Page 8A
Friday, September 6, 1996
Bird's EyeView
A bug to own a
Magic
Bus
Jason Ash, Assaria junior, had a Volkswagen Beetle for his first car and now owns a van.
Bv Lindsey Henry
Chad Welch is in love. Not with someone, but something: his white. 1977 Volkswagen bus.
"I have totally fallen in love with it," said Welch, Overland Park senior. "I would do absolutely anything and everything to keep my bus running."
Welch is one of many KU students and Lawrence residents who own a vehicular tribute to a generation of peace and love. A popular mode of transportation, colorful Volkswagen buses can be seen parked all around Lawrence streets and alleys.
ween purchased his bus, complete with a bed and a sink, in October 1994, from a used car dealer. He said he was looking for a bus to drive to Phish and Grateful Dead shows.
"I had been going to shows for a while, and I had to have something to stay in," he said.
Welch said his best memory of his Volkswagen bus occurred in July 1906.
while following the Grateful Dead
I was most thankful that my bus got me to Soldier Field in Chicago," he said. "That was the last show for Jerry. Although it wasn't the greatest show, I was happy to have been there."
For Jason Ash, Assaria junior, owning a Volkswagen bus means not only easy traveling, but camaraderie on the open road.
"Bus owners everywhere tend to be really friendly," Ash said. "VW bus drivers always honk and wave to each other when they are coming down the highway."
Lawrence is a good town for buses and bus owners, Ash said.
"There are so many buses around, it is fun to see all of the others," he said. "Plus, Lawrence is such a laid-back community, these buses fit in very well here."
Ash acquired his green, 1974 bus two years ago when its previous owner sold
"There is nothing like sitting up high in front over the wheels of a bus."
-Trent George. Lawrence Resident
it in McPherson.
"This girl was driving across country from Seattle, and the bus' engine blew up," he said. "I bought it from her and fixed it myself."
Though his bus, nicknamed the Shaggin' Wagon, was originally bright yellow, Ash said he painted the bus green to hide its dents.
"Green is my favorite color, so I was trying to find a hippie-green color, but it was way too bright," he said. "So I opted for a sage green."
Also an owner of four Volkswagen beetle cars, Ash said he thought owning Volkswagens required having patience to handle frequent breakdowns.
"Owning one is a labor of love," he said. "I would never sell it, even though I cuss at it all of the time."
For Drew DeGood, Tampa, Fla., sophomore, selling his green, 1971 bus may soon be necessary. He purchased his bus earlier this year, only to find out it needed a new engine.
DeGood said he couldn't decide whether to keep it or sell it.
"It would be ideal for a road trip, even though I could never take one with my bus," he said.
DeGood warned future bus owners to be sketical when buying a Volkswagen.
"You have to be careful about buying a bus," he said. "It is easy to get screwed."
Although he soon may be without his bus, DeGood said he would never purchase any other kind of car.
"They facilitate socializing in a very kind way," he said.
One drawback bus owners said they faced was negative responses from others on the road.
Owning a bus totally identifies you as a hippie," Welch said. "The cops pretty much pulled me over because I was driving a bus. They assumed there were drugs in the car. While they searched my bus, they pretty much tore it apart. That was the scariest thing to have happen."
Despite his bad experience, Welch said he too would drive only Volkswagens.
For Trent George, Lawrence resident,
owning a Volkswagen bus would remind
him of his high school days. Georgia is looking for a bus to buy and fix up.
"I can still see myself in a bus, and I might become a collector," Georgie said. "There is nothing like sitting up high in front over the wheels of a bus."
The facts of life: students remember the "magic moment"
People have always debated the ins and outs of the subject. But for many students, sex was a topic
that was too embarrassing for their parents to talk about with them.
"Parents don't deal well with the issue of sex," said Marion Obrien, associate professor of human development and family life. "They get very embarrassed and try to distract the child."
The age that children start asking about sex varies with each child and his or her individual experience.
"My dad never told me anything — nothing. I figured it out on my own," said Billy Driver, Lawrence junior.
"Usually around fourish they start being curious," said Pat Pisani, program director for Hilltop Davcare.
When children do ask the million dollar question, parents often explain sex in such a complex manner that it confuses the child, he said.
In the age of television, sex sells everything from perfume to jeans. As children grow older, parents need to have an open relationship
with them about sex, because they will encounter sex on television, Obrien said.
"They can't avoid it," she said. Manolito Jones, Hannibal, Mo., junior, said that when he was young, every time the subject of sex came up his mother just gave him a disapproving look.
"I was watching a on Saturday morning for kids about sex; when my mom came in the room, she made me change the channel," he said.
disapproving look
Those parents who do educate their children about sex usually do it with books.
Most of what Jenner Arnett, Lee's Summit, Mo.
senior, said she learned about sex came from listening to her brother and his friends talk about Playboy magazine. But her parents tried to give her a less graphic version of sex.
Although the subject can be uncomfortable for parents and kids, some parents do attempt to tell their children about reproduction.
"Mostly they just shoved a book my way. It was called Growing Up and Liking It, that I remember,"
she said.
"When I was in ninth grade my mom started talking about condoms," said Rob Grondahl,
"I was watching a show on Saturday morning for kids about sex; when my mom came in the room, she made me change the channel."
-Monolito Jones, Hannibal, Mo., Junior
Lawrence senior.
"I just put my fingers in my ears and went 'la, la, la, la. but 'I was in the car so I couldn't get away."
Some parents take the creative route when telling their children about sex. After all, who hasn't heard about the stork? But Melinda
Barr's parents took the Village People song to heart and got a little help from the YMCA.
"My parents didn't really talk to me about sex, but I remember that they made my sisters take a class at the Y," said Barr, Wichita senior. "My parents had to take it with them, and they played games like
'name that body part.' So there was my dad in a class yelling, 'Panis' I think they were so traumatized after that, they decided not to talk about it with me."
Most children still get their sexual information from the child on the playground.
1
Oriben said that it was realistic for children to get details about sex from their own generation.
"After all, that's who they're going to be having sex with," she said.