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1 Perspectives
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Sarah Kickler
EDITORIAL EDITOR
Mike Schmierbach
NIGHT EDITORS
Doug Irving
Sarah Kickler
Trapped in consumer paradise
The media and corporate
America combine to create
a u>orld where reality has
no role
u
W:
hat the hell is go
ing on?”
No one can
spend any con
siderable amount of time in a college
town without asking his or herself
that question. But as I ease into my
second year of college, I find it occu
pying an inordinate amount of my
time.
Apparently, there is a youth cul
ture around here somewhere. Or at
least fashion magazines and TV com
Kameron
Cole
mercials keep in
sisting there is. And
if we know what’s
good for us, we
should go out right
now and jump right
into it.
Fortunately, it
doesn’t take much
digging to see that
what is passing for
culture these days is
basically a lot ol
hype and nonsense. Harder to fath
om, however, is why so many people
seem to be buying it.
One of the more intriguing theories
claims that the younger population is
actually getting dumber. Not in terms
of brain cells or I.Q. points, but rather
in the sense that our collective
knowledge seems to be leaning away
from the traditional and more toward
the trivial.
General sentiment places responsi
bility for this “dumbing down” at the
doors of several sources, the most
conspicuous of which is the mass
media.
Recent years have witnessed the
increased emphasis on entertainment
over news. As society’s fascination
with celebrity has grown, interest in
reality has waned. A look at events of
the past couple years reveals that
anything even remotely connected to
the personality of the week will sell
papers, attract ratings and boost ad
revenues — fast.
The long term consequences of
such practices are disturbing. It’s
scary to think that legitimate news is
being buried under the latest O.J. dra
ma or an in-depth interview with
Princess Diana’s hairdresser, but it’s
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CHRIS HUTCHINSON/Emerald
even more frightening to conceive ot
a society that may one day come to
regard Entertainment Tonight as “the
news" and The National Enquireras
“the paper."
Of course, the principle of supply
and demand can’t be overlooked
here. People want to be entertained.
Escapism is a normal, indeed a nec
essary, part of life. The problem starts
when people establish residency in
the world they escape to.
Obviously, there must be some
middle ground between the deadly
serious and the patently inane. Un
fortunately, the media that spawn
monsters like Hard Copy and A Cur
rent Affair don’t seem to have found
it yet.
But as with most social problems,
there’s more than enough blame to go
around. If the media are going to be
the whipping boy here, then the cor
porate machine is going to have to
take its share of licks.
Corporations operate with one key
objective: finding the most effective
way to sell you the most stuff you
don’t need. And like a pit bull on a
squirrel, once they latch on to a desir
able demographic, they have no in
tention of letting go. Pretty much
everyone within the 15 to 30 age
group — from the teenage militias
that while away the days at Eugene
Station to the most frazzled grad stu
dent — can be certain that they’ll re
ceive a healthy dose of sound bites
and catch phrases each day.
One trend segues into another on
an almost weekly basis, adding to the
mountain of irrelevant crap that
forms the foundation for much of
modem life.
Culture manufacturers whittle
away at independent thought by
serving up prefabricated identities
and ideas. In fact, the most notable
thing about mass culture is the ease
with which it can be bought and sold.
The saddest part about all this is
the legacy we stand to leave. The idea
that years from now my generation
will be remembered not in terms of
turning points and contributions but
rather ad campaigns and video clips
is, at the least, disheartening.
One of the biggest perks of college
life is the ability to pick and choose
how much of real life you actually
want to experience.
It’s extremely tempting to simply
slip on a pair of Nikes, pull back the
tab on a can of Bud Light and spin
“Barbie Girl” one more time; it’s also
extremely dull.
The real world can be exceedingly
unpleasant at times, but it is also infi
nitely more interesting than anything
MTV orTime-Wamer has to offer.
Anyone who doesn’t at least try to ex
plore the opportunities that lie out
side of his or her own microcosm is
wasting the college experience.
Kameron Cole is a columnist for the
Emerald. Her columns appear on alter
nate Wednesdays. Her views do not nec
essarily reflect those of the Emerald.
Drawing Board
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PEOPlf WOULD LAY
A WREATH.
Quoted
"This is great
news tor
sprouters. I’ve al
ready got my seed
source located
and will probably
have sprouts in
seven days.”
Nancy Snider,
president of ttw
International
Sprout Growers
Associated, re
sponding to news
that broccoli
sprouts might
heip prevent can
cer, quoted in the
Tuesday Register
Guard.
“A critique is
not a matter of
saying that things
are not right as
they are. ftisa
matter of pointing
out on what kinds
of assumptions,
what kinds of fa
miliar, unchal
lenged, unconsid
ered modes of
thought the prac
tices that we ac
cept rest... (C]riti
cism Is absolutely
indispensable for
any transforma
tion. A transfor
mation that re
mains within the
same mode of
thought, a trans
formation that is
only a way of ad
justing the same
thought more
closely to the real
ity of things can
merely be a su
perficial transfor
mation."
Philosopher
Michel Foucault,
in a 1981 inter
view, quoted in
Michel Foucault
Politics, Philoso
phy, Culture, edit
ed by Lawrence
Kritzmanand
translated by Alan
Sheridan.
“It appears that
virginity for both
sexes is back in
style.”
Thatpropbetof
the cutting edge,
Aim Landers,
quoted in Tues
day's Oregonian.
CORRECTION
The Welcome
Back concert
Monday night
cost $2,000. The
ASUO paid $500
from its pro
grams budget;
sponsors funded
the rest. The
Emerald regrets
the error.