Charlotte, NC

Well, the verdict’s in …
A few clicks back, I ran a sorta-controversial rant about the dangers and evils of college drinking (remember? It’s supposed to curb binge-drinkin’ in dorms??).
Natch, a lotta collegiates came to the issue’s defense (and, Charlotte, from what I read, we’ve got some extremely sharp young folks in our midst. Ya just gotta be proud). So, since my alter-ego, The Rock Relic, has an international following, I contacted a few of ‘em (to be precise: two in UK, one in Israel, two in Japan, three in Canada and one in Denmark) to find out what they thought about this. How was under-21-over-18 drinking handled in their neck-of-the-world?
EVERY ONE of these said that we’re makin’ somethin’ outta NOTHIN’ here! LOWER THE DRINKING AGE TO 18!! Give them the responsibility and they’ll live up to it!!

One of them (the reader in Denmark) said that “the biggest insult you can hand a young person is to look down your nose and tell him, ‘you’re not big enough to handle this’. For Gods sake let them show you how responsible they really are”.

So, to all you bookpeople — whether you’re a frosh or senior — the Relic/Chuck/Eagle/Whatever owes you an industrial-strength, heavy-duty apology!

Since I’m a little short on time (but BIIIIG on workload) right now, I’ll get back with you all tomorrow.

Okay … I was wrong on many points, but right on others.

A coupla days back, I wrote a piece intended to address the issue of colleges allowin’ their students to drink at 18; their goal is to curb “binge” drinking.

But (yes, I’m gonna print a partial retraction here, so hang on) …

After sendin’ a shout-out to mates in the UK, France, Germany and Australia, I do see a different picture. Stephen Weiss was right when he wrote:
“Nearly every other country in the world has the drinking age set at 18 or lower. We appear foolish to most because of our high drinking age - how can you have a country where you can be sent to war but can’t drink to your victory? Seriously, people laugh at us. A lot of people.

Most of these places also have much fewer problems with drunk driving, alcoholism, and binge drinking. My years studying in Germany did involve alcohol - significant amounts, yes. However, I also learned there how to moderate my drinking and keep myself from making a fool of myself, a skill they pride themselves on. Students are shamed by their peers for being bad drunks. I’m not sure they’d even know what binge drinking would mean if they had the term.”

That’s true! Apparently, the 18-21 bracket, when given the right to drink, does become a bit more responsible in doing so — especially if they do it in a peer-monitored atmosphere.
One thing that I noticed: Stephen said “Students are ashamed … for being bad drunks.” Unfortunately, not all young people are as responsible as that. That being said, I’ve got a question:
While it’s true that college students are responsible and self-regulating, there are thousands of others who aren’t. So how would you propose enacting this (should it pass) to provide a like positive effect to those? Lemme know, okay?

Now, Joe had a different, but highly logical, slant on this:

“At 18, people become an adult and are therefore afforded the rights associated with adulthood… voting, smoking, the right to enter into legal contracts, the right to join the military and die in Iraq, but wait… oh no they can’t drink because they will BINGE DRINK AT COLLEGE OM*G.”

I spoke with two servicemen — one who just returned from Iraq, and one who served during Desert Storm — and they said, “He’s RIGHT! It doesn’t make any SENSE!” One went so far as to call it a form of (his words) “prejudiced censorship”!
and to think that I was callin’ for the same thing … geez …

If a man or woman is old enough to fight and die “for his/her country”, then that person is old enough to drink. PERIOD!! I remember the days of “power-to-the-people” (the great “rights” movements of 1968), when we demonstrated, protested for the cause of and sang about freedom, equal rights and peace. We said exactly the same thing then (although, as Joe pointed out, you now have rights we didn’t have: “vote … legal contracts …” etc.). I shoulda thought it out a bit …

Now, I’m not gonna say I’m totally wrong, ’cause I’m not. But I’ll discuss more about this issue (and also add more of the comments!) tomorrow.

But, for all of you who’ve written, thanks. You’ve opened up my eyes a bit. And, if it’s any consolation, my international friends are unanimous: You guys give more thought to a subject than most. Keep up the good work …

I’ve gotta get on to my other work (my alter ego is The Rock Relic), so we’ll continue this tomorrow, same station — and about the same time!

By now, everyone has heard about Will Smith (”Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Independence Day,” “Men In Black”, superstar rapper, etc.) and what he allegedly said about Hitler. Already, some of our Crown Towners are startin’ to act up about it. I mean, the nerve of that guy, sayin’ that Hitler was “good!” Right??

WRONNGGGGGG!

