KANSAN
Holiday means nothing to many
Presidents' Day hard to celebrate
By Mark McMaster
Kansan staff writer
Hallmark does not make Presidents' Day cards.
After all, the company has a full line of St. Patrick's Day greetings, and during Christmas it even makes cards that pets can send to each other.
A holiday has to be pretty low on Americans' list of priorities to be ignored by one of America's card giants.
But Washington and Lincoln don't get their own birthday cards.
The demand just isn't there, said Judy Hamon, assistant manager of Rod's Hallmark, 2329 Iowa St. The holiday is not as marketable for greeting cards like Valentine's Day is.
"It's not a Hallmark-type thing," she said.
There are no gifts to open, no people to pinch and no eggs to hide. It is hard to be attracted to a holiday that is nearly impossible to celebrate.
"Almost no one notices what it's about," said Ken Collier, assistant professor of political science. "Even the holidays we regard as religion we get distracted from pretty easily. You take a holiday like President's Day, and it's easily forgotten about."
The University doesn't observe Presidents' Day, and most students don't pay attention to it either. For many, the holiday intended to memorialize America's great presidents has become little more than an excuse for a sale.
Happy Birthday Michael Jordan
For those who have already forgotten, today is Presidents' Day.
Strangely, neither of the two presidents historically honored in February — Washington and Lincoln — were born on this date. Lincoln's birthday was Wednesday, and Washington's is Saturday. None of the presidents were born on Feb. 17, not even Ronald Reagan, who also celebrates a February birthday.
Who was born today? Basketball superstar Michael Jordan - but that is irrelevant.
Presidents' Day is celebrated today thanks to legislation called the "Monday Holiday Law," which was signed by then president Richard Nixon in 1971. The law, which was lobbied for by the resort industry, guarantees a three-day weekend every February.
Before 1971, most states commemorated Washington and Lincoln individually on the dates of their birth. The new law declared the third Monday of each February to officially observe Washington's birthday.
Over the years, it became known as Presidents' Day and included the celebration of Lincoln's birthday.
Of little significance
As a result of the holiday's strange history, its exact commemoration is unclear. Some say the day memorializes Washington and Lincoln's birthdays, while others insist that it honors all American presidents.
Even Chase's Calendar of Events, an authority on holidays, admits uncertainty about whom Presidents' day celebrates.
Many students say the holiday has little meaning to them.
"It's like asking people what Labor Day is about or what Memorial Day
"It seems a lot of kids don't pay attention to issues or what people have done to get us where we are today," said Craig Loo, Bucyrus sophomore.
Often, the holiday is looked upon as just another date, and the underlying cause for the holiday is forgotten.
"As much as we like George Washington and respect him, we don't go around wearing George Washington T-shirts."
KenCollier assistant professor of political science
is about, said Eric Love, assistant professor of history. "The spirit of the holiday is lost. People just think of it as a three-day weekend."
And how are students commemorating the presidents?
"I'm going to go to the bars," said Kelly Harrigan, Chicago, Ill., freshman.
Love said that he didn't think the lack of appreciation for the holiday's meaning was a sign of anything wrong with American culture. It's not a crime to forget about presidential achievements, but doing so means missing out on a part of our heritage, he said.
"President's Day, when I was in elementary school, was an opportunity to talk about Washington and what he really did—the dangers and sacrifices that went into the founding of our nation," Love said. "We were becoming aware of American heroes and the substance that founded this nation. What the rest of us have done with this day is probably a shame in that we're missing an opportunity."
He said that the holiday should make people question their beliefs about the president's role and democracy in our nation.
Collier attributed the lack of interest in Presidents' Day to a political culture that stresses plurality instead of individual leaders. We don't have cults of personality, no national figures like Evita Peron or Mao Zedong, he said.
"We're not as tied to individuals," Collier said, "As much as we like George Washington and respect him, we don't go around wearing George Washington T-shirts. Americans aren't that political."
David Katzman, chairman of the department of American Studies, said that he didn't think people needed to examine history or have a formal celebration to give the holiday meaning. Even when a person changes his schedule because he has the day off from work, or realizes the mail isn't going to come, he realizes the cause of these things is a deference to the achievements of the presidents.
It creates symbolism, which Katz man said was important in itself.
Love agreed that the procedural recognition of the holiday was a considerable honor.
"The fact that it's recognized at all gives Washington and Lincoln some legitimacy and sets them apart from other people," he said.
Martin Luther King and Jesus Christ are the only other historical figures whose birthdays are recognized as federal holidays.
A reason to get out of school
Although 2 number of schools across the nation are closed today, the University of Kansas does not officially observe the holiday. Classes are held, office hours are kept, and the administration performs duties as usual, said Harlan Roedel, university relations spokesman.
