Millersville University - Touchstone Yearbook (Millersville, PA)

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Students Run Away from tension and anxiety, as they get into shape Casually walking to class one afternoon, enjoying the rainbow's reflection in the fountain, and being entertained by the swans fighting over which of them would get the next piece of stale cafeteria bread. I ran into a good friend of mine. Clad in grubby sweatpants. Mikes, and a Molly Hatchet t-shirt from Homecoming, my friend looked as if she were about to be ill any second. Trying not to be too obvious. I kept my distance—just in case. I watched her flushed face as she gasped for air. hugged her stomach and slithered weakly to the ground. She reminded me of a movie I had seen in sex-ed class the day before, featuring a woman in labor. Becoming quickly worried, thinking my friend had suddenly become pregnant. I played super-hero and decided to rescue her. I frantically called her roommate and told her I had an emergency on my hands and she had better get over there right away. A half hour later, she strolled up to us. I boldly asked what had taken her so long. She calmly replied that she had been busy. She wanted to stay and watch the last few minutes of General Hospital before she came to rescue my friend, who seemed to be gradually reviving. I grew very perturbed at the relative insensitivity of my friend's roommate. Hysterically. I explained to her that my friend could be dead by now. and asked If she would like it if it had been her lying there ready to puke, hardly being able to breathe and almost dead. This statement must have impressed my friend, because she actually picked herself up off the ground and began to shake me by my sweatshirt strings. She yelled at me and told me to calm down and stop exaggerating so much because, for Pete's sake, she was only out for a short jog. A short jog. I thought to myself. A short jog had caused all this! A short jog had caused my friend to look as if she has just been at a wild party? It was at this unbelievable moment that I decided to find out what running is all about. After some research in the library. I discovered that running is one of the oldest and most self-disciplining sports in existence today. It requires much physical stamina and good conditioning, especially of the heart muscle. My friend, evidently, had only begun her running routine and was not yet in good physical condition. While paging through Webster's Dictionary. I found that the act of running is Cutting across Gordinicr Field on one of the well-worn paths. Deanne Warriner and Sue Venezia start out on their late afternoon run.—Pholo by Wrae Wcnc defined as a continuing step by step action of going from place to place without pause. This definition may seem to be an oversimplified one to those who sweat and suffer. like my friend, while trying to get into shape or stay in shape. It is a universal opinion that one either enjoys running or one does not. It is an enjoyable experience or a destestable one. In my friend's case, it was a bad experience for more than one reason. Many people may associate the act of running with pain, agony, or even death. Conversely, others may associate it with nature and a necessary escape from reality. For some people, running tends to be very relaxing because it allows them to release tension and to think. People such as Dave Kilby, a junior, think about the day they have just had while others, like Deborah Wilson, think of songs in order to avoid thinking of the pain! Each individual has his own favorite time of day to run. and this is usually early morning or late evening. Bonnie Weldon and Teresa Ruhrman. both freshmen, like to run at either of these times, basically, because there is no one around to see them. People run for various reasons. Many run simply to obtain a feeling of satisfaction and self-confidence. This feeling of satisfaction may allow an individual to feel that he is doing something for himself rather than for someone else for a change. This feeling can help when one runs in order to gel in shape for a sport. Running provides exercise for virtually every muscle in the body. When questioned as to why they enjoy running, several people replied that running is an activity which allows them to release tension, anxiety, and frustration. The experience of college can be. and almost always is. a time of extreme anxiety and tenseness. Perhaps a student just failed an exam for which he studied until his eyeballs bulged. Perhaps he spent the entire day at Boyer Computer Center working on a program, and It still failed to run. It could even be that a student had just had his first experience with laundry, and he found that all of his clothes had turned green. Instead of taking out one's anxieties on a best friend, or beating a pillow until all the feathers come out. why not put frustrations into good use and go out for a run? Who knows? Maybe you will run into someone who has had an even rougher day than you have had. Becky Moyer 22 Running

