CAMPUS AND AREA
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Course seeks to dispel alcohol myths
University Daily Kansan, January 25, 1985
Students learn from Steinbeck, Hemingway, Faulkner
By SHARON ROSSE Staff Reporter
Of the seven American authors who have won the Nobel Prize for literature, five of them were alcoholics or heavy drinkers.
Sinclair Lewis, Eugene O'Neil,
Ernest Hemingway, William Faulkner and John Steinbeck all suffered
from the same attack all of them achieve great success.
This apparent connection between writers and alcoholism was one of the reasons George Wedge, associate professor of English and linguistics, decided to teach Literature of Intoxication, English 479, and Creativity: Alcohol and Drugs, English 263.
WEDGE HAS TAUGHT both courses since 1981, he said, but only literature of Intoxication is offered at the university. By way: Alcohol and Drugs last semester.
"There is an opinion often expressed that most great writers were heavy drinkers and that it goes with the profession." Wedge said this phrase, "people think you get special insights from drink and drugs. There are all sorts of pronouncements that drugs enhance writing."
He said many authors suffered from alcoholism or drug addiction. But they achieved greatness despite their problems, not because of them.
"If students study works in which the results of drugs and drinking a great deal are well portrayed by great writers, they will see that to think that drugs or alcohol enhance writing is a myth." Wedge said.
THE CLASSES WERE also a way to bring together his teaching and his personal interest in alcohol and drug abuse. Mr. O'Neill said, he bead a problem with alcohol.
In 1974, Wedge helped form the Lawrence Citizens' Committee on Alcohol. He is a certified alcohol counselor and is a member of the Kansas Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counselors' Association.
Wedge said, "I found that my counseling work and teaching were going in two different directions. The teacher me to bring them closer together."
But he doesn't see the class as an opportunity to preach the virtues of his people.
WEDGE SAID, "I work hard at being as objective and nonjudgmental as I can. I have faith in the material to speak for itself and in the students to make their own judgments."
Books such as "Under the Volcano" by Malcolm Lowry and "Tender is the Night" by F. Scott Fitzgerald clearly portray the devastating effects of alcoholism, he said.
And Wedge said he had begun work on a book of his own on the subject of alcohol and writers, called "Writing Under the Influence: Alcohol and Literary Creativity."
Jill Johns, Mulvane sophomore, took Creativity: Alcohol and Drugs from Wedge last year and enrolled this semester in Literature of Intoxication.
She said. "Professor Wedge makes it clear that we make our own decisions, but it is obvious that he thinks it would be better not to get into it."
BUT JOHN'S SAID she took the course for the books and the authors that were studied, not just the topic.
Wedge also said the courses and his research on literature and alcoholism were more than just a way to educate students on the effects of alcohol and drugs.
"It is a fascinating way to approach literature in itself," he said. Because many of the novels or
plays studied in the类 are thinly disguised as autobiographies, he said, the students can see reality in fiction.
"It gives the opportunity to make a connection between the imaginary world and the real world of the writer and the reader," Wedge said.
The professor said students had a variety of reasons for taking his courses.
"THE COURSE DRAWS people who use and are happy with the way they use," he said. "It draws people who are unhappy with their use of drugs or alcohol. Some people don't like it, but some people look at the books and just want to read them. Some people are just curious."
Tony Rivotte, Buffalo Grove, Ill., sophomore, said he enrolled in Literature of Intoxication this semester by chance.
"I needed to add a class and "i looked interesting." Rivetto said. "When I talked with Professor Wedge, it sounded good.
"I'm a physical therapy major, and the more I can learn about people and the way they act, the better I can deal with people. The books show how the drugs affected the writers and the views they took."
Motion filed to stop officials' testimony
A motion to prevent depositions from being taken from city commissioners was filed Wednesday by attorneys representing the city in a lawsuit over the expansion of the St. Lawrence Catholic Center, 1631 Crescent Road.
Patrick Peery, attorney for the city, said yesterday he was asking the court for a protective order to prohibit the attorney representing the president of the Crescent community from taking depositions from the commissioners. The association opposes expansion of the center.
John Nitcher, attorney for the neighborhood association, had planned to take depositions from commissioners David Longhurst, Nancy Shonct, Mike Amyx, Ernest Angino and Howard Hill on Feb. 4 and 5. A hearing on the motion to take will be at 9:30 a.m. Feb. 1. A March 11 trial is scheduled for the lawsuit.
WE DON'T FEEL that it is proper in this case for depositions to be taken." Peery said. "It's not proper to inquire into the mental process of administrative officials."
Nitcher would not comment on
the motion yesterday because he said he had not received a copy.
Peery said the motion did not oppose the taking of deposits from others. These people include Price Banks, city planner; Michael Shaughnessy, architect for the expansion project; the Rev. Kathleen Krishnan, director; and the Most Rev. Ignatius J. Strecker, archbishop of the Kansas City, Kan., archdiocese.
All three sides involved in the suit — the city, the Catholic center and the neighborhood association
— are now waiting for James Paddock, Douglas County district court judge, to act on pending motions.
IN DECEMBER NITCHER filed a motion asking for reversal of a judgment in favor of the center on challenges that the city had violated the city code.
Robert Van Cleave, attorney for Strecker, also filed a motion requesting that B.G. Barr, president of the neighborhood association, be required to post bond because the trial was halting the expansion project.
CORRECTION
Due to an error by the Kansan. The coupons for Rusty's Food Centers, appearing in the Wed., Jan. 23, 1985 issue of the Kansan, were printed incorrectly. The coupons should read as shown below.
Rent it. —Call the Kansan.
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