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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 30, 1984)
Monday, January 30, 1934 Daily Nebraskan r vuit owners revenue convenient, now leal 7 Hie Supreme Court reerntlvHrri(w that I am not a criminal after all. Thi3 came as an enormous relief to me and to the nine million other owners of video-cassette recorders who had been accused of breaking the copyright law in oiir living room.- During an ccht-ycar suit by Ameri can moviemakers against the Sony corporation, VCRs had acquired a reputation as part of the video demi- t A. Ellen Goodman monde. Jack Valenti, the colorful head of the Motion Picture Association of America, oncexrompared VCRs to "mil lions of little tapeworms" eating away at the American movie industry. The notion behind the suit was that the mere existence of a home recorder enticed law-abiding citizens into push ing bad Juittpns. We would tape a movie on television and "library" it away for endless replays. This would cut into or should I say choke the movie resale and rerun business. I was always touched by the ego behind this argument. The idea that we would want $8 video-cassettes of Gidgct for our re-viewing pleasure was a bit bizarre. How many movies can you bear to see twice? Okay, besides Casablanca? But now that we are off the hook, or the docket, and no longer need fear the video cops, I think it is time for nine million of us to confess the real motive for our almost-crime: Revenge. The VCR is the only weapon for the citizens' revenge against television. Think about it for a minute. What is it that you hate the most about televi sion? I'm not talking about a dreadful ; program. We've always had a weapon against that: the off button. What is it that you hate about television you want to watch? My own pet peeve is that the tube is fundamentally anti-sociaL It's bossy. It waits for no one. We have to be there when the program is there, or well miss it like a one-time bus. How many family conversations have been cut short by the urgency of "IH miss my program"? How many tele phone calls have to be returned "when it's over"? How many dinner hours are planned around the news, how many kids are tucked in during commercials, how many parents compete for atten tion with the video-dictator? Justice Stevens wrote that the aver age family uses the VCR for time shifting, to watch a program at a more convenient hour. True, but I have a theory that time-shifting is really con trol-shifting. A program on tape is like a book. We can pick it up and put it down. We can stop the show, move the wash Into the dryer, settle a fijht and start again. We beat the tube. But the sweetest piece of revenge comes from the word that didnt make it into the Supreme Court brief: zap ping. Zapping is what we in the shad owy world of VCR owners do to com mercials. We push the fast-forward button right through the buggers. Some of my moments of greatest personal pleasure in the six months since we adopted a VCR have been spent zapping hemorrhoid commer cials on the network news. I now zap all the commercials. I zap to the memory of white tornados past. I zap headaches, arthritis, bad breath and laundry detergent. I zap diet-drink maidens and hand-lotion mavens. Decades of despising commercials now motivate the hand that zaps for fun. If it ever becomes illegal, they will find zap-tracks on my forefinger. I am far from alone in this thrill seeking adventure. One study shows that a full 86 percent of the VCR owners fast-forward past the com mercials. The Supreme Court may have ruled us innocent, but we zap the entire economic basis of the television industry. Any day now, I am sure the enter tainment moguls will be in the halls of Congress trying to get them to rework the copyright laws and put a royalty fee on videotapes. But they are wildly beside the point. With apologies to Jack Valenti, the problem isn't that a library of tapes could strangle the movie industry. It's that wiping out commercials could entirely and joyfully upend the TV industry. Take the word of The Boston Zapper. : w C1S34, Tht Boston Globe Newspaper Company Washington Post V.'rKart Group Correction The Daily Nebraskan incorrect ly reported in the Eric Peterson column of Jan. 26 that UNO faculty members received a 6.6 percent pay increase for the cur rent fiscal year. The pay hike, which was order ed by the Commission of Indus trial Relations, was retroactive for the 1932-83 fiscal year. Tech nically, UNL faculty members re ceived a 5 percent increase for 1982-83, bat it was partially de ferred so that the actual raise amounted to approximately 2.5 percent. The Daily Nebraskan regrets the error. pj a a trri zn rn ni In 2ELC w CC" ! 9(3 P7 !J v;y j . n a J Fri-Sat 10:30 A.M.-1 :00 A.M. n cccd fch dtii Lcmi:::s CLj d C3 E3 a Famous Kebob Gyro Sandwiches, Dinners and Desserts (Baklava) - "2 ""FOD .p2-GD naiisandwichM . . (with purchase of med. drink) VZl CUTS UELCri 477-2323 cr C4-0231 OPFN: (DOWNTOWN HOURS) East Park Plaza Mall-Food Village Sun-Thur 10:30 A.M.-9:00 P.M. '' 66th & O 464-6261 T 816 P Street-Haymarket Square n This is a coupon .. . U ,' f n r 7 r 7 i I Cm '- ; - 1 r y- y y oa ill "TV? o no bpsoaJity Volume Shoe Corporation is committed to excellence in retailing. We're the nation's largest self-service footwear retailer operating over 1,300 Payless ShoeSource stores in 34 states. Our high standards of ' excellence have resulted in profit performance and growth , unequaled in the industry. Continuing this unparalleled " ' ; growth, over 150 new stores will .be opened during the next year. Our leadership status in the industrv. provides manv , , exciting and rewarding career opportunities in both the corporate and field operations areas. A structured, fast-track management training program is offered along with highly competitive salary and benefit packages. Volume Shoe Corporation's high standards of excellence can provide you with many opportunities for personal and professional career development. - For information about career opportunities with Volume Shoe Corporation, schedule an appointment with us through the placement office. 'X . ; 2131 East 6th P.O. Box 1 189 Topeka, Kansas 66601 AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY EMPLOYER MF A division pt The May Department Stores Company n ' . EDITOR GENERAL MANAGER PRODUCTION MANAGER ADVERTISING MANAGER ASSISTANT ADVERTISING MANAGER CIRCULATION MANAGER NEWS EDITOR ASSOCIATE NEWS EDITORS SPORTS EDITOR ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR COPY DESK SUPERVISOR NIGHT NEWS EDITOR . ASSISTANT NIGHT NEWS EDITOR WIRE EDITOR ART DIRECTOR PHOTO CHIEF ASSISTANT PHOTO CHIEF PUBLICATIONS BOARD CHAIRPERSON PROFESSIONAL ADVISER The Daily Nebraskan (USPS 144-080) is published by the UNL Publications Board Monday through Friday in the fall and spring semesters and Tuesdays and Fridays in the summer sessions, except during vacations. Readers are encouraged to submit story ideas and com ments to the Daily Nebraskan by phoning 472-2583 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The public also has access to the Publications Board. Formformation, call Carla Johnson, 477-5703. KILraB Postmaster: Send address changes to the Daily Nebras kan. 34 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St., Lincoln, Neb. 6S5a3- ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT 1834 DA!LY NEBRASKAN Larry Srarks, 472-1 7tS Daniel ttitVJ Kitty Poilcky Tracy L Ctavtrs Kty Grouoehme it HTsytr Ward W. Triplett III UurlHer?! 4zm f'yf s!r VSckl Rl: Jit Crownt IV, Frost Pet Clartt Petty Pryor i Chris Y.'tach -Lorrt tton;sr Crs'3 Anr its f a . 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