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Brady junkies get a piece of the polyester pie
Jeremy Ball
Staff Writer

Barry Williams, also known as Greg Brady, performs at Legends (Photo by Marvin Evans)

For most children of the 80s, the Brady Bunch held at least some degree of importance. It was a symbol of our parents’ generation. It was a mainstay of American pop culture. It was the "latch-key" kid’s alternative to parental supervision after school.

But it was, after all, just an early sitcom about a fantasy world where grass was replaced by astro-turf, dad always had the answers, and life’s worst crises were reduced to Marsha’s broken nose.

It should have gone the way of bell bottoms and afros and been little more than a quaint reminder of our culture’s past eccentricities. Right?

Apparently not. When Bary Williams (a.k.a. Greg Brady) appeared in Legends Wednesday night, the large group of students who came to see big brother Greg proved that the show’s impact on our generation has had more permenant side effects.

Not only has it spawned two new movies in the recent past, but apparently, a segment of our population remained unaffected by the show’s weaknesses while growing up, and evolved into a strange species - the Brady fans.

Leslie N. McInturff, a senior from Greenville, Tenn., was a good example of the Brady hysteria present at the show. About seeing Williams, she said, "This could be the single greatest moment of my life."

And she was not alone. Tension was obvious in the whispering and giggling audience as the appointed time approached when everyone would see the man who played the oldest Brady son.

Then he appeared and everyone stared and applauded in amazement and excitement as the definitely aged, yet still very Brady Barry Williams walked on stage.

Williams’ show only fed the audience’s excitement. It was truly a fine performance, combining enough confirmation of juicy gossip to satisfy the most hard-core Brady fan, and enough humor and action to satisfy the less obsessed.

The first part was basically a comedy routine filled with stories about being a Brady. Throughout the routine he interspersed clips from the show and other less known Brady appearances, as well as a vocal solo from "Les Miserables" and a demonstration of the Brady dance, which about 20 members of the audience joined him in.

The audience made one thing clear, Brady fans are everywhere. So, for you hard-core fans, here’s a little extra information Williams gave in a backstage interview.

The Interview

Williams said that he has always considered himself to be primarily a singer, and that’s where he sees his career focused for the future.

Besides his broadway successes, he also sang the national anthem at a Yankees’ game and a Dodgers’ game. In the future, he’s already looking at a four month tour in 1998 doing a performance of "The Goodbye Girl."

Williams is no longer married, though he had a two-year relationship with "a wonderful lady." He said that the separations because of his career were just too tough.

"I’m back to auditioning, you see. I hang around the med-schools."

According to Williams, the original Brady cast has "evolved kind of like into a second family." They all still keep up with each other.

In the show, Williams admitted that yet another Brady reunion might be a possibility in the future.

And all of those surfing clips in Hawaii? "You can’t fake that," said Williams. He said that the only thing he’s been longer than a Brady has been a surfer.

Williams said that he had a very small high school class. "It was just Marsha and me". He did attend college at Pepperdine University, but he never finished.

This was Williams' first trip to Boone, but he said that he was very impressed with the scenery and how nice the people are. He currently resides in Los Angeles. And for those of you who did not go to see the show, yes, Barry did date and eventually kiss both Marsha and Mom. This definately shocked some of the more obsessed members of the audience. But remember, it was only a show.

Or was it?

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Chlamydia becomes a prevalent STD
Carol Clayton
Reporter

A recent study found that chlamydia was the most commonly reported infection in 1995. According to the American Social Health Association (ASHA), the need for more aggressive screening and treatment for this sexually transmitted disease is necessary.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which track 52 infectious diseases, received reports of 477,638 cases of chlamydia in 1995, more than any other infection. However, chlamydia is far more common than this figure indicates.

"Estimates of new chlamydia infections in the U.S. each year are as high as four million, making it the fastest spreading STD," said Peggy Clarke, ASHA president. "The great irony is that, if it is detected, chlamydia is easily treated and cured."

Chlamydia has no long-term effects if detected and cured in its early stages. However, undetected chlamydia has severe consequences, especially for women.

