The Capital Times, March 21, 2005
Steve Mayer spouts off
By Steven Mayer
Staff Reporter
slm379@psu.edu
He rode with the Hell's Angels,
did almost every conceivable
drug known to man, ran for local
sheriff, had one of his greatest
works made into a cult film, but
on Feb. 20, American counter
culture hero and iconoclastic
gonzo journalist, Dr. Hunter S.
Thompson, committed suicide
in his home in Woody Creek,
Colorado.
It was around midnight when
I first heard of his death, and I
checked online just to make sure
that what I was hearing was not
just part of the general weirdness
and absurdity that seemed to
surround the man most of his life.
Unfortunately, the news was not
one of Thompson's outlandish
antics nor another near-death
experience, but a cold, hard
truth.
As one of my favorite writers,
Thompson's work peeled back
the skin of America; he did
'SH and NYU students come full 'Circle K'
NYC cont'd from 1
Being part of that team, I can
assure everyone that all residents
got a freshly prepared meal with
food donated from stores. After
several hours of walking around
New York with the meals and
seeing the appreciative looks on
the residents' faces, we returned
back to NYU to help with the third
project, "Surgery Dolls."
By now, the Surgery Dolls and
Clothesline team had already had
been involved in some serious
sewing. They had been creating
"Surgery Dolls" that will be
presented to children who need
surgery. Doctors use the dolls as
models and show the children
where they would be getting
the surgery. The dolls are very
popular in New York hospitals
and it helps the young children
cope with surgery.
At the same time, volunteers
were serving food to needy
residents at the St. Joseph's food
kitchen where they prepped,
served, set, and washed food and
not suffer fools lightly when
he dissected the political and
cultural landscape, exposing
the American Dream as nothing
more than a facade espoused by
paranoid fascists who always rise
to the top in American society,
particularly politics.
"Nixon was a barrel of laughs
compared to this gang of thugs
from the Halliburton petroleum
organization who are running
the White House today . . ~"
wrote Thompson for his national
affairs column in Rolling Stone
magazine a week before the
election. "He [Nixon] was a crook
and a creep and a gin -sot, but on
some nights, when he would get
hammered and wander around
in the steets, he was fun to hang
out with."
To fully understand Thompson's
utter disgust with the current
administration and put into
context how low this country has
sunk, you need to consider what
else he wrote about Nixon. In one
of his scathing instances of clarity
and brutal honesty, Thompson
had the privilege of writing the
obituary of Richard M. Nixon,
which appeared in Rolling Stone
and also in his book Better Than
Sex: Confessions of a Political
Junkie.
"He was scum," Thompson
succinctly wrote. "Let there be
no mistake in the history books
about that. Richard Nixon was a
evil man--evil in every way that
only those who believe in the
physical reality of the Devil can
understand it."
dishes. One volunteer even got a
cake since it was her birthday.
Once again, all appreciated
their services and the volunteers
enjoyed meeting such a diverse
group of people.
The fifth and final project had
volunteers heading out into the
city and helping residents fill
out tax relief forms that would
save them money and increase
their awareness of tax relief
programs.
Raba Rizvi, PSH Circle K
secretary, said, "The tax outreach
project was really fun because
we got the chance to wander the
streets of Brooklyn handing out
informational flyers regarding
income tax assistance for low
income families. It was also really
informative to know how many of
these families don't even know
of the free benefits available to
them, so all of us felt good being
able to reach so many people
in a relatively short amount
of time, and hopefully helped
made a difference in someone's
life." Rizvi also enjoyed meeting
In a time when the media has
become slavish and in many ways
an extension of the government,
Thompson's apocalyptic prose
showed no mercy on the swine
who run our institutions, and
he was more, than happy to let
everyone know the truth.
While some claim the media
and the journalist's role is
to be objective, Thompson
broke down all pretenses of
objectivity; he called it what it
was, probably revealing more
truth in his observations than any
"Thompson's work
peeled back the
skin of America;
he did not suffer
fools lightly when
he dissected the
political andcultural
landscape."
of his colleagues in the world of
journalism and writing, and he
had fun doing it.
In the same article/obituary about
Nixon, Thompson explained,
"Some people will say that words
like scum and rotten are wrong
for Objective Journalism--which
is true, but they miss the point. It
was the built-in blind spots of the
Objective rules and dogma that
allowed Nixon to slither into the
White House in the first place. . .
.You had to get Subjective to see
Nixon clearly, and the shock of
people from such a variety of
backgrounds.
After the service projects had
concluded, PSH volunteers had
the opportunity to enjoy the rest
of the day in the city and the
NYU Circle K provided tours to
various destinations, such as
Times Square, the Empire State
Building, and Canal St. Several
volunteers saw a Broadway show,
others preferred to visit Macy's
and other stores, and some were
content hanging out at "Jamba
Juice" waiting for a celebrity to
step out of a Hummer limo.
At the end of the day, NYU
Circle K provided supper to thank
the volunteers for their service
and dedication. After final "thank
you's" and "goodbyes," PSH
departed for home.
Students and their families
represented the PSH community
in a positive way and each one
truly got a unique experience.
