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it**.
retentious summer music
festivals lack diversity
Ihe hills, at least at the Wood
lands Pavilion and South
Park
Steven
Gyeszly
columnist
pdows,
|alive
i the
Ind of
fry con-
Vable
|e of mu-
pncert
1 festival;
|ess, of
Irse, you
Pin Col-
? Station.
rom the "too-stoned-to-realize-
y s-dead" theme of the Further
'bval, to the " resu r rected-f rom -
grave" (more commonly
wn as the VHl play list) Chica-
pall & Oates extravaganza,
^ of these festivals cater to
^■specific musical tastes. Yet
,’Pite ea ch of the distinct themes,
P summer music festivals,
f m H.O.R.D.E to the Smokin'
>0v es tour, have something in
)rnon: their flaws,
ne key problem of these festi-
, Sis ^oir cost. Tickets, which
r a t $25, merely allow concert
os to be just one of 20,000 peo-
gnting for standing space
a docent view of the stage.
’ncert promoters say the high
I °‘general admission is a good
Ue considering the numerous
^ical acts. However, out of the
ands playing, concert-goers
eir friends probably do not
a 0u t the first two filler bands
yvill have to skip two other
sets while waiting in line at
le Y Port-o-pots.
et the high prices do not stop
| the
entrance gates. Taking their
I , - icnsang Liicii
L ° m die 7-11 guide to pricing,
l e d festivals charge $5 for a cup
f arrn deer and $3 for a small
bottle of water, dehydration be
damned. Of course, do not forget
the souvenirs. Where else but at a
summer music festival can you buy
a "two-washes-and-it's-a-rag" con
cert T-shirts for $30 and a cheap
bead necklace for $20?
Another problem with summer
music festivals is their lack of diver
sity. Though the first two Lolla-
paloozas did have their flaws, the
organizers did try to bring together
various types of music in one set
ting. Granted, the interplay between
various types of music groups did
not always work out, but it did in
troduce different genres of music to
concert goers who might otherwise
not be exposed to bands such as The
Jesus & Mary Chain.
No one goes to
church for the music,
and no one attends a
music festival for the
morality lecture.
Unfortunately, exposure to dif
ferent types of music will not hap
pen with the strictly gentrified mu
sic festivals of this summer.
It may be a fantastic feeling to
play the air guitar with thousands
of other Ozzy Osbourne-worship-
ping fanatics at this summer's Oz-
zfest '98. The downside is having
three other Ozzy-wannabe bands
playing beforehand who sound the
same, only worse. Instead of hours
of repetitive pseudo-gothic sym
bolism, wouldn't it be better to
contrast the headliner with a band
like Reverend Horton Heat or a re
united Public Enemy?
Along with the high costs and
indistinguishable acts, summer
music festivals are pretentious. Of
all the promoters and bands who
performed at the recent Tibetan
Freedom Festival, how many actu
ally give a damn about what is
happening in Tibet, or even know
where Tibet is? And even if musi
cians do care, how exactly does
promoting a new album help?
The only thing worse than
making a mockery of a culture is
using the suffering of others to
sell tickets.
No one goes to church for the
music, and no one attends a music
festival for the morality lecture.
Another example of this preten
sion is the Lilith Fair. The traveling
music festival has been described
by promoters as an "audible ex
pression of femininity." That is like
describing a Blues Traveler concert
as a way to promote dialogue on
overweight lead singers with a har
monica fetish.
Sarah McLachlan can cover all
the Joni Mitchell songs she wants,
but the reality is the Lilith Fair, like
every other music festival, is about
filling the amphitheater, no matter
what the cause of the week is.
Summertime and live music are
perfect complements of each other
and touring music festivals are
quick to take advantage of this fact.
But because of high costs, a lack of
diversity and the pretension in
volved, summer music festivals
have become more exploitation
than enjoyment.
Steven Gyeszly is a
junior finance major.
P pople who are content with life
are "rich." Anyone who believes
that hasn't been living off ramen
noodles.
While in col
lege, many
Texas A&M stu
dents will expe
rience poverty.
Tuition is expen
sive, and Mom
isn't around to
pay for gro
ceries, laundry
and occasional
entertainment.
But there are
April
Towery
opinion editor
many reasons
why being poor now will make stu
dents stronger in the future.
First of all, it helps students
learn to make sacrifices. They
can't have everything they want
because they can't afford it. When
Joe Aggie's friends are going to
the movies on Friday night, he
has to stay home. And little by lit
tle, Joe Aggie becomes less selfish
and materialistic because he is
making sacrifices.
Recently, my savings account be
gan running low. My rent went up,
and my bills became more difficult to
pay. I realized I couldn't go shoe shop
ping every time 1 got a paycheck. I had
to learn to save. I had to learn to say no
when my friends asked me to go to the
movies. 1 had to part with some books
and CDs I still enjoyed so 1 could have
enough money to put gas in my car.
But I do not feel sorry for myself.
Experiences such as these make us
stronger. They teach us not to be mate
rialistic. Sure, if s embarrassing that 1
don't have a television or a stereo in
my apartment. But I've also learned 1
don't need those things. I have very
few possessions, but I have everything
I need.
In the nonfiction novel Mutant Mes
sage, author Mario Morgan tells about
how she spent months traveling on a
"walkabout" with the Aborigines. She
had nothing — no clothing, no food,
nothing. She survived by eating plants
and bugs. OK, no one has any right to
complain about ramen noodles unless
the/ve made a meal out of dragon
flies and lizards.
Immediately after I finished read
ing this book, 1 loaded up six boxes of
items I no longer used and donated
them to a thrift store. As much as I en
joy seeing prom and homecoming
dresses hanging in the closet, 1 surren
dered the fantasy and told myself
there would never be another occasion
on which I would need to wear them.
