Word: czars
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Nine states have such programs, and 30 more are considering them. They have also become a key idea in drug czar William Bennett's war on illicit substances. Usually the programs fence off parts of state prisons into "boot camps," where 17-to-25-year-old first offenders convicted of drug or property crimes are held for three to six months. Between head shaving, close-order drills and servile work, the youthful felons are screamed and hollered at by correctional officers skilled in the art of humiliation. They are compelled to rise at dawn, eat meals in silence, speak only...
...Drug czar Bennett agrees with those correctional officers who believe shock incarceration is no cure-all for street crime, though it can help "build character." It seems to have the most effect on nonviolent young men for whom crime has not become a hardened way of life. The program appears to work best for youngsters who might have been helped just as much by a resolute kick in the pants and some productive community service and victim reparation. Perhaps that is a more realistic way of coping with the burgeoning problem of youthful crime...
...most provocative reform ideas came from drug czar William Bennett, the former Education Secretary, who bluntly described much of what he heard at the summit as "pap -- and stuff that rhymes with pap." Bennett noted, for example, that "everybody seems to like national performance goals, but the question is . . . What happens if we don't reach them?" He suggested that "if we're not able in five years to get our schools back up to where they were in 1963, after spending 40% more, then maybe we should just . . . give people their money back and let them educate themselves...
...better win it all this year," the Oakland fan said. "Last year, we were the best team in baseball. Jose Canseco was more than the MVP. He was the king, czar, whatever. Dennis Eckersley could have put out those Yellowstone fires by himself. We just huffed and puffed and blew the Red Sox out of the playoffs...
...face it: these days William Bennett is a pop culture hero. He's the drug czar when warring on drugs is cool; he's a family man when the American family is cool; and what's more, his youthful face recently graced USA Today's weekend magazine--and even if USA Today isn't cool, it's undeniably popular...