Creighton University - Bluejay Yearbook (Omaha, NE)

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Introduction ' Is a dream a lie if it don ' t come true Or is it something worse? -Bruce Springsteen Barely five years ago, the President of the United States declared a ' state of national malaise. ' Inflation hit record highs and morale hit depressing lows. Events in Iran and Afghanistan seemed, to some, to be driving home a critical, disturbing point: the United States could no longer afford to be the protec- tor of freedom for the world, that the country was, like a Britain or France, going to have to accept the role of just another fallen World War II winner turned regional power. The implication, trumpeted across the coun- try and around the globe, was that The American Dream - that ephemeral, in- describable potential for individual and societal fulfillment of objectives - was, in a word, dead. That in five years the country ' s state of mind could rally so disarmingly upward is testament to the resilience of a nation ' s spirit, the stub- borness of its people in weathering times of personal hardship and turbulent circumstance and the potential of the machinery of the republic to avert misdirected policies, right H wrongs and come to the aid of those in trouble. It is not simply in the view of our current President that America is back. Clearly, the nation ' s spirit has recovered, and with it, a sense of purpose and devotion to making America even better than she has been. The responsibiUty for this idealistic planning befalls college students of the day. It is the col- lege student of the ' 80s who will shape the country ' s future in the ' 90s and into the 21st Century. And just as the personality of the col- lege students of the ' 60s left and indelible mark on the mood and tone of the ' 70s, so to will we determine the mood of the years to come. Now, college students look upon the world with considerable doubt and trepidation. A story in Newsweek reports that ' if there is one characteristic of today ' s students that is more startling than any other, it is their apparently relentless anxiety about making it materially once they graduate. ' It is little wonder, judging from what those in college today have seen, that such is the case. In this increasingly materialistic and secular society, values are spoken of in Madison Avenue terms - as in, ' let ' s try to sell it from a ' values ' angle, go straight for the heart ' - and this is something with which we

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The year at Creighton: A review of the events that shaped the past year, from the sell- ing of St. Joseph Hospital to the Reinert Alumni Library dedication... Lectures, Films and Concerts: Visitors to Creighton include preppy Lisa Birnbach, Gen. Stansfield Turner, Rep. Hal Daub, Shirley Chisholm and alum- nae Mary Alice Williams... Center Stage: Creighton ' s year in plays, highlighting Loose Ends and One Flew Over the Cuckoo ' s Nest, with a look behind the scenes... Annual Celebration: Mass of the Holy Spirit. Students of the ' 80s: The big chill? How have we changed?. ..Love Story: Can one find romance on the C.U. campus? (Maybe, said a survey, if one doesn ' t drink so much beer before going to look for it)... A New Tradition: Perennial gridiron power Creighton celebrates Homecoming... Dorms, F.A.C. ' s, Renaissance Fair, Fall Frolics, Winter Whirl, and a colorful look at Fashion on Campus... Fine dining and exotic cuisine: The story of SAGA...Joslyn, Peony Park and a few faithful bars: The wonder of Creighton ' s weekends... Maureen Bogues reminisces on four wonderful (!?!) years at C.U... The Year in Music: Bruce was Boss... A trendy look at what was and what was not hot. New political wave: College Conservatives and the Don ' t trust anyone under $30,000 a year movement... Perspectives on students of the ' 80s: From Creighton profs Dr. John Hollowitz and Dr. Thomas Kuhlman to former Creightonian editor Steve Millburg...A closer look at four special teachers: Horning, Lawler, Murphy and Matson... University College: Another route to success... Pat Porter ' s Finals Week Diary: Hysteria grips the campus. A dream denied: Creighton ' s men ' s basket- ball season, steeped in promise, ends in frustration and futility... Life without Yori: The Lady Jays win the hard way... Keeping the faith: Cheerleaders, Pom Pon Squad, Pep Band... Baseball, Softball, Soccer, Cross Country, Tennis, CLub Sports and In- tramurals. Upholding alumni support. ..Plunkett and the SBG search for a Student Union... The Creightonian grows, and improves... Going for 368 at The Bluejay...KOCU: The Mighty K55.. .Perspectives on Creighton Cable... Clubs, organizations and greek group pictures... The year in greeks: Glorious return of theS.A.E. ' s. Bound for glory: The graduating classes of Arts and Sciences, Business Administration, Dentistry, Nursing, Medicine, Law, Pharmacy and AUied Health... Senior parties and the future for graduates. EPILOG Where do we go from here?: A final con- sideration of the student of the ' 80s. Editor ' s Note Me and the boys got some work to do. You wanna come along? It ain ' t like the old days. . .but it ' ll do. -Edmond O ' Brien The Wild Bunch The 55th edition of the Creighton University Bluejay is based on two personal theories that I believe to be unique, since I have yet to see any evidence of these theories in any other year- book. They are: 1) yearbooks can and should be something more than a sappy trip down memory lane; and 2) the audience being college students, and thus presumably literate, there is no need to limit the book to just photography — there would seem to be room for essays about and by college students and their condi- tion. This, in itself, did not seem to me a radical idea when I cam up with it last August. How- ever the din of protest in response to that idea in the following months was on the staggering level of what one could expect for saying that the school ' s mascot was ugly. Whether this new format is a good idea or a ridiculous one is up to you, the reader (please note the term). Ideally, the views expressed throughout the book will prompt discussion, controversy, laughter, joy and, most of all, cri- tical introspection. For The American Dream Revisited is ultimately an examination of where college students, specifically students at Creighton University, are today and where they might be going in the future. Whatever conclusions can be drawn from this new approach, there is one thing that is obvious: such a project requires a lot more work from a lot more people — and for a much greater period of time. Writing for a yearbook is much different than writing for the school newspaper, where news is disposable and the writer gains nearly immediate gratification from seeing his or her byline. In the yearbook process (at least in this one), virtually every upperclass journalism ma- jor took part — either through photography, developing, writing, editing or any combina- tion of the above. There are those who went beyond the call of duty. Two of these dedicated people — sports editor Pat Porter and the saintly Patricia Bar- rios — aren ' t even journalism majors but were conned into dedicating their free time to the yearbook by the editor. John Gudenrath, call- ed in at semester break, proved to be some- thing of a savior — he intrinsically knew and understood the layout process without any sort of detailed lesson. He is responsible for the men ' s and women ' s basketball stories and layouts: a complete review of Creighton ' s most popular season, and one of the best sections in the book. The amount of work done by the quartet of Porter, Gudenrath, Barrios and assistant edi- tor Cathy Stahl helped form the backbone of the book ' s content and a majority of the time devoted to it. Time was something that was devoted in great quantities: this is the largest Bluejay in history, and contains more copy than any past edition. The final, and most deserved, thank you must go to yearbook adviser Charles Zuegner. This was the 25th year in that position for Mr. Z. and one can be sure that he has witnessed every conceivable error that can be made in connection with a yearbook in that time. If there is justice in the world, he will be treated next year to a staff which meets every deadline with disarming competence and allows him the luxury of supervision. Such was not the case this year and for that I shall forever be sorry. I can only assume that he, like everyone else involved with the book who stuck with it, did so because they believed in the possibilities of the finished product. This is The American Dream Revisited, and they have a lot to be proud of. -Michael MacCambridge

