AROUND
TOWN
Film:
Check theaters for specific times and prices.
Movies subject to change without notice.
(Campus Theater 846-6512)
(Manor East 823-8300)
(Plitt Cinema l&ll 846-6714)
(MSC Box Office-Rudder 845-2916)
DEATHSPORT (Plitt Cinema l&ll) Rollerball with a
different setting. Friday and Saturday at mid
night. Blood, guts and gore with violent over
tones is what makes for a good midnight film
anyway, right? Rated R.
MOTEL HELL (Plitt Cinema l&ll) Sort of a horror/
comedy, if that’s possible. Rated R
FAME (Campus Theater) You’ve heard the song,
now there’s the movie. A film about the goings
on at a New York City high school for the per
forming arts. The films drags in places, but when
the music and dance start the film can do no
wrong. Rated R.
PRIVATE BENJAMIN (Manor East) Goldie Hawn
stars as a poor little rich girl who finds out that
playing Army is not just another game. See re
view on page 16. Rated R.
ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW (Campus
Theater) Get out your rice, candles and news
paper — it’s Rocky weekend again. Rated R.
SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT II (Manor East) Again
Burt Reynolds and Jerry Reed have a great time
in a entertaining movie about speeding through
the South without getting caught. Rated PG.
STAR TREK — THE MOTION PICTURE Friday at
7:30 and 10:15, Saturday at 9, Rudder Auditor
ium. The continuing adventures of Captain Kirk
and company. An adequate film with some im
pressive (and very expensive) special effects.
Rated G.
THE GOODBYE GIRL Sunday, 7:30, Rudder
Theater. Richard Dreyfuss won an Oscar for
best actor in this film version of a Neil Simon
comedy. A clever and touching love story. Also
starring Marsha Mason. Rated PG.
YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN Saturday at midnight,
Rudder Auditorium. A Mel Brooks classic, star
ring Gene Wilder, Terry Garr, Marty Feldmen
and Clods Leachman. Need we say more?
Rated PG.
ORDINARY PEOPLE (Plitt Cinema l&ll) Robert
Redford’s debut as director. Featuring fine
acting by Mary Tyler Moore and Donald South
erland, and a sensitive script based on the
Judith Guest novel. Proves that a film can be
emotionally moving without being unbearably
melodramatic. Rated R.
Live Entertainment:
BACKSTAGE: Guitar player Kevin Matheny per
forms Top 40 tunes Thursday for a 75c cover
charge. Friday and Saturday, songwriter Bruce
McElheny from Houston performs his own com
positions. Cover charge is 75C
GRINS: Thursday night jazz band Scrapple per
forms for a $1 cover charge. Singer-songwriter
Bobby Bridger appears Friday and Saturday for
a $1.50 cover.
LAKEVIEW: Dennis Ivey and the Waymen perform
Thursday, along with Ol’ Amarillo, the bull. Cov
er is $1 for women and $3 for men, with 5C beer.
Saturday, Roy Head performs. Cover is $4.
ROSEWOOD JUNCTION: Thursday and Friday
The Max will perform. There is no cover Thurs
day, and $1 cover Friday. Saturday Tangent will
appear for $1 cover.
TJ’s WHISKEY BAR:The Clay Mac Band will
appear Thursday through Saturday in honor of
Country Music Month.
COI_l_/\Q El
What goes up doesn’t always come down
EAST LANSING, Mich. — The bad news is: grade-point averages
aren’t going up anymore. The good news is: they aren’t going down
either.
A study by Michigan State University shows the grade inflation
phenomenon that hit colleges and universities across the country in
the early ’60s has come to a halt. The same study shows, however,
that average grades aren’t going down, and may soon begin rising
again, says Arvo E. Juola, author of the study.
Juola, who conducted previous grade surveys, bases his findings
on reports from 180 colleges. They show that the composite under
graduate grade-point average began to drop in the fall semester of
1975 and continued to fall in 1976 and 1977, from 2.762 to 2.719. In
1978-79, however, the composite grade-point average was 2.720,
leading Juola to believe that there was no steady decline in the
national GPA and that grades may be stabilizing or starting a new
rise.
They’d walk many miles for Letterman
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — How far would you walk to save your
favorite television show?
Three University of Indiana students wanted to walk all the way
to New York City to deliver a petition on behalf of The David Letter-
man Show, the offbeat morning talk show being cancelled by NBC.
The trio, all staff members of the campus radio station, left Blooming
ton on a Friday, planning to arrive in New York City in time to be in
Letterman’s live audience Monday morning.
They quickly realized covering that distance on foot would be
difficult, and adopted a more rational approach—- hitchhiking. Sever
al rides, a free home-cooked meal and a bus trip later, they were in
New York City, says Mike Conway, one of the three.
They received royal treatment from the comedian’s NBC staff.
Besides meeting Letterman and his guest, Mary Tyler Moore, they
were treated to a tour of the NBC offices and a dinner with Letter-
man’s staff that Conway says “was about the only meal we had.”
They were introduced briefly on the air, but didn’t get to unravel
their lengthy petition until after the taping.
Bathing with the school brass
The quickest way to get through to college administrators may be to
hit them where they live — literally.
When Carleton College students complained about the lack of
hot water in dormitoiy showers, President Robert H. Edwards
offered them use of his bathroom. Taken aback, perhaps, by this
display of personal generosity, only two Carlton students took Ed
wards up on his offer. One of those was a student reporter who
lounged in Edwards’ guestroom bath for an hour, reading her Cos
mopolitan magazine and enjoying the kind of comfort never found in
a dorm.
THE BATTALION
Policy: Focus will accept any stories,
drawings or photographs that are submitted
for publication, although the decision to
publish lies solely with the editor. Pieces
submitted, printed or not, will be returned
upon request. Deadline is 5 p.m. the
Thursday before publication.
Contributing to this issue were: Scott
Haring, Kathleen McElroy, Pat O’Malley,
Pam Rimoldi, Geoff Hackett and Scott
McCullar.
Editor: Scot K. Meyer
Assistant Editor: Cathy Saathoff
On The Cover: Mute and silent, the
Woodnymph flits and dances her way about
the Texas Renaissance Festival. The
Woodnymph is played by Andrea Owens,
and she says the character took over two
years to perfect. The festival takes place
each Saturday and Sunday until Nov. 2.
Cover photo courtesy of the Texas
Renaissance Festival.