yacht, 100 miles off you see ypu were doomed the coast of Greenland, from the moment you and you saw that you walked in here.” were out of hor’s Jack backed up. d’oveurs. You go down to “What!?” the ship’s kitchen and see “Look down at those that all you have on pantslegs. Those are bell- board is a package of bottoms aren’t they?” marshmellows, a tub of “But—,” Jack sput­ pimento cheese, some tered, “they’re part of my vanilla waffers, and a uniform, I have to wear case of sardines. Would them. Why did ypu make you try to throw some­ me answer these ques­ thing together and hope tions, if it wouldn’t mat­ your guests would be too ter?!” drunk to notice? Or “Cause we’re bad­ would you get into your ass fish. It gets boring in insulated wetsuit and onship Tractor Pull Con­ here all the time you swim to Nova Scotia for test, or a night of know. All we ever do is caviar and quail’s eggs?” women’s Jello Wrestling eat. Eat?” They looked at Jack mopped his with Emmense Emily and each other, then back at brow. “I guess—” Betty Buttocks.” Jack. “Dinnertime!” “Yes?” Jack got up and Jack screamed and “I’d—I’d swim!” paced the room, his hand tried to run, but before he pressed against his head. got four feet, a blast of The fish slapped fins After several min­ multi-colored light envel­ and yelled “Right On!” utes, the fish said, “Your oped him, and he was Then they turned away time’s almost up!” turned into a brightly from Jack and whispered Jack tentatively held colored little fish. A beam “We’ll have to collaborate up a finger. “Couldn’t I of light drew him into the on this one.” just, like, hang up?” fishbowl, After a moment, the “I can’t believe it! Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Pige 39 A Room With A View A guide to help stack your shack without getting your wallet out of whack

By Garilyn Ourso

Take a look around your cause depending on your in­ into the dudes’ fine home can living quarters. What do you see? come, taste and tolerance level, prop their muddy feet, slosh their Do you like your furniture? Can there’s something out there for generic beer and crush out a few you stand your furniture? Do you you. Answers to your furnishing cig butts upon. When they gradu­ even see any furniture? Want to woes are closer than you think, ate^) the dudes planned to have upgrade or even own some dif­ and he who takes the time out to a big bonfire with all this stuff ferent pieces but say you can’t plan and shop around, reaps the anyway, so they just wanted even afford to pay your loan shark best of the cheapest goodies. something with which to pass this week, much less invest in So get those boarding passes the semesters away on. such social luxuries as a chair at ready, say goodbye to your cur­ These dudes were ever this time? Pull up a cardboard rent excuse for apartment fur­ so lucky to find their furnishing box and take heed, for you no nishings and look at what’s supplies at the Airline Highway longer have to live like a bear available in this neck of the location of the Salvation Army. during this grisly financial time in woods. As students, the salesman of­ your life. Once upon a time there fered to work with them in meet­ Whether you’re just look­ were these four righteous dudes ing their decorating needs. The ing for something adequate yet who, like, needed some furni­ dudes collaborated and pro­ durable enough to survive the ture for their new bachelor bun­ duced a crumpled wad of ten’s pizza crumbs and spilled Pepsi galow, pronto. They had only and twenty’s plus a few dimes. until you make “the mega bucks”, two days left until their annual They then set about the show­ or something kinda cozy you beer-a-rama-blowaway. Items room floor to adopt pieces of hope to name and become at­ sought: one decent warp-proof home decor they could call their tached to, you may be happy to table that would take a good fist own. After the staples were know that the world of furniture is pounding while still retaining that chosen, they had some cash left full of pleasant and inexpensive slick and balanced surface so to blow and sauntered into the surprises just waiting to be dis­ important for accuracy in the fine back where they witnessed the covered. Because a student’s sport of bouncing quarters; sev­ great American custom of aban­ options are directionally propor­ eral chairs upon which to rock doning neat-o stuff which other tional to his income, he may feel back upon and add support to people could put to use (i.e. one limited and frustrated when the the tipsy minded, helping them man’s trash is another man’s time comes to furnish his abode. complete the game in an upright ecstatic fetish.) Anyway, they position; and last, one durable picked up pans for under sixty cents, assorted glasses, plates However, hold on to faith, be­ sofa which many friends and the slime they will bring with them and food prodding instruments

