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Alpha Gamma Delta Week
end was held April 24-25.
Friday night Lamar Sizemore
was presented Alpha Gam’s
first Man-of-the-Year Award at
a aemi-formal dance held at Ba
oonsfletd Park. A casual party
was held Saturday night at
Kraft’s Lake.
On April 18 Alpha Gams
from Mercer met with Alpha
Gams from over the state at
their annual International Re
union Day. The Luncheon was
held at Athens, Ga. with the
Gamma Alpha Chapter hostess
ing the event. Several Alpha
Gama stayed in Athens Satur
day night as the guests of Gam
ma Alpha Chapter and at
tended the Sigma Chi Derbies.
Alpha Gamma Delta has
been having several candlelight-
ings recently. Ann Dee Part-
wood is engaged to Andy
Campbell, and Patsy Matthews
is engaged to Steve West pres
ently at Georgia Tech. Lynn
Harris is laveiiered to Richard
Foster of Kappa Alpha, and
Diane Davis is laveiiered to Joe
Plckhart of Sigma Nu. Alpha
Gam pledged Deborah Helene
Sandison of Albany, Ga., Au
drey Louise Bigelow of Ft.
Lauderdale, Fla., Elizabeth
Jane Bryon of Winter Park.
Fla., and Virginia Lee Byrd of
Memphis, Tenn. during Spring
rush.
Phi Mu
Fun in the sun to say the
least' How about a shrimp
(continued on Page 6)
Mirza performs
music of India
by Johnny Turner
E. L TAVUM CMP0MTI0R
Freeport. Mama 04032
Beginning with Ravi
Shankar’s first appearance in
America in 1957, Indian music
and the Si tar In particular, have
become wildly popular in
many parts of the country.
He has become a deity and
his albums have sold millions.
Other Indian performers have
become little sub-deities, some
what eclipsed by the reputa
tion of Shankar, yet still repre
senting that Grange mystical
devotion and diacipline which
is so sppealing to American au
diences.
Mr. Mahmud Mirza is such
an artist. From the age of
eleven he has been a performer
and a recognized master of the
Si tar. And his concert perform
ance here at Mercer April 22,
was a phenomenal display of
the power and complexity of
the Indian traditional music.
From the moment he and Mr.
Fayyas Khan walked onto the
stage and began tuning their in
struments, until the end of the
concert, the audience was im
pressed with the absolute se
renity and concentration with
which they handled their
music.
Indian classical music is very
complicated and unconven
tional to the Western mind. It
is baaed on the Rags and the
Tala, which are the melody and
rhythm respectively. The
Sitarist begins the Rags with an
Alap which is a slow solo treat
ment of the chosen Rags. In
this section of the piece the ob
ject is to extract the finest pos
sible tonal quality from each
note of the main theme. Mr.
Mirza was able to achieve some
Incredible sounds from the
basic pattern.
But the unbelievable part of
the Rap came when the sec
ond phaee or Gat began. The
Gat is when the TabU or drums
join the 81 tar to produce a
quicker, more rythmic sound.
It is this portion of the Raga
that is most Indian and for that
reason, hardest to understand
and describe. As the tempo
picked up s wild grin came
over the face of Mr. Khan and
Mr. Mirza acquired a serene, re
laxed bearing which was totally
Inoonpous with the furious
movements of his hands. Both
performers were completely
immersed in their music.
Bonks gets
fellowship
J. Reed Banks of Dalton, a
senior at Mercer University, is
one of 70 persons in the nstion
to be awarded a Rockefeller
Trial Year Fellowship for the
coming year.
The fellowship, awarded by
the Fund for Theological Edu
cation, Princeton, N. J., makes
possible a trial year in an ac
credited theological institution
for one who would not have
gone to a seminary otherwise.
TTm student who receives it
apses to consider seriously the
possibility of the ordained min
istry as his vocation.
Banks is s resident of 523
McAfee Street, Dalton.
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The first Raga was
“Bageshri” and the audience
was s bit surprised at its length.
