Len Bias

Many people today do not recognize the name Len Bias. When I say that, I mean most people who are younger than 40 and perhaps some of the people older than that who were old enough at the time to recognize what happened to him but have forgotten him over the years. I think it's enough to say that he has been generally forgotten, yet his impact as monumental as it can be as a college basketball player.

So who was Len Bias? Len Bias played basketball for the University of Maryland. In 1986 he won the ACC Male Athlete of the Year-an award won by Michael Jordon two years earlier. In fact, his name was often said in the name breath as MJ's (remember, Jordon was only a youngster, he wasn't yet what he is now). The fact is, though, he could have been.

Well, what happened, then? He was drafted by the Boston Celtics with the #2 overall pick. He was about to go play with Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Danny Ainge, Robert Parrish and an aging Bill Walton, who had just won the NBA finals, and would lose the next year to the Lakers. But two days after the draft he went out with some friends and never lived to see the next day.
The killer--cocaine. Today when we hear that someone OD'd on cocaine what do we say? "He had it coming to him," "Didn't he know that drugs kill," and "How irresponsible." Do you know why we say these things? Because of LEN BIAS.


Nobody knew how dangerous drugs were--or that they were even harmful, really--until Len Bias died. No one said "He had it coming to him," or "Didn't he know that drugs kill," or "How irresponsible," because no one was under the impression that drugs had that type of effect on the body. Until a perfectly healthy super-human athlete died people were unaware of how thin line drug abuse actually was to walk. The Celtics' GM said about drug use, "The dangers were not as clear then as they were the day after he died." The death of Len Bias revealed to the nation the dangers of cocaine, and the inquiry as to the dangers of other illicit drugs. This is the positive influence of his death. People began to realize that they couldn't play around with drug use, that it could kill you. As the graph shows, a spike appears in the years directly following Len Bias' death (1987-). Drug use significantly dropped as a result of a higher risk perception.

I don't know exactly why risk perception went down again and why drug use went up, but I do know that most children are educated that drugs are addictive, harmful to your health, and can ruin your life. This is at least partially a result of the aftermath of the death of Len Bias. I don't know, maybe the story no longer hits a soft spot in anyone today. Every drug related death we see we ask those quesions I posed earlier, and the people who still take the chance seem to believe that it could never happen to them. People are unsure as whether or not that was Len's first try at cocaine, but it's very likely that he had not used much before, and he most likely didn't remotely think he would be dead from using it that night. It's not just the heavy users that are at risk, it's the casual, social users, and it could even be the first timers.

Here's the link to the first youtube installment:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHFUUkrg2VA

Why Avatar did not win Best Picture

I finally saw Avatar last weekend, and that is why this is not a very timely subject. If I would have seen Avatar in the theaters I would have titled this "Why Avatar will not win Best Picture."

BIG DISCLAIMER: Of the 50 award winning films for best picter since 1960, I have seen just 12. That's 24%, not a lot. I have seen just 52 of the ~250 nominated films, verifying that I have seen about 20% of the best films of the past 50 years. This also discounts my ability as a film critic, so don't take this as some professional opinion, it's just my uninformed opinion.
Like I was saying, Avatar was never in position to win Best picture. I liked the movie, I liked the premise, the politicalization of the film, cinematography, whatever, it was a good movie. As I left the theater, though, I realized that I had seen this movie before. In fact, the movie that Avatar mirrors won the Academy Award for best picture back in 1990-Dances With Wolves. Let's compare the two


Avatar
-Man goes to a faraway planet to take a job
-Man befriends the native people, is loved by them and pairs off with one of them
-The people the man works for decide to destroy the natives' home and the man is seen as having betrayed his own people
-Man leads redemption attack against his people and wins
-Lives forever as leader of the natives on the faraway planet





Dances With Wolves
-Man is stationed in the middle of nowhere as a fort for the Union
-Man is lonely, befriends the natives, becomes one of them and pairs off with one of them
-While he is living with them the Union comes to his fort and expand operations; in a return visit he is taken prisoner
-Natives attack the Union wagon transporting the man and free him
-Lives on the run because, as we know, the natives got kicked around for years until we found the most desolate parts of the nation to send them there to build casinos.

