UNL students make
pilgrimage to pope
John raul 11 s qt. Louis visit
described as ‘electric,’‘incredible’
ByEricRineer
Staffwriier
For some university students, the
arrival of Pope John Paul II in St.
Louis was an opportunity of a lifetime
to see the pontiff.
“It was tremendous,” said Karen
Benes, a senior secondary education
English major. Benes and about 20
other members of St. Thomas
Aquinas Church in Lincoln packed
inside the Kiel Center, a St. Louis
sports arena, Tuesday evening to pay
tribute to the 78-year-old pontiff as he
spoke at the Light of the World Papal
Youth Gathering.
Members of the church also
watched the pope celebrate Mass on
Wednesday before a crowd of more
than 100,000 at the Trans World
Dome in St. Louis.
Tuesday night at the Kiel Center,
the frail-looking pontiff touched a
crowd of more than 20,000 young
sters with his message about
Christian teachings and their rele
vance to the modem generation.
The youth rally marked the sec
ond time Benes had seen the pope
speak - she also saw the pontiff in
Denver at World Youth Day in 1993.
But this time was more special,
she said,
“With the condition he’s in and
the fact that he still makes these jour
neys, it just shows a strong example
for all Christians and everyone,”
Benes said.
She said the pope urged
l".
Christians to continue defending the
gospel and reminded youth that the
Christian faith was a constant train
ing.
The core of the pope’s message,
she said, was for Christians to uphold
their moral values despite all the
temptations lurking in today’s society.
Inside the arena, Benes said, was
the place to be. Benes described the
crowd as “electric.”
“It was incredible to see the thou
sands of people united for the same
reason,” she said.
Though seated in the “nosebleed
section,” it wasn’t too difficult to hear
people cheering for the pope, she
said.
The crowd at the Kiel Center wel
comed the pontiff like a rock star as
thousands of people were screaming:
“John Paul II - We love you.”
Ryan Shea, a junior mechanical
engineering major, who also made the
trip, said he was in awe as the pontiff
rode through St. Louis in his
Popemobile upon arriving in the city.
“When he started to break a smile,
you knew it was an effort for him
that makes it so much more sincere,”
Shea said.
He said he watched the day’s
events, which included a welcoming
ceremony and the youth gathering, on
two jumbo television screens outside
the Kiel Center.
Shea said the pontiff touched on
the abortion issue.
“He’s not afraid to voice his opin
ion,” Shea said. “We look to him for a
lot of guidance. He’s touched a lot of
44
He s not afraid to
voice his opinion.
We look to him for
a lot of guidance.
He s touched a lot
of hearts here
today.”
Ryan Shea
junior mechanical engineering
major
hearts here today.”
After arriving at the St. Louis
Arch early Tuesday morning, Shea
and the rest of the group marched
about a mile to the Kiel Center with
thousands of other enthusiastic peo
ple.
At the Kiel Cento, he said, musi
cal performers “got everyone excit
ed.”
“When the pope came in, it erupt
ed,” Shea said.
Sam Manzitto, a junior biology
major, said he was fascinated with die
tight security for the pope in St Louis.
“Security there was huge,” he
said. “It’s quite a sight to see all the -
policemen at the arena. (The pope’s)
got his own little secret service out
fit.”
Manzitto said it was only appro
priate that the “greatest man in the
Catholic faith” be so protected.
“The chance to hear him speak
was few and far between.”
So long, Vince and Larry;
crash-test dummies retired
■ The 15-year advertising
campaign advocating seat
belt use will be replaced
next month with a series of
harder-hitting TV spots.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The TV
ads with the lovable-but-ill-fated
crash test dummies Vince and Larry
will be replaced next month with
more shocking spots aimed at break
ing through the recent plateau in seat
belt usage.
Instead of seeing lifelike dummies
dust themselves off after a crash,
viewers will see human actors
engaged in common moments that are
cut short by an automobile accident.
In one spot, titled “Ice Cream,” a
husband out buying ice cream to sat
isfy his pregnant wife’s midnight
craving has his car hit as he backs out
of the driveway. In a second ad, titled
“Cruising,” teen-agers in two cars
cruising down a street giggle until one
of the cars is smashed by a speeding
van.
After each scene, the caption on
the screen asks, “Didn’t see that com
ing? No one ever does. Buckle up.”
“The idea behind the campaign
was to really take a bold step and
change our direction to reach those
users who are taking short trips but
not wearing their seat belts,” said Ken
Ulmer, spokesman for the
Advertising Council. It is marketing
the spots, made by the Chicago ad
agency Leo Burnett, for the National
Highway Traffic Safety
Administration.
“We are not reaching part-time
users, people who take trips to the
store or out to pick up their kids. The
statistics show they are at risk, too,”
Ulmer said.
Vince and Larry have been suc
cessful seat belt salesmen for 15
years. With their gray jumpsuits and
revolving heads, they have an appeal
similar to that of the hapless but
durable “Star Wars” tin man, C-3PO.
Today a rock group goes by the same
name and children line up when the
dummies make mall appearances.
Beyond their public appeal, Vince
and Larry have gotten results. In
1985, about 21 percent of the driving
population wore seat belts; in 1996,
the figure was up to 68 percent.
That, however, is about where it
has stayed.
President Clinton has announced
a goal of getting seat belt usage up to
85 percent by the end of the year, but
traffic safety experts concede there
are some high-risk drivers who will
never wear seat belts. The new cam
paign is focusing on the casual wearer
- someone who is not against buck
ling up, but who does not do so on
every trip.
Dr. Ricardo Mar .Inez, head of the
National Highway Traffic Safety
Administrator and a former emer
gency room doctor, pushed for the
new advertising approach after
watching a series of gruesome traffic
commercials aired in Australia.
The challenge fotLthe U.S. ad
makers was to walk the fine line
between spurring people to action and
repulsing them into disbelief.
“What will inhibit people is if they
say, ‘Yes, but that’s not really me,”’
said Emily Soell, a member of the
Advertising Council’s advertising
review committee.
_“What was-most important^was^ "
the line afterwards, because that
implies that the people survived and
gets people to say, ‘Yes, with an acci
dent, you never see it coming, so I bet
ter buckle up.’”
Ulmer, the Advertising Council
spokesman, said the crash test dum
mies are in “semi-retirement.” He
expects them to be used again in chil
dren’s programming.
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