University Daily Kansan, January 17, 1985
OPINION
Page 4
The University Daily KANSAN
Published since 1889 by students of the University of Kansas
The University, Daily Kannan, USP$ 650-640 is published at the University of Kansas, 118 Staffer Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 6045, daily during the regular school year and Wednesday and Friday during the summer session, excluding Saturday, Sunday, holiday and final periods Second-class postage paid at Lawrence, Kan. 6044 Subscriptions by mail are $15 for six months or $27 a year in Douglas County and $18 for six months or $30 a year in Dallas. Student address changes to the University Daily Kannan, 118 Staffer Flint Hall, Lawrence, Kan. 6045
MATT DEGALAN
Editor
DIANE LUBER SUSAN WORTMAN Managing Editor Editorial Editor
LYNNE STARK Business Manager
ROB KARWATH Campus Editor
DUNCAN CALHOUN MARY BERNICA
Retail Sales National Sales
Manager Manager
DAVID NIXON Campus Sales Manager
SUSANNE SHAW General Manager and News Adviser
New pledges
JOHN OBERZAN Sales and Marketing Adviser
Sorority rush came to its practical close last night as about 300 rushees received invitations to pledge and others received disappointment. They and the members of the sororites that sponsor rush have gone through a campus social tradition that has few challengers when it comes to generating emotion.
generating emotion.
We congratulate new pledges and the sororites they have joined. We offer sympathy to those for whom the disappointment may have been a hard blow. But joining a sorority does not make a woman better or worse than she was, nor better nor worse than anyone else. It does not create personality and should not impose it, but it will reveal it.
To those who did not get in, the same advice. Rush selection does not make or break a life. Supposedly, some rushes carry an enormous burden because of mother's expectations or potential loss of friends. Real friends will not cast others aside because the system had to choose between people.
But the emotion of rush belongs not only to participants. Some independents seem to have stronger feelings than those partaking in the process. Many of them enjoy sweeping and stereotypical remarks about the rottenness of the Greek system — excepting, of course, certain friends in it.
system — excepting, of course, Sorority types have the reputation of being spoiled, inconsiderate airheads. Probably some are. A lot of that is going around. And women don't always join sororities for the best reasons, but confused motivation is hardly exclusive.
Stereotypes usually have some basis in fact or reasonable perception of it. Otherwise, the stereotypes wouldn't form. But stereotypes also exaggerate and distort because they are motivated by anger and self-justification. The factual basis helps a stereotype persist, but the exaggeration supplies its power.
Sorority or fraternity living helps some students go through college and live to tell about it. Whatever excesses and exclusiveness the Greek system may have, it will continue strongly. More than 900 women originally signed up for rush, and a record 699 participated.
Greek membership should not be the definitive fact of a college career. But while some Greeks, or would-be Greeks, seem to make it needlessly important and tastelessly public, many independents seem even readier to express their disdain for the system by boxing Greeks into definitions and stereotypes that justify that disdain.
encompasses that justify the importance of After such a rush, let's relax and enjoy each other a little.
At first glance, the youth of today seems a strange breed.
Evolving youth
In November, young voters overwhelmingly helped re-elect the most conservative president in 50 years. Yet, according to a recent poll of college freshmen, they identify themselves more as liberals and tend to support traditionally liberal ideas.
The poll, "The American Freshman: National Norms for Fall 1984," was conducted by an education lobbying group. the American Council on Education, and the University of California at Los Angeles. The survey polled more than 180,000 freshman at 345 colleges and universities across the nation
Only 32.5 percent of the freshmen surveyed, the lowest figure in the poll's 19-year history, said they thought military spending should be increased. In his first term, President Reagan conducted a massive military buildup and promised to continue the buildup if elected.
They supported the president despite the contradiction.
To confuse matters even more, the poll indicated that this year's freshmen were slightly more materialistic than last year's group.
The trend toward materialism has grown steadily since 1971, when about 50 percent of the freshmen surveyed said that being able to make more money was an important reason for attending college. This year, that figure reached 68 percent.
Only the desire to be a recognized expert in one's field drew a higher response from the freshmen.
Like most surveys, this one raises more questions than it answers. Are these young, materialistic liberals really committed to social change, or are they latent conservatives who have yet to be faced with the true liberal litmus test - paying taxes to support their ideals?
