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Friday, September 8, 1989 / University Daily Kansan
Opinion
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN Creamer draws first blood by mocking war on drugs
The soldiers for the war on drugs were supposed to march into the nation Tuesday night after President Bush's speech, but they were merely limping in Lawrence.
Mark Creamer single-handedly made a laughingstock of the whole deal.
He couldn't get arrested on a bet.
County government. This smokes marijuana in front of the Douglas County Courthouse. He smoked it inside the Law Enforcement Center. He says that he even called 911 to alert the police to the situation.
And what happened? Police waved to him. An officer asked him whether he was trying to get in trouble.
Yes, he was trying to get in trouble. It was as if a soldier on the other side of the war on drugs was begging to surrender, and Bush's guys were too busy petting the White House puppies to notice.
That shouldn't happen. Unfortunately, it does. How many other anti-drug soldiers such as pot smokers, acid dropers, heroin shooters and even underage beer drinkers are slipping past the front lines and ducking into the foxholes for another hit?
Before we can have a war on drugs, we need a war on apathy. The police can't sit around waiting for drug abusers to come to them, but if the abusers do, the police shouldn't make them take a number before they arrest them.
Maybe the police don't think drug abuse is a serious crime. They report that during the first half of 1989, crime in Lawrence decreased 21 percent from the first half of 1988. Therefore, they must be doing some good work, or at least not the kind of work they did while fumbling the Creamer case.
Creamer's message was that the police weren't able to handle all the drug abusers in Lawrence, so pot should be made legal. Bush's message was that money should be thrown at law-enforcement agencies to combat drug abusers.
Obviously, money alone won't solve the problem. David Stewart for the editorial board
Lawmakers might set back free enterprise in Kansas
The Kansas Legislature could become the next potential contender to contemplate ripping off KU students
A joint committee on economic development in the Legislature is considering a proposed bill that could question the legality of the Kansas Union selling Apple Macintosh computers at reduced rates. The Union sells these computers to any full-time student or faculty member under the retail price.
Mike Reid, manager of the KU Bookstores, said that although the reduced cost for an Apple computer sold in the Union depended on the package, 1,123 students and faculty had purchased computers during the past two years.
Computer literacy needs to be promoted in all academic aspects of the University. There is a substantial need for students to acquire personal computers. With the computer center limited to one location and restricted in hours, access to computers is mandatory. If computers at cheaper prices are to be more accessible to students and faculty, the continuation of this program is essential.
this program is essential.
Local computer store distributors content that the Union's service infringes on their market and reduces their profits. A complaint forwarded to the Legislature by one local retailer claims that store profits have been cut by 91 percent and 16 people have been laid off since the Union began offering computers at a more competitive cost. Reid said that it took two full-time employees and one part-time employee to sell all 1,123 computers at the Union during the past two years.
The Legislature must realize the gravity of this situation. If they deem themselves worthy to monitor computer sales and dictate price ranges in Lawrence, what is to keep other local businesses from maximizing their profit potential through the same complaint process? Potential complaints from local apartment landlords could surface, claiming that University prices for living in residence halls are too competitive.
State officials must watch closely and review all the information presented to them if they are to make a wise and beneficial decision for all parties involved. Free enterprise, an ideal this nation has supported since its founding, must be allowed to prosper throughout the country, as well as in Kansas.
Thom Clark for the editorial board
News staff
News Star
David Stewart...Editor
Ric Brack...Managing editor
Daniel Nieml...News editor
Candy Niemm...Planning editor
Stan Diel...Editorial editor
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Tom Eblen...General manager, news adviser
Business staff
Linda Prokop...Business manager
Debra Martin...Local advertising sales director
Jerre Medford...National/régional sales director
Jill Lowe...Marketing director
Tami Rank...Production manager
Carrie Staininka...Assistant production manager
Margaret Townsend...Co-op manager
Grace Hines...Creative director
Christ Doe...Classified manager
Jeff Meesey...Tear sheets manager
Jessine Hines...Sales and marketing adviser
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Anniversaries get older every year
Come on America, snap out of it. You're living in the past.
This year has been the memorabilia collectors dream. Seriously, aren't you getting kind of tired of commemorative items touting anniversaries you couldn't care less about?
Here is a list of anniversaries, most of which I could have lived without:
**The bra. I could hardly wait to see Life's special issue featuring the 100th birthday of the bra. Unfortunately, it looked to me more like a J.C. Penney's catalog.**
Penny's catch:
▶ Woodstock. The last time sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll were safe, where was I? Bouncing around my cirb at the grand old age of 1-and-a-half. It was fun to see middle-aged executive types getting excited about this. I celebrated by wearing my tied-yellow T-shirt, watching "Woodstock" on MTV and wishing my hair was long.
wisdom.
"MTV. Speaking of MTV, they celebrated their 8th year on the air by bringing back Martha Quinn and giving her a show called 'Classic MTV.' Excuse me, I'm not quite that old. Some of the 'classic' videos they play are the same ones I saw in junior high and in high school.
in junior high and I. A. will grant you this one. The moon landing 20 years ago was a great moment in history. I spent the evening reading so I could avoid hearing "One giant step for mankind," for the umbrella time.
"The Wizard of Oz." Just when you thought it was safe to be from Kansas, Toto turns 50 years old. I actually went to Sedan and saw the "Yellow Brick Road," a road where you can pay $10 to have your name painted on yellow bricks. Working in Missouri for the summer, I got my fill of Dorothy
Brett
Brenner
Assoc. editorial editor
Woodstock. 'The last time sex, drugs and rock' n' roll were safe, where was I? Bouncing around my crib at the grand old age of 1-and-a-half. It was fun to see middle-aged executive types getting excited about this. I celebrated by wearing my tie-dyed T-shirt, watching "Woodstock" on MTV and wishing my hair was long.'
and Toto jokes.
