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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 30, 2000)
£te/vNebraskan Since 1901 Editor Sarah Baker Opinion Page Editor Samuel McKewon Managing Editor Bradley Davis Dead On Survival Faux misery of summer fad mesmerizes Americans Charles Darwin would have been proud. Was the hit CBS summer show “Survivor” anything more than an entertaining manifesta tion of the theories of the father of evolution? Not really. Consider the stunning revelations brought forth by the program that shamed any Wednesday night program daring to stand against it People actudUy fight. And they back stab. And cheat and argue and berate. And, just to flash some ominous posturing, they make evil, phony threats to leave each other dying of thirst on a sandy beach. Like the network thought we were bom yes terday. Well, for three months, being bom yesterday might have been too high a standard to set for the American viewing culture. It's a week past, but “Survivor,” in the ways that matter beyond rat ings and shares, stunk. It was reality, all right. The kind that shows how little we learned from William Golding’s “Lord of the Flies.” Only this time, no Piggys were allowed, just a bunch of Jacks. Somehow, this phenomenon doesn't reveal itself as one of the better moments in recent television history. It’s funny that the show came on the heels of another TV fad, the return of the high-priced game show, the very type of program that shat tered America’s innocence in 1959with the quiz show scandals. As it was said often by excuse-ridden corpo rate suits back then: “You think it’s the contest ants? They just want to follow the money.” Thie, true. What would “Survivor” have been without the cool million at the end of the rain bow? Not much. The show, of course, used the money as bait, to the point where winning - indeed surviving in some strange way-actually became important to the American vernacular. And that’s scary. we can near me legions oi nmess neaics ana athletic coaches scolding us now. But what’s win ning worth if it comes at the cost of individuals coming to hate one another as their disagree ments are aired on national television, while Joe and Jane Viewer live vicariously through the anger on the tube? Thankfully, the “Survivor” fad will remain just that While a second show will air, it will need to bust new ground - like somebody dying or being seriously maimed - to achieve similar ratings. Viewers get jaded fast Survivalist instincts are just as fleeting as joy, contempt or sadness. Internet leaks, which near ly sunk die closing episodes of the last “Survivor,” will become more rampant Along with it followed other reality shows, such as “Big Brother,” which never caught on, simply because people had been filled to the brim with conflict, and “American High,” a show about the most boring, self-absorbed group of humans that walk the planet - teen-agers. If any one is listening: Dramatically faux misery and idealism in imperfect mates don’t sell. We know-just because the past has proven it - that a show like “Survivor” can only up its ante so far before it becomes blatant exploitation. This summer it was simply hidden, writhing below the surface, waiting to be unearthed by the forthcoming articles by the equally exploitative entertainment magazines. Not that it’s any bet ter. Not that it’s any less disconcerting that America followed so doggedly along with it Not that there won't be another fad just as shameful as “Survivor,” arriving at a TV near you. Editorial Board Sarah Baker, Bradley Davis, Josh Funk, Matthew Hansen, Samuel McKewon, Dane Stickney, Kimberly Sweet Lattsrs Pofcy The My Nebraskan wekxmae briefs, letters to the editor and guaat column*, but does not guer re aesil»e« in**—™ TTren^NarriatTanrarainrilhartatttnerltnrrirerlnnvmrelsrinimihmlttiiil jjjjn jmliiitoreMtTrmw parity nffwn^ttolTnrttnmrtrrewnlht) mi wind ftnrnymmsi submissions *• not be published Those who submit letters must identity themselves by name, year to school, major andfor group Mtotton, 4 any Submit malarial to: Daly Nabraakan, 20 Nebraska Union, 1400 R St Uncoil, NE 66588-0448. E m* HBaiaOunlnfo.trt.edu. Editorial PoScy Unakaied adboriato an the opinions of the Frit 2000 Daly Nabraakan. They do not necessarily reflect tha views of tha University of Nebraaka-Uncoin. Is ampioyaas. its studant body or the Urtvaraly of NebraakaBoani of Regents. A column laaoMytheapMonof Is author a cartoon ia solely the opinion of la srtreL Tha Bored of Ragsnts acts as publshar of the Daly Nabraakan; po» cy ia aat by tie Daly Nstaraskan Edtarisf Boant Tha UNL PitoScreBons Bored, aatoblahad by toe regents, supervisee toe production of toe paper. According to polcy set by toe isgante,raeponai bty tor the adbortd content of tha newspaper lea aotaty In the hands of >a amployaaa. _ AT THIS SATuRPAy’5 SAME K jS„Jy (ow«g« w*£)_^ ' 'a (SE£ l7roti^t\ /^-a ^e rneiHfP J8? taiObemwyer/DN Check ladies, unite! I honestly can't believe that somebody (Karen Brown), who should be a mature intelligent adult, could write something so violent and selfish. If she and all the other UNL undergraduate stu dents would read and use their Undergraduate Bulletins, nothing about getting a Senior Check would have been any surprise. It is stated under each college section. Advisers should also be aware of the “Senior Check.” I’m always surprised by how many students say, “I did n't know,” or “Nobody told me.” Ha Ha!! To lash out at the “Senior Check” lady like that is ridiculous!! If she were observant, she would have noticed there are five “people” doing senior checks, and each has two colleges and