Kansas State University - Royal Purple Yearbook (Manhattan, KS)

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LITTLE APPLE school owner Jerome Oberle with his wife Bobbie and J. Lester Hooper, the driving school instructor, run one of the few private driving schools in Kansas. The school allowed students to receive their licenses in three to four weeks. (Photo by Mike Welchhans) BOBBIE OBERLE writes a receipt for Alberta Hopkins who must pay a deposit before joining the class. The cost of the course ranged from $250 to $300 and depended on where the student lived. (Photo by Mike Welchhans)

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DRIVE (Continued from page 19) In the high schools and the Manhattan Vo-Tech, it could take up to a whole semester to obtain a and the students worked more with and not so much actual drive time, Bobbie Oberle said. The cost of the class was $250 for Manhattan residents and $300 for Fort Riley and Junction City residents. Once the passed the course, they were issued a completion certificate which they presented to the Department of Motor Vehicles. After passing the eye exam, they were issued a driver ' s license. Last year we had around 130 students take the course, Jerome Oberle said. This year we are expecting about 150. The average class size was 12, but they had as many as 18. J. Lester Hooper, counselor at Manhattan High School, has taught driving lessons for 25 years. He started teaching at Riley County High School, ran his own class in Clay County for three years, taught at the Man hattan Vo-Tech School for seven years and the high school for three summers. He has worked with the Little Apple Driving School since 1984. After finishing the instruction, students set up a time for behind the-wheel training. The first hour on basic car Jerome Oberle said. They work on steering and brake control by through cones. Once they learn it forward, then they weave in reverse. The second time out, the student was taken to a residential area with little traffic. They eventually learned driving in heavy traffic, highway driving and parking. Yuki Komagata, junior in computer science, took the course in 1990. I needed to get my driver ' s license quickly, Komagata said. I did not know how to drive at all. I learned how to drive very quickly, even though I had no idea how to drive, she said. The instructors give you good instructions, they have flexible and they are very kind. STUDENTS CAN TAKE THEIR WRITTEN driving test in a variety of languages, including Korean. The tests were given to those who had a problem English. (Photo by Mike Welchhans) HOOPER GIVES some helpful tips on how to back the car during the morning class period. (Photo by Mike Welchhans)

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STEP BY STEP Country dancing lessons lure students to learn BY RENEE MARTIN AS THE first strains of the country song began to play, the couple moved to the middle of the dance floor and began to wind around each other, twirling and spinning faster and faster. When the song fin ished, the man turned and addressed the group to learn country dances. What did you think about that? asked Jeff Link, senior in park resources management. I think I ' m going to leave, answered a bewildered man in the corner. Link simply laughed and began to demonstrate the moves with his Kim Schlaefli, junior in agricultural mechanization. Link and Schlaefli taught country dance together for two years. Lessons were offered through the Union Program Council and held in the Union Station three nights a week, with a total attendance of about 50 couples. But Link and Schlaefli also taught lessons at Blue River Pub, Charl Neighborhood Bar and various private functions. We ' ve probably taught over 200 students this year, Link said. We dance about 12 hours a week because of teaching. DANCE INSTRUCTORS DON DUNCAN AND MARY Howell demonstrate the finer points of the two-step during country swing dance lessons at the Ranch Saloon. (Photo by J. Matthew Rhea) Link and Schlaefli, who learned to dance from their parents, met at K-State and started dancing They began lessons at Union after the manager saw Schlaefli helping a good friend and asked her if she ' d give lessons to other students. Schlaefli, in turn, asked Link to teach with her. We start our lessons by teaching the basic step, Link said. We have to be able to work with all levels of dancers. We get some people who have never even listened to country music, and others who know the basic moves. The class taught the ten-step, waltz, Joe and the swing. Link and Schlaefli said anyone could learn to dance, but it did require practice. We can teach you the moves, Link said, but we can ' t teach you to dance. You have to practice. Tauni Wing, sophomore in human development and familystudies, and Bret Wilken, junior in engineering, decided to take the class after others dance. Every time we go to a dance they play country music, Wing said. There is always someone who knows how to do it. We wanted to learn so we could do it, too. Schlaefli said more people are becoming interested in dancing because of an increase in country music ' s popularity. I think a lot of people want to learn country dancing because of the new popularity of artists like Clint Black and Garth Brooks, Schlaefli said. I think people are tired of hard rock and want to dance to mellow music. You can swing to almost anything. And they did, as their teaching kept them around the floor. I have the greatest job in the world, Link said. I ' m getting paid to do what I want to do. is just fun.