College students may be "poor,"
but they sure do have a lot of junk. My
apartment looks like ifis been burglar
ized, but I still have plenty of things I
don't use.
The poverty college students are
experiencing now is good preparation
for the poverty they will experience
later in life. Hi, reality check — things
don't get easier when you have to sup-
port yourself, a spouse and children.
Students should just get used to be
ing poor and focus on the positive as
pects. When 1 was a child, my mother
would not allow me to watch car
toons. Everyone thought it was some
form of child abuse—but not Mom.
She believes if one is watching televi
sion, they are preventing themselves
from doing something productive
such as reading a book.
The fact l was deprived of televi
sion for most of my childhood has
made it easy for me to deprive myself
of it now. Sure, "Seinfeld" is funny and
entertaining, but I'd mucin rather read
a book or write something. Poverty
has allowed me to be productive.
And every college student
should have at least one part-time
job while in school. It's hard to get
everything done, but once again,
students must learn to make sacri
fices. Those who have had every
thing handed to them on a silver
platter all their lives have got to
suck it up and tell themselves Ma
and Pa aren't going to pay for their
groceries when they're 30 years
old. In fact, Ma and Pa shouldn't be
paying for their groceries when
they're 20.
Poverty is all about responsibi lity.
So many students choose a major just
because the/re going to make loads of
money doing it (hmm ... engineering,
maybe).
Students should find something
that drives them, something they have
a passion for, something they love.
They may become weaJthy doing
what they love. But they may not.
No one wants to eat ramen noodles
for the rest of their lives. No one is go
ing to be "rich" just because they are
content with life. Being content doesn't
pay utilities.
However, people who have ex
perienced poverty are a little bit
wiser, a little less selfish and a lot
less materialistic.
April Towery is a senior
journalism major.
Americans won’t sacrifice nicotine
John
Lemons
columnist
I s it okay to murder for the cause of freedom? Can one
use unjust means to achieve justice? Is it ethical to use
lies to achieve something good?
These are the questions that usually get left to goatee
sporting, sandal wearing, philosophical types. But thanks
to the American Medical Association (AMA), it is now a
question that all Americans can
ponder. See, the AMA is telling a lit
tle lie to accomplish a noble goal —
ridding the United States of ciga
rette smoking.
Last Thu rsday the AMA re
leased a statement that calls on to
bacco companies to remove tine
nicotine from tobacco within five to
10 years.
"We know that cigarette compa
nies can remove nicotine from to
bacco. They've already done it
through a process similar to that
which is used to take caffeine out
of coffee," Dr. Ronald M. Davis, chairman of the AMA's
Council on Saentific Affairs, said in an interview with the
Associated Press.
Cigarettes without nicotine? One might as well remove
the apple pie from America, the cheese from the cheese
burger, the Texas from Texas A&M.
Frankly, the United States will win the World Cup
before tobacco companies take the nicotine out of ciga
rettes. Nicotine is the reason people smoke cigarettes.
In its own internal memos, everybody's favorite tobac
co company, Phillip Morris, described cigarettes as
nicotine delivery devices.
Smokers smoke to get their nicotine fix.
If smokers were in it for the smoke, any old smoke
would do. One would see smokers lining up to stick their
heads inside barbecue pits. But one doesn't often see smok
ers taking a drag off of a hot mesquite grill.
The AMA's proposal is based on the lie that removing
the nicotine from tobacco is intended to help smokers re
cover from their addiction. The AMA says most smokers
want to quit, and removing nicotine from the picture will
allow them to do so.
Of course, the AMA's demand neglects the fact that
people quit smoking eveiyday even though nicotine re
mains in cigarettes. Cigarette smoking may be an addic
tion, but it is also a choice. People chose to smoke or not to
Nfe: UrtS&h otOTtfiMs*
smoke.
The real truth is that removing nicotine from tobacco is
not an attempt to help smokers kick the habit, but another
stab at killing the cigarette industry.
Indeed, mis country would be a lot healthier without
cigarettes. Using deception as a means to mat end, howev
er, is questionable.
There are two kinds of people in this world — those
who want a pack of cigarettes in me hands of every 5-year-
old in America, and those who are not tobacco company
executives.
That is not an entirely unfair exaggeration. According to
me Coalition for Workers' Health Care Funds, a coalition
that represents union-sponsored health care funds, Phillip
Morris, arranged me placement of smoking scenes in The
Muppet Movie and Who Killed Roger Rabbit in order to target
children. That is correct, even Kermit the Frog is in me
pocket of Big Tobacco.
So, there is no doubt who the bad guys are in this fight.
Anyone whose goal is to get kindergartners smoking must
have horns on their head and a forked tail coming out of
their end.
What happens, though, when me good guys employ
questionable tactics, when they are me ones in the black
hats?
What happens is me good guys lose me moral high
ground. The good guys, however, need all me help they
can get in me struggle against Big Tobacco. Obviously, to
bacco companies fight dirty — they market cancer sticks to
kids. But Tobacco companies also fight hard.
The blanketing $40 million advertising campaign
launched by tobacco companies had as much to do with
me recent failure of me Senate's tobacco bill as did Trent
LotLs lack of nerve. Furthermore, the tobacco lobby has
long been known as one of me fiercest lobbying forces on
Capitol Hill.
Tobacco has been a part of this country since its very be
ginning. Americans are not completely sure they want to
give it up.
If tobacco's opponents use questionable means to fight
it, Americans are bound to lose faith in me good guys as
their cause goes up in smoke.
John Lemons is an electrical engineering
graduate student.
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