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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 2000)
\\ edncsdav. ianuan ;< OPINION Wednesday, January 26, 2(X)() THE BATTALION Page 13 q ues Now more than ever cern >rld« ide. “Any injur. ■> until w c have seven ndian Airlines hijad.: i an govcmmew'suki Media conglomerates control too many sources ofinformation, influence more than news ¥ coplc ti usl the new s. When the cloek hits 5:30 and >ndemned the hijack;to* l lu|s:llin " sda\ there vs as no m theme begins, most Amerieans v vkesperson James p ass u me that the ic “that agencies ofa i>\ ided general supt 1 ' ins in Kashmir, m : *( State kjffi Inder.- st week \s hen he a 4 ha leaders of Pis iincntoTPaidstai groups which cam ulerfurth said, tpe. >s What Indcrfut. news anchor of their choice will in- form them about the day. 1 lowever, there are important issues Americans should take into account before con sidering the information as the whole story. It is impossible to squeeze every significant worldwide event into a 22-minute broad cast. Another issue is the fact that the advertising department has already decided how many stories about Alzheimer’s research should run according to the number of senior citizens who watch at 5:30. The most valid worry is the mammoth amount of big-money media companies merg ing into huge conglomerates that control many outlets ofinformation at once. Americans are increasingly ob taining their view on world events from a very select group of people, a group that grows smaller almost con- arriaj i Iree to remurn si lied in a 199"cir£ ROBERT HYNECEK/Thk Battalion stantly. This fact should lead them to the conclusion Rev. Jesse Jackson made at the Radio-Television News Di rectors Association’s annual convention in September, “Too few people are call ing too many shots.” The significant media mergers cre ated in the last live years is a much-too- long list. A look at the most popular College student media sources gives a good example of how huge these con glomerates have become. VII1, MTV, Comedy Central, CBS, CNN, HBO, the WB and Cartoon Net work are all operated by Time Warner. So are Time, Sports Illustrated, Enter tainment Weekly and People. Time Warner also sells music by the Bare- naked Ladies, Jewel, Brandy, Alanis Morisette, REM, Metalliea and Erie Clapton. NewLine Cinema, also con trolled by Time Warner, released such movies as Austin Powers, Blade and The Wedding Singer. It is obvious that these media conglomerates control more than just the news we receive. They have a big im pact on forms of popular enter tainment that can involve im portant mes sages, such as the kinds of clothes Americans should wear. The scary thing is that there are oth er huge conglomerates, such as Disney and ABC and Viacom and Paramount. Since Time Warner and the other con glomerates dictate so many media out lets, it is of grave importance that Americans pay attention to what these companies have in mind for the future. The newest plan is for ABC NewsOne, CBS Newspath and Fox News Edge to team up to create a single “news coop erative.” This cooperative is intended to serve a purpose much like the Asso ciated Press. Independent networks will no longer have to go out and re port stories separately. The networks will simply pick their coverage from the footage cre ated by the “news coopera tive,” and obtain their news from the same source. The danger in this plan is when Americans tum on the televison, no matter which station they choose, there will only be one “voice.” What if the big powers decide they do not want the American public to know of a certain occurrence? Americans with only one source of information become basically power less to control the information they re- A huge conflict of interest occurs when reporters for big corporations come across valid information for sto ries that would damage their parent company, as is what happened to Michael Caruso, Editor in Chief of Los Angeles Magazine — owned by a Dis ney subsidiary. Caruso published a sto ry that insulted Disney’s CEO, Michael Eisner, and was promptly fired. The public cannot allow the media to cause a fleecing of America simply because they own the most popular sources ofinformation and entertain ment. Americans should keep an eye on what goes on in these conglomer ates by looking for tin alternate news source, such as those on the Web that are new and cre ated for the purpose of deviating from these con glomerations. When the famil iar theme starts up at 5:30, the stories that follow can be absorbed with peace of mind. Jill Riley is a senior journalism major. Prino the Am ess Mi wed G .Anne, inland icon ('( special I SERIES Teachers not performing to standard T he recent Quality Counts 2000 Education Week survey showed unacceptably low grades for the Texas school system. Even though Texas received a B+ in “standards and account ability,” the school system’s enforce ment of those standards is still unaccept able. For example, Texas students are not required to master standards in order tp graduate high school. Standards arc useless if they are not enforced. [ But it is impossible to expect stu dents to achieve even minimal require ments without qualified instructors. Considering the D Texas received for “improving teacher quality,” question ing teacher qualifications seems valid. For example, Texas does not require a written test in basic skills for a begin ning teacher’s license. The Texas school system should worry less about holding students accountable for bad perfor mance until it finds qualified instructors. I Although Texas does not require written basic skills tests, it does call for tests in a specific subject knowledge for beginning teachers. In normal circum stances, this substitution might be ac ceptable. 