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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 9, 1998)
>nday * February 9, 1998 The Battalion ITATE OF THE UNION I Circus of tlie bizarre linton, Lewinsky controversy gives insight into the shady side of the media Manisha Parekh columnist The Secret Sex Wars.” “Clinton in Crisis.” These are just some ie headlines that have L'd across magazines and spapers over the last few T ks. From the first moment Dacb Kenneth Starr caught wind Tr lonjca Lewinsky, the Ameri- .\j : media have been in a feed- renzy, eating up every bit i j.. :andal that they could get r r teeth into. But in the :ess of “uncovering the ar “' h,i the media have transformed themselves into a c of yellow journalists who could care less about e difference between fact and fiction. ’he week the story broke, CNN went from “Cable rs Network” to “Clinton Nookie Network.” Despite fact that the Pope was visiting Cuba (in what had n hailed the week before as the event of the centu- the only news that hit the airwaves was Clinton Lewinsky. I During a joint press conference with Palestinian I der passer Arafat, the man who could help put an I to the violence in Israel, the main topic being dis ced was not foreign policy, it was Monica Lewinsky. [#f the fist couple of days were bad, the next few even worse. After repeating the same allegations and over again, the media started to dig in dusky's past. “ ... classmates at Beverly Hills High ip. embered her unkindly as a girl who had ‘gone to a I*' 1 arm.’” Newsweek reported, jit’s hard to see what Lewinsky’s weight problem to do with Clinton, Kenneth Starr, and the investi- ron.lBut these stories, which are apparently im- nanl and riveting, kept coming. |AF Vhen fewer new facts were being discovered, fr madia decided to take things into their own ids.|The ’’Crisis in the White House,” as ABC [ vs dubbed it, took on a life of its own, and media 1 it every step of the way. |tft tumors and leaks, which most journalists would ? the time to research and verify, were being m tossed about in stories as fact. The most fa mous rumor to become a fact which “sources say” concerned a semen-soaked dress which Lewinsky had. Unfortunately, no such dress exists; the story, according to Newsweek, was created by book publisher Lucianne Goldberg in or der to attract media attention. Another example of this rush to publish happened on Jan. 25 when ABC news re ported that several witnesses had caught Clinton and Lewinsky in “an intimate en counter in the White House.” However, the next day, the media were scrambling to print retractions and wash their hands of the report; this was after pa pers such as the Dallas Morning News had already printed stories declaring that Secret Service agents were already talking to Starr about what they had seen. Most organizations would have learned that such a rush to judgment was danger ous. But not the American media. For them, the beat goes on. The media are still debating what they should and should not have done when the story broke. Should they have been in such a hurry to print rumors that were unsubstan tiated? Should they have filled the airways with fluff and figures who had nothing to do with the core of the story? The answers are very simple and yet very hard for the press to accept, because it would mean that the media finally accept that they are no longer watch dogs, but mad dogs. But the media is not willing accept that. They still believe themselves to be the gate that keeps government and officials in line and telling the truth. But who keeps the American media in line and telling the truth? Manisha Parekh is a sophomore journalism and psychology major. TATE OF THE UNION rxr not be of concern Frank Stanford columnist I merica’s ability to give importance to other- IWJ. JLwise petty issues never ;ases to be amazing. While |il) her countries are struggling achieve economic stability, wart revolution or avoid be- J g attacked by neighboring I itions, America has been ■rugglingover the moral and gal issues surrounding the f ayfi 11 antics of our presi- trouser mouse and a fymng female intern. As usual, the media is the driving force behind 1 1 the tabloidesque excitement, not to mention the nbarrassment this story has caused Bill Clinton. But, as luck would have it, when words like, Fmpeachmem” and “resignation" were first men- * aned on the news, the threat of war swooped in ■ save him from being swallowed by his own ... n, evidence. Now not a day goes by without stories of presi- ?ntial oral sex and military build-up on front-page 2ws. For the life of me, I can’t see how these two is- teffcan be viewed as equally important to the f; >untry. Sex scandal, war — war, sex scandal. Per haps Americans are obsessed with missile place ment in general. Nevertheless, there are a number of important is sues that all this ruckus has brought to our atten tion. First, we have to decide if the president should be allowed to have sexual relations with those other than his wife. My initial, gut response is “it’s none of our business.” An affair, regardless of its extent or sexual nature, is a private, marital issue, not a public one. Besides, Hillary Clinton has obviously been aware of her hus band’s extramarital activities for many years, and has either learned to cope with them or no longer cares. She is clearly a person more interested in hav ing power than having a faithful husband, or she would have divorced him a long time ago. The fact that the alleged affair was with Monica Lewinsky throws a wrench in the gears of judg ment because she worked for the president. This raises the same issues of harassment as bosses flirting with secretaries, or military officers hitting on enlisted women. The Paula Jones case falls into this category as well because she worked for the state of Arkansas when Clinton was governor. However, according to a number of testimonies, Monica was hardly harassed. And she was far more than consensual. Here’s where the affair gets a little stickier. Not only did the president allegedly ask Monica to deny the affair in a legal setting, but he’s been telling the American people that no improper sexual relation ship existed between them at all. Now, the American people know that Bill has a vibrant libido, and it’s quite possible that due to his infidelities Hillary hasn’t been interested in sex with him for, oh, let’s say 10 years. So, it’s not a stretch to believe that