Students struggle to find memories

Most CMU students were still eggs in their mother’s ovaries when Ronald Reagan was elected president.

And for most, any memories of Reagan are foggy: Such as when he was shot
by John Hinckley, the Iran-Contra scandal or the Cold War with the Soviet
Union.

The 40th president’s most popular characteristics — his humor, his optimism
in the “American Way” and his policies that some say now define the modern
Republican party — are only beginning to be understood by today’s college
students.

“He was president,” said Ludington senior Blair Peterson half-jokingly
about his entire knowledge of Reagan. Besides that, Peterson’s only real
memory is of the Cold War. “I know that he pretty much ended the Cold War,
more or less.”

Sterling Heights senior Paul Shultz was a bit more blunt with what he knew about the former president.

“Not a whole lot,” he said about the memories he has. “I was too young to remember a lot of it.”

Reagan died Saturday at 93 after nearly a decade battling Alzheimer’s disease.

On Tuesday tens of thousands of mourners lined up outside the Ronald Reagan
Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. to view the flag-draped coffin
of the former president. Today his body is to be flown to Washington, D.C.,
where there will be a ceremony tonight in the Capitol Rotunda. The body will
then lie in state.

Friday will be a national day of mourning, with all federal offices and
major financial markets closed. The state funeral will be at Washington National
Cathedral, with President Bush delivering a eulogy.

The body will then be returned to the Reagan library for burial Friday evening.

State Rep. Sandy Caul, R-Mount Pleasant, said Reagan rejuvenated the Republican
party with enthusiasm, something not just conservatives but citizens throughout
the United States should be grateful for. She said following his death, the
sorrow has been a non partisan issue.

“This is truly a loss for us all, of a great leader and a great man,”
she said. “And I think you’ll hear that from independents, Democrats, Republicans,
green part, etc.”

Gov. Jennifer Granholm has ordered U.S. flags be flown at half-staff on
all state buildings and facilities for 30 days as a show of respect for Reagan.
Flags should remain at half-staff through July 5, Granholm said.

Grand Haven graduate student Aaron Salinger, born in 1978, was older than
many CMU students during Reagans two terms in office. He said the clearest
memories he has of the president is that he was a good leader.

“Back then, the only thing I knew about him was he was the good guy and
Gorbachev was the bad guy,” he said, referring to the Soviet Union leader
Mikhail Gorbachev. “I think he was a great figurehead, a great leader.”

The public expression of sympathy began after Reagan’s body, accompanied
by wife Nancy, 82, and his children, was brought Monday from a Santa Monica
mortuary by motorcade to the Reagan library in the Ventura County hills northwest
of Los Angeles.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.