1 lowever, according to the Quality Counts Survey, only 51 percent of secondary teachers hold a degree in the course they are teaching. In addition, schools arc not required to notify parents if their children are being taught by “out-of-field” instructors. Students can not be expected to learn when they are be ing taught by underqualified instructors. On the other hand, it is hard to blamd teachers for not per forming to par. Texas teachers are under paid and under-appre ciated. According to the Better Teachers, Better Schools study recently released by the Thomas B. Ford- ham Foundation, near ly 20 percent of people who began teaching in public schools in ’93- ’94 had left the school three years later. The teachers who scored highest on their college entrance exams were the first to leave. Inci dentally, the most qualified teachers are usually offered the highest salaries, a fact the Texas school system has appar ently failed to realize. This trend does not bode well for Texas schools, but it could be avoided if the Texas school system would pay its teachers a competitive salary. The aver age yearly salary of a Texas teacher is $35,340, opposed to a salary of $55,828 earned by other professionals. Texas also fails to provide teachers with financial or licensure incentives to earn national board certification. It does not make sense to put forth the extra ef fort it requires to become national board Texas Schools part 2 of 3 Shortage of qualified public school teachers must be addressed certified if one is going to receive the same salary regardless. Until teachers are given the respect and benefits they deserve, teaching quality will not im prove and the best teachers will continue to go elsewhere. Granting teachers higher salaries would have a further reaching effect than just making teachers happy. Ac cording to ’96-’97 statistics by the American Federation of Teachers, many of the highest paid teachers reside in northeastern states such as Connecticut, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Not coin cidentally, the northeastern states also have the highest high school graduation rate, ranging from 87 percent to 96 per cent according to the 1996 United States Bureau of the Census Population Survey. The Southern and Western areas lag sad ly behind, with graduation rates ranging from 79 percent to 93 percent. Clearly, a di(Terence in teacher salary affects in structional quality, which in turn changes student achievement. While improving teacher training and quality is important, it will not hap pen on its own. Teacher quality will re main poor, and the best instructors will continue to leave until the Texas School System begins providing its teachers with competitive salaries and benefits. Students cannot and will not learn until they are given teachers who are able to teach. Jessica Crutcher is a sophomore journalism major. Uncle Sam not ready for Hollywood scriptwriting S' l enfi Tax money for NASA Mars mission justified In Response to Brieanne Porter's Jan. 25 column. | Stopping NASA funding for Mars exploration is ludicrous. Porter’s closing paragraph alone shows the lack of logic or thought put into her writing. She mentions that the Unit ed States should resume funding of Mars exploration when the country can afford the price tag of $165 mil lion for mission. Surely she must admit and realize that prices go up with time, and the US will never be in'any better position to “afford” ex ploration and science. || If we were to follow Porter's lead, technological advancement and space exploration would cease. The United States would be caught in a self-centered loop of spending all of its money on things that do not advance the greater good of 'America. I: To halt study and exploration of Mars would be a grave mistake that would eventually dwindle the hope for a more amazing and technologi cal future. MAIL CALL Americans would become more and more monotonous until all of the money was wasted into keeping the old going. Porter remarks that many would object to such spending of their tax money, but I disagree. I think many realize the true way to fix problems is to keep moving for ward to find new ways of doing things, and that’s exactly what NASA has always helped do. Josh Barnett Class of '01 Distribution of Bibles not offensive In response to Elizabeth Kohl’s Jan. 25 column. Kohl’s claim that the Gideon’s