Page 40 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 mega cheap, and even found god-send for turning up useful ers you replace every other som e cool old albums for a dol­ and hard-to-find items. Poke semester and get some real lar. Dude number one picked out around its stock sometime and furniture you could be proud to an ice chest while dude number see if anything suits you. Be stub your toe on. two opted for a suitcase in which creative! Amaze your friends! to tote his goods. And m ost of all, revel in the idea Looking for a reasonably priced, Venturing further down the that you have saved yourself non-offensive to the eye sofa corridors of this great graveyard som e serious bucks which could you can drag with you into the of commercialism, (remember go towards more important real world? How about an o.k. “Light Brite” and eight tracks?) things, like bills. Or beer. couch to last you for the duration they entered The Garment Zone. of your college “term”? How Now I know what you’re think­ For all you naturalists out about that same couch, plus a ing, “If it isn’t Perry Ellis, I w on’t there, there’s nothing like the loveseat, plus a matching chair consider it.” Well consider this, earthy smell of unfinished wood, all for under $200.00? How about half the stuff isn’t so bad and if which you may stain, dye, or you must be waiting for Elvis if you’re usually not in the habit of splash your own choice of toxic you don’t think there’s some­ advertising your purchase paint upon. Conveniently, unfin­ thing here you can use in the low whereabouts, what does it mat­ ished furniture offers many pur­ price range. ter? If anything, there’s inex­ chasing options for the heavy Unclaimed furniture on pensive garb with which to stuff like chest of drawers and Airline at Old Hammond carries wrestle a muddy football or play dressers without toting a heavy a large and selective assortm ent swashbuckler in while your Ralph price tag. You add the finishing of furniture in every species— L a u re n ’s touches to accomodate your from $25 daybed frames to $98 sit politely aside for gam e nights. surroundings. Whether it’s in- o d d so fa s , th is p la c e sto c k s it all. Another bonus— clothing here Kelvin is the dude to ask for and

dates back to whenever and stalling your own choice of he’ll promptly direct you to the pretty much covers many cos­ handles or staining to match that student big sellers. In case your tume needs if you take a little wonderful indoor paneling, your parents offer to pick up the tab tim e to p u t it to g e th e r. options are only limited by your via Mastercard, there’s your Their arms loaded, the imagination. higher scaled merchandise still righteous dudes were impressed Attention drafting stu­ at a convenient price. A durable to find the Salvation Army deliv­ dents: Unfinished furniture on loveseat and chair in pleasant ers. So they asked them to throw Airline offers pine/plywood de­ colors and patterns can leave several sheets of plywood and a sign tables for under $70.00. with you for under $400. You’ll cartload of bricks (also C-H-E-A- Most dressers go for under also find nice dinette sets P) on top of their present order $160.00 and many of your table (smoked glass table tops, brass and to run it by their place. As if selections are conveniently or wooden frames, etc.) which this wasn’t the best service the priced. If you’ve got the time, sell for more in department dudes could ask for, the Salva­ want something you’ll keep stores. You can snatch up one tion Army offered to take the around and wanna get a bargin, long coffee table and two match­ stuff back if the dudes ever unfinished furniture stores might ing end tables for under $100 or n e e d e d to u n lo a d it o n s o m e - be a good stop off point. So ditch under $200 depending on your choice of style. one- The Salvation Army is a those cardboard Wal-mart dress-