Y’see, Will didn’t say that at all! In fact, Smith thinks Hitler was despicable — a racist of the first order, and a maniac! What he actually said was that (and I quote) “”Even Hitler didn’t wake up going, ‘let me do the most evil thing I can do today.’ I think he woke up in the morning and using a twisted, backwards logic, he set out to do what he thought was ‘good.’”

Now, let’s get to a true “translation” of that: He’s saying “Hitler didn’t wake up thinking how much Hell he could raise. The dude was using the logic of a criminally-crazed person. He actually thought he was doing good!” Meaning that, yes, Hitler was demented — screwed up! His exact words were “backwards logic”. What’s that but illogical thinking??
Further, he said (another quote) “Adolf Hitler was a vile, heinous vicious killer responsible for one of the greatest acts of evil committed on this planet.” Now … puttin’ the words together from those two quotes: “Twisted, backwards … a vile, heinous vicious killer …”

Sounds like the words the Observer (and 99.9% of other major newspapers) use to describe murderers, doesn’t it??

So Smith’s words were “taken out of context.” It’s not the first time this has been done. Forty-one years ago, a young man, speaking on behalf of his group, supposedly said they were “bigger than Jesus Christ.” What followed could only be described as a knee-jerk reaction that led, first, to a shameful, angry display of hatred; radio stations around the country (including local WTYC) hosted “Beatle bonfires”, and many record stores refused to sell their records.
What John Lennon said, (and again I quote):“We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don’t know which will go first — rock and roll or Christianity.” He said, “more popular” To wit: If you were to offer kids-of-the-era the choice of a Bible or the latest Beatle album (or tickets to the next Beatle concert in their town), which would most of them accept? If they had a choice of going to church on a given Sunday night or watching the Fab Four debuting their latest single, live, on the Ed Sullivan Show, which would they have rather done?
On top of that, which did mags like Time™, Life™ and others have on their front pages more often back-in-the-day? Which was talked about more? But John’s statement (which, for the sake of sanity and peace, he later apologized for) was taken out of context. As was Will Smith’s …

with one exception:

I mentioned the Beatles’ remark as “First”, which means there’s a second remark, right??

It came … at the sound of three bullets hitting Lennon’s body as he returned from a production review on December 8, 1980. The assassin … used those out-of-context remarks … to brutally murder one of the world’s most prolific musical talents — and a man whose one desire and goal was peace …

So, whenever anyone’s quoted anywhere, let’s make sure we read it right … think about it … and keep it “IN-context” … before we make any spur-of-the-moment remarks, huh?? It could save a lot of embarrassment, a lot of misunderstanding, a lot of hoopla …

It could even save a life!

A few weeks ago, I ran the story of Sgt. Zachary D. Tellier, a true American (and, I’m proud to say, Charlotte) hero. His courage under fire — his concern for the safety of those in his unit — his dedication to freedom, honor and America are what makes this country truly great.

However, shortly after I wrote the post, I received a comment from his sister, Kendall, very nicely informing me that some of my facts were wrong. Please, allow me to make the corrections here, in honor of this hero who deserves his story to be told correctly. Thank God he has a sister like Kendall! Would that we all had someone like that!!

In my previous post, I had written that he died of injuries sustained when one of the unit’s vehicles drove over a bomb. It exploded, toppling the vehicle. As the insurgent forces began shooting at them, Zachary then took it upon himself to save two of his comrades from the burning wreckage — then returned to man the turret and return fire. It was only that his lieutenant ordered him out of the vehicle due to his injuries.
I had reported this from stories gleaned from both The Charlotte Observer and a WBTV news reporter, and I wrote it according to the notes I had jotted down — not aware that it would sound as though he died from the burns he received.

THE ACTUAL STORY IS A BIT DIFFERENT

Let me quote parts of the comment that his loving sister wrote — and, again, my sincerest apologies for misconstruing the facts:

“Zack did not die from the burn wounds in April. He was killed when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire in Firebase Wilderness, Afghanistan on September 29, 2007.”

Thank you, Kendall, for “setting the record straight.” Your brother is a wonderfully brave soul who has touched thousands of lives. When we see, in our daily living around Charlotte and elsewhere, the things that confront us on a daily basis — then think what he and thousands of military personnel have to confront in Iraq every minute — our woes are infinitesimal in comparison.
I hope you’ll write back and tell me more about your brother’s background. He’s become a source of strength and inspiration for us all … and we were proud to call him a Charlottean!

Incidentally, I earlier used the words “is a wonderfully brave soul.” His soul is forever present with us …