hundreds of students to work with. They each do their job very well. Chin up “Senior-Check” people!! This is just another case of somebody who doesn’t want to take responsibility for themselves. You deserve congratulations on a job well done, not blamed for someone’s inability to be responsible for them selves. Tina Jahn-Neidecker Graduate Admissions (former “Senior-Check” secretary) More than Echelon Sorry Jeremy, ya 133t k3wl dOOd, but if you haven’t been checking the scoreboard lately, we’ve been getting our asses kicked. A multinational intelligence agency or even the FBI watching the net, however frightening that may be, is nothing compared to the infringement on our First Amendment rights that are being handed down by court rulings and legislation here in die good ol’ U.S. of A. Take the case of the Motion Picture Association of America against Emmanuel Goldstein (the han dle, inspired by the underground resistance leader in 1984, of the editor of2600.com). The judge ruled recently that posting links to various sites that contained a DVD de-encryption software intended for viewing DVDs on a Linux, called DeCSS, was illegal. This ruling was based in large part on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act Regardless of the fact that DeCSS may be used for (but can fall under “fair use" region of copyright law) illegal pirating of DVDs, links to it are now ille gal. It's akin to establishing a precedent that one can't give directions to a gun store or else they will get prosecuted, after all, guns can be used to com mit crimes. 1 am disturbed that one can be so excited about some bogeyman over at British Telecom when the freedom of speech, freedom of the press and “fair use” are rapidly becoming something we have to pay money to the MPAA and Time Warner for. What’s more important? In the new frontier of liberty and democracy, we sure have gotten off to a bad start with uncon stitutional rulings based on unconstitutional legis lation. Citizens like Emmanuel Goldstein and oth ers who are fighting and losing trying to keep this country free in cyberspace need somebody like yourself with the pulpit you have to spread the word. Echelon, however much truth or fiction it is, is certainly not high priority right now. SeanZehtab biology Survivor not worth reliving inrougnout me, mere - are certain good experi ences. This summer, I tried to relive some of them and indulge myself. At home, in Kearney, I was a good journalist, stu dent and family member. _ So this summer I decided to D&I10 take classes at UNK, work Sticknev at the Kearney Hub news- mhhmiib paper and live at home. It really didn’t work out. Don’t let anyone ever tell you UNK is better than UNL in anything. Anything. Likewise, the Kearney Hub, owned by the ultra-conservative Omaha World-Herald, was not willing to give me freedom to do avant-garde endeavors. And I think my parents and I have all reached ages where tolerating each other is not an easy task. But there was one good thing that happened this summer; it happened on Wednesday nights. I’m a bit ashamed to say that it was the CBS hit “Survivor.’’ My mom, aaa ana l wouia mare supper together. We'd gather around the TV with TV trays to see what the 16 Americans stranded on a desert island in the South China Sea! would do next. There was something about “Survivor.” No one in my family has ever been much of a TV junkie, but each week we wondered and dis cussed who would get voted off. My dad told us it was rigged. “All of these immunity challenges are predetermined,” he'd say. “And that tribal council thing, it's straight out of‘Lord of the Flies.’” But he got reeled in, joining my mom in sup port of the old Navy Seal, Rudy, whom they both contend “got the shaft” by not winning. Those castaways made me forget about my isolation in Kearney. There was just something very intriguing about voting people off. Where else can you see a 40-something female truck driver tell a 20-something river guide that she would rather watch the river guide die than spare a drop of water? Mien the time came to go back to school, my mom realized that I would miss two episodes. Her eyes teared up when she thought about me not being there to share the “Survivor” suspense. Since I am a news editor at the Daily Nebraskan, I knew I'd be busy around 7 p.m. on Wednesdays, but I was determined not to have my sole joy from the summer slip away. So I bought a TV with one of those VCRs built into it. The first week, I moved to school early and taped the show, which whittled the cast down to iour castaways, m me ena oi uiai episoae, uieie were startling previews about the two-hour finale, which would reveal the $1 million winner. The sheer joy of watching that two-hour episode would be enough to make me forget about all of summer's obstacles, redesigning this paper and adjusting to new classes. With so many shallow peaks in life, smutty TV is easily elevated. Or at least my trying summer made me think so. The night of the last episode finally came, and I was counting the minutes before 1 could leave the DN to get home and watch what I had taped. I was going to be sure to avoid people who even looked like they watched the show out of fear of having the winner’s name divulged. As I was leaving the DN, the design chief told me the news section had too much open space, and I needed to get on the Associated Press Web site to copy wire stories for the paper. I was dis appointed that I had to stay another 20 minutes. I decided to do my job quickly, so I could go home. When I opened the Web site, 1 began to look at the headlines of the newest stories. There was a story about a plane crash