page 12
daily nebraskan
monday, march 10, 1980
Fallen arches raise $9,227 at dance marathon
By Kris Hansen
What do a badger, a timberwolf, a giant chicken and 30
pairs of fallen arches have in common? They all rock and
rolled the weekend away at the Chi PIii-X103 Dance
Marathon for Muscular Dystrophy.
More than 30 couples completed the 30-hour mara
thon, held in ths Nebraska Union ballroom Friday and
Saturday. This is how it went.
6 p jn. Friday - $0.00 - 30 hours to go
More than 40 of the 63 couples who signed up to
dance arrived to test their mettle. The first band, Badger,
cranked up the volume as the lights went down and the
marathon was on. The ballroom rocked as the couples dug
in, tantilized by the sight of two Kawasaki Bravos up on
the stage, waiting for the first place winners to claim
them.
Veteran dancers paced themselves and started slowly,
but a few energetic dancers started off with a whirl and a
hop.
"I don't believe how these two are dancing," said one
member of Badger after one wild performance. "If they
keep this up, they won't last 30 hours. They won't even
last 30 minutes."
But they did. Susan Davis and Craig Marshall, students
at Nebraska Wesleyan, kept up their pace for the whole
marathon.
"I'm in the National Guard," said Davis. "After that, 1
can do anything."
Hie couples broke for 15 minutes when the state
muscular dystrophy poster child arrived. Wanda Petersen,
5, handed out discount coupons for haircuts to the
dancers and charmed them with her blue eyes and shy
smile.
I don't want to dance," said said. "But I like to
watch."
After a quick cup of orange pop ("I'd call it orange
sludge," muttered one dancer), the couples dove back on
the floor. Instructor from The Dance Emporium tried
to guide their stumbling feet through some disco steps,
but the dancers preferred the can-can, funky chicken and
stroll.
10 pjn. - $3,045 - 26 hours to go
Essence took over for Badger and the crowd rocked
on until midnight, when they took a half hour break for
pizza. Disco by Bootlegger took over and kept the dancers
moving, despite the soreness settling into legs 'and feet.
Although most of the dancers were college-aged, Culler
Junior High sported five dancers. Renee Gould, 14,
Michelle McGowau, 14, Peggy Bruce, 15, Brent Hutson,
15 and Trissa Mosier, 14, all danced "for MD, Jerry Lewis
and because we love it," Mosier said. "It's a challenge, so
you can tell yourself you can do it. Hiinking about the
kids makes you want to dance more."
The real challenge, however, was swallowing goldfish
for every thousand dollars raised. Sophomore Dale
Kovanda handled the first fish without a quiver, but
others had more trouble. Freshman Mark Zeller hesitated,
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Omaha senior Mariann Padgett and Craig Braver were one of the couples this weekend at the MD Dance marathon.
tried again, put it in his mouth, spit it out, and finally
downed it with a chaser of water-after chewing it.
"You feel it wiggle all the way down," gasped Marlea
Montoya, 17, from Southeast High. "And his tail got
stuck in my teeth."
3 a.m.-$4,155 -21 hours to go
The pace picked up with the Flying Dutchman, trains
and a round of "Redneck Mother," which seemed to be
every band's favorite song. At 4 a.m. the couples broke
for four hours of sleep and headed for the commons with
their sleeping bags.
The dancers crawled out again at 8 a.m., gulped orange
juice and doughnuts, and staggered back to the floor.
"Four hours of sleep is almost worse than one," com
plained freshman Jeff Fuhr. "With one, you feel like you
haven't really started sleeping. Four puts you in the
middle of the night and that hurts." ,
9 a.m. - $5,079 - 15 hours to go
Choagie took over with a polka, a hustle and a can-can
or two. Hie dancers became inventive as their muscles
loosened up.
"You can do anything to disco," said Craig Brauer, one
of eight dancers who created their own square dance.
"You've got to find ways to pass the time."
However, Terry Harris, 20, seemed out to prove that he
could disco to anything. Harris said he danced last year,
winning fifth place, and hoped to win this year. Me had
more than just a love of dancing to keep him going, how
ever. "I had a close friend who had muscular dystrophy- a
very close friend," he said. "I'm dancing this for him."
Timberwolf took over the stage at li:30 p.m. and
balloons took over the floor. Balloon people, fights and
volleyball games were accented by the bang of exploding
balloons.