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«♦ should be concerned. When the eternal verities of the American human existence become the manipulative tool of ad campaigns and political rallies, it is obvious that a society is threatened to its very core. So although America may be back, there are still signs of moral and philosophical decrepitude with which the people who run the country will have to deal with. That particular burden has fallen upon us, the college students of the ' 80s. So while America may be back in heart, it s till has considerable work to do in the area of soul restoration. The key areas are not the popular social issues such as the question of abortion or birth control, but rather more fun- damental human values: honesty, competence, dedication, respect. If American college students are to capitalize (materially AND spiritually) from the recent resurgence of national pride and productivity, if they are to nurture and ride that wave into something lasting and significant, they must do so with the belief that their dedication can make a difference. To do so, they must seize upon the one fact that makes our nation unique - the abihty of those within its borders to control so much of their own destiny. The world is not some laboratory in which life is perfectible and we must never pretend this is so, for we lose two things: 1) the perspective of our past ex- perience and, 2) (it is here that the college students of the ' 60s erred, by not stopping to witness their accomplishments but raging on for more change) the realization that change, when it occurs, usually does so slowly. The ultimate winner is not the one who can rage the greatest and most fiercely for a short period of time, but rather to the one who perseveres, sus- tained by improvements but prodded con- tinually onward by the real possibiHties of the future. For all of its faults, America remains a place where much of the benefits and satisfactions a person gets out of his or her efforts is depen- dent upon what that person puts into them. This is a freedom so unique, yet one so unap- preciated. What does all this mean to college students at Creighton, or anywhere else? It means that the time has come for each one of us must realize the extent to which we are responsible for our own actions, and the implications of that responsibihty. It is not correct to presume, as most Americans used to, that anything that 1 can be conceived can be accomplished or anything that the U.S.A. does is correct -neither belief, as we have seen many times over, is always true. This is: that the future of ourselves and our country does not rest on divine providence, but individual choice. It depends on a large number of individuals within the society mak- ing the effort to make themselves better, then striving to improve their surroundings, their country and their world. It ' s a long, scary way from fate to choice, but it ' s an enlightening and exhilirating road to take. When we, as the protectors of America ' s future, see the difference that each one of us can make as individuals, we will be able to draw together, forge accomplishments from a vast reservoir of hope and ambition and make changes that will help the world beyond our own time. Can The American Dream still come true? Only if one is willing to pay a severe price in terms of effort and dedication, realizing all the while that the effort itself is ultimately what makes us all better. The American Dream can still be realized, if one chooses to search for it. And that search is the stuff that dreams are made of. The American Dream Revisited 11