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 41 For the shop-for-price basic pieces together. They can “happy save the whales day,” crowd, be sure to check out their also come apart again for mov­ pop up several times during the dining sets, specifically the brass/ ing purposes. Just don’t get year so watch the papers, check wood/glass table and two chairs carried away, these are not the stores and get there early. for under $90. For under $100, Leggo products, The easyin- In case you need a place you can grab an imperial table structions come in several to sleep soon, say tonight, you set with four chairs which should languages,so invite some inter­ may want to check out M attress last a while, provided you don’t national friends over and have Makers Factory on North Foster plan to stage your own version an assemble-thon. which carries what they call “short of a barroom brawl. Den-mart carries the term bedding.” A twin mattress By all m eans, try to check Scanbirk line (made in Denmark and foundation (serves the sam e this place out the next time you and ltaly)which one could clas­ purpose as a box spring but need to be fixed up quick with sify as “ New Lifestyle .v It beats consists of upholstered wood some decorating additions or the heck out of the bulky Jabba framing minus the springs) can need a cheap place to sit. Aw the Hutt furniture so popular in be yours for under $85. This heck, bring your significant other your parent’s day. Similar to the simple set up is sturdy enough to or a few of your fellow tribesm en Space Designers style without a la s t y o u till y o u g e t a real job. a n d m a k e a d a y of it. designer’s price tag, one can Here’s a surefire idea—try At Den-m art on Airline at I- walk away with some stylish out the power of media, specifi- 12, one finds the wonderful world

of Melamine—a substance of steals or invest in great new cally THE SHOPPER a.k.a. the which perfect apartment prod­ concept furniture at a reason­ bible of swapping and bargain­ ucts are made. This durable able price. ing. How many items in your coated pressed wood doesn’t A word about bedding: lifestyle collection are useless to scratch, chip, rust, warp, attract Because they tell us that most you and you’d just love to send termites, or mutate under the people spend one-third of their them packing? Other people just cigarettes of your careless lives in bed (sleeping?) we are like yourself are currently beg­ frie n d s. T h e id ea l b arg in ite m s a t inclined to believe that high ging the public to take items off Den-mart are the melamine priced mattressing equals a their hands. W here else can you bookcase units: three shelves, good night’s sleep. Not neces­ find couches already broken in 34" in height for under $25 and sarily so. This is merely a sales by hyperactive children for just five shelves, 69" high for under gimic. However, if it’s the top of about the sam e price as a night $40 (three for under $100). the line dozing you’re looking out with a date for pizza, beer These units look great, are light­ forward to but can only afford the and a moviej? Most items carry a weight, yet are sturdy enough to pillow case, there is still hope. few years with them and are in store those massive, overpriced Many local department stores good shape, just no.longer suit textbooks you’ll never use or sell conduct sales at random to move their owner. More than likely, again. You can also find a nice overstocked or discontinued advertisers will work with you on melamine desk ( two drawers, pieces. Usually the mattress the price. Gather up that old 48" x27") for under $90. Slick, differs from the box spring and it guitar or blender, sell it through basic, and very handy. is up to the customer to play THE SHOPPER and invest your The furniture adheres to match up. Some pieces go for money in something you can the R.T.A., ready to assemble as little as one-thira of their origi­ u s e . concept, which in turn means nal cost at this time. These mucho savings for you, the sales, whether called “ spring b u y e r. It’s n o c h o re to s la p th e s e clearance,” “end of the year,” or

Page 42 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Pick a Card! Any Card! ...But Reckless Spending Habits Can Turn Your Credit into History