It can lead to pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), which can cause severe chronic pain and scarring of the fallopian tubes, causing infertility. PID can also cause an ectopic pregnancy, in which the fetus develops outside the uterus. This is fatal to the infant and life-threatening to the mother.

"It is difficult to detect chlamydia infections, especially in women," said Dr. William Derrick of ASU Infirmary. "The bacteria is located in the cervix, and therefore goes unnoticed." Chlamydia appears without symptoms in 75 percent of cases among women and 25 percent among men.

"For men, the symptoms are much more noticeable. There is usually a discharge as well as a burn while urinating," said Derrick. He urges men who have these symptoms to get tested immediately.

"Chlamydia is the most common STD we see here on campus," said Derrick. "One of the most frustrating things we are faced with is the fact that most women are totally unaware that their partners have this disease. Many men receive treatment and never tell their partners."

"Doctors at ASU Infirmary screen for chlamydia when they perform Pap smears, however, it is important to ask to be tested," said Derrick. "Many women assume that their annual gynecological exam includes a test for STDs, or that Pap smear screens for these infections, but this is not always the case."

Chlamydia patients are cured with antibiotics. Once cured, the infection is permanently eliminated unless there is more exposure. Derrick recommends protected intercourse and open communication as the key to eradicating the spread of this common STD.

Free confidential information about STDs is available from the National STD Hotline at: 800/227-8922. To receive ASHA’s free guide for women, "My Health Matters: How to Talk to Your Doctor About Sexual Health," call: 800/972-8500.

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Diverse artistic mediums to be exhibited in Smith Gallery
Jennifer Sharpe
Staff Writer

Works such as "Chosen Sisters" are on display as part of Elastic Visions.

The Catherine J. Smith Gallery in Farthing Auditorium is hosting the opening of the exhibition "Elastic Visions."

The exhibit contains works from 20 different artists who used computers, printers, scanners and other kinds of technology as their tools of creation.

Joan Truckenbrod, curator and area head of the art and technology department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, said "each artist is a pioneer, working on the precarious edge of traditional media/new media."

Truckenbrod also pointed out that there are "two dimensions of artistic expression in the electronic arena." The first includes the interactive elements, while the other involves art forms "remaining in a suspended electronic state until the artist gives them form," she said.

Gallery director Hank T. Foreman agreed, saying that computer art has been around since the 1970’s, but the artists of that time were "more interested in exposing people to different kinds of technology and concentrated on interactive things."

Elastic Visions is an exhibit more concerned with visual product and not a great deal of hands-on elements, he said.

It also includes several multi-dimensional works and is expected to draw much attention from the graphic arts students and faculty at Appalachian.

The exhibit will run through Dec. 13 and admission is free. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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Play festival to showcase student productions
Danny Sink
Staff Writer

The New Play Festival, which has been around for about 20 years, has become a tradition at Appalachian. November 14-16 that tradition will be revived in the I.G. Greer Arena Theatre with the introduction of three new plays from some exciting campus playwrights.

The New Play Festival is a forum for students to write, direct, act and become involved with the production of plays. These one act plays are chosen from a bank of entries that are put before a committee involved with the Play Crafters.

This years choices represent a bit of new blood mixed in with a healthy dose of experience.

The first one act of the night, They Never Are, was written by Miellyn Fitzwater, a sophomore English major and first time New Play Festival writer. This play deals with the relationships that men and women become involved with, and the roles that sex can play in these relationships.

Keeley L. Parker plays Sara, a young college-aged woman attempting to find what friendship really is, while dealing with relationships that are not always quite what they seem. This intriguing drama kicks off the night. It is directed by Nicole Bubolo.

The mood of the night quickly takes on a smile with The Art of Dating and Other Tall Tales by C.F. "Snapper" Morgan III. Snapper is well known for his play Showbiz, which has become well renowned even past the borders of Boone.

The Art of Dating and Other Tall Tales is a depiction of the turmoil inside and out of two teenagers’ as they go along with the crazy process called dating.

The one act follows the two characters, Bobby played by Ryan Beede and Susie played by Kelly L. Miller, from first sight to first night. All the while their "buddies" keep butting in with "helpful info" only to add to the anxieties.