Most federal and state employees receive a paid holiday, although classified University staff, who are legally state employees, still have to work today.
Collier said that by choosing to not observe the holiday, the University is sending a message to students.
in session.
"I think it does convey that the holiday is less important than others, but I think that is how the administration feels," he said. "The rest of country is using it as an excuse to hock bed sheets, so I don't think KU is the first to slight a president."
If classes were canceled, Loo said that students wouldn't take the holiday any more seriously.
The true celebration
Lawrence public schools are also
"I don't know if it warrants canceling classes," he said.
Although few people may go out of their way to pay homage to the presidents, the holiday has become an important marketing tool for retailers.
The true celebration has become the Presidents' Day sales.
It seems that nearly every retailer has planned some sort of promotion to lure customers in throughout the three-day weekend. Around Lawrence and Kansas City, everything from furniture to furs can be purchased for a limited time at very low prices.
The faces of the presidents appear on banners at car lots and advertisements for furniture stores, supposedly helping the stores make an honest American buck.
Kevin Montgomery, sales manager at Payless Cashways Building Materials, 3434 Iowa St., said that because many people did not have to work, store traffic increased during the holiday.
"I don't think it's strange at all that Presidents' Day is associated with sales and shopping," said Anna Van Cleave, Overland Park sophomore. "It's a uniquely American way to celebrate the American president."
Thomas Jefferson 1743-1826 Third President
Grover Cleveland 1837-1908 22nd President
John F. Kennedy
1917-1963
35th President
Richard M. Nixon 1913-1994 37th President
February 17, 1997
LEAD STORIES
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Justice Italian Style: In November, a judge in Rome ruled that a 24-year-old man was entitled to live with his mother even though she didn't want him in her house. The woman said that if her son came home then she would leave.
in January, Jack Petelhu, 43, claimed to hear the voice of God, stripped down to his underwear, climbed the ornate facade of the Ansonia Hotel in New York City, resisted police efforts
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or more than an hour to talk him down and finally jumped. Cynical New Yorkers were said to be astonished at the dozens of bystanders who were actually yelling, "Don't jump!" Petelhu was spared serious injury when he landed on a rescue air bag.
- Life Immitates Crime Movies: In January, six inmates, including two convicted murderers, tunneled out of the maximum security state prison in Pittsburgh, using tools from the prison machine shop. Also, the Banco Credito Argentino in Buenos Aires was robbed of about $25 million by a gang that had made a 165-foot-long tunnel under a street. It was Buenos Aires '55th tunnel-related bank robbery since 1990.
POLICE BLOTTER
The University Daily Kansam
Police in Allentown, Pa., discovered in September that a man who was
recently arrested at the bus station with 280 small bags of heroin in his luggage had chewed off the skin of seven fingertips after being jailed. A police sergeant said that there certainly was a strong indication that somebody somewhere was looking for him.
And in Columbia, Mo., in December, Eric Criss, 31, armed only with a socket wrench, failed in his alleged attempt to rob a grocery store. In Calgary, Alberta, in December, a man brandishing only a bottle of household cleaner robbed a Bank of Nova Scotia.
Armed and Dangerous: A man robbed a variety store in Guelph, Ontario, in December wielding only a 3-foot-long tree branch.
A 21-year-old allegedly intoxicated man was spotted by police on an Austin, Minn. street in January urinating on a car but was only warned when he persuaded police it was his own car.
A few minutes later police returned and arrested the man for DUI, having figured out that he was urinating on the car's door lock to melt the ice so that he could get in and drive away.
10A
Roger Augusto Sosa, 23, was charged with burglary early on Christmas morning in Chevy Chase, Md. Scott Kane and his wife had heard a prowler in the house and called 911. Despite the clamor of several squad cars arriving and seven officers rushing into the living room with guns drawn, Sosa reportedly was seated under the tree, blissfully opening the Kanes' presents.
In October in Great Falls, Mont., Tina Rae Beavers, 19, was arrested
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According to a sheriff's deputy, she was energetically complying with her jailed husband's request to remove her clothes, lie down in the grass and make suggestive movements so that he could see her from his cell window.
Slaves to love: In December in Hong Kong, Wong Saiwa, 33, pleaded guilty to bank robbery but said that the only reason he did it was because he felt challenged to keep his girlfriend, who was about to leave him. And in San Diego in January, Michael William Smith, 26, and Danny Mayes, 20, were charged with arson for fires that they said they had set at the behest of Tammy Jo Garcia, 27, who they said became sexually aroused by the fires. She was also charged.