editorial
o o
Gazette
gripes
NCAA-
sellout for
TV money
Sometimes newspapers tend to think of freedom of
the press as freedom of the establishment press, and
. that's not always good.
At times, the very freedoms of that establishment
institution can be eroded by events which sneak in
the bathroom window with the repression of the
underground press.
If Lincoln's press isn't careful, that could be one
result of the Lincoln Board of Education's decision
last week against the Lincoln Gazette, an
underground newspaper.
In that dscision, acting on complaints from
students' parents, the board backed up Lincoln Public
Schools Superintendent John Prasch's decision to ban
the Gazette from distribution on school property.
Reasons given by Prasch for the ban include
allegations that the paper prints four-letter words,
accepts advertising and solicits donations. He also
implied that the paper has no educational value.
None of these objections seem to be worth much.
Advertising doesn't seem to bother the schools when
it appears in school-distributed high school
newspapers and dramatic and sport activity programs.
Nor does it seem to bother the schools that the Red
Cross, Community Chest and countless
"establishment" charities solicit donations on school
campuses.
Most ridiculous of all, however, is the complaint
against the Gazette's use of four-letter words. By the
time a "child" reaches high school, where the
Gazette has been distributed, it seems highly unlikely
that even the most sheltered innocent would not have
had contact with words worse than those appi Ting in
the Gazette. Indeed, the syllables that appear on the
walls of high school restrooms would make the
Gazette seem like "Little Boy Blue."
To deny student access to the Gazette because it
uses words the establishment press doesn't is
extremely hypocritical.
In fact, the Gazette non establishment approach is
where it may have its greatest "educational" value.
Because the Gazette takes a different approach, a
different editorial stance, a different look at the
news, it deserves a spot in the curriculum of those
students in the captive audience of the Lincoln Public
Schools, perhaps more than the "establishment
press."
This is not to say the Gazette deserves any special
treatment. As a newspaper, it should be accorded all
privileges that others receive, including placement in
school libraries and curriculum usage. On-campus
distribution should be determined by existing rules
applied equally to all publications.
If Lincoln's press ignores the discrimination against
the Gazette, it can scarcely blame anyone but itself if
the public schools decide to abridge freedom of the
press in another way which could curtail even the
establishment press.
Jim Gray
ri 'jm osmss
FreecJbm of the Press''
C.K. Walter is an assistant professor in
the marketing department of the College
of Business Administration.
by C.K. Welter
The NCAA has sold out to television.
At the bottom of the 1972 football
schedule (the same one that had the
Thanksgiving Day game listed for
Saturday, Nov. 25), it says: "Cornhusker
Home Games Start at 1:30 p.m." So why
were people asking in the days preceding,
"When does the game start Thursday?" It
was simply assumed that the television
program director might choose some
other hour, like 12 or two, depending
when he thought his audience, not our
fans, would be most likely to tune in.
This time, he only moved the time up 10
minutes; it could have been worse.
The paved track running beside the
playing field normally is used by people
who want to get from one part of the
stadium to another -a logical use. But
Thursday, the public address system
asked us to keep the track clear for free
passage of the T.V. cameras.
Between plays, a T.V. cameraman
focused on a student section, waved his
arm and extended one finger in the best
of "we're No. 1" styles. Like puppets,
hundreds of the otherwise intelligent and
rational persons reflected this
. ail-American spontaneous excitement.
Along the 30-yard line, I happened to
notice what looked like cn official,
dressed solely in white, with dark gloves.
He seemed to have an interesting talent:
when his arms dangled at his sides, the
men on the field played football; when he
crossed his arms on his chest, the men on
the field stood around not playing
football and they didn't play football for,
oh, about the same time that a T.V.
commerical would take.
Watch how this works: pick any old
pi ay -for example, the one where
Oklahoma kicked an extra point after a
touchdown and tied the game at 14-14.
Nebraska's kick-off return team roared
onto the field, ready for blood.
Ordinarily, the scoring team would kick
off and see if they could handle the fury
now facing them. But Thanksgiving Day,
the man in white calmly crossed his arms
and nothing happened for a minute. A
little later, Oklahoma kicked a field goal,
which was their margin of victory. Once
again, Nebraska took the field, this time
more than just a little heated up. And
once again, Mr. Super-official (who isn't a
referee at all but a network technician)
crossed his arms and all action ceased for
another minute.
No, I won't say the commercial
time-outs changed the outcome of the
ball game. I will just ask how long can
you keep the old adrenaline flowing?
A stranger visiting the stadium might
have round it interesting to see how
honored we were to have a national T.V.
announcer introduce the players, as each
runs to a magic spot where we can see
only, their backs, their faces being
blocked from view by a camera. The
stranger might also enjoy telling his
friends back home how interesting the
stadium looked, with all those signs being
carried and hung; undoubtedly a
longstanding tradition. But he might have
criticized the stadium's builders for
installing three metal towers with TV
cameras on top of them in such a way
that his view from one of the choice seats
was obstructed.
The villain, as it is so very often these
days, Is money. The television people
wave their green and the NCAA schools
bow down, asking, I suppose, how far.
But can't the networks build their,
programming around the game, rather
than vice versa? Don't accept any threats
of their taking their money and going
home. What other show will attract an
audience on Saturday afternoons?
The T.V. people should be invited to
broadcast our games as spectators, not as
controllers. They can produce
commericals to fit the shorter spacing of
a 20-second huddle and save the longer
messages for the legitimate time-outs and
quarter changes.
The participating schools (through the
NCAA) should be paid a rate comparable
with other T.V. programs of similar
audience size and appeal: if the games
draw like "All In The Family," they
should be paid like it; conversely, if the
T.V. audience drops to the size of "Little
Rascal" reruns (not likely, but possible),
it would be robbery to accept more. If
the network's production costs are too
high for this arrangement, they once
again may have to learn to make do with
fewer than a dozen cameras and assorted
"color-men."
Thanks largely to abundant television
coverage, football is at an all-time high in
popularity. But don't forget that before
television focused in on them, baseball
ana ooxing were popular, too.
daily nebraskan
monday, december 4, 1972