This play promises to bring a smile to your heart and a laugh to your lips. Everyone is sure to relate to this story of butterflies and nightmares surrounding the dating process and is directed by Sarah Thomas.

The final play of the night is Consortium, by Matthew Scialdone, which contains some adult language and is not recommended for small children. This play deals with an imaginary meeting of David Mamet and Christopher Durang, two of the most influential playwrights of the modern era. This show promises to keep you rocking with laughter as the two playwrights combine their styles to write a play.

With the sometimes vulgar style of Mamet, played by Needham S. Atkins, a meeting headlong with the bizarre and off the wall comedy of Durang, played by Justice J. Miller, provides for an outcome equal to hilarity.

The night begins at 8 p.m. at I.G. Greer Arena Theatre and tickets are only $2. Half the proceeds will go to the Jenny Walton Memorial Award Fund, which will give scholarships for theatre related majors.

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Trainspotting delivers the goods about drug life
Jeremy Ball
Staff Writer

The country that inspired "Braveheart" gave birth to another film this summer which, although not as big of a hit in the United States, was definitely not any less brave.

"Trainspotting" is a British made film which showed this past weekend in I.G. Greer. It tackles more than just Hollywood. It addresses such topics as drug abuse, the meaning of life, alcoholism, sex, love, friendships and stealing, just to name a few.

Eva M. Carter, a sophomore from Asheville said that she thought the film was "a statement about the human condition".

But the film isn’t melodramatic or sappy. It is successful because, first of all, it presents interesting and believable characters. The film starts off by giving each of the characters a nickname, which automatically interests viewers as to why those nicknames exist and forces them to ask whether or not the nicknames fit. And it makes them more human.

"Trainspotting" is focused on heroin addicts in underground Edinburgh, Scotland. But the film is not just about drug addicts. It is also interspersed with such characters as an extremely violent alcoholic, an underaged seductress and a health nut who turns to drugs and gets AIDS. And the drug addicts aren’t stereotypes either. They have their faults and their good points, as well.

The main character, although one of the most likable characters, also is a junkie who lies, steals and eventually rips off his best friends. And he has an illegal relationship with a minor. Are we supposed to like this guy?

We do because the characters aren’t stereotypes, they’re human. That’s why the film is able to say so much.

The movie also presents a story that actually has a good plot. It begins with an action filled chase through the streets of Edinburgh, then flips back to what led up to that chase. The rest of the film is about what happened afterwards. There is a clearly defined plot which follows the main character’s life.

Action, suspense, humor and incredible cinematography make the film a good movie aside from its larger statements. In one scene, two junkies who are trying to break themselves away from herion spend their newly found free time shooting at people in a park with a b.b. gun. Right before that, the main character had gone into a bathroom clearly marked "the worst bathroom in Scotland" and fell into a toilet in a surreal hallucinogenic episode.

Later on in the film, though, the mood had taken a drastic shift as the main character has a bad reaction to quitting herion and envisions a dead baby crawling towards him on the ceiling. "Trainspotting" is an emotional roller coaster.

Carter called the film "beautiful, graphic violence with a point". The beauty in "Trainspotting" is that its main focus is the story and the characters, not what the film is trying to say. That’s why it can say so much. We want to hear what the film has to say because the characters are as human as we are.

So what kind of questions does the film ask? Much of what the film is trying to ask can be summed up in one of the opening lines: "Choose a future. But why would anyone want to do a thing like that?".

It asks whether or not what society expects is really any better than a life of oblivion in a drug induced stupor. Or are our leisure suits, teles and mortgage payments just another kind of drug?

"Trainspotting" may not be a good choice for the more sensitive audience. It is violent and contains some nudity and a lot of profanity. But if that doesn’t bother you, then it is a great movie, which forces you to think while entertaining you at the same time.

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Cracker plays Legends tonight

Cracker brings their brand of country-esque rock to Appalachian State tonight. The band is touring in support of their latest Virgin Records release, The Golden Age. Opening act is Self.

Tickets are still available in the Student Union at the Information Booth on the first floor.

Tickets are $7 in advance for students and $9 at the door and for guests. Each student may purchase guest tickets for non–students after showing their valid ASU id. The band is touring in support of their latest Virgin Records release, The Golden Age.

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