the affair — or whatever oral sex constitutes — probably occurred. Running the country is bound to be stressful, and, well, 10 years is a long time. It’s also easy to believe that our president may be lying through his teeth about the whole thing. Maybe he’s not, but my money is on the slick willy. So, there may have been a consensual affair be tween a woman and a man whose wife, for whatev er reason puts up with affairs, repeatedly. The indi viduals involved are involved by choice, and everyone seems to get what they want most of all. Is there a problem? Well, there are a couple of moral and legal issues pertaining to this case. Legally, telling Monica to lie is obstructing justice, an impeachable offense. But “obstructing justice” sounds so serious. “Covering up a fling for image purposes” is how it sounds to me. Morally, our president is likely an adulterer (again) and just as likely, a liar (again). Granted, these traits exhibit what we call "poor moral character,” but, even as a non-Democrat American who didn’t vote for Clinton, I am prepared to look the other way. In fact, I don’t care if every night there’s a line of hookers waiting outside the White House. We didn’t elect Ozzie and Harriet to lead the na tion. How can we bust the president for a couple of orgasms when we’re boning up for a another war, for crying out loud? Apparently, most of the country agrees with me. After a couple of weeks of incessant media badger ing, Clinton’s polls began to rise. Most people still believed he had the affair and even lied about it. But aside from the moral and le gal implications, most Americans don’t consider his actions to be condemnable, particularly since most things are going rather well in America. Everybody’s working, the stock market is up, gas prices are down, the Iraq situation is a problem — but we’ve handled it before. And our president is as entertaining as a daytime talk show. Frank Stanford is a philosophy graduate student. eim TUDENT LIFE S Pageant promotion reinforces tradition of Greeks, alcohol Joe Schumacher columnist lat do Delta Sigma Phi, Rudder Au ditorium, and 15 lovely ladies have in common?” If you chose Bud itjyou are absolutely right. |j the cover of the January edition of Study | e ;aks magazine, a fraternity sponsoring an %t] sponsored by Budweiser. ,fc First, The Miss Greek Pageant is supposed to Raising money for the March of Dimes. The rch of Dimes benefits children born with 1 th defects, including, but not limited to, fetal rohol syndrome. ■ l Well, gold star for Budweiser and the the peo- 1 who suggested that an alcohol company bnsor an event giving money to this charity. ‘Then there is pageant itself. “We wanted ... the program as a promo- f n of women, not a degradation,” pageant director Uri Geva said in the l-gazine. Unfortunately, 12 women hanging around a beer truck does d : promote the Miss Greek Pageant, or the women in the pageant. It ms to promote Budweiser. Many fraternities are working very hard to do away with the stereotyp- l image of Greek organizations. Two chapters, Sigma Nu and Phi Delta fyta. have nationally pledged to go substance-free at their houses by the ; ir 2000. Others have pledged to follow suit by the year 2002. These fraternities are tired of having their houses trashed by strangers i having to be responsible for everyone drinking responsibly. These two fraternities also see this promise as a returning to their “ roots,” which were lost in the haze of partying. Additionally they are doing away with one of the most infamous icons of the fraternities: the frat party house. While these fraternity houses will be a lot quieter by the year 2000, they can still have alcohol at third-party vendors, such as clubs. This removes them from any responsibility they would face for such instances as underage drinking. While some may view this as a diffusion of responsibility, it shows a maturity on their parts to accept help with the growing problems of hazing and underage and binge drinking. The cover of Study Breaks presents a setback to the goal of improving the Greek image. A picture is worth a thousand words, and this picture only speaks of beer, which has been synonymous with Greek organiza tions, especially fraternities. This picture also casts an image on other fraternities who are trying to do away with the negative reputations. Is this how Delta Sigma Phi intended to be portrayed? Probably not. They probably caught got up in the excitement of several months plan ning coming together, and did not realize the possible repercussions that this could have. “Having our picture on the cover was a hasty decision,” Uri Geva said. “It was important to us to promote the event. The good that was done far outweighs any possible negative effects. However, we have learned from this experience. We will continue to grow as a fraternity, and the pageant will grow as a philanthropic event.” This is not to overlook the success of the pageant. It raised thousands of dollars for two good causes: Phoebe’s Home, and March of Dimes. Delta Sigma Phi is also trying to improve their image as a fraternity by giving back to the community. “When was the last time a fraternity was on the front page of The Bat talion two days in a row for good news, and last week’s picture of a man in his Greek letters does not count,” Geva said. Delta Sigma Phi does a variety of events such as adopt a highway, the Miss Greek A&M pageant and plans are currently underway to sponsor a little league baseball team in Bryan. However, people who look at that cover do not see the good things they do, they see Bud Light. This picture shows the irresponsibility that fraternities are typically known for. Delta Sigma Phi should have known better, the sorority members should have known better and Study Breaks should have known better. Through their irresponsibility, both the fraternity and the sororities were exploited by Study Breaks, who figured that by placing beer on the cover and playing up the stereotype as much as they could, they would increase their readership. Somebody at that shoot should have stepped back and thought about the possible repercussions and mes sage it could send. While the notion of Greek organizations returning to their roots and trying break away from the “Animal House” stereotype is an idea that needs to be commended, the picture on Study Breaks proves clearly that they all have a long way to go. Joe Schumacher is a junior journalism major.
