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THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Details, page 2
Published since 1889 by the students of the University of Kansas
Monday
Monday February 16, 1987 Vol. 97, No. 96 (USPS 650-640)
Hays applauds Seib when he returns home
By JOSEPH REBELLO
Staff writer
HAYS — On the same basketball court he had played on as a schoolboy more than 13 years ago, Wall Street Journal reporter Gerald Seib heard his hometown mayor proclaim Saturday as "Gerald Seib Day."
Red and white balloons, Valentine's Day hearts, a large U.S. flag, and posters saying, "Jerry, We're Glad You're Home" and "God Bless You" adorned the gym at Hays 'Thomas More Prep-Marian school, where about 400 city students and friends gathered to welcome Seib home' from an Iranian hotel.
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the courage with which Seib endured his ordeal in Iran made him a world hero.
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At that time, Iranian students demonstrated several times on campus against U.S. policies and the Shah of Iran.
"But you were a hero to us before all this happened," he said. Before the public reception, Seb said that for one fleeting moment David had met Pan. His mind went back to his boys as Kanser editor in fall 1977.
Seib said that those events were not covered enough by the Kansan then, and said that the newspaper should have paid closer attention
Timely Topics
Watch out
As luck would have it, today is Friday the 13th
In Christian tradition, Friday
Happy Friday the 13th. Have a nice day.
A Brief Dictionary of American Superstitions lists Friday the 13th as "probably the most widely spread superstition." Friday the 13th itself originally was not considered unlucky. Instead, the date was an intersection between a day and a number both thought to bring bad luck.
It just doesn't sound right. Friday the 13th is supposed to be mean, nasty, and above all, unlucky. This day should not, under any circumstances, be nice.
Friday the 13th victimizes our calendars three times this year including today, a prospect that might have sent a collective chill through previous generations. But the unluckiest of days and the number 13 itself seem now to have all the scare value of a toothless old vampire.
Mike Nichols, owner of the Magick Lantern bookstore in Kansas City, Mo., said the perception of Friday and 13 today actually may draw from pre-Christian traditions. His store sells books and gift items relating to fantasy, metaphysics and the occult.
He said Friday and 13 both were held to be good luck by the witches of northwestern Europe and some of the other pagan religions that preceded Christianity.
was the day Jesus Christ was crucified. Prior to his betrayal, 13 sat at the table at the Last Supper.
"When one religion takes over for another, the things that were considered good in the old religion are looked down upon by the new religion." Nichols said.
"The party line for Christianity that is witches are bad, so that led to the rationalization that Friday and 13 are bad."
Nichols said.
An even older explanation for 13 as an unlucky number dates back to Scandanavian legends. A feast of 12 gods was interrupted by a 13th party who murdered one of the revelers. This was the beginning for the European superstition that said if 13 people were seated together at a table, one of them would die within a year.
In U.S. culture, the number 13 by itself once inspired enough fear among the superstitious to disrupt numbering systems for skyscraper floors and hotel rooms.
rooms:
Anyone planning to stay in Room 13 at the Jayhawk Motel, 1044 N. Third St., or the College Motel, 1703 W. Sixth St., should check his reservations. In both cases, the room numbers skip from 12 to 14.
"We had one like this in Hutchinson and it didn't have a 13 either," said Paul Oelschlaeger, owner of the Jayhawk Motel.
Offer of the day.
Nor is there a 13 Strong Hall. A locked door covered with advertisements is all that separates a suite of offices numbered 11 from classroom 15.
However, fear of the number 13 and those Fridays that fall on the 13th seems to be waning. On a day when some used to fear leaving the house, Diane Spurling is going to the dentist.
Spurling, who said she was only a little superstition, will not be alone in the waiting room. Her dentist, Steven Heck, has an appointment schedule that is about three-quarters full.
"I thought about it at first when she scheduled me for the 13th, but it didn't bother me too much," Spurling said. She is scheduled to have two teeth filled today.
"Being as how we played every Friday and Saturday night for the last five or six years, we've probably played about 15 of them," said Jeff Frost. Plain Jane keyboard player.
The Kansas City rock group Plain Jane also ranks among the Friday the 13th non-believers.
Student Union Activities has scheduled events today in observance of St. Valentine's Day and Friday the 13th. Titled "Unlucky in Love," the program is a mix
"Nothing bad has ever happened, not that really stands out." Frost and the band play tonight in Junction City.
Story by Rob Knapp
See UNLUCKY, p. 12
Photo illustration by Diane Dultmeier and Darcy Chang
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4 KANSAN MAGAZINE/February 13, 1987