OPINION
Perhaps adults can learn something from ‘Barney’
In millions of American homos
each morning, young children
gather around the television
for another half hour with Har
ney, a lovable purple and green
dinosaur.
And. m these same homes,
many more people, inevitably
more than 10 years old. fight off
an urge to destroy their televi
sions in an effort to eliminate the
obnoxious beast forever
Why is there controversy sur
rounding a simple character in a
PBS children's show? After all.
Barney is only an imaginary char
acter, right?
However, it seems that people,
usually teens or adults, are giv
ing Barney a hard time for trying;
to entertain little kids. For some,
it seems that he is just as bad as
Satan. Consider these examples
of misdirected Barney opposi
tion:
• Four hoys beat up a man in a
Barney costume outside of a K
Mart in Galveston, Texas. Three
of them were fined $200 each and
a fourth was sent to juvenile
detention. Even worse, it turns
out that the dinosaur in question
was not the genuine Barney, hut
a purple and green impostor. A
judge ordered the boys to stop
hanging around with each other.
• A man in Florida created the
Robbik Reeves
"I Mato Barney Set re! Society,"
in which, for a SI membership
charge, members can receive a
newsletter about the negative
aspects of Barnev. (His daugh
ter watches the show.)
• Prompted by Barney's theme
song — “I love you. you love me"
— children, as well as some of
their parents, are creating alter
native lyrics to some of Barney 's
hits. One of the tamer versions
begins "I hate you. you hate me.
let's stick Barney up a tree
Others deal with shooting the
dinosaur and of Barnev spread
ing HIV.
What is it about Barnev that
seems to bring out the worst in
people? Big Bird and Mister
Rogers have done all right during
the past 20 years They Ixith have
steady jobs.
Perhaps the answer lies in the
fad that Barney is a symbol of the
current youth of America, those
children thi»< are now in
prest hool and kindergarten This
is not unlike the fa< t that Mister
fingers \eighharhood and
Sesame Street have liecome fix
lures in American households lor
the past 20 years Attitudes
change, and maybe Mister lingers
and Sesame Street are giving way
to Barney
Mavlie a prepubest entsound
ing dinosaur relates better to the
kindergarten set than does a big
feathered yellow bird or a man in
a cardigan sweater
Most of Barney s detractors
don’t sis'tn to realize that Barnes
was meant for children under,
say. 10 Tins firings up a good
question. Why are the teens and
adults of America watching Bat
noy ’ Have they nothing belter to
do*
There is no question that Bar
ney was designed for young t hil
dren With the constant singing
and dancing (not to mention Bar
ney's voice all by itself). Barney
naturally attracts v ery young chil
dren. ()ther children's shows,
ini hiding Sesame Street and Mrs
ter Hagers (remember all of the
cheesy songs that he sang7), have
lots of n< tivitv in them
Unfortunately, it is often these
things that make Barney a target
for the critics. Does it surprise
anyone that Barnet hasn't boon
moved to prime time television,
or that his songs aren't on the
Top-40 list vetf Of course not He
wasn’t meant for adults His sole
purpose is to educate and enter
tain voting children.
(It seems that some of Ha met s
enemies are acting like voting
i hildren. and that mat explain
why they have been wnt< hing the
show re< enllv I
Does this mean that adults
shouldn't have some occasional
fun at the expense of Barnet '
Sure thev should Hut Barney
related violence'' Isn't that stoop
ing to an early < hildhood men
tality. the same age group that
this dinosaur is attempting to
reai h ’ Mavis' some adults would
learn something from Harney.
However, before one decides
to make fun of Harney (or beat
him up lit a k Mart, hang him in
a tree, etc.). one should consider
what they disagree w ith the poor
reptile about Harney teaches
young children sut h values as
respecting one another ami get
ting along, as well as sin h skills
as counting and speaking in
Spanish. .Srso/ne Strvrt and Mis
Irr /fogers taught people (includ
ing many current lIniversity stu
dents) the same things
It seems that people disagree
more with the messenger (the
charm lor of Barney) than the
messagethat ho is Irving to prop
agate.