A limbo contest soon had the crowd hopping and wig
gling under a bar. Freshman Todd Dirksnider, 6-3, fought
the junior high dancers for the title and narrowly lost to
5 foot Gould.
2:30 p jn. - $6,003 - 9'2 hours to go
The dancers started to frazzle as Long Shot picked up
the musical ball. Leapfrogging became the popular sport
as dancers tried anything to get off their feet.
The couples broke for dinner at 6 pjn. and consumed
a 26-foot submarine sandwich. After half-baths in the
bathrooms and a change of shirts, they shuffled back to
the floor to dance to Sally.
"This is the hardest part. You've gone so long and yet
there's so long to go," said 18-year-ol3 Kathy Oenbring.
Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs Richard Armstrong
cheered the dancers on at the 9 pjn. break.
"I have to praise you (the dancers) and Chi Phi for hav
ing the devotion and leadership to do this kind of thing on
campus. You amaze me," he said.
9 p.m. - $7,279 - 3 hours to go
Light and Sounds Fantastic took over the floor show
and poured new energy into the dancers. The ballroom
dove into a world of lasers and strobe, with fog boiling off
the stage and creating the smoky haze of a dance-hall bar.
The crowd swelled as watchers joined the dancers on the
floor and energy rose to a fever pitch. The KFRX giant
chicken arrived in a hail of cheers and led a round of
funky chicken after, kissing all the girls. The dancers
formed a chain for "the final dance and. then broke in
hysteria and exhaustion as the magic hour struck.
Continued on Pace 13
'House of God' kills faith in medical profession
By Scott Kleager
The fear starts when you realize your roommate, the
one Who tortures dogs for fun, has been accepted to med
ical school. It's with that premise in mind that Dr. Samuel
Shem wrote The House of God.
Unforgettably ironic, the novel destroys nearly all the
confidence one holds for the medical profession. The hos
pital is portrayed as a place where doctors work hardest at
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placing patients in any department except their own, a
place where a contest among interns is judged by how
many autopsies each one does, and a place where years of
training matters little.
5 . The irony stems from Roy, the protagonist who's just
out of BMS (Best Medical School in the world) and his
shattered ideals about medicine. From the moment he
walks into The House of God Medical Center to begin his
one-year internship, Roy faces a bau dream.
Money-grubbing doctors
Senile men and women, most of them terminally ill, lie
around, being kept alive by money-grubbing family
doctors who don't even know what's wrong with their
own patients. Roy discovers that an old woman, who is
senile and complains of nervousness to her doctor, is
admitted and given all kinds of worthless tests just so Blue
Cross will grease his palm. In the meantime, extreme com
plications arise from the tests and her "nervousness" gets
worse.
Which is when the Fat Man arrives as savior to Roy and
the rest of the new interns. First, the Fat Man clues Roy
in to the names of things around the house. For instance,
the incurables are called COMERS (meaning "Get Out of
My Emergency Room") and, since COMERS only take up
space, they are to be transferred to another part of the
hospital.
Which means one doesn't try to find a cure for them.
It means, instead, that ones BUFFs and TURFs (BUF
FING the GOMER's chart so it looks good and then
TURFING the GOMER to another department for test
ing). This makes life in the ward easier.
BUFFING, TURFING
So Roy finds out immediately that medicine isn't rush
ing in at the last moment to save someone, it's really
BUFFING and TURFING. Until he comes to grips with
this reality, his life is miserable.
This creates a great setting for a novel. The House of
God is both funny and sad, sensual and pallid, scary and
inspiring. It's also well-written, which makes the reader
wonder whether Dr. Shem studied creative writing or
medicine.
Stylistically, the novel is a masterpiece. Shem's Use of
the abbreviation is noteworthy. For example, Molly, a
nurse who gets involved with Roy and is an expert at the
SBNM (the Straight Bendover Nursing Maneuver), or
ROR (Relationship on the Rocks) and then LOL in NAD
(Little Old Lady in No Apparent Distress) which is not
to be confused with a COM ERE (feminine for the mascu
line GOMER).
The novel begins to wear on one's nerves because it's
a too-funny look at a not-so-funny subject. Most of the
doctors are cold and sometimes ruthless, and that doesn't
boost one's confidence in the medical profession.
But Hie House of God is a major statement concerning
aging. It says plainly and firmly that to keep the very old
alive just to make money, or for any "ethical" reason, is
not right.