Page 2AThe BattalionATuesday, June 25, 1985
OPINION
Media hype bad
for U.S. hostages
It’s happening again. America is once again being “held hos
tage.” The media is once again salivating over juiciest story since
the Iran hostage crisis. And the question of how much coverage
is too much is raised once again.
Naturally, the duty of the media is to faithfully report the
critical events of the Beirut situation. But sometimes the media
gets so caught up in this duty it fails to examine the long-reach
ing effects of such overplay of the news.
The terrorists aboard TWA flight 487 relish the exposure. If
taking over a plane full of innocent people will grant them ac
cess to the media, then what better way to make their cause
known?
Suddenly, America is saturated with “Crisis in the Middle
East” stories. Newspapers, magazines, and of course television
has been digging into every aspect of the story. Stories of fathers
dying from anxiety, grief-stricken families, and pictures of tear-
soaked relatives have all made the front pages. And all the atten
tion is exactly what the terrorists want.
The networks seem to be trying out-do one another with cri
sis specials. “ABC News Nightline,” which was born out of the
Iranian hostage crisis, has found a new purpose.
The media can’t ignore — shouldn’t ignore — an event as in
ternationally signifigant as Lebanon hostage situation. But it can
use some discretion in its coverage. The hostages have enough
problems, they don’t need to have the media aiding their captors
with a worldwide means to express terrorist views.
The Battalion Editorial Board
No ride for off-campus students
Bus service screeches to halt over summer
Karl
Pallmeyer
Let’s take a test.
Don’t worry, you
don’t have to study
for it and your score
will not affect your —
GPR.
There will be only one multiple-
choice question and you may use as
many answers that you think apply to
you. This test is just for fun.
Here is the question: How do you get
to campus?
a) . I walk
b) . I ride my bike
c) . I drive
d) . I catch a ride with a friend
e) . I take a taxi
f) . I ride the shuttle bus
g). I live on campus so I don’t give a
damn
Have you finished? Good, now let’s
see how you did.
If you answered “a” or “b” you either
live relatively close to campus or you
really enjoy exercise. If you answered
“c” or “d” you are fortunate to either
have a car or have a friend who does. If
you answered “e” you must be filthy
rich. If you answered “f” you must live
in in a specific area of College Station.
In the regular semesters the shuttle
bus sevice uses 30 buses to bring some
13,000 students from all over Bryan and
College Station to campus. The buses
run about every 20 minutes from 7:00
a.m. until 10:00 p.m. This summer only
two buses are running. One bus makes a
run down Anderson and Marion Pugh
streets every 30 minutes from 7:20 a.m.
until 3:50 p.m. The other makes a run
down Southwest Parkway, FM 2818 and
part of Welsh St. every 35 minutes from
7:20 a.m. until 5:55 p.m. These buses
serve none of Bryan and only a small
part of College Station.
Many people are forced to answer
“a,” “b,” “c,” “d” or“e.”
In the regular semesters the Univer
sity budget includes bus service. This
summer the University told apartment
complexes throughout Bryan and Col
lege Station that if they wanted buses
they would have to pay for them. Some
apartment complexes realized they
cOuld help their tenants and maybe at
tract a few more if they offered bus
service so they agreed to this extortion.
If you live off campus and have not
been able to ride the bus to campus you
are probably wondering who to blame
for the inconvenience. Don’t blame your
apartment complex; it is not their re-
sponibility to get you to campus. Don’t
blame the Unversity bus service; they
realize how important the shuttle buses
are to the student body and would run
more buses if they had the money. The
University is at fault; the budget should
include bus service for the summer.
dents enrolled in summer school,abw
13,000 students live off campus. Ik
means there are about 6,500 student)
who could benefit from bus service.lt
doesn’t take a degree in math totelltliat
if the University uses 30 buses tobrinj
13,000 students to campus inthefal
and spring, they should use more eta
two buses to bring 6,500 students to
campus in the summer.
By the way, if you answered “g’joii
probably should give a damn. You mat
live off campus next summer.
In the regular semesters about half of
the students who live off campus ride
the bus. This summer, of the 15,000 stu- ion.
Karl Pallmeyer is a senior journalk
major and a columnist for The Banal'
Perils of a right-
handed
There she sat. ; ■ ;
Hand twisted
around the pen, MarCy BOSilO
she reminded me Guest Columnist
of Quasimoto or
Igor — not the hu- ——————
man I knew she was.
“She” is my sister, Andi, and she is
a southpaw, wrong- (I mean right-)
minded, a lefty.
As a small child I never cared that
Andi was “different” from the rest of
us. All I knew about was the “special”
scissors Mom bought her for kinder
garten. I was crushed when I found
out that Mom went out of her way to
buy Andi “special” stuff. All I got was
the usual kid stuff, you know, Super-
elastic-bubble-plastic, Lite-Brite and
Spirograph.
Now that I’m grown (some of you
will debate that) I relize that Mom got
Andi “special” things because if Andi
didn’t get “special” things life was
going to be miserable around the Ba-
sile house for a long time.