Parents of the children w alt h
ing Barney often got stuck, in the
middle of the Barney problem
While wanting to pros ide a gixxl
influence for their children (like
Barney is. as most would agree),
they soon tiro of the artificially
high voice of a singing and dam •
ing dinosaur.
Maybe they could alleviate
the stress of watching Barney by
finding something constructive
to do for themselves and letting
their children view the show.
Barney wasn't meant for par
ents. either
I'he quantity of Burney mer
chandise (including tapes,
videos, and a doll that says
dooms of the same phrases that
Barney does on his show) makes
esi aping Barney a diffil tilt task
for the parents of young children
But has this been any different
for any other parent for the past
several decades '
(.ive the poor dinosaur (and Ins
millions of fans) a break After all.
Barney is the most popular
dinosaur around these days
llohhir ffo'vrs is ii columnist
for the Kmerald
Worn welcome
As a native Oregonian, a Uni
versity alumnus and avid Duck
football fan. I would like to
begin by thanking Rich Brooks
for the strides he has taken to
help make the University foot
ball program what it is. He has
taken a consistently terrible
team, year in and year out, and
made it into a consistently
mediocre team, year in and year
out.
His accomplishments are wor
thy. hut it is no longer enough. 1
used to he impressed with the
ability to win more than two
games a season and heat the
Beavers on a regular basis. How
ever, the novelty has now worn
thin.
I have spent the last five years
out of Oregon, living in the Son
Francisco Bay Area and now in
Phoenix, Ariz. It is painfully
obvious that the Ducks get little
or no respect within the Pacific
10 Conference once you are out
side of the comfortable confines
of the state's boundaries.
Looking a hit more objectively
now that I'm out of the area, 1
can see the program is not
advancing and that Brooks
would not he heading it if his
record had to speak for itself at
any other Pac-10 school outside
of Oregon.
It is my belief, based on
Brooks' past performance, that
the following things will contin
ue to happen as long as he is
coach:
• The Ducks will be ravaged
be injuries.
• The Ducks will embarrass
themselves on television.
• The Ducks will not be a
nationally-ranked team.
• The Ducks will not improve
over the course of the season.
I thank you for your contribu
tions, coach Brooks, but 1
respectfully ask that you step
aside and let someone else help
the team turn the corner.
Keith Towne
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Bad ads
Generally speaking. 1 really
like the city of Eugene It's so
diverse and there seems to he so
much to do around here. Hut I
do have one major complaint.
In my apartment. 1 occasional
ly watch television and 1 have
only one thing to say about the
local business commercials.
You've got to be kidding! 1 have
never seen such stupid ads in
my life, especially the car deal
erships — they are so dumb 1
think that as a project, some stu
dents in journalism need to help
them out They sure need it!
Just so you know what I'm
talking about, consider this
recent car dealership ad The
slogan was. "Feel the no money
down." Fuel the no money
down? This is just one of the
many annoying ads on televi
sion every day. Will somebody
please help these people Out?
Kim Jellum
Psychology
KWVA gone bad
I was once a listener of
KWVA When it first came on
the air (and even before, in the
Fishbowl), the motive for having
a college radio station was clear
"To give an alternative to the
Fugeno area " At first, this was
executed in n fashion pleasing
everyone
Now, howovor. ttit? staff ttas
apparently de< ided that "alter
native" means one curtain type
of music I disagree with the
individual claiming a listener
ship of only M individuuls, not
all human However, the mix
ture of mu.su: used for the after
noon shows is targeted for a
rather small portion of the cam
pus, and indeed the community
as a whole
In Ktigeno. we have Top -it),
classii roik.. country/western,
i lassieul and pop metal That is
all KVVVA was created to fill the
gaps and represent the student
interests
I understand that there urn
spot ini interest shows, hut the
KWVA of Inst spring and th»t
summer didn't regulate student
interests to just one two- to
three-hour time slot per week
All the music was available and
played during the mixed shows
Now. the afternoon is no longer
a mix of different styles, but
simply a longer version of some
thing that fits my skateboard
really well
1 don't own a skateboard, and
I don’t believe the majority of
students, the ones for whom the
station was i rented, do either
Michael W Cartmell
Physics
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