In any case, it will be interesting to see how this strange breed evolves.
The University Daily Kansan invites individuals and groups to submit guest columns. Columns should be typewritten and double-spaced and should not exceed 625 words. They should include the writer's name, address and phone number. Columns can be mailed or brought to the Kansan office, 111 Staffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit or reject columns.
Enquiring minds want to know
The question that's more likely to be on people's minds this year is when will he make his debut on Broadway?
Who cares anymore?
Who killed IR 7
He is supposed to do just that this year, at least according to predictions for 1985 recorded in the National Enquirer.
The Enquirer in its Jan. 1, 1985, issue published what has become its annual feature — the predictions of "10 leading psychics" as the magazine described them. If these predictions, or even a few of them, are fulfilled, 1985 certainly will be an unforgettable year.
For example, the Enquirer quoted "famed Denver psychic" Louw Wright as saying, "The year 1985 is going to be the best year of our lives!
"Unemployment will plummet below 5 percent, and increased consumer spending will give the economy a big shot in the arm."
Wright also predicted that NASA would put a husband-wife team on a space shuttle and that they would have the first baby born in space.
Among the other predictions published by the Enquirer were:
Burt Reynolds will appear in "dolars of the episodes" of "Dallas," though the psychic failure to predict what happens will be his heir. R.B. long-least twin sister?
Larry Hagman, who portrays J.R.
Hughes, is part of a woman in a Broadway play.
Boy George, perhaps a role model for Larry and Burt. will disclose
under hypnosis that he was an Egyptian queen in a previous life.
Muhammad Ali, definitely not a role model for Boy George, will play himself in a "Rocky" sequel.
Mr. T. who gained fame from an earlier "Rocky" movie, will save two people trapped aboard "The Love Boat" after an explosion.
Pope John Paul II will imitate Mr. T when he wrestles a gunman to the
ground after an assassination attempt.
In romantic news, Vanessa Williams, of Penthouse fame, and movie star John Travolta will fall in love and announce plans to marry.
Another twosome — Sean Comery, better known as James Bond, and Sophia Loren, famed actress — will star in a hit movie about an aging man.
The Enquirer, however, does not hold a monopoly in the forecast field. Here are additional predictions for 1985, as reported by a local psychic:
For Valentine's Day, the trendy gift will be flowerpot hats designed for daily wear on campus. These hats are small and can increase green space on campus.
As more and more of the top leaders of the Soviet Union go to their rewards, however meager those might be, the band that performs at the funerals will tire of its too familiar routine of playing Chopin. Instead, the band will perform a medley of "When the Saints Go Marching In" and "Onward Christian Soldiers."
Bernhard Hugo Goetz, charged in
the shooting of four teen-agers on a New York City subway, will have a screen test for an American Express card? What would you see? — Don't leave hope, without it.
Remember the political slogan from the fall, "Come clean, Geraldine," referring to the financial disclosure adventures of Ferraro and her husband? An entrepreneur will seek to capitalize on that slogan with a new brand. Power will be pulled. However, the product will be pulled from the shelves after consumer groups complain that it is actually only whitewash.
A lucky fan of the KU men's basketball team will hit a half-court shot and win the prize, a race.
The accuracy of my predictions is based on the accuracy of those in the Enquirer. Fortunately for you readers, the Enquirer contains one prediction that can be tested soon: A young woman will imitate Lady Godiva and a horse across the field during the Super Bowl.
Perhaps the motto for 1985 should be, "If Brigham Young University can become national collegiate football champion, anything can happen!"
Award hunting for 'prudent' gun owner
Once again, it's time to bestow one of the least-coveted honors in America — this column's Gun Owner of the Year Award.
For reasons I don't understand, this award upsets some gun owners and the National Rifle Association, who always remind me that they are responsible for gun owners are prudent and careful and seldom shoot anybody.
Sure they are. But all I try to do is acknowledge the efforts of that tiny minority of gun owners who account for the 35,000 gunshot deaths and countless woundings in America. Don't they deserve some recognition?
Of course they do. That's why, in past years, we've honored such winners as the sleepy man who picked up his gun, instead of his ringing phone, and shot himself in the throat. He shot a gun, then shot his girlfriend in the thigh because she cooked him string beans once too often.