Mr. Mirza played for forty min
utes before Mr. Khan joined
him with the Table and to
gether they continued for
another 35 minutes. The length
of the Raga Is not a fixed num
ber of minutes like Western
music. The musicians continue
until they feel it Is appropriate
to end the Raga. If the condi
tions are right they may play
for hours without stopping.
Apparently many of the people
who were curious enough to
come were afraid that Mr.
Mirza and Mr. Khan would do
just that so they left aLthe in
termission. There were only a
few dedicated enthusiasts re
maining for the second Raga
which if anything, was even
more Incredible than the first,
although it lasted only about
thirty minutes. The Table en
tered soon after the Rags be
gan and the two musicians
quickly moved into the very
fast second phase. What was
left of the audience was vir
tually hypnotised by the fusion
of the two instruments and
men into a single intense pat
tern of notes, each one alter
nately taking the basic struture
and improvising on it, then at
the exact moment fusing back
into the rhythm, almost as if
the music were a conversation
between the Sitar and Table.
When the concert was over
Indian music had another small
handful of converts People left
the Chapel with silly grins on
their faces and kept asking
each other “Did you believe
that?" And backstage Mr.
Mirza and Mr. Khan were po
lite and serene, yet unmis
takably exhausted. And It
seemed that they wanted to
apologize for not playing
longer!
Roecker Receives
Pilots Wings
Richard L. Roecker of
Rockledge, Fla., has been pre
sented pilot’s wings on com
pletion of the Army ROTC
flight program.
Instruction was given over a
four months period. It in
cluded 35 hours on the ground
and 36 hours in the air.
Roecker can qualify for an
FAA-approved private pilot's
license with an additional 3 to
12 hours of instruction.
The presentation of the
winp was made by Col. Joseph
H. Jones, professor of military
science at Mercer University
where Roecker is a member of
the senior class.
Freshman Task Force
(continued from Page 1)
Another freshman, John
Lowery, feels that some of the
groupings are nebulous. He also
expressed dissatisfaction with
the lowering of the required
grade point Lowery pointed
out that the changes did not
include any recommendations
on Physical Education or
ROTC.
Dr. Warfel
Gives Lecture
Dr. Harry R. Warfel of the
University of Florida lectured
on Southern writers and litera
ture in Ware Music Hall on
April 20 and 21. Hie two part
lectures dealt with the poetry
of Sidney Lanier and the roots
of Southern literature with
emphasis on William Faulkner
as a major Southern writer.
Army ROTC
Leadership Award
The Department of the
Army has approved the presen
tation of the Army ROTC
Leadership Award to the top
honor graduate of each ad
vanced ROTC summer camp.
Selection will be based on
results of the platoon evalua
tion rating (leadership quali
ties), platoon peer rating and
military proficiency rating. The
latter consists of the physical
combat proficiency tests, field
problems test, comprehensive
test, map reading and compass
test and rifle marksmanship
score.
The Data Systems Division
of Litton Industries will donate
$2,400 in the form of U. S.
Savings Bonds annually to be
divided equally among the win
ners. The award will be pre
sented to the winning candi
dates by the Army Chief of
Staff at the Army Commanders
Conference held at the Penta
gon each year, beginning in 71.
“00!
lADIfS Rf ADY
TO WEAR
Country set, Jonathan Logan, Hinson Kickemkk
Pstiles. Juniors, Ladies, Misses
The only persons that the
changes will not effect are
seniors who graduate this June,
nevertheless they are always
opinionated.
Bobby Potter, a senior and
past SGA president, said the
new curriculum would pro
bably help provide for a higher
student retention rate. It will
also not force a student to take
courses in a department where
he has no interest.
A major concern of Allen
Wallace as a graduating senior
is the lowering of the required
grade point. Wallace tends to
see the 1.5 as detrimental “to
the integrity of the Mercer
degree. I hope the faculty will
reconsider this move,” he
added.
As debate over the curricu
lum changes continues perhaps
the best comment was made by
Mr. William Nelson, instructor
in modern languages, “Mercer
is a liberal arts college, we
ought to be willing to expert
ment.
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THE MERCER CLUSTER • May 5, 1970 • 5