Another movie built on this same premise wasn't even nominated for Best Picture (The Last Samurai, 2003), but thanks to James Cameron, blue people and not hiring Tom Cruise, Avatar was nominated. I actually like The Last Samurai better than Avatar, and I liked DWW better than the both of them. You know why? For the same reason DWW won and Avatar did not- the guy you root for--the one who is superiorly overmatched by the antagonist--loses. Think DWW. Think Rocky. If your hero loses, yet lives, and you leave the theater in tears, then you've really done something there, and that's what we're talking about in in those two examples. With Avatar, though, the impropable had to happen in order to make the movie worth it, because if the blue people would have lost, I probably would have thought, "Well, they didn't really have a chance because you don't mess with Stephen Lang, I mean, did you see him as Stonewall Jackson in Gods and Generals?" This was a fantasy movie, and fantasy doesn't win unless it features hairy feet and a Dick Cheney look-alike (See LOTR-2003). So that's my reason. It was based on an old theme but adjusted for the audience to see the good guys win even though they had absolutely no chance.

Drug Court

The Utah justice system has an arrangement called drug court that acts as a substitution for probation and prison time. The program takes one year and the individuals go through detoxification, substance abuse programs, drug education classes, community service and continual drug testing. If at any point the defendant tests positive for drugs preceding a regular court date they will be removed from the program and placed in prison. The defendants could also face minimal prison time for failing to report for work diversion or not finding work while in the program. The program is a huge success, boasting just a 10% recidivism rate of those who graduate, compared to 70% of drug offenders outside the program.
I know all this because I am in a substance use and addictive behavior class right now. As a requirement for a 'field experiment' half the class went to drug court today. I'll tell you what, I didn't think I'd see a couple people I actually knew. First my uncle came in escorting the chain gang from Bluffdale (The defendant sitting behind me said that he was a pretty cool guy, but that his partner was a goon). Three walked in, one got released, yet three still left. One of the defendants failed his drug test, and was sentanced. Go to jail. Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200. These people walk a thin line, but for anyone who has felt the strong arms of addiction, it's all part of the game.
Leaders in the church do a great job at describing addiction. James E Faust said, "Some addictions can control us to the point where they take away our God-given agency. One of Satan’s great tools is to find ways to control us. Consequently, we should abstain from anything that would keep us from fulfilling the Lord’s purposes for us, whereby the blessings of eternity may hang in jeopardy. We are in this life for the spirit to gain control over the body rather than the other way around." Addictive behavior changes the way the body functions by creating a chemical imbalance in and structurally changing the brain. The effects of this create a dependency on the drug not just to experience a high, but to support normal body function. In effect, living by someone else's rules is no new thing for addicts, they are controlled by drugs just as much as by the justice system.
The other person I knew there was the brother of a friend of mine. I had met him only a couple of times and he's a nice kid, but he made some bad decisions, as you probably guessed when I mentioned that I saw him at drug court. His was the first case to be heard. I recognized his name when it was called and watched as the judge applauded his good efforts and sent him on his way. Many others went up and tested negative for drugs for the week, so they were given some praise, words of encouragement and another court date. It's good to see that people are progressing, that they're taking the right steps. I know his brother cares for him and wants him to make better choices with his life. It's gotta be hard to see someone you love fall to addictive behavior and have such a tough time getting out. Words from President Faust, "Any kind of addiction inflicts a terrible price in pain and suffering, and it can even affect us spiritually. However, there is hope because most addictions can over time be overcome. We can change, but it will be difficult." The road is not easy and it cannot be trekked alone. Outside the church they refer to it as a Higher Power, but in the church's 12-step program, it specifically says you need faith in Jesus Christ to help you overcome the bonds of addiction.
I'm glad that the justice system has found a way to increase successful rehabilitation of drug offenders and I hope its success (particularly in the recidivism department) will influence lawmakers to throw a little more money in that direction. It's an investment worth making.