UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
Thursday, January 30, 1997
5
Is the force still with us? Star Wars returns to orbit
Childhood memories are now far, far away
By Jeff Ruby
Kansan staff writer
Slap me silly and call me an Ewok, but it seems people are taking this Star Wars craze way too seriously the second time around.
With George Lucas' beloved trilogy on the verge of blasting its way back into theaters, a Star Wars fanatic friend engaged me in a spelbinding conversation. In an offhand manner, I told him I always thought C3P0 was a worthless pansy who only got in the way and complained and called Chewbacca a furball when the poor Wookie was just trying to help.
My friend — who politely asks that people call him Obi-Wan Johnson — went ballistic. He screamed about how C3P0 was undeniably crucial to the rebels' cause, that the golden droid was proficient in 2,100 languages, and that if it hadn't been for his help, we would never have blown up the death star and overthrown the evil imperial forces.
We?
Whoa, pardner. Some of us are holding on to our light sabers a little too tight. Tighter than Han Solo's pants. Tighter than Princess Leia's skimpy brown bikini when she was chilling with Jabba the Hut in Return of the Jedi. Tighter than a keg party in Yoda's little house. Too damn tight.
I admit that as a child I refused to wash my Empire Strikes Back sheets for months at a time. Yes, it's
COMMENTARY
true that I slept with a smelly little Chewbacca doll so long that my parents wanted to put me in a special class at school. OK, so I went as a stormtrooper for six consecutive Halloweens. And hey, I'm sure I wasn't the only one on the block who took my lunch to school in the neato Darth Vader carrying case where you put your collection of action figures.
But for crying out loud, that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away — a galaxy I like to call childhood. I was 10 years old, for Luke's sake. At that age I was also into arguing about which Smurf was coolest (Hefty, of course) and making squishy armpit noises 15 hours a day.
But now, at 24, the Star Wars movies offer me nothing but nostalgia. Granted, they were cool 20 years ago, and they're cool now. But pardon me if I can no longer muster up the interest to argue whether Boca Fett — the coolest of all characters to real Star Wars fanatics — really died when he fell into the mouth of that huge sand beast in Return of the Jedi.
We were never so willing to forgive terrible acting as with these films. Take away Harrison Ford, and the entire ensemble had about as much dramatic range as Pee Wee Herman. Our hero, Mark Hammill, recently has been spotted on some questionable late-night movies on Cinemax. Yeah, I know Britain made Alec Guinness a knight because of his acting, but in Britain they have a habit of making a sir out
of everyone from Adam Sandler to Laurence Olivier.
We've quoted lines from movies so much we don't realize we're doing it anymore. We've all tried to use the force to close the window or to turn on the stereo when we were too lazy to get up to do it ourselves. We've learned the hard way that saying "You don't need
to see our identification to the bouncer at the door of the Bottleneck doesn't work in real life.
We call Darth Vader by his last name as if he were the starting center for Iowa State.
And without a shred of embarrassment, we speak of Jawas, Jedis, Wookies and Ban-thas as if they were e th n i c groups living among us.
We can't seem to let go of Star Wars. And now that we have the opportunity to line up for another joy ride in the Millennium Falcon with the wuss C3P0, we don't ever have to let go.
May the force be with us.
Red Lyon Tavern
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832-8228
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SPRING 1997 CAREER AND EMPLOYMENT FAIR
Abbott Laboratories Kaisas Innovation Corporation
Adecco Kelly Technical Services
Aeroteck, Inc. Kirkland's, Inc.
American Multi-Cinema, Inc. KU - Air Force ROTC
American Red Cross KU - Army ROTC
AmeriCorps National Service KU - Mount Oread Bookstore
AmerUs Bank KU - Recreation Services
Arbonne International KU - Upward Bound/Math and Science Center
B'nai Britt Beber Camp LDS, Inc.
BDM - Oklahoma, Inc. Labconco Corporation
Bayer Corporation Lawrence Memorial Hospital
Best Computer Consultants, Inc. Luby's Cafeterias, Inc.
Boeing Commercial Airplane Group Manpower Temporary Services
Budget Car and Truck Rental Mass Mutual - The Booger Financial Group
Camps Airy and Louise NK Lawn and Garden Company
Camp Birchwood New York Life Insurance Company
Camp Lincoln and Camp Lake Ilubert Nolan Real Estate Services, Inc.