International organization “rides the line” in their efforts to share their beliefs through distributing mini Bibles on campus is ridiculous. The Gideons use one of the more passive forms of evangelism, one that can be refused or ignored. Kohl implies the Gideon volunteers are manipulative, scheming and unable to accept rejection. These “typically older gentlemen,” as the column describes them, “set up shop” on campus and “herd students like cattle” into the trap of their devious plan to pass out a little green book. I think that offering Bibles on cam pus is no more offensive than open ing up the only source of news for this university and discovering an article that attacks such a mild fashion of sharing the love of Jesus Christ. But I guess I had the choice to pick up the Battalion today, didn’t I? Jennifer Wilborn Class of '02 accompanied by 2 signatures I n the expansive wasteland of sin and bad jokes that is modern-day television, there is a new hope. Unfortu nately, there is still no cure for horrible shows like “Suddenly Susan” and the endless barage of Jenny Jones make-overs. But concerned parents take heart — the federal govern ment is going to be helping out by telling kids drugs are only for bad, bad people. Earlier this month, it was made public that for the past two years, six major networks have hand ed over dozens of television scripts for review and advice on how to embed anti-drug messages into their plots. In exchange for having Uncle Sam look over their shoul- ders, the television net works were given re- prieval on how many public service an nouncements (PSAs) they were required to run. Normally, networks have to sell commercial time to the government, at half price for PSAs. But freedom from this obligation lets stations sell valuable air time to other companies at full price. While this deal is great news for people who want to hear actors rail against drugs, those who are skeptical about the government influencing the content of televi sion plots have been upset over this issue. Reac tion to the government’s script advising has ranged from claims of conspiracy to endorsements for the government trying to attack the drug prob lem in a new way. The truth, of course, is some where in the middle. Certainly the government had the best of inten tions when they started reviewing scripts years ago, but by not being open with the public, a sus picious shadow has been cast on the whole ordeal. Skewed good intentions aside, the govern ment’s primetime meddling has raised another, more serious, question. If television networks are willing to rewrite scripts for the sake of the gov- Certainly the government had the best of intentions when they started reviewing scripts years ago, but by not being open to the public about it has cast a suspicious shadow. eminent, one wonders if anti-drug messages are the last the feds will want to slide in between the plot lines. By giving networks financial incentive to ap pease them, the feds have opened Pandora’s checkbook. It is a good thing that Drew Carey is going to preach against the weed, but what hap pens if Dawson starts touting the president’s new education bill? The government potentially could offer the same kind of sweet deal if network executives slip in subtle support for other government projects. All that is left is for television CEO’s to agree to such a deal. Good thing they would not be so bot tom-line oriented as to consider that proposition, right? The possibility of further government interven- tion is made real by execu tives proven willingness to let Uncle Sam have his say in scriptwriting. What makes the possibility truly scary is America’s subsepti- bility to do what its favorite TV character says and does — just look at how many people went out and got the “Rachel haircut.” So unless executives do Godzilla-esque voice overs for the parts of the script in fluenced by federal review ers, some way of making the government and the TV peo ple happy needs to be reached. Since networks bury their PSA’s in late night Sunday lineups, the networks need to stop worrying about lost air time. They should continue to sell the time to the government, however, the government should not get the half- price treatment they are used to. Besides, by being charged more for running their self-mandated PSA’s, politicians can say they are spending more money than ever on anti-drug programs. That way, govern ment gets a fat bill on their war-on-drugs budget and TV networks get their advertising revenues. And Ally did not have to say a word. Eric Dickens is a junior English major. The Battalion encourages letters to the editor. Letters must be 300 words or less and include the author’s name, class and phone number. The opinion editor reserves the right to edit let ters for length, style, and accuracy. Letters may be submitted in person at 013 Reed McDonald with a valid student ID. Letters may also be mailed to: The Battalion - Mail Call 013 Reed McDonald Texas A&M University College Station, TX 77843-1111 Campus Mail: 1111 Fax: (409) 845-2647 E-mail: battletters@hotmail.com
