EDITORIAL
Public TV worthy
of federal funding
When Republican* took control of Congress, ideas for
budget cuts bounced around Washington. Budget cutting
in Washington may claim a victim familiar to many
Americans: the Public Broadcasting Service.
PBS. locally broadcast through Oregon Public Broad
casting. provides Americans with programs such as
Nova and Masterpiece Theater. Children know PBS bet
ter by such hits .is Sesame Street and Mister finger's
Neighborhood.
It's a shame that PBS is being considered for cuts
because public broadcasting is one of the few things that
Washington is doing right. Funding that supports public
broadt asting helps to bring Americans a nomine of edu
cational and entertaining programs that can"! readily lx*
found elsewhere.
If the funding for PBS were cut, some programs could
probably survive on commercial television. However,
others would not succeed and would have to cease
broadcasting.
Is it really the wish of the Congress to take this
chance? Would Sesame Street be the same w ith com
mercial breaks?
A number of people have complained in the media
that!louse Speaker Newt Gingrich is trying to kill Big
Bird oi Mister Rogers, two characters well known to chil
(Iron. Although the st are tat lies may be juvenile, the
threat remains. Public broadcasting is in trouble.
Some in Congress may argue that cutting PBS would
save money It probably would. However, tho cut would
be largely symbolic, with little monetary impact.
If PBS isn't on television one day. many Americans
will get the impression that something, good or bad. is
getting done in Washington. Compared to many other
programs that Congress funds, public broadcasting is
inexpensive.
If Congress wants to save money, it should look at oth
er programs with bigger price tags, such as social securi
ty. Cutting PBS would be the easy way out of a difficult
problem.
Congress must find another way to save money with
out sacrificing public broadcasting. Although some may
argue that public broadcasting has some ideological bias,
it must bo conceded that PBS is a valuable educational
tool. Two generations of Americans have learned about
everything from tho alphabet to nuclear physics from
PBS.
Even though other educational and current events pro
gramming exists commercially on television today, it is
neither the quality nor tho quantity of that found on pub
lic: broadcasting today.
Public broadcasting must be spared the brunt of bud
get cuts in Congress. Too many people depend on the
excellent programming that the service provides for the
cut to bo worthwhile.
Oregon Daily
Emerald
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Appearance attracts attention
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Anny MosKH-KouNmi)
The Associated Press re ported
that J 8-year-olds entering college
are lew involved in politics than
any previous generation. Very
few students really care about
government dec isions, even those
dirt* tly affet ting education
Appearances mean more to us
now than anything else at this
time in our lives
If anyone thinks for one
moment that the student body
spends all its time studying and
pays little attention to fashion,
go to Knight Library and check
the shelves, like call number CT
525 We love fluff With fashion
hooks, the good ones gel
checked out ns soon as they're
through processing
When John Kitzhaber wore
faded, 50t button fly jeans, cow
boy boots and a Jerry Garcia
print tie to his gubernatorial
inauguration. The Oregonian
suggested that he is a man total
ly secure with himself
We are all a story of what we
did or did not wear w hen wo left
home in the morning People
dress to advertise We wear
what we wear to evoke respons
es from other people
The theatrical world of fash
ion proves this c learly with the
amazing salt* of the Wonderbra
and the response to Robert Alt
man's recent film Heady to Wear
(originally titled Fret a Porter)
Oscar Wilde wrote that only
shallow people do not judge by
appearances So let’s get on with
it then and talk about the Won
derbra
Wonderbra is a hoot
A former NASA scientist. Dr
Lawrence Kuznetz currently of
Singapore, will Uigin manufac -
turing and retailing a jiggle
proof version of Wonderbra in
Mart.h for about Sri) Vu Iona's
S*m ret could bn re I*. keep the
bras in sto< k during the holiday
season after it came out with its
own version. Miracle Bra. for
$19,
But can we talk about fabric
quality and the human rights
violations of tin* mostly "Made
in China" clothing sold at the
Earner-1. i m i t ed - V i ct o r i a' s
Secret -E xpreas-1 ne Bryant con
glomerate'' lust remember. Won
derbra is what's in. not cheap
imitations.
Dress serves as visual
metaphor and communicates
subtleties in our personalities.
Most of this is implicit. Each of
us knows how certain colors,
material and accessories make
us feel when we wear them.
Fashion goes in cycles. This
year softer fabrics like satin, vel
vet or floral prints will he big
Reflecting light and moving
away from neutral colors head
line the spring collections. But
what do I know , was I in Paris'
No. but Julie Hatfield of The
Boslon Globe was. and she
wrote in a Jan. 0 column that
Altman got Heady to tVeor right
The fun of Heady to IVeor. play
ing at the Bijou and Movies 12.
is entirely superficial and to sug
gest otherwise misses the point
altogether Go see it for the
soundtrack. Seit-N Pupa's "Here
We Come” and Ini Kainoze's
"Here Comes the Hotstepper,"
that's where the fun is.
Stay for the credits. The list of
designers, houses and apparel
needed to dress the
models., incredible. Miramax
went so far as publish a soft-cov
er, behind-the-scenes scrapbook
for $19.95 and took even more
digs at the raunchy world of
fashion
Still, everyone knows that
clothes mean something and
that we communicate to one
another through dress. To sug
gest otherwise is a lie
Antifashion and countercul
ture-intult-drag belong to fash
ion as much as designer wear
sets down trends Clothing
frames what we see when we
see one another Our clothes say
things about our corporeal
strives
I love large survey classes. Sit
in the bark of the hall and when
the lecture gets boring, check it
out ~ (here's always the fashion
show
Fashion fixates on youth,
eroticism and thin builds The
most deadly sin in fashion is to
grow old.
Retirement communities are
home to populations of senior
citizens wearing clothes sugges
tive of the last time they did any
real shopping or the last time
they circulated in a fashion con
scious setting. The same can be
said for the attire worn by many
tenured professors at the Uni
versity Their income surely jus
tifies a new sweater or a pair of
slacks.
These were the best of
times and we know that by the
shoes or jackets someone fools
especially partial to wearing on
a daily basis.
Back to the books; Bo Didley
wrote "You Can't Judge a Book
by Cooking at Its Cover" He was
talking about hooks, not people.
People r are about what we
"ear. and fashion can be a total
fix. Calculated errors, like beard
stubble or wrinkled shirts,
absorb college male fashions.
The waif look is history, but
pink is the color of the season,
say it isn't so
Life for the most part is frivo
lous, but it's always worth a
look. Taking things too serious
ly negates the fact that we’re
constantly living in the future
arid change is around us every
where With Wonderbra, we can
be sure to be uplifted. With fash
ion, well, she who laughs, lasts.
By the way. the grad student
who has checked out On fash
ion (1994) can expect a recall
notice — I hate grad students'
right to horde material for
months on end and their right to
keep the best (looks locked up in
little rooms on the third floor,
out of general circulation.
P S Red lipstick is still hot.
Anne Moser Kornfeld is a
columnist for the Emerald.