Camp Mishawaka Northwestern Mutual Life / Baird Securities
Camp Ozark Northwestern Mutual Life/Hames Agency
Camp Timberlake and Camp Tylerhill Olsten Professional Staffing Services
Camp Wood YMCA Osco Drug/Save-on Drug
Cardinal Health Output Technologies
Carrousel Trading Company, Inc. Overland Park Marriott Hotel
Central Intelligence Agency Ozark Talent
Century Personnel PBC Staffing of Kansas City
Cerner Corporation PackerWare Corporation
Chubb Group of Insurance Companies People to People International
City of Kansas City Missouri Pepsi Cola Company
City of Topeka Police Department Pro Staff Personnel Services
College Pro Painters Pulte Home's Corporation
Commerce Bank N.A. Rainbow Generation
Coro Kansas City Raytheon Aircraft
Deluxe Check Printers Robert E. Miller Company
Dept. of Health and Human Services, Inspector General Robert Half / Accountemts
Ecology and Environment, Inc. Rock Springs 4-H Center
Ecumentical Christian Ministries Sallie Mae Servicing Corporation
Enterprise Rent-A-Car Sears Roebuck And Company
Ernst and Young Security Benefit Group
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Sherwin-Williams Company
Ferguson Enterprises, Inc. Signature Staffing/MH Contract Services
Franklin Financial Services Spangler Printers
Fred Pryor Seminars St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center
Frito - Lay Sprint
Gilbert-Magill Company State Farm Insurance Company
Half Price Stores State of Kansas - Division of Personnel Services
Heartland Council of Campfire Boys and Girls Stuart Hall Company
Heartspring Sunflower State Games
IBM Super Target/Target Stores
IKON Office Solutions Superior Chevrolet
Illuminet TouchNet Information Systems, Inc.
Informix Software, Inc. U.S. Army / Army Reserve
Innovex, Inc. U.S. Marine Corps
Interconnect Devices, Inc. United States Navy Officer Programs
Interim Personnel Universal Computer Systems
J.C. Penney Co. Vincentian Service Corps
Jones Store Company Wildwood Outdoor Education Center
KMXV and KUDL Radio Station Winning Ways, Inc.
Kansas City Royals Worlds of Fun
Kansas Department of Corrections
WED. FEB. 5,1997-10:00 AM TO 3:00 PM KANSAS UNION BALLROOM
KU WOMEN'S HOOPS!
THIS THURS, Jan. 30!
IT'S ANOTHER BIG 12 BATTLE
12 KU VS.
11 TEXAS TECH
7:00PM
STUDENTS FREE WITH KUID!
RELISH IN DINING ECSTASY AT The Castle Tea Room
1307 MASSACHUSETTS BY RESERVATION ONLY (913) 843-1151
EATING DISORDERS AWARENESS WEEK February 3-7
Eating Disorders Info Table Kansas Union, 4th floor Mon., Feb. 3 & Thur., Feb. 6
If you have eating concerns, please see a Watkins healthcare provider or contact
Experts say that eating disorders may affect as many as 7 million women and a small number of men. The most common eating disorders are anorexia nervosa (self-starvation) bulimia (binging and purging), and binge eating disorder.
If you have eating out
Watkins healthcare provi
Ann Chapman, R.D.,
© 864-9575. There is a
minimal fee for each
dietitian visit.
//www.ukans.edu/home/watkins
864-9500
Volunteer Opportunities
The Center for Community Outreach Programs
Thursday, January 30
7:00
Walnut Rm. Kansas Union
Campus Volunteer Program College Bound Program Community Drop-in Center Community Internship Program Concerned, Aware & Active Students Jubilee Cafe
Students On Board
Students Tutoring for Literacy
Peer Mentoring Program
Youth Volunteer Corps
Youth Student Council
For More Information, Call 864-3710
STUDENT
SENATE
The Williams Companies is looking for talented, dedicated and creative employees to join us in our quest to be among corporate America's top performers. Building on a foundation of impressive growth and success, we are well-
THE WILLIAMS COMPANIES, INC. Where talent meets opportunity
positioned to meet this aggressive goal. With headquarters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, we are a multi-billion dollar corporation with operations in 47 states and international locations. Our
companies consist of the nation's largest-volume system of interstate natural gas pipelines; business units offering a complete array of traditional and leading-edge energy solutions; and single-source providers of national business communications systems and international satellite and fiber-optic video services.
We offer competitive salaries and benefits, and the prestige of working for a company that plays a key role in shaping the future of the energy and communications industries.
We will be conducting interviews on campus on Wednesday, February 19th. We're looking for students majoring in computer science, and management information systems. Please notify the placement office if you are interested in scheduling an interview. For more information about our company or job opportunities visit our Internet site at http://www.twc.com.
THE WILLIAMS COMPANIES, INC.
P.O. Box 2400
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74102