Mom’s dilemma still haunts us.
A few weeks back my sisters and I
(there’s four of us) went out to break
fast. Usually when we go out to eat,
we cook outside (it’s sort of embar
rassing going out in public with my
sisters). Well, true to her ways, Andi
caused more than one scene.
Somehow she ended up on the in
side of the booth — death to anyone
sitting next to her.
“Oh darn,” Andi said with a sweet-
world
ness only Erica Kane could match. “I
forgot. I’m left-handed and need to
sit on the outside.” Yeah, I bet she
forgot.
“Donna (my other sister) you need
to move so I won’t elbow you in the
ribs.” Sure, she’s nice in public — if
we had been at home it would have
been a totally different approach.
As those on the other side of the
table began to shuffle, people began
to stare. I slowly sank into oblivion.
And they wonder why I never invite
them out to eat!
After ever yone finally settled
down and the food arrived Andi
reached for the syrup. With her left
hand. She was positioned on the out
side of the table and was fairly lung
ing for the boysenberry syrup. It’s
not as if she could have asked or any
thing. No, she had to jump up and
down in her quest for processed sap.
Naturally, we refused to help her
until she conformed to “our world.”
Or at least asked for help.
I really, truly believe that if Mom
hadn’t brought home those “special”
scissors, life with Andi would be
much more bearable. As it is, I have
to put up with the perils of a left-
handed person in a right-handed
world.
At least I didn’t fail cut and paste
in kindergarten.
Marcy Basile is a senior journalism
major.
‘The Cosby Show’ disperses
black television stereotype
Thanks NBC, for
opening up our eyes
and minds with “The
Cosby show.”
Rod
Richardson
Guest Columnist
The Nielson rat- —■ ' —
ings list “The Cosby
Show” as the number one prime time
show on network television.This weekly
series has been a tremendousally in the
fight to eliminate the negative appear
ance of the “typical” black ontelevision.
“Cosby” has been fortunate in the
sense that it has not been labeled as a
“black show.” Despite the fact that the
cast is predominantly black, it does not
fit the mold of previous televisionshows
depicting black families.
Shows like “Good Times,” “The Jef-
fersons” and “Sanford and Son’were all
successful in the ratings game;but they
all fell short in the war to dispelthe ste
reotypes who love dancing, barbeque,
watermelons and Cadillacs.
I really enjoyed watching“Good
Times,” but there were times when I
would hear my white classmatestalking
about the show and I would wonder
whether they though all black people
were happy living in the ghetto.
I thought “Sanford and Son” was a
decent attempt (decent only in theory,
not actually in the script) todemonstrate
how the father-son relationship can
work with love and understanding,
however, this idealistic meaning got lost
among the “Sanford junk.”
Why do some white residents still get
stirred up when a black family moves
into the neighborhood?
I think its quite possible that many of
these concerned citizensare looking for
the answers to their questions in the
wrong places. Economic lines are the
lines that blacks are rapidly crossing and
“The Cosby Show” happens to revolve
around a black doctor/husband and a
lawyer/wife. They have four daughters
and one son to go along with a certain
degree of financial security.
This is realistic. Bill Cosby actually
has four daughters and one son. He has
been married to his wife, Camille, for 21
years and Cosby recently admitted on
“The Donahue Show” that the hit series
is an extension of his real life.
“Cosby” has pulled a fast one on
America.
Not black or white America — all of
us. The show sets a black family in a pos
itive situation without a lot of singing,
dancing, sex or watermelon antics.
On the other hand, “Cosby” still rep
resents middle-class America on the
screen with all of its day-to-day joys and
pains. The family goes through ups and
downs just like everybody else, and we
(the viewers) can accept that.
-Whites who have stereotyped blacks
for so long can now see that just as
whites can move up the “socio-economic
ladder,” blacks can do the same. I find it
refreshing to watch a show that does not
depict a black family from Harlem or in
the ghetto.
Now don’t get me wrong, I know that
many of the negative black images de
picted on television do exist; I’m just
saying that there’s nothing wrong with
emphasizing or just showing the more
positive image as well. It just so happens
that blacks are individuals who can have
strong family commitments and strive to
achieve a respectable socio-economic
position.
can watch “Cosby” with the hope dial
through the education process and
other equal opportunities, they too can
“move up.”
Bill Cosby believes that good people
should be accepted just as that and
America has accepted his show for the
same reason — it’s good.
Rod Richardson is a senior journalism
major.
The Battalion
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Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
* Kellie Dworaczyk, Editor
Kay Mallett, John Hallett, News Editors
Loren Stef fy, Editorial Page Editor
Sarah Oates, City Editor
Travis Tingle, Sports Editor
The Battalion Staff
Assistant City Editor..
Assistant News Editor
Katherine Hurt
Cathie Anderson
Entertainment Editors
Cathy Riely, Walter Sraith
Copy Editor Trent Leopold
Make-up Editors Ed Cassavoy.
Karla Martin
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