Once again it is Earth Day on the Creighton University campus, a place where conservatism and "family values" rule. Yet, is that patchouli that I smell? And are those hippies that I see dancing on the grass to the beat of exotic jamming? Well, sort of. Yes, there are 6 girls in frocks dancing barefoot, clearly enjoying their liberal independence for the time being. But tomorrow they will once again be living in reality, wearing clothes from the Gap, worrying about GPA's, and biting fingernails over med school admissions. That one rasta janitor will once again be alone in his sea of dreads and Jamaican colors. But don't get me wrong... I believe that Earth Day serves a vital purpose. For all those from California, it allows a glimpse into what life would be like had they chosen a Cali state school over Creighton. For the frat crowd, it informs them that there are other drugs besides alcohol. And for the faculty and other passive observers, it creates the illusion that Creighton students actually have concern for matters that aren't self-serving. But enough of that- I need to go protest the proposed grade change policy, which will ruin my GPA and prevent me from getting into Stanford med school.
My roommate put it best when he declared, "I'd be a chem major if it weren't for the labs." Agreed. Not only is the material interesting, but, more importantly, the faculty is wonderful. They're just... different. Between trading Phish tapes with my gen. chem. professor, Dr. Holly Ann Harris, and listening to crazy stories about iguanas invading hotel rooms and cats missing eyes from my organic chem. professor, Dr. Francis Klein, there's never a dull moment when you're on the second floor of the Rigge science building. For your reading pleasure, I present to you the best/craziest/flakiest quotes from my two years of chem classes:
Dr. Harris says...
The world according to Dr. Klein...
For those of you living in a cave for the past week, you have missed perhaps the brightest thing in my life since Creighton basketball star Rodney Buford entertained my theology class with his sheer lack of intelligence.... that's right, you have missed Kerry Wood's past two games with the Cubs. For those of you not in the know, Kerry Wood is the twenty-year-old rookie pitcher for the Chicago Cubs who has blown into the record books, in his first six games, with his 100 mph fastball. Let's look at the stats, shall we?
(Wood vs. Houston Astros, May 6th) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA 9 1 0 0 0 20 0 3.95In this game, Wood set a National League record and tied the Major League record (set by Roger Clemens) with 20 strikeouts. The reason why this is the greatest game ever pitched is because he allowed only one hit, zero walks, and he threw only 122 pitches in the complete game shutout. Plus, he faced one of the best-hitting teams in baseball. This was the greatest performance ever. How about his next appearance?
(Wood vs. Arizona D-backs, May 11th) IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA 7 5 1 1 1 13 1 3.41This is also a very solid outing. Sure, he gave up a few hits and even a homer against a lackluster team, but 13 strikeouts and only one walk is impressive. What amazes me so much is that, for a power pitcher with a fastball consistently in the mid-90's, he maintains tremendous control (as evidenced by one walk in 16 innings pitched). Kerry Wood, I will venture to guess, will be one of the greatest pitchers of our time.
"One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad
"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer" - Adolf Hitler
hmmm.....
Today will be known (at least to sixth-grade girls) as "the day the music died." Yes, Ginger Spice has left the Spice Girls. There's not much I'll say about this group (which was actually concocted soley by a record company interested in $$, with no thought given to artistic expression), but I'll be the first to admit that I would have seen the Spice Girls in concert (as long as I didn't have to pay $55 or whatever for tix).. think of what a fun night that would be. Oh, well. We'll alway have NKOTB and Vanilla Ice played at every %@ dance for the rest of our lives. Oh, and the other cool thing that I learned today is that there was a "Scary Spice." I still want to be "salt-n-peppa spice," but oh, well.
After about 16 years, it's clear that Ronald Reagan's brainchild, "The War on Drugs" (read: the conservative approach to lowering crime rates, a.k.a. sending in lots of cops to tackle a problem after it is out of hand instead of helping out the poverty-striken children before they become criminals).. anyway, the "war on drugs" has failed. I don't think this was too tough to predict. Conservative crime-fighting techniques aside, making something illegal is a short-sighted and inefficient method of preventing its abuse. As prohibition has taught us, the way to encourage responsible use of a substance is not to make it illegal.
I believe that we must eliminate the drinking age (I'd like to point out, at this point, that I don't drink, smoke, or do drugs, so I'm not some toked up hippie saying all this...), and seriously consider legalizing marijuana and other drugs. The immediate effect will be the increased use of these drugs by people who want to experiment. The long term effects would be worth it: drug cartels will no longer be a profitable business venture as the street value plummets; drug-related crime decreases as people don't have to support a $2000/week crack habit, just a $50/week one; and eventually the society adjusts its values to promote the responsible use of drugs, much as Europe has with alcohol. "Social" use of drugs and alcohol will become normal, but society will look harshly upon those who misuse and abuse these drugs. Maybe at this point, we won't have to spend billions every year to arrest drug cartel leaders who are replaced in four days anyway.
Madlibs were great, weren't they? Enjoy one, on me! Just click here!
Mark Grace, Chicago Cubs' star first-baseman puts it best when he describes the Cubs' dream season:
"My girlfriend wants to kill me; I'm miserable to be around. I can't sleep. I can't eat. All I think about is baseball. God, I love this."
Tuesday marks a momentous day: it's the return of Phish and CHiPS. Phish releases their new album entitled "The Story of the Ghost," and the classic early 80's cop show "CHiPS" returns to the air as "CHiPS 99," with Ponch and John being 25 years older. Cool, eh?