Selecting the winner out of this year's finalists wasn't easy.
As usual, there were the many hunters who mistook their peers for wild turkeys, deer, squirrels and possums. It's amazing what a man can learn about when there is between the average person and the average wild turkey.
The Outstanding Achievement by a Deer Slater award goes to a New Hampshire man who saw the deer come over a rise in a road.
He fired and scored a direct hit. The deer turned out to be a truck, and the driver took a bullet in the shoulder.
Fortunately, the hunter realized
his error in time and did not skin the driver or have the truck mounted.
There was also a large number of people in the Man's Best Friend category.
In Rock Island, Ill., a man put his rifle on the ground after shooting a passing bird. As he bent to pick up the bird's carcass, his shogun trigger, causing it to fire and wound the wound bird-slayer.
This confirms the NRA's slogan:
MIKE
ROYKO
Syndicated Columnist
"Guns don't shoot people — dogs shoot people."
In Dallas, a man became enraged when his two dogs chewed the wires of his motorcycle. He got a shotgun from his house and began beating the dogs with the butt. As he thrashed them, the gun went off, wounding him in the shoulder.
But the dogs haven't chewed on his motorcycle since.
An even angrier dog owner was a Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; businessman who vowed that if his dog gets hit by the dukes again, he would shoot it.
Sure enough, the poole nipped. So the man whipped out his .357-caliber Magnum and began blazing away, killing the poole.
"My wife walked in the damm door at the wrong time," he later told the police, explaining how a bullet bunched off the floor, hitting his wife in the leg. "She's real mad. But I got the dog."
The Build a Better Mousetrap Award goes to a man in Ann Arbor, Mich., who was resting in his backyard hammock when he saw a rat walking by.
He raised his .22 rifle, took careful aim, fired and shot himself in the foot.
Well, haven't you ever noticed now much a foot looks like a rat?
As the NRA likes to remind us, most gun owners are good family men. So this year's Family Togetherness Award goes to Dr. Cynthia Woolley who was cleaning his pistol while his wife sat nearby, breastfeeding their infant son.
The gun, which was wedged between the man's legs, went off. The bullet went clear through his thigh. It then bounced off the baby's head, causing a slight cut, going and hit the wife in the arm.
They all recovered. But when they get together for more of those quiet family evenings at home, it seems like you need to let the baby wear a helmet.
A special category — the IT Could Happen to Anybody Award — is shared by two worthy recipients.
First, there was the country-rock guitarist in Houston, who kept a tiny derringer concealed in his cowboy boots.
When he asked his girlfriend to vank off his boots, the gun fell out,
hit the floor, went off and got him in the tummy.
He recovered and is reported to be wearing sneakers these days.
And a man in Nebraska was out in the countryside, shooting bottles off a fence, when a bug flew up his arm and bit him. He was discharged and wounded his leg.
Things like that never happened to John Wayne.
Finally, our top champion, the Gun Owner of the Year.
The award goes to a guy named Brad in Cottage Grove, Ore.
Brad was upset over marital problems, so he walked into a tavern, waved a .337-caliber Magnum pistol and told everybody to get the hell out because he was in a foul mood.
The police surrounded the place, but Brad kept shooting.
Bullets whacked into buildings on the other side of the street. They whacked into buildings on the next street. People all over the neighborhood barricaded doors and windows.
For more than 90 minutes, the bullets flew. Finally, Brad walked out, a whiskey bottle in one hand, his gun in the other.
The police asked him to drop the gun. Instead, he aimed it at his own head, fired and collapsed to the ground.
The police rushed forward and found a gauging hole — in the top of Brad's hat. But his head was intact.
"I guess I aimed too high," he said.
It all started when an editor from Newsweek magazine in New York called with a query.
But they must come from somewhere
"We understand that you invented the term 'Yuppie,'" she said.
"We're doing a story on Yuppies, and we want to verify where the term came from," she said. "As best we can determine, you seem to be the first person to have used it."
"I knew this was going to happen some day," I said.
"Well, I used it pretty early, but I didn't. You need to in it," I said. "Do you think it to ask around."
"We've asked around," she said. "Jerry Rubin is the person who would know, and Jerry Rubin says that you were the first to use it."
