Lubbock's "National" News...from nipple rings to the plague to bad teeth

I've been in Lubbock while now. I grew up here, then moved to San Antonio for high school and ended up moving back to attend Tech. (The original reasoning for coming back to Lubbock and Tech is kinda a long story and has nothing to do with this, but if you want to know...) Now, while I have my gripes about Lubbock, I don't mind it here. I mean I know where everything I need is, most of the people are friendly, the music scene is growing (slowly, but growing) and the driving is not bad (except for when the New Mexico drivers are in town) and it's pretty easy to get to most things.

Now most people, especially people outside of Texas, don't know anything about Lubbock; Hell, some people in Texas still don't know anything about Lubbock. UNLESS you mention Buddy Holly, Bob Knight (to an extent), and Texas Tech University - this again is only sometimes, some people hear of Texas Tech and think it's the other Texas University located in Austin.

Now, given that Lubbock is a (sorta) small West Texas town in the middle of no where; I mean really it takes at least 2 hours driving to get to anywhere worthwhile, sorry Levelland and the like; there really isn't much national news worthy stuff going on. By national news, I mean news that gets reported on CNN, CNN.com, MSNBC and other news and related Web sites.

That being said, when Lubbock is in any kind of "National" news coverage it usually isn't good...for Lubbock at least. Here's a look at a couple of National News making stories that really didn't speak well for Lubbock, Texas:

- About five years ago now, Dr. Thomas Butler, a Texas Tech Medical School Professor, reported "missing" vials of bubonic plague from a lab. This launched a national terror alert. He was charged with "allegedly smuggling samples of plague bacteria into the United States, improperly transporting them within the country, and lying about them to authorities. Additional charges of theft, embezzlement and fraud were added in a second indictment", according to fas.org. He later reported that he destroyed the vials and went on paid leave after being freed on a $100,000 bond shortly after being arrested.

- Last year, Lubbock Police arrested Chippendale Dancers and shut down local bar (the bar was shut down just that Friday night). "One officer said, 'One or more of the dancers engaged in and simulated sexual acts on one or more occasions and that violates the (city) ordinance; because the business does not have a sexually oriented business permit they can't do that,'" from kcbd.com. Lubbockonline.com - "The arrests come a month after the City Council strengthened its sexually oriented business ordinance, despite no such business operating in the city. The tougher ordinance requires nude or simulated nude dancers be on a stage 18 inches off the floor and at least six feet from patrons. Dancers can be closer to patrons if they are separated by a glass or clear plastic wall at least five feet higher than the stage floor. The ordinance also restricts dancers from accepting tips directly from customers. Rather, tips must be placed in a tip jar." This was also a big deal because they shut down the bar, everyone was forced to leave. That means people did not pay for their food or bar tabs, also people using a credit card for their tab were forced to leave it there along with their license in some cases.

- Bob Knight coming to Lubbock, TX to coach men's basketball at Texas Tech. Now, this was actually good publicity for Lubbock, for the most part. However, if you know Bob Knight's history, you know that anywhere he goes rumors start to fly and his past of throwing chairs, choking players, yelling at refs, etc comes up. ALSO, Bob Knight's recent resignation came up in National News.

Now these are all within the last 6 or so years. There have been many more "bad publicity" national news stories coming from Lubbock. But recently two stories one from CNN.com and the other from several sites are giving Lubbock more of a bad rap.

- From ABC.com (and Yahoo news and many local news sites) "Smile, You're Not in Lubbock: Lubbock ranks last in a bad Teeth survey. Lubbock Ranks last in Men's Health Magazine study of the worst teeth of 100 large cities." Now, this may not really be important news, but it is national. Also, why are they considering Lubbock a "large city"? I mean I guess it's ok when you look at other Texas cities from the list: El Paso - 95, San Antonio - 89 and Dallas - 87. The reasoning behind Lubbock being the worst? "Some blame the high level of fluoride in Lubbock's well water. Dentists say too much fluoride in the water may cause the enamel on teeth to become rough, leaving brown or white stains. Others say the high cost of dental care is to blame, leaving poor people without proper checkups or education."

I think I've saved the best (or worst) for last:

- From CNN.com, "Traveler says she was forced to remove nipple ring." Now, before I continue, yes I was curious about the story because it had "nipple" in the headline. Once I started reading the article, the first thing I noticed was that is a Texas woman. The first thing I thought was how great would this be if it involved Lubbock. Sure enough, third paragraph in, "Hamlin, 37, said she was trying to board a flight from Lubbock to Dallas on February 24 when she was scanned by a Transportation Security Administration agent after passing through a larger metal detector without problems." Basically, the woman was apparently "randomly selected" for "further screening", meaning SOMEONE thought she might pose a threat/doing something illegal, after being passed over with a wand, it beeped (or whatever it does) over her chest. She asked to show her piercings to a female TSA agent in private, but several male agents said she must remove them. "She was taken behind a curtain and managed to remove one bar-shaped piercing but had trouble with the second, a ring. 'Still crying, she informed the TSA officer that she could not remove it without the help of pliers, and the officer gave a pair to her,' said Hamlin's attorney, Gloria Allred, reading from a letter she sent Thursday to the director of the TSA's Office of Civil Rights and Liberties." "Hamlin said she heard male TSA agents snickering as she took out the ring. She was scanned again and was allowed to board even though she still was wearing a belly button ring." This goes to show you the type of people that are "protecting" us from another terrorist attack. "Hamlin filed a complaint, but the TSA's customer service manager at the Lubbock airport concluded that the screening was handled properly, Allred said." I really wish there was a way for the public to see the type of training TSa agents receive.

Do yourself a favor and read the entire article here.

The best part about this article is a quote towards the end, probably worthy of quote of the year (if such a thing exists):

"The last time that I checked, a nipple was not a dangerous weapon."

Classic.