There are many areas of society where the youth have two, three, or more choices. Invariably, their decisions - for example, buying a Chicago Cubs baseball cap instead of a Cincinnati Reds cap - can be seen as a vote. In this case, mark one ballot in favor of the Cubs.
I was hit by a sudden inspiration while driving home from Whittemore last week (while dodging deer on M-55, no less). I decided to take a non-scientific, informal survey of today's youth.
I posed questions to members of the Whittemore-Prescott and Ogemaw Heights graduating classes. These queries were distributed by instructors at the schools, and seniors had the option of filling them out. (Ah, freedom of choice.)
Of the 246 seniors attending the two schools, 103 responded (that's 41 percent, for you aspiring math majors). Actually, there were 104, but one guy filled out the survey twice.
What is this, Chicago politics?
Seniors were asked: "Settle the debate: Which is better?" And some of the answers may surprise you.
Then again, I could be wrong.
(1) Michigan or Michigan State?
When choosing a university, students should look at what that school has to offer, not their sports programs. But image is everything, and as Zero Mostel said to Gene Wilder in The Producers, "If you got it, flaunt it!" And flaunting is what U-M does best.
State is like Michigan's kid brother, the one who always wants to be as good as the big guy, but never can catch quite up. This is pathetic. Even when MSU actually does edge out Michigan, the Wolverines manage to find a way to put State back in its place.
When making their decision, seniors chose Michigan over the Spartans, 66-35, once again proving their dominance. But I've heard rumors that a Whittemore teacher told seniors they had to vote for Michigan, because he was a U-M grad. (In some situations, freedom f choice may take a back seat to practicality.)
(2) Nike, Reebok or adidas?
Nike, on the strength of Air Jordan, David Robinson and Spike "Mars Blackmon" Lee, nipped Reebok by a 47-37 count. adidas, once the king of the foot market, stumbles along with 16 votes.
(3) "Old Kids On The Block" (aka/The Traveling Wilburys) or New Kids On The Block?
If that amphitheater ever gets built in the area, I can only give the owners one piece of advice: DON'T BOOK THE NEW KIDS.
The Wilburys easily outdistanced the boys from Boston, 73-9. Of course, 21 respondents chose neither, but that's beside the point.
(4) Coke or Pepsi?
This one surprised me, not only because of the final count (Pepsi, 56-43), but because of the diversity between schools.
Whittemore-Prescott was pro-Pepsi. The Cardinals chose The Right One by a 2-1 margin, 39-18. Must have been those neon cans they came up with a few months ago, which, when stacked in a certain order, spelled out the word "sex." (No, I am not making this up.)
At Ogemaw, though, Coke proved to be the real thing, winning 25-17.
(5) McDonald's, Burger King or Wendy's
I didn't put Taco Bell or Arby's on the list, because I wanted to stick to burger places. (Also, Taco Bell is my favorite, but I didn't want to show any bias.)
With TB out of the way, Mickey D's cruised to victory, outdistancing the BK Lounge, 61-30. Wedy's had 11 votes.
Ogemaw proved to make a close race not so tight, McVoting by a 32-8 count.
(6) Danielle Steele, Stephen King, Jackie Collins or George Orwell?
This King had more success. The master writer of terror scored 88 votes, while Collins was a close second with six. George "1984" Orwell scored three votes, nipping Steele, who had two.
Orwell would have scored better seven years ago, I think.
(7) War or Peace?
The object of war is to win - like America and the rest of the world did in Iraq. But peace beat war, 86-14. Go tell Stormin' Norman and the rest of the Scud Patrol that one.
(8) The Cosby Show, L.A. Law, ESPN Sportscenter or M*A*S*H?
With Michigan's win in Question No. 1, you could almost see the sports fans sharpening their pencils on this one. ESPN gathered 30 votes, just barely in front of the Cosby Clan's 28. Law scored 23, while M*A*S*H had 18 votes (not bad for a rerun).
Murphy Brown got a token vote.
When it comes down to it, I have no idea what all these numbers mean. But at least you know where today's graduates stand on the important issues.
This article originally appeared in the Ogemaw County Herald.
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