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“Wocka Wocka Wocka” lures students to play From out of nowhere they came. It was a slow process at first: hardly anyone noticed. But they steadily infiltrated the Student Memorial Center and the local eateries. Wherever one turned, there they sat. Students would try to find peace in the shopping centers or bars, but to no avail; they had arrived before. People could not escape the hypnotizing pull of these metal monsters as they were constantly being drawn into the beasties' grasp. Sudden bouts of insanity caused students to offer their time and money to feed the ogres' voracious hunger. The conquest reached epic proportions during the year of the Video Machine, as pinball was replaced as the campus' 1 pasttime. It s horrible. said junior French major Ginny McGaughey. I once saw a guy coming away from one of those things shaking like gelatin. It was as if he had the d.t.’s!” This seemed to be a common reaction to duels with the beasts. Other symptoms included arthritic fingers, bleary vision, and sweat-drenched clothes. Tall people complained of back strain from hunching over the consoles. Small people complained of neck strain. And everyone complained of the waste of money. Why did students submit themselves to such physical and financial torture? What strange hold had these things over otherwise sane individuals? It’s the challenge of it all.” said business major Dave Berndt. Even though it is inevitable that the machine will win. I keep thinking in the back of my mind that someday I'll beat the bastard. The fact that playing the machines was basically a no-win situation did nothing to deter enthusiasm for them. In the old- fashioned. archaic, mechanical pin-ball games, one strove for the elusive extra game; but these benign handouts were nowhere to be seen in the modern age of computerized madness. Instead, one wasted a stream of quarters in the search for the noble goal of High Score. Those skilled enough to reach this plateau had their names electronically inscribed in the Hall of Fame. The video victors would walk away with a fleeting feeling of superiority as the monster sat digesting the quarters. One such champion, junior Don Rossi, offered his comments: It's a great feeling, having your name up in lights. Unfortunately. the next day your name has probably been knocked off— and the machine just sits there grinning. In addition to the challenge, another attraction of the creatures was the fantasy element. The first wave of machines featured fierce battles in alien settings. A student could easily recover from bombing a calculus mid-term by wiping out the Plutonian starfleet. The screen's mesmerizing display of buzzing, flashing lights could simply transport an unwary person into the vacuum of outer space. While the prey was thus entranced, the beast sucked his pockets dry. The tactics of the second wave of the invasion changed with the advent of the cute machines. To attract those men and women who had no taste for extraterrestrial destruction, these new machines starred cuddly yellow dots, lovable little frogs, and tiny adorable construction men. In place of the gruesome, tentacled aliens of the space games, the new villians were pink fuzzballs. nasty otters and overgrown apes which rolled their eyes when defeated. Those people who ob- jected to the violence of the old games were taken in by the seeming innocence of the new games. Once again, unsuspecting students were drawn into a fantasy world while they were simultaneously being robbed. Some players were so involved that they assigned names and personalities to the characters. Watch out for Bllnky, freshman accounting major Paul Reighard said. “He's a fast one! Luckily for the mental health of the campus and the state of the economy, not all students were deceived by the call of the video machines. Whereas the beeps and booms provided for some a musical accompaniment to their battles, other students were not so enthralled. How am I supposed to study in the SMC when all I hear in the background is wocka. wocka. wocka? asked senior Joan Inman. Others called the beasts a mechanized form of prostitution, mindless exercises in dreamland, and colossal wastes of money. Despite the complaining, untold hundreds of quarters disappeared into the machines' bellies. Often those who disavowed the monsters the loudest were those who were addicted the strongest. Yes. I'll admit that I've spent a lot of money on a useless pasttime. said elementary education major Miriam Turney as she slammed a quarter into the thing's mouth, but I can't help it. I'm hooked. In the corner of the SMC. its stomach full for the day. a video machine merrily bing-banged in response to Turney's comment. Its conquest seemed complete. While downstairs, covered with dust and rusting, snored an old pinball machine. Mike Horn Trying to beat his score one more time. Billy Mun; plays Frogger. one of the many games located in the farmers market downstairs at Park City .—Photo by Mike Mingey The bright flashing lights of the Burrowes lobby Pac Man game beckons unwary students to spend their quarters. Burrowes was one of the first dorms to get a video machine.—Pholo by Mike Mingey Video Games 21

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 Dressed in tee-shirts and shorts to (it the warm May weather, joggers Sandra Sierra and Dwight Johnson pass the Student Memorial while on their circuit.—Phoro 6y Wrac Wcnc Taking the scenic route. Sara (Jhrich takes the shady path running past Lyle Dining Hall. Like Uhrich. many students chose the early evening to do their running —Photo by Wrae Went On one of the first warm days of spring, tenth-floor Burrowes resident Dan Munyan sets off from his dorm for an afternoon run.—Photo by Mike Mingey Running 23