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.