► The Walkman. Oh, joy of joys, the walkman is 10 years old. Just think what life would be like without the walkman, especially for college students. How would we occupy our time while walking between buildings or sleeping in class?
▶ WWII. The event which perhaps has most influenced the world today began Sept. 1, 1939, when Germany invaded Poland. Hitler would have been 100 years old this year. One of those mellowing anniversaries that really makes you think.
KU Football. Rock Chalk Jayhawk, KU football turn 100. The boys in the Crimson and Blue
take the field Saturday against Louisville for their 93rd game. The 'Hawks have posted a winning record of 452 wins, 423 losses and 57 ties. Make that 453 wins with any luck this weekend.
Chaappaquiddick. In the year of Republican scandals, its nice to see another Democrat with his hand in the cookie jar, even if it did happen 20 years ago.
▶ Charles Manson. Look everybody, it's our favorite psychotic, murdering, cult figure, back again. Twenty years ago Manson made his mark on America by masterminding the brutal murders of Sharon Tate and others. I'm surprised I haven't seen any commemorative T-shirts or license plates featuring Manson's heinous image.
▶ Elvis. This summer marked the 12th anniversary of the death of "The King." I liked Elvis. I've even watched some of his campy movies, but let's let the man have his peace. Besides, I thought I saw him at the Kwik Shop the other day buying a National Enquirer and doughnuts.
> The French Revolution. The bicentennial of the French Revolution was celebrated in July. Being able to buy a T-shirt in Joplin, Mo., touting the French Revolution, in French nonetheless, was a special highlight of my summer.
► Forks. The French again. They introduced forks to the world 400 years ago. They must have done like the rest of us and eaten with their hands before this jump in technology. Though I may be mistaken, I believe the United Nations has declared it the international "Year of the Fork."
Someone save me, I think I may die of nostalgia.
▶ Brett Brenner is a Wichita senior majoring in political science and journalism.
Heartland doesn't change Midwest
David Lloyd, a fellow Midwesterner, points out something that is becoming indisputable.
Lloyd was born in the Midwest and grew up in the Midwest. Now, though, he is finding that the Midwest is no longer the Midwest. "I found Lloyd."
He is not sure when he moved from the Midwest to the Heartland. He was not aware of packing his bags and changing locales. Nevertheless, it has happened.
Mr. Lloyd, you're not alone. At some point in the not-too-distant past — none of us is sure quite when — all of us Midwesterners fell asleep one night and woke up to find that we no longer lived in the Midwest but were residents of the Heartland.
Lloyd thinks this may have something to do with a TV miniseries in which there was a country called "Heartland." Certainly you have seen those beer commercials, filmed beautifully and aimed to tug at the emotions, with the song lyrics: "I got a dream, I got a dream, comes from the heart of the Heartland."
"Midwest," while a perfectly acceptable word, is dull. There is no resonance to it — unless you live there and happen to love it. But if you're an advertising executive in New York or a movie producer in Hollywood, "heartland" gives off a warm feeling that "Midwest" does not.
All of this is not as mysterious as it sounds. It comes down to that most holy of modern reasons: marketing.
It's difficult enough to get movie and television producers interested in stories that take place in Kansas, Iowa, Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, Indiana,
Bob Greene
Syndicated columnist
etc. Try telling a movie executive; "It's a really nice Midwestern story," and watch his eyes glaze over. The Midwest is the place producers and advertising executives fly over on their way back and forth between Manhattan and Los Angeles.
But try this sentence: "It's a classic Heartland story." See? It feels warm. It feels universal. It feels wonderful.
Thus, those of us who have always considered our residence to be the Midwest are grudgingly conceding that we now live in the Heartland. Actually, it's a lovely word — if it weren't, why would the marketeers adore it so much? "Heart" and "and" — they can't beat it. It's a much more evocative combination than "Mid" and "west."
And it's been around for a while. There is a restaurant in Illinois called the Heartland Cafe that specializes in wholesome food, and that has an extremely loyal clientele. The Heartland Cafe was opened in 1976, long before "Heartland" began to replace "Midwest." (Michael James, co-founder of the Heartland Cafe, is amused at how widespread the word is becoming these days, "I happen to love the word 'Midwest,'" he said.) Even Richard Nixon seemed to see this coming. From Nixon's first inaugural address: "I know America
I know the heart of America is good."
Still, a lot of us are sort of committed to being Midwesterners, not Heartlanders. Probably for the very reason the marketing people are falling in love with "Heartland." Yes, "Midwest" is without pizzazz; yes, it touches no emotions, unless you are from there.
But that's what's great about the Midwest. You can grow up there secure in the knowledge that the outside world has no desire to pay any attention to you. "Heartland" sounds like a concept; "Midwest" is merely a place.
Bob Seger, perhaps the quintessential Midwestern rock'n-roller, once wrote a wonderful song about the disorientation a person from this part of the country can feel when he is thrown into the high-speed glitter of the California show-business world. The song was called "Hollywood Nights," and the first two lines say it all:
himself on his own.
He was a Midwestern boy on his own.
She stood there bright as the sun on that California coast,
He was a Midwestern boy on his own.
Somehow, it wouldn't have been quite the same if Seger had portrayed himself as "a Heartland boy on his own."
But all of us Midwestern boys — and girls — are destined to lose this one. The trend is clear. Heartland it is, whether we like it or not.
Any comments about all of this may be directed to this column. c/o the Midwest.
Bob Greene is a syndicated columnist
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BY SCOTT PATTY