Middle Tennessee State University - Midlander Yearbook (Murfreesboro, TN)

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They run just about non-stop, ' according to games room manager Elson Dennis. When nothing else is running, the pinball machines are. The electrical response and the challenge of competing against a machine seem to be behind pinball ' s charismatic appeal, he explained. Each machine is adorned with flashing lights and pie-bald pictures of voluptuous women, laughing comedians and daring men each beckoning the player to pit himself against the machine just one more time. Players slouch over the glass tops of the machines watch- ing the shiny ball bounce and bump as it careens down the board amidst ingenious traps and gadgets which flash on and off to the tune of dull door bells and an assort- ment of thwocks and buzzes. Once the speeding ball reaches the flippers, the player sends the object rocketing up the board with the press of a button and the moist nudge of a hand or hip or what some people call body English. He must be careful not to tilt the machine lest the gismo cut itself off. (Hint: According to Senior Scholastic Magazine, the tilt device is on the left side of the machine. so caress and bump on the right. ) With the advent of the space age pinball video game and the demands of an electronical society, pinball is coming out of the smoke-filled honky tonks, pool halls and truck stops. In fact, the games have become so popular that television magnates have got in on the act and produced a pinball t pe game show. According to one Atlanta distributor, For years, our games — pinball, shuffle alley, pool — appealed mainly to, you know, the laboring class. Now with the video games, you have a broader patronage. I mean a lot of lounges will take a video game that never would have let a pinball machine in the door. Why does pinball have such a shady past? Apparently the colorful machines are still operating under the stigma of Mafia rule in Chicago and New York Cit . in the 1930 s police began cracking down on the Mafia s slot machine business. In order to continue operation, the mob began using slot machines disguised as pinball machines. Although lack- ing flippers, the new machine operated much the same and paid off according to the number of free games a person won. To meet this challenge, legislation was passed in some cities outlawing pinball all together. In fact, pinball is still illegal in New York City. What makes people gamble on the pinball machines? According to one psychologist, the excitement of gam- bling is equivalent to masturbation and the conse- quent losses are viewed as self punishment motivated by guilt over Oedipal strivings. Well don t tell a pinball player that. That ' s a bunch of crap, replied an indignant player. Its a lot of fun. I like to hear the sound of that bell. Still other players are not so laudatory. Those machines have little vacuum cleaners which suck up souls. They just suck you right in there, retorted another player. Regardless of the reasons why people are playing pinball there seems to be a perceptible shift in attitude towards the machines. This shift has led the conservative New Yorker magazine to conclude that, The love of pinball has nothing to do with race, creed, or ethnicity; nor is it, strictly speaking, a sexual preference. Pinball is a form of solitaire. 17

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PINBALL A New York lawyer said it promoted idleness. One psychologist suggested it was an outlet for homosexual urges. In spite of this criticism, pinball addicts nationwide are enthusiastically gambling those hard-earned quarters and giving the slot machine industry a major sensation. Pointing to the number of teenage games rooms (archades?) appearing in the nation ' s shopping malls, one pinball distributor said that all coin machines are experiencing a rebirth. In fact, the University Center games room has four machines — the Bally Flicker, Air Aces, Boomerang and the Wizard which is based on the pinball player ' s national anthem, Pinball Wizard, by the Who. 16 A n n n

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DETLEF KRAUS One of the world ' s foremost pianists, Detlef Kraus, appeared in concert at the Dramatic Arts auditorium in October. Making his debut at age 16 in Hamburg, Germany, he performed Bach ' s complete Well-Tempered Clavier. As he grew in his musical knowledge, he built a large repertoire including the complete works of Brahms and Beethoven. Kraus has been guest soloist with such orchestras as the Czech Philharmonic, Berlin Philharmonic, the Pittsburg Symphony and the Paris Conservatory. In addition to his extensive concert activities, he has been professor of Master Classes for Piano at the Folkwang Hockschule of Essen, Germany for the past 13 years. VISIONS OF POWER For all those who attended, the night was spent totally enthralled with the presenta- tion on the DA stage — nothing was flashy or elaborate — just two men with simple props who presented through the blending of music and drama the writings of Carlos Castaneda in the program Visions of Power. ' Actor Burgess Meredith and composer musician Charles Lloyd presented the pro- gram capturing the terrors, bafflements and exultations of the non-ordinary ' world of sorcerer don Juan Matus and Castaneda. The captive audience had to rely upon their mind to actually see what was happen- ing. And, as in don Juan ' s world, lack of illusion became the best illusion of all. 18