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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (April 29, 1996)
VIEWPOINTS CDUORIALS OPiMlOHS UTffft$-TO THE fOlTOft ■ OUR OPINION: Minds and bodies can benefit from an unplugged TV ’’Kill ym»r television* reads one of the more provocative bum|**r sticker* on car* throughout the Kugeno-Springfield ere* In retaliation against irri tating commercials and trite 30-minute siti omit in which rumple* problem* are solved in 30 seconds of dia Ingue. It'* amazing more TV Hits aren't seen flying nut of second story windows — or other violent act* of televi sion homicide Palling short of demand ing death for all TV set*. Iregituiing last Wednesday, a nonprofit, nonpartisan orga nization that calls itself TV Frett America launched its mint annual < atnpaign to jxTsuade as many Ameri cana «» possible to turn off their TVs for seven whole days While it isn’t known whether the organization advocates violence toward TV. it does recognize the dangers of the shallow, materialistic lifestyles por lrayed on the tube and the falsity of "instant gratifica tion” promoted by commer cialism. TV-Free America organiz ers predicted the |wtrlic:ipa tion of nearly 3 million people during its "National TV Turnoff Week " With only two day* left in the campaign (today and Tues day). there is still time to get on board the turn-off wagon 111* organization’s goal, according to Henry lathalme. executive director of TV-Free Amertia. is for people in realize how much time they an* wasting and what they are missing out on by watching television. “The mission of our orga nization ia to encourage Ament 4m to reduce. dra matically and voluntarily, the amount of TV they watch in order to promote richer, healthier, more con nected live*, familin* and communities." labelinc told the Associated Pre*» la»t week “Our feeling ia that any thing is more productive, creative and ultimately rewarding than aitting around watching TV," La holme aald talMlme k organization even created a hat of SOI way* to utilize the time that would otherwise be apent in front of the TV acreen Wit would like to offer up a few suggestions of our own. Tht* following i* the Emerald * Top Five tint of •tuff In do in piece of zoning in front of a droning TV set; • C»o get an ice-cream cone or frozen yogurt with a friend • Bnjoy Eugene* outdoor beauty by climbing to the (MMik of Spencer Butte • Take in a cool perujm live of the city from Skinner Butte (head fur the cm**) • Walk over the Autzen footbridge for a view of the Willamette River • Read a good book or do some homework We would also like to pre sent you with a small chal lenge Write or e-mail us with what you did (or would do) instead of watch ing your favorite TV show, We will do our beat to print as many of your responses as possible Although we hale to he party jumpers please don't semi us experience* that involve illegal, abusive or destructive activities — they won't be printed. (MtlMMttl (MtlNMMI lel€vision: » -- •\ m ii« »i(rn 1..— I TV artificial reality. The shopping mall. r. . i iM closest thing to txsmQ insjdc a television Cars: r E*p«ri«j>cmg the World 3S t-hough :t were Television VI hat do we need to complete this picture ? iiuuumw A vacuum tuLe Mtii *»-<*• iwc e«**(k.<. aetveuM9rty( tftMjr — Critical listeners find wisdom, insiaht L «*l Monday I had the opportunity to li» ten to lame* Fallow*, Washington Editor .of I ha AllanlH Monthly and author of '' ■ ' ‘ > H.'r ii . : ';>* Xro •, c ■. < annual }ohn*ton Ukiutw Two day* later. I had the opportunity to liaten to a critique of hi* l«*> tur* by several of my dwtm«tmi The critique made me wonder if we had attended the tame lecture. Fallow*' lecture topic waa "Can We Afford to Hate the Media?”, and mml of my cl&*»maiet‘ complaint* were that he teemed to •(rend more time promoting hi* book than he *pent explor mg the topic When I looked at my note* from the tie lure, I taw that he did indeed make Sev eral reference* to hi* book Mo»t of them related to thought* or example** that iliiutrated various points What confuted me about my cUttnuKcw1 cri tique wa* the *trong font* and reaentment toward thr»«* telerenc*?* Why did that «c#m *o important to them and to unimportant to me* It low*. me a few day* to finally figute out the «mww to thiti quoktom *nd when ! did, J wa* reminded of * uim<<i«.iium I had *om» year* ago with a cap lain id the Marine J’oli. <• in ; Brunei The captain was a devout Mtttliw who w*u deiighted at the opportunity to have a Jung convoraalhm with an Arnett can who could apeak at ImM a OPINION MW* of hi* language We spoke of many things, but mostly of the similarities and differences between our two cultures. At one point in the conversation, he lowered hit voice end quietly asked whet I thought of the book written by Salmon Rushdie I told him that I hadn't read it, but wet surprised that Rushdie was condemned to death. In absentia. |ust for writing a book. The captain explained that in Muslim society the Koran is considered sacred and to write something false about it is a serious crime He could not understand why Westerners didn't seem to realise this. I explained that in America there are very few limits on what a person can write, and that we. the readers, are just as free to set apt or reject what is written. The same applies to speech. In America we accept that profound wisdom can sometimes come from fools and idiots |ust as we accept that even the roost prestigious speaker can sometimes be full of it. The captain just shook his head and mumbled something about "entry Americans" and the conversation turned to more important matters like fishing, ocean cur rents and tomorrow'* weather The reason that conversation came to mind should be obvious There were at least 200 pwo pi* in Fallows' audience, and I'm willing to bet fifi —.. Journalism is one of the best of all possible occupations. 99 that each walked away with a different sot of thoughts about what they had hoard. Some of my classmates walked away with the impres sion that they just sat through part of a book promotion tour. I ( tune away with something else. Fallows said that he felt journalism is one of tho best of all possible occupations for three rea sons The first is the satisfaction that comes horn using bits and pieces of information to make something tangible such as an article, a book or a news package Tile second reason is that jour nalism tan provide opportunities for constant education, although not all journalists lake advantage of those opportunities With constant education t omes the possibility of t mutant growth, both as a journalist and as a human wing The third reason is that journalist* are '*«««» imiut’iif.,.*? uv«*r puouc without having to pay (Jut full price that polite dan* and oth«r civic leader* do Fallow* find* many of today'* journalist* desire to evert influence over public life Ha behavn* that journalists have a responsibility to give the public both infornuttiun, or "intelli gence" to use hi* term and context They have a responsibility “to mil the public what i* good and bad, »afe and threatening and to provide new* that is whole and steady " He cited the media coverage of Ron Brown, the recently deceaaed Secretary of Commerce as an example While Brown waa alive the media t lutra tensed him aa a "atain on Clin ton'a Administration" and "a cinder that tbould be removed from the public eye." At Brown’* funeral, he was repeatedly eulogised as a person who could find win-win compromise* between the most opposite forces; Fallows asked why this quality was never mentioned by the media while Brown lived. I offer Fallow's comments and tbe reactions that some people had to them only as an exam ple of what is possible when a little critical thinking is employed I was there to evaluate the lecture, not the speaker, and so it doesn't matter to me if Fallows was pushing his book or not The essential thing was to listen to what be said and then to sift through it for any useful grains of wisdom that mignt be hiding there If a stranger or a fool can provide the key needed to unlock the most perplexing of mysteries, think about how much more a person of intelligence and understanding can offer All one has to do is to listen and sift.