College students are misusing their bility it does say something about their The Society of Louisiana Certified credit without thinking of the conse­ character,” said Thornhill. Public Accountants said that all con­ quences, a bad credit history, said Jerry This credit report is a detailed listing sumers should check their credit report Thornhill, a consumer loan officer of of how much you owe on personal every two to three years; credit bureaus Commercial National Bank in Shre­ loans, credit cards and other debts- like do make mistakes. Tina, an LSU resi­ veport. those fashion magazines you ordered dential assistant, said she didn’t find One LSU student, Gretchen, owns but never paid for. The report tells how out until after she was turned down for 11 credit cards: American Express, quickly you’ve paid these debts and a credit card and requested a list of the VISA, Master Card, Montgomery how many times your payments have sources used to make that decision that Ward, Maison Blanche, Dillards, Sears, been late. Also the name of your her credit report showed that she owed Mobile, Exxon and two JC Penney’s employers and your residences are a local hospital a large sum of money. It charge cards. listed. took three months to erase this error Gretchen says she’s not in over her Banks, finance companies, depart­ from her credit report. head. She spends about $500 a month ment stores, apartment complexes and Credit bureaus usually charge a fee paying the minimum on all charge cards some employers will check the credit of $3 to $25 for a copy of a person’s except the American Express. Her total history of an applicant applying for a credit report. However, anyone who debt is $2,000. loan, credit card, residency or a job. has been denied credit because of infor­ “I’m a special case. Most college Most don’t realize that promptness is mation in their credit report is entitled students don’t need a lawn mower or a important. On a credit report numbers to the name and address of the credit weed eater. My parents are older and are coded to reveal the timeliness of from which the information was don’t have credit so most of the cards payments; ones are used for 30 days received.The consumer then has 30 days are used for things they need,” Gretchen late; two, 60 days; three, 90 days; four, to request a copy of the report. said. Gretchen’s parents give her the 120 days and zero if your payment is Ekua Agha, an LSU student from money to pay for their purchases. How­ not late. England, recommends that LSU devise ever, all the credit cards are in Generally, all credit reports contain a system of credit like Tulane’s that Gretchen’s name, even the one her fa­ the same information: the name, num­ “allows students to use their student ther failed to give her the money for. ber, type and activity of credit cards identification card to charge books, Gretchen said she applied for sev­ issued; the amount of time the customer supplies and food anywhere on cam­ eral credit cards after she failed to pay has had these cards; the timeliness of pus.” She says many students use credit the CONOCO gas card. She said credit payments; the credit limit and the bal­ cards to purchase necessities through­ card companies didn’t check her credit ances. out the semester. This way, she said, history. She said if they did they should But a bad credit rating is a major they wouldn’t need a credit card. not have approved her application. problem for many college students. She says, “If students knew they had “Character is something I look at “Owning credit cards is becoming to pay the school back, or else they when I’m considering this person for a the ‘in thing to do’ for college stu­ wouldn’t get their grades or graduate, loan. Although a credit report does not dents,” said Dennis Fiene, head of risk they’d be more cautious about charg­ issue any judgment on a person’s relia­ management security for VISA. ing.”^ by Erika Prelow

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 43 Foreign Exchange By A Look at LSU's student programs across the globe Aimee Edmonson

Page 44 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 For a change it might be interesting to spend the summer rummaging through Mexican markets and archaeological sites, to walk along the banks of the Siene, to attend theatre produc­ tions presented by the Royal Shakespeare Theatre Company as over one hundred LSU students did last year. Professors and students that have experienced an LSU Study Abroad program reflect that the programs in England, France, Mexico, Italy and Jamaica extend far beyond the routine realm of classes and tests. Replacing the LSU in Florence program, the trip to Italy will be centered in Sienna. This fourteenth century city, with narrow, irregular streets and small picturesque squares is lined with timeworn palaces and medieval houses. Sienna is thirty miles south of Florence in the midst of hills covered with fine vineyards and olive groves. The grandest town hall in Tuscany, the grand Palazzo Publico, is the center of the city. Students will be closer to the rural experience in Sienna rather than the noisy and congested area that the program constantly grappled with in Florence, according to Joseph Ricapito, foreign language and literature professor involved in the pioneer program. Tuition and travel will cost approximately $2,200 for five weeks in Sienna. The group will also have the option of field trips to Florence, Rome and Venice. The academic focus will be surrounded by Italian language, literature and culture, political science, and the history of architecture. The seventeenth summer study in London will provide coursework in English, fine arts and theater supplemented by field trips to the eighteenth Century City of Bath, Oxford, Stratford- Upon-Avon, Chawton House, and Winchester Cathedral. Despite the Great Fire of 1666, wartime aerial bombardments, and the misuse and destruc­ tion of historical buildings, the landmarks have withstood time. The Stratford-upon-Avon field trip is limited to the first twenty-five applicants. Nestled in the county of Warwickshire, this is the birthplace of William Shakespeare. Not unjil 1769, more than a century and a half after the playwrights death, did the sleepy town become a tourist center, attempting to preserve its memorials and buildings. The traditions of Shakespeare’s life have become heavily encrusted with legend further depicted in the library and art gallery that opened in 1881, and in the theater that opened in 1932. Students reside and have morning classes in a Victorian residence hall at Goldsmiths’ College, a part of the University of London. “Students have the opportunity to see a great deal of territory. It’s easy to get to the continent to do extra traveling, see another culture and another life,” said journalism professor Ronald Garay, who worked with the trip last year. J. Gerald Kennedy, program co-director of LSU in Paris last year, said that he began the program in 1981 when he saw the success of the London program. “The courses offered in Paris are part of the core curriculum at LSU, only they are more real here because you are using the knowledge immediately,” Kennedy said. This is a six week study in the heart of the Left Bank, the seat of intellectual life for more than 2,000 years, where students reside at Maison des Etudiantes near the famous cafes of Montparnasse and the Luxembourg Gardens. “Of course the students get to know the city better than tourists, they master the city given the amount of time they are in Europe,” Kennedy said.

