Plain old change is hard

House of the Week

One change you will notice if you read our Home and Real Estate section on Sunday, Feb. 7, is that a popular feature -- House of the Week -- is not in this week. That feature comes from the Associated Press but no longer is part of the offerings we receive from the news service. It is still accessible, though, online at www.houseoftheweek.com

We are seeking a similar feature to replace it in the newspaper, as we know a lot of people like looking at floor plans for the featured homes and getting ideas. We'd be interested in your thoughts on what you'd like to see there.

Additionally, we are exploring other features dealing with home living that would expand the topics explored in the Home and Real Estate section and which may be of interest to readers.

Interest in home living has grown in recent years, thanks to cable television networks like HGTV and the DIY network, and Web sites like Living.com/ Our aim in that section of the Sunday paper is to enlighten, inform and entertain while also providing the most recent tips in the classifieds section on where to find real estate sales.

About change

The front page headline revealed alarming news: unemployment in the United States was its highest in 33 years. But Congress was looking at a tax relief proposal, in this case a rebate, to spur a lagging economy that had pushed Iowa's usually stable unemployment rate over 5 percent.

A letter to the editor urged the United States "to throw off the yoke of collectivism, socialism and world government from the tyrannical United Nations..." The Cedar Rapids City Council was looking at proposed spending plans that exceeded taxpayers' ability to pay. Dear Abby -- the original --  was dishing out advice. Beetle Bailey and Blondie were holding serve on the comics page.

And, once again, it was cold, with the temperature reaching 20 degrees after an overnight low of 0.

The news seemed all too familiar. Yet, there I was, looking at the Feb. 7, 1975, Gazette. Thirty-five years ago today. A lot of time has passed.

I bring this up because I often hear how our culture is on the brink of disaster, with all that is happening around us, whether it be the economy, morals and values, government run amok. News media run amok.

I also hear from people who wistfully recall the good old days when things were simpler and better, and we didn't have to deal with all of this.

Yet, 35 years ago a lot of people also were looking forward to the day when things would be different.

I'm not sure who's getting their way.