PSH Circle K is especially
grateful for the support from
the NYU Circle K members and
faculty, Kiwanis International,
Opinion
recognition was often painful."
I remember last spring watching
the media form a circle-jerk
around the flag-draped coffin of
Reagan as his corpse was being
paraded around the country as
if he were Abe Lincoln; and they
tried to pass this vapid nonsense
as news that lived up to their
sacred "objective" standards!
Various newspapers surprisingly
presented several sincere
and appropriate articles about
Thompson's life in recent days,
but as usual, the television "news"
worried more about missing
white women and the hole in
the pope's throat than offering
cogent analysis of the life of one
of the most interesting characters
in modern times.
For me, Dr. Hunter S.
Thompson was a visionary who
portrayed American life and all its
components in the most honest
and accurate way possible; he
never compromised his views
for anyone, but instead forced
his audience to look at the world
around them, which eventually
led to an astute understanding
of just how sick of a world we
live in. As an inimitable writer,
he demonstrated that just
one individual could change
people's conceptions about the
world around them with just the
written word, and even in death,
Thompson followed his own
rules--on his own terms.
"Strike another match, go start
anew
And it's all over now Baby
Blue•."
Dr. Widoff, Nichole Duffy,
Nancy Leister, Helen Casner,
Ella Dowell, Capital Trailways,
SGA, and the students involved,
especially non-Circle K members
and their family members. On
a personal note, O'Holla wants
to thank Circle K members for
their continuous support and
dedication to the campus as well
as the community for without
their efforts and encouragement,
this wonderful trip would have not
occurred.
The PSH chapter of Circle K
International is currently looking
for new members and is working
on several future community
service projects and fund-raisers.
Circle K has assisted Ronald
McDonald House and have also
volunteered at Essex House and
WITF pledge drives. They have
also participated in the Giving
Tree Project, helped with the
Middletown Halloween Parade,
attended THON, and served food
at the Bethesda Soup Kitchen
in Harrisburg. Future activities
include our district convention, an
Smokers need to
smoke on this
By Rodney Horton
SGA President
thyork2@yahoo.com
WE are Penn State, however
WE can be insensitive. I have re
ceived several complaints about
smokers blocking the ramp that
disabled individuals use to get
into the Olmsted Building. The
ramp is a necessary tool for dis
abled individuals to come into the
building, however the problem is
the smokers. One gentleman in a
wheelchair explained that when
he attempts to come up to the
ramp, individuals block the ramp
and ignore his constant chants of
"excuse me."
A lady who was pregnant told
me that she had to use the ramp
due to a hernia, and her journey
was unpleasant and offensive.
Some individuals refused to
move out of her way, and when
others moved out of her way,
she had to endure a puff of their
smoke. This second-hand smoke
not only affected her, but it affect
ed her baby.
Are WE that insensitive? In the
From left, SGA senator Nicole Dellinger and an NYU student work
together to create "Surgery Dolls" to be presented to children who
need surgery.
Xtreme Dodgeball tournament, K, please contact Steve O'Holla
the MS Walk, an Earth day project, at saol42@psu.edu.
and a used clothing drive.
For more information on Circle
words of the Black Eyed Peas
(a singing group), "where is the
love?" What can WE do to better
the lives of someone else? The
answer is to be sensitive to one
another.
I hope that my "puffing" friends
will remember that not everyone
is a smoker; moreover those with
physical disabilities simply want
to enter the building without in
haling your smoke.
At my previous school (Central
Pennsylvania College) campus
security issued $5O fines to indi
viduals smoking in front of the en
trance of an academic building.
In addition, campus security was
allowed to fine a student $l5O for
blocking and smoking in front of
a handicap entrance. Maybe we
need to resort to extreme penal
ties so that WE can be more sen
sitive to someone else.
I hate to come off "cocky," how
ever I hope WE all take this mes
sage as a warning before the
university does. I wonder what
some of US would do if we got
a $l5O fine for blocking a handi
cap ramp. I have met with Dean
Hanes on this issue and in the
near future, the front of the Ol
msted Building will be renovated
so that smokers cannot (in any
way) block the elevator entrance
of handicap students. The Dean
was discouraged with the con
cern that we discussed. So, for
all of the students who have a
problem with the "ramp blocking
puffers" - heaven is just around
the corner. I urge my fellow stu
dents to be aware of your fel
low students, or else you could
sspayss for it.
WARNING: This is a
Sharon Furfaro
original cartoon.
Recently, there have been sev
-ral cases of religious art being
pulled from public parks. I need
not say that these works, in
many cases, held historic signifi
ance - obviously, that does not
matter since the separation of
hurch and state equates to the
irtual obliteration of anything
remotely religious or contain
ing the oh-so controversial "G"
ord that may be viewed by the
merican public.
I worry about the day that
earing crucifixes and Stars
of
David is outlawed. I worry
about the day that religious art
is roped off in a corner of one
Designated museum.
I worry about the condition of
▪ ur freedom of speech, and our
reedom of religious expression.
Agree with me, disagree with
me - America needs to at least
start this discussion. Because
or now, at least, I have the right
o draw these religious symbols,
and even print this cartoon.
E-mail: srfl7l@psu.edu
Photo by Helen Casner/Circle K