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 45 Program participation changes from year to “We did not have to deal with tourists be­ year with the fluctuation of the economy, and cause we lived on the quieter streets in the A rt the price tag is a bit out of reach for som e. Fifty- District near Le Select, La Capole and Cafe’ one students went to LSU in Paris last year with Du Dome” Dorsey said. Bastille Day-the celebration of French inde­ The oldest study abroad program, LSU in pendence on July 14,1789-being a m ain attrac­ M exico gives im m ersion for the study of Span­ tio n . ish in the native setting. The Aztec civilization “This is like living in W ashington D.C. in 1976,” said Suzanne Dorsey, who experienced the celebration first hand. Rejoicing the symbolic blow at tyranny, Dorsey danced around the Juillet Column with hundreds of exuberant people. Surrounding the

of Tenochtitlan, now M exico City, was one of the m ost advanced civilizations of the world at the time of the conquest. Spanish conquerors marveled at this splendid culture. They de­ m onum ent is an iron fence with arrowhead tops stroyed it by killing the natives, and outlawed people scaled in order to climb the column. their religious and social customs with their “W hen it was time to climb back over the greed. As a result of the conquest, the m estizo fence, I stuck m y arm through the spiked fence race was bom with the mixing of the two cul­ and dangled my the limb. I went to the emer­ tu re s . gency room for 11 stitches which were out be­ Both the political and economic center, fore my return to the United States” Dorsey Mexico City is the focus of Latin American la u g h e d . culture since the 16th century. It is a m egalopo­ Despite the injuries, Dorsey praised the ex­ lis and the continious rapid growth has been periences of Bastille Day and travel. checked only by encircling mountains. It is a “I will definitely go back, bring others, and

city of significant colonial and m odem archi­ te c tu re . show them exactly what they (the professors) Students will live with host-fam ilies for a showed us” Dorsey said. month, shop in open air markets, and visit On the weekends, the students take trips to M ayan ruins and Indian villiages the Loire Valley, the landing beaches of Nor­ Intermediate Spanish, readings in Spanish mandy, and the Gardens of Givemy where literature, M exican civilization, and Hispanic M onet lived. film and theatre are some of the topics offered

Page 46 Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 to students. The price - approximately $1600 excluding airfare. A field study program in Europ will offer students in the College of Agriculture an op­ portunity to examine international trade prac­ tices, to learn more about the supply and de­ mand for agricultural production.

In Rome, students will meet representatives of the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations to get an overview of the global food situation and visit Vatican City and the Colisseum. The trip will then go to the Uni­ versity of Perugia to study italian agriculture. A visit to Milan will allow the students to visit apparel manufacturers and the Italian fashion market.

After traveling through the Swiss Alps, the students will stop at a Swiss agricultural ex­ periment station. They will also travel to Ger­ many to learn about the Black forest. In Swe- THIS SPACE CONTRIBUTED AS A PUBLIC SERVICE den, the students will be hosted by the profes­ sors at Uppsala University and gather informa­ tion about this country’s agricultural systems. Program cost will be approximately $2,400 for the two week trip, which includes round trip ticket, in-country travel, lodging and food.

Gumbo Magazine Spring 1990 Page 47 The Ultimate N ig h t Sp o t in Baton Rouge!

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