Pittsburg State University - Kanza Yearbook (Pittsburg, KS)

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the most popular watering hole of all the surrounding pits. The pits provided a cool place to spend those hot days only if you could find the time. However, the 2,400 students that attended PSU last summer found that things seemed to move slower. Many bodies could be seen laying under one of the numerous shadetrees on the Oval. There were of course the ever present frisbee throwers defying the heat and to some defying normal sanity. Others, less inclined to heatstroke, spent as much timeas possible in air- conditioned buildings playing such things as ping pong. The heat even seemed to slow down the preparations for the demolition of Carney Hall. Most of the work on the condemned building took the form of transporting salvageable contents. Summer also gives prospective new students an opportunity to learn more about PSU during Freshmen Previews run by the admissions department. The purpose of these Previews are to help freshmen with the transition to university life and explain the educational opportunities available to them at PSU. Education continues even through the heat of the summer. “Summer to me on campus is really enjoyable. It gives me a chance to take classes that during a regular term would be a lot larger and probably harder. It’s also a good time to catch up on credits I’m going to need to graduate. Besides, although I’d rather be somewhere else when I’m in class, the short term makes it easier,” explained Nila Siedel, Pratt senior. Lea Ann Davied, Arma sophomore DURING MID-JULY FRESHMAN PREVIEWS, Mark Farris, Randy Jones and Kevin Baldwin talk to TKE member Otto Stuber about fraternity life, —photo by Kyle Cleveland said, “The only thing about summer courses I don’t like is going every day, but I do love the casual at- mosphere and the small classes. I really like summer classes,” she added. Summer is tans, shorts, sports and fun, but along with this an op- portunity to get a little ahead on classwork.—by Cindy Cowan Summertime—23

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Summer scene hit by heat wave Oummer is a time for swimming, softball and in general just soaking up the sun. But this summer there was quite a bit more sun to soak up than usual. In fact, a little too much. The summer 1980 heat wave in Kansas ranks in the top three of the nation July had temperatures above 100 every day except July 2, Only in 1936 and in 1954 has it been as hot as it was this summer. The hottest day recorded was in mid-July when the mercury shot up to the 108 degree mark. Although the previous record summers hit a hotter mark of 114 degrees both years, conditions were worse this summer. Very little rain fell. Kansas received only 11,69 inches of rain last summer, which is the smallest amount in 11 years. Many of the local pools had to put ice in the pool to make them com- fortable, many people suffered heat stroke and dehydration, and many elderly people died from the unusally high temperatures. Inspite of the heat wave, PSU continued to offer a wide range of activities. Pittsburg State University’s Playhouse on Broadway produced a number of popular shows. The musical production of “Sweet Charity” drew largely adult audiences, while the production of “Dracula” drew large audiences of young people and college students, “The Wizard of Oz,” the summer’s major production, attracted the largest crowds and the performers had the opportunity to play a packed house during its run. “Oz” had the largest cast of university and com- munity actors ever put on stage by the PSU summer production com- pany. As the summer heated up so did the negotiations between the PSU Ad- ministration and the Kansas Higher Education Association, which represents the PSU faculty. The contract talks and negotiation committees met, held discussions, and made proposals and coun- terproposals with no end in sight. The summer proved unproductive and the problem continued into the Fall ’80 semester. While the faculty and administration negotiations heated up, students cooled off at the ever popular strip pits, Whitmore, better known as Quincy pits, has traditionally been IN PREPARATION FOR HER ROLE, Kelly Waldo applies makeup back stage between scenes at Playhouse on Broadway’s production of Dracula. —photo by Kyle Cleveland

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Two Kansas City bands, Secrets, and Shooting Star, combined at the Tower Ballroom January 23 to bring almost 1,000 people to a fever pitch. As people began arriving, an- ticipation grew. More and more people crowded in, to the amazement and delight of the concert co- sponsors SUB and KMRJ-KSEK, Latecomers found themselves standing in the back of the ballroom or sitting on the floor right in front of the stage. Throughout the evening, people milled around, looking un- successfully for somewhere to sit. Mike Sullivan, SUB director, said that they were within 30 people of a sell-out crowd, but it would have slap been hard to envision fitting even 10 more people in the Tower that Friday night. The concert was delayed for a half hour due to a grass fire in the south parking lot which blew up one car, belonging to Secret’s lead singer Brent Hoad, and damaged the engine of another. It created some ex- citement as members of the audience rushed out to make sure their car was not the one. At last, Secrets took the stage shouting “We are Secrets; let’s rock!” Hoad, dressed in black shirt, jeans, and white tennis shoes, burst into their first song, “She’s Alright to Me,” and the band kept right on rocking to the end of the set. Their driving rhyth- m got hands to clapping and feet to tapping. Some people found themselves enjoying the Secrets more than the main attraction. One student commented, I’ve heard that Shooting Star is good, but Secrets is the band to watch.” They made good the promise. Hoad took command of the stage with impulsive movements, hard guitar playing, and vocals that sometimes resembled Bruce ROCKING THE NIGHT AWAY with one of their many hits, Van McLain sings lead as Charles Waltz and Gary West back him up.— photo by Dot Koehler 24—Shooting Star