Los Angeles Valley College - Crown Yearbook (Valley Glen, CA)

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Lorraine Eckhardt, professor of music, was the first faculty member to display her talent. Prof. Eckardt performed a number of classical piano pieces to the critical acclaim of the campus newspaper as well as the audience at large. Ms. Eckardt was the only faculty member to perform during the fall term. During the spring term, there were three performances by faculty members, including a rather unusual event. All 11 members of the Music Department were involved in a recital to raise money to enable the Music Department to award two S100 scholarships to talented Valley music students. Admission was 51. This was the only performance in the yearly series that was not free to all. Eleanor Hammer, associate professor of music, played an organ recital on the biggest and best organ money could rent, said Prof. Lynn. Dr. Robert Chauls, instructor of music, performed on the piano, and Dianne Sells, instructor of music and a soprano soloist, sang for the last appearance by a faculty member for the year. The remainder of 21 concerts were composed of various student workshop classes on campus that were given an opportunity to showcase their talent. This included three performances by the Valley College Symphony Orchestra, directed by Theodore Lynn. Five performances were given by the Studio jazz Band, as well as two performances when the Studio jazz Band and the Dance Band combined their efforts. Richard Carlson directs the Jazz Band, and Don Nelligan directs the dance band. Six performances of the LAVC Opera Workshop, featured the operas The Medium, and Death of the Bishop Brindisif' both by Menotti. Two performances were by the LAVC Wind Ensem- ble, with Irvin Pope directing, plus one performance each by the LAVC Monarch Marching Band, the LAVC Student Artists, and the LAVC Chamber Or- chestra, 33 ,gli The rock band Hoarde entertained a large crowd ol students this Spring during a Free Speech area concert. Blue Heaven sang everything from rock to folk songs during their concert at Valley College. 33

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Dynamics in anmony 'mfr s-YY! . . ill Terri Freeark, LAVC student, plays passionately for her audience in Monarch Hall, in a scheduled performance. 32 U IIDDL. III II I II II I lg 'l-I. By Michael Hudson Illustrated by Ken Hively The Monarch Hall Concert Series is one of the few continuing programs held at Valley College that strive to give a balanced calendar of events to students, as well as to the community it serves, Theodore Lynn, assistant professor of music, coor- dinates the series working with a budget of about 510,000 annually. With this sum, Prof, Lynn plans, organizes, and books various off-campus profession- als along with faculty members, and student work- shop classes to play in Monarch Hall for the students and surrounding community for free. Prof. Lynn gets off-campus performers through a variety of methods. Some he is acquainted with by reputation, some he knows through studio work that they have done around Los Angeles. He usually books five to seven professional acts a year. The other performance dates in the series are faculty members, or student workshop classes. A highlight from the year's off-campus performers was the Los Angeles Saxophone Quartet. Another was Clark Spangler, who gave a demon- stration of the synthesizer used as an instrument, who was booked by Prof, Lynn because, he is the person responsible for most of the synthesizer sounds heard in television, movies, and radio. Concert cellist, Dana Ress, appeared at Valley in the fall semester. In his career he has backed such professionals as Tom jones, Harry Belafonte, the 5th Dimension, and was also a part of the Houston Symphony Orchestra for two seasons. The eight-piece Bill Broughan Trombone Ensem- ble, a group that boasts some of the best-known studio musicians around, also performed at Valley. David Pittman Jennings, a member in the Santa Fe Opera Company, one of the most world-renowned avante-garde opera companies in the United States, also performed, The Kanter Woodwind Ensemble, a group of professional studio woodwind musicians, were also featured artists. Brass performances were represented by The Modern Brass Quintet. Another performer in the brass field, Bud Brisbois, is one of the best high register jazz trumpeters in the world, according to Prof. Lynn. As a special concert treat, the High School lazz festival was held at Valley this past year, and it ran for seven hours. DeWayne Fulton, a harpist that gave a perfor- mance par-excellence, also performed at Valley. The string portion of the musical spectrum was represented by Murray Adler. Adler is a well-known studio musician as well as being a traveled concert performer. Every faculty member is involved with the series, in regards to their directing the various workshop bands and groups on campus. Individual faculty members performed four times throughout the year

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at Senator Cranston's office. By Michael Hudson Illustrated by Steve Fischer and Ken Hively When a person becomes a member of the armed services of this country he becomes something special. As one branch of the military calls it, America's finest. But what happens to a person after he leaves the service and becomes a veteran? An event took place in the spring of '74 that brought the American Veterans Movement to the attention of the public. A group of eight veterans, three of them in wheelchairs, took over the offices of Senator Alan Cranston, D-CA, in the federal building on Wilshire in West Los Angeles. The group claimed to be members of the international American Veterans Movement. The occupying group also went on a hunger strike to protest what the international spokesman of the group, Ron Kovic, called three basic demands: . . . an end to the disgrace of the veterans hospitals in the United States, . . . an increase in the rights of all veterans, and . . . the immediate withdrawal of Donald Johnson as head of the federal veterans administration. In an effort to break the back of the strike, Donald johnson traveled from Washington to meet with the disgruntled veter- ans. Attempts at talks between the two factions fell apart when they could not get together, even though they were in the same building. Johnson claimed that the meeting had to take place on federal grounds, and that Cranston's office was not federal territory. The veterans claimed they could not travel to Beneath the flag of the American Veteran's Movement, Ron Kovic enioys the attentions of an admiring supporter at the end of the sit-in and fast AN INSIGHT TO VETERA 'Nu W Is..--f meet with johnson due to the weakness caused by a 16-day hunger strike. When the meeting finally took place, johnson was the subject of severe criticism and, as quoted in the L.A. Times, at one point felt it necessary to say, I do not appreciate being accused of coming here to spout lies. johnson stood on President Nixon's record in the area of veterans affairs, saying that veterans' benefits had increased by 56 percent, and that staffing at the V.A. hospitals as a whole had increased by 30 percent with the staffing at the Long Beach facility increasing by 40 percent. But how does that relate to Valley College? There are 4,200 veterans on the LAVC campus. Of that number, about 35 requests a week to investigate some problem concerning veterans, mostly the non-payment of educational benefit checks, pass through the campus vets office each week. But how many veterans have no problems receiving the benefits guaranteed them by law, how many of these requests for investigations are from the same people over and over? One vet, Bob Wasdorp, a student counselor in the veterans office on campus, said the first thing that happens at the Veterans Administration when a request for an investigation is made is that the files of the vet in question are pulled. From there the file could go to other floors or even other buildings. lt is very easy for the files to be misplaced. The question then revolves around how many veterans feel Coordinator of Veterans Affairs John Barnhart explains the intricacies of filing for benefits to a Valley College veteran.