"But I heard it somewhere," I said. "I know I didn't just pull it out of my head. I heard it somewhere, and then I used it."
"I don't know." I said. "If I could remember exactly, I'd tell you, I think it was in a bar. Either in a bar or on a street." I don't know.
"Where did you hear it?" the editor asked.
And so it happened that the issue of Newsweek came out with a cover story on "The Year of the Yuppie" and a cover illustration by Garry Trudeau. The cover story was enormous — in addition to the main article, there were no less than 10 sidebars — and the gist of the message was that the Yuppies are taking over America.
"We've checked around," she said.
"And we're pretty sure that you were the first person to use it in print. We can't find it anywhere else."
And in the story, the person credited with naming the Yuppies is Green.
This is pretty alarming. We all have secret little things that we are ashamed of, but I don't think my character is strong enough that I can live with the burden of being the name who named the Yuppies. So
before this gets out of hand, I must put this in historical perspective.
In March 1983, I was in New York, and someone suggested that I do a story about Jerry Rubin, the former radical who at the time was giving "networking" parties for young Manhattan executive types at Studio 54. I knew Rubin, and I thought it might make a good story.
As close as I can recall, we were sitting in a bar on Columbus Avenue. Someone at the table — it may have been Betsy West, a producer for ABC News — said, "I hear that Rubin isn't going to be the head of the Yippies
BOB
GREENE
Syndicated
Columnist
anymore. He wants to be the head of the Yuppies."
I knew what the Yippies were — "Yippie" was an acronym for Youth International Party, which was Rubin's old radio show. I asked if I asked the person at the table — again, I think it may have been Betsy West.
"A Yuppie is a young urban professional." the person said.
I know a funny line when I hear it; I
interviewed Rubin, and in the story I
know a funny line when I hear it.
"While he and Abbie Hoffman once led the Yippies — the Youth International Party — one social commentator has ventured that Rubin is now attempting to become the leader of the supples — young urban professionals."
That "one social commentator" phrase was a euphremia I used because I had no idea who had made the term up.
Now, I am no shrinking violet when it comes taking credit for things. I can be as small and as petulant as
But I didn't make up "Yuppie." I didn't think the person at the table — Betsy West? — had made it up, either. The person had made it clear that he or she had overheard it somewhere. Thus, the "one social commentator" disclaimer.
anyone when I feel I have been ripped off. If you recall my public whining over the title of the movie "Revenge of the Nerds" being taken from a phrase I first used in a column, you know what I mean.
Now it does. Newsweek is on the stands. There it is, blaring from the cover: "The Year of the Yuppie," identified as the corner of the term: me.
and derision on the Yuppies for even daring to exist. Since we were in school, my generation has been pretty universally hated by a good portion of the rest of America; for several years, they tried to make sure the hating had no name for the generation they hated. Now they did: "Yuppies."
A funny thing happened once the column was syndicated around the country. All of a sudden, "Yuppie" was a part of the language. It was as if people had been grasping for a term to describe that huge population hump that had been the student generation in the late 1960s and '70s
the generation that had become something else in the '80s. "Yuppie" was the word for it.
I watched in amusement as "official Yuppie handbooks" were published, as serious and somber columnists philospied over the meaning of the rise of the Yuppies, Gary Hart was described as the candidate of the Yuppies. I could have predicted what would happen next — an older generation of commentators began to heap scorn
Occasionally, I would wonder who it was who had first come up with the term. It really is a pretty good one. But it didn't much matter to me.
For the last three days, I have been trying to get hold of Betsy West to see if she remembers where she first heard the word. Betsy has been in the room by AB and the phone in her apartment rings and rings with no answer.
So somewhere out there, the person who invented the word is wandering around. If you are that person, and you read this please: Please, get in touch with me. I want to set the record straight about my life this time that I aspire to, but I wear—being Father of the Yuppies isn't one of them.
LETTERS POLICY
The University Daily Kansan welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should be typewritten and double-spaced and should not exceed 300 words. They should include the writer's name, address and phone number. If the writer is affiliated with the University, the letter should include his class and hometown, or faculty or staff position. The Kansan also invites individuals and groups to submit guest columns. Columns and letters can be mailed or brought to the Kansan office, 111 Stauffer-Flint Hall. The Kansan reserves the right to edit or reject letters and columns.