in Bahrain and wild fires in Montana. None of those looked good. I scrolled down further. Then it happened. My world came crumbling down. “Rich Hatch Wins Survivor Contest.” I diverted my eyes and scrolled to the bottom of the page. I tried to forget what I saw. I couldn’t. “No!” I yelled, trying to shield my eyes from the horror of my only joy from the summer being destroyed. I hit the table with my hand, causing the whole news room to look at me. They didn’t understand my pain. As I left the DN offices to walk home, I walked past Opinion Editor Samuel McKewon and told him what had happened. “It’s ironic isn’t it?” he said. “What do you mean?” I asked. “Well, that work ruined your entire summer.” He smirked back at me. At that moment, I began to see a point in all of the criticism of “Survivor” and network TV. I still like the voyeuristic and competitive aspect of the show. It was a fun ride. But what I’ve realized is that you can't trust TV to salvage a summer. I put my frith in something that gave me joy, no different than getting an STD from cheap sex or a nosebleed from hairspray huffing. I over indulged and got burned. Like I said, there are some things in your life that you want to experience again. The next sea son of “Survivor” will not be one of them. Slaves of TV can't claim individuality TViseviL The state ment is more acerbic than it needs to be, but it gets to die point The point is, ulti mately, that TV is me ariving «MIKO engine behind a Gtamkj massive mecha nism of business, politics and social movements of which you are lithe more than a ball bearing. Last summer, I sat down and logged mote television hours in a shorter span of time than I have since I came to UNL four years ago, especially once my younger sister hooked me on anime. As the summer progressed, I charted the downward spiral of brain activity that occurs when you have unrestricted access to IV i nave orgaruzea it into stages. Stage l:\buapproach the television skeptically. When you see a show that you don’t like, you turn it off. When a commercial comes on, you do some thing else. \bu get bored of TV You think about other things. You get mild enter tainment from quality programming. Stage 2: Your standards have slack ened slightly. You watch a showyou dont particularly like because you like the one that came before, or the one coming after. You find entertainment in some commercials. You begin to notice how much time you’ve spent watching TV. You aren't really thtnldng about anything but die shows you're watching. Stage 3: \bu have discovered that just about anything on television is watch able. You will watch a showyou dont par ticularly like because it grows on you. "ftm watch reality television. You recognize commercials. %u foiget your VCR has a built-in clock. You begin to role-play in the shows you see. Stage 4 (critical) :\bu turn on the TV whenever you are in the same room. When you eat When you are bored. \hu watch FOX \bu role-play in shows while you are showering. You are engaged by news casters. Stage 5(brain death): tou are the TV When you have reached stage five, you become a full-fledged, card-carrying member of the establishment Ifb point less to speak of any distinction between your own opinions and those of broad casting conglomerates because, for an practical purposes, they are the same. Commercials inform you of your opinions and television shows provide you with an ethical model that you inevitably will lead your life by. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old because you are mindless. Ybu dont even pause to think that there is more news than they cover in FOX’S hour-long newscast (which is about three parts weather, two parts feel-good stories, one part local issues and one part global news). When “20120" presents a story of a family that failed to take full advantage of a federal program, you react with sym pathy to its pain, rather than with disgust at its sloth. It is TV that makes the survival of commercial super-beings possible. AOL Time Whmer, Disney - these are real and thriving organisms. They depend on your subconscious subjugation to their ultimate goal of self-sustenance. They dont want you to think outside the box they have you in. Neither do you. The classic symptom of your com mercial assimilation is an addiction to sensory stimuli Do you need to have the TV on at all times? Do you read cheap fic tion? Do you choose food based primari ly on taste and not on nutritional con tent? Do you ascribe to any political party? Do you like pop music? If so, you are part of the complex socio-economic circle of life which sus tains the commercial super-organisms of our day. Some of you have recognized this. Do you sense something wrong with the world? Do you sense your personal liber ties being siphoned off? Are you increas ingly dissatisfied with a materialistic world? The reason why this is happening is because people act more and more like focus groups and less like what they are individuals. And tbe only way to stop this - the only way to poison the creatures that consume our lifetimes to further their own-is to claim our individuality. Stop believing politicians. Stop accepting everything you heat Stop eat ing those damn ding-dongs. \bu need to think. Think. Unplug your television. Evaluate your financial expenses and figure out how much of your stuff you don't need. How much money do you spend just to experience a moment of drug-like stim ulation? Chocolate, CDs, movies, dothes -ids all the same. You feed a system that thrives off of your subservience. Ifyou sense it too, itb time to fight back. It is our liberty that is ultimately at stake.