EDITORIAL
We’d move to CBS
for $16 million too
Most d.ivs. editorials are fairly sorious in ton*' This
isn't one of those (fays.
VV« could bo deliberating over important issues like
the new ('Union administration, the Oregon Legislature,
health care, environmental issues, the invasion of Iraq,
or the Super Bowl.
But vve'ro not. Our news judgment goes beyond that
These are issues that the conglomerate media - over
uxtensivoly in order to confuse the proletariat But
we're interested in what’s really important
Tate night television.
David I.etterman announced Thursday he is splitting
with NBC (iBS will reportedly pav him $H> million a
\ ear and move him from 1 Tito a in. toll 10 p.m
Tor University students, I.etterman switching net
works solves a continu
ing problem lot fh•*
l.ist 10 \ I'.irs, students
have debated whether
to st.is awake for his
late night show While
fnhnnv Carson mav
have been respected,
he'd been stale tor a
long time And Leno as
a replai ement hasn't
vet delivered
Branford Marsalis'
These are issues
that the
conglomerate
media cover
extensively in
order to confuse
the proletariat.
talent can't save tin* show A lysoi ond mu.su * tip
before i numwri ials doesn't justify wat( hing an entire
hour of dull telovision. Lotto’s show fills dead time
until Letterman comes on. but few watt h it for the show
itself.
I.etterman’s brand of humor appeals more to college
students. His Top 10 list on Thursday gave a number
of reasons for his decision "In order to grow as an
artist. I feel it’s important to cio the same crap over at
CHS,” "CHS had the best Aim Fisher movie." and "At
NHC, they insist 1 wear pants
We might add a few of our own. Any network that
doesn’t give Dave what he wants doesn't deserve him it
will be a pleasure watching him beat tin* pants off Arse
nio. Ami at last CHS will have to stop flailing desper
atolv for a late night talk show host no more Hat
Sajuk from this moment on.
Of course, this also brings up several problems for
University students. First, night owls will be left with
a grievous 1200 hole in their telovision schedule. Sec
ond. sports fans will have to choose between Lotterman
and SportsCenter at 11:30. And finally, there may be a
few people out there who liked both Leno and Letter
man and can’t decide between the two.
Fortunately, as the Emerald sports editor pointed
out, Fox moved Studs from Midnight to 10:30. At least
he’ll rest easier.
Tomorrow, expect some of those manipulative, main
stream-media topics again. Dave is off our chest. We'll
be writing about war and the bombing of Iraq. Enjoy.
Oregon Daily
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W PaaUty
f r«ya Horn
fcCMtOf
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nop*
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Dav* Owtoonnaau
Cattay Andarton
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HOLD STILL
COMMENTARY
Earth’s environment not self-healing
By Sieve Close
ii [an 11, the kmrmld
published a column i>v
V- Jf Stephanie Slaton that
implied the earth is capable of
rejfhiring all the damage that
human beings are able to dish
The main thrust of Sisson's
argument was that humanity is
not powerful enough to destrov
the earth, and the "misplaced
fear" created by statistic s that
are "created to make Americans
fuel guilty." may c ause us to lie
overly ‘ autious I think anyone
who studies the problem close
ly would have an entirely differ
ent opinion
hirst of all, what does "overly
cautious" moan? Is there a dan
ger to being "overly cautious'
11 these statistic s c ause more
people to bike to work or to
roc vcle. what's the harm? livery
bit of caution we use prolongs
the* amount of time the earth
continues to exist as wo know it
out
now.
Sisson wrotn of catastrophes
from which the earth has recov
ered stn h as earthquakes and
volcanic eruptions She does
not consider the far t these are
only catastrophe by human
standards They don't damage
the earth, which tregan with vol
cano eruptions and earth
quakes The damage that we do
is in an entireh different class,
and on an entirely different
scale.
Sisson said she believes what
we are experiem mg right now
is merely a symptom of our
change from an agricultural way
of life to a "mechanical” way of
life, and that the earth must
change with us.
Unless Sisson plans to devel
op new and exciting ways to
cook toxic: waste, the combina
tion of a depleted ozone layer,
greenhouse gasses, erosion and
massive gaps in the food chain
w ill eventually make it impossi
ble for humans and numerous
other species to eat. Sisson
might see this as the earth s way
of "adjusting' to the human cat
astrophe hut it seems a bit dras
tic.
Sisson appears to behove the
earth lias some tvpe of magical
cleansing process bv which it
has eliminated mam of
mankind's environmental blun
ders The only evidence she
gives of this is a quote from, of
all people, tile federal cleanup
coordinator for the Txxon
Valdez oil spill
l irst of all, chances are slim
that he would sav. "1 tried, hut
we did a rotten job, so please
fire me " What he does say.
however, is equally revealing
Mother Nature, to a great
degree, will eventually do the
best job of cleaning up this
spill." This is not a triumphant
statement, but a statement of an
unfortunate fai t
The si i billion clean-up did
very little in terms of restoring
Prince William Sound to the
state it was in before the spill
The gist of what in being said in
Mother Nature must do tin* best
job of ( leaning up the spill.
sin< e those w ho had the tot h
nologv to cause it 1m k the Its h
nology to correct it
Sisson needs to reconsider
her definition of the earth
Although I agree with her that
there will continue to he some
thing orbiting our sun that is the
ni/o and shape of our earth. I
question whether it in earth.
To me. earth has always been
the place I share with peregrine
falcons. California condors and
more amphibians than one
could shake a stick at — yet all
of these creatures are in severe
decline because of humanity s
insistence on dirtying its own
Sisson needs to
reconsider her
definition of the
earth.
nos!. The question is not
whether earth will endure, hut
what kind of earth will endure
Sisson tares little enough
about the earth in general to
write a column that essentially
condones polluting, hut she's
certainly not apathetic Her
writing of that column showed
she is verv worried, not about
the environment, hut about
puhlu opinion.
Sisson has tried to prove that
ans intelligent person will
share her opinion and give up
on trying to slow down the
degradation of the environment,
possibly so that she won ! feel
guilty for the damage that she
herself does
Sisson's column shows that
slit1 finds people, and hv exten
sion. herself, to he the most
important things in the world;
perhaps even more important
that the world It's tins kind of
self-i entered thinking that got
us into trouble in the first place
Steve ('lose is n GTF in the
Fnglish Department. He wishes
it to he known that he is not a
"liranolo weirdo hippie Forth
First'" type of guy. but if any
one needs a reason to discount
his opinion, he offers the fol
lowing labels: a) enviro-bike
geek, b) tofu-munching vegetar
ian and c) used to have long
hair
COMMENTARY POLICY
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