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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (June 19, 2001)
ysday, June 19, 2001 o PINION Page 5 THE BATTALION —Radio edit rs attens, Cats, & Occasional iers. Brazos k fCC oversteps rights by fining radio station for playing Eminem L ' ast week, the Federal Commu- kittens for ao:** nications Com- shots. de-,v minion (FCC) fined t's Cradle ; , ,, , . k Colorado radio oming a professj^don K.KLjVIG-I' 1 Ad rown Acader, {7,000 for playing a Bio-edited version of edification p ad in greatei i Academy« lining and ie world. :ounseling, olacement i ners.com graduates e industry. ek old female Enunem’s controver sial song, “The Real Slim Shady.” The FCC apparently has decided it has the authority to tell people what they can lis ten to on the radio. It does not have that mthority — the FCC serves as a “watch- ” and regulates the use of profanity 53 pies d masked 3. spay 5s an the radio; however, it should not con trol content. The FCC has stepped over white gra, its bounds and the constitutional rights Df American citizens. The First Amend- akc, ment protects the freedom of speech. Even with Supreme Court rulings on the —Hiits of the free speech clause, censor- ne black ra; .^fP> because of “objectionable lyrics,” is not acceptable. have our first piece of evidence MATES that the new (FCC) Chairman Michael Powell may consider anti-indecency ills Rick2i6->!nrorcement as part of his mandate,” said Harry Jessell, editor in chief of ad. 4-bdmv from cai needed The First Amendment is supposed to protect the citizens from this type of censorship. roadcasting & Cable. Yet, whose def- /rno +utiiities frition of indecency is being used? Not all people consider the lyrics in ——TtTminem’s songs to be offensive or in- room in a 4-Dt. ) campus decent. ■‘We have a policy prohibiting the ist monthTpIaying of indecent material,” said 2i4-9C:Bfenda Goodrich, general manager of nergy.com ^ ra( ]j 0 station cited by the FCC. The for new hoT penalization of radio stations has move-in ASi>-3p Lnec ] the door for the continued fesDC regulation of song material. With 3bdrm/2btiT;hat ability, the FCC can take away S300 month, jintrers’ rights of free speech and listen- 30-8952. Jr • i i- u • i ;rs right to listen to the music they ded, nonsVant to hear. ifmove-in. tSI did not cite any specific yrics that discuss “impermissible sexual !ded 1 for . )r excretory functions,” as defined under DO. +Utliltl6S, / • , I -r. 1 nfo call Josh83:he agency s indecency rules. But the 73. FCC did say that the song has "unmis takable offensive sexual references.” Offensive to whom? Many people do find Eminem and his rap style offensive, but there is a minority who see noth ing wrong with his songs. This rul ing implies that those people who enjoy his music do not hqve the right to listen to him on the radio. Hundreds of radio sta tions have played the same version of this song since it became popular in the spring of 2000. This means that all of those radio stations eventually iould be fined by the FCC. If a listener finds a song offen sive, he can turn off the radio or find another radio station. It is not the job of the government to pro tect the public from potentially of fensive content. Eminem writes about what he has lived and what he knows. If people do not like it, they should not listen to it. T here is also a startling amount of truth in what he says for some people. Others just like the music. It is not the FCC’s right to intrude on free speech. The First Amendment is sup posed to protect the citizens from this type of censorship. It is “Big Brother” telling the public what they have to listen to, and the public cannot let this slide without a protest. Whether one is a fan does not matter. This is not about a song — it is about the rights of citizens to have a choice in the music they listen to on the radio. The FCC already regulates profanity, but it cannot be allowed to cross the line and regulate content. Once that happens, there will be no freedom of music and no choice in what is on the air waves. Brieanne Porter is a junior political science major. RUBEN DELUNA/The Battalion Ventura's stint as governor pitiful, as expected VICES sive Driving. l®| lot!! discount. M' m-9pm), Fit &Sat(10am-2»; Inside BankofAift- j $25/cash. Ltf law - 111 ^*s elected gover nor of Minnesota in 1998, he said he would not be the w mw W hen Jesse Ventura Show-up l HT LOSS NTED • sell lawn buste ^ politician, ire. Call J D. h Credit must be given where it is due — Ventura is lot an average politician. Where av erage politicians have the intelligence a/eight? and skill to hide the fact that they are iht, an NaturaU se [f_ serV ri n nr frauds, Ventura is vocal Call Mary W , • T u l l u about it. In the process, he has shown — his reform platform to be as fake as the job that made him famous. B The Minnesota Legislature and Ventura are currently grappling with I each other over a new budget. Nei- njl ther has been able to put its foe in a ZARTOON OF THE DAY submission hold, so Ventura has de cided to do what he did in the WWF: Grab a microphone, and talk trash about his opponent. Last week on his radio show, Ventura claimed that he would allow the state govern ment to shut down. This would cause the electricity to be shut off, undeliv ered paychecks, unguarded jails — total chaos. It also is totally false. But Ventura was not willing to let something like the truth derail his crusade for whatever it was he was crusading for. When confronted by the local media about his attempts to create a public panic with a bunch of lies, Ventura was indignant. “Like, you’ve got room to talk,” he said. “You people do this all the time.” The man almost would have a point, if not for a small problem. The comparison to what Ventura said would be Dan Rather on the air insisting that the wlbrld was made of snow, and it was all President George W. Bush’s fault. No reporter would do that. It would be tanta mount to putting a “kick me” sign on one’s own back. Maybe that is why Ventura is so cranky, because people have been kicking away at his expense. Unfortu nately for “The Body,” the abuse is warranted. Since he has become Gov. Ventura, he has done more than annoy us with his radio show. He has written two books, gone on national tours to pro mote those books, given two inter views to Playboy in which he insulted everyone from God to Ghandi and was a color commentator for Vince McMahon’s Xtreme Football League. His commentary went something like this: “Wow, that was a great hit by, you know, that guy whatshis- name, No. 37. He just popped that guy. It reminded me, you know, of that hit I put on Hogan back in Wrestlemania ...” Some people run for public office claiming they will restore honor and dignity to the position if elect ed. Ventura may as well claim that he will take the position to Mardi Gras on the constituent’s tab. He certainly cannot expect to have any one’s respect. Ventura has always said he was dif ferent, and he is completely correct. When someone has the courage to call him on the carpet, he blames someone else. Other politicians have done the same thing, but few have done it out in the open with a big smile on their face. Ventura ran on a platform of re form and has proven to be even worse than what he claimed to be reform ing. He found the lure of a quick buck to be more enticing dian mak ing history as someone who proved politics does not have to corrupt everyone involved in it. Ventura wants to run for re-elec tion next year. If he does, the people of the state may as well hand over their wallets. After all, why make “The Body” sweat? Mark Passwaters is a senior electrical engineering major N News in Brief ied custom^ customers y to buy. YELLOW BATTALION 3.0569 TUv DRchRtftONAsf'C: Criticism of emergency certification is unfair In response to ].J. Trevino's June 7 8 column. As a state certified and experi enced teacher, but former emer gency certified teacher, I am sad to see J.J. Trevino write such a bi ased article about teachers. I lacked student teaching be fore I entered a classroom, and some other alternative and emer gency certified teachers lacked more. However, many of them were 20-year, business profession als eager to share their real world knowledge with today's youth. Yes, a handful of emergency and alternatively certified teachers are questionable. Find me a profession devoid of undesirables. I under stand that lack of certification caus es alarm, but all of my certification coursework taught me nothing about teaching. I learned because I wanted to be a good teacher. Statistics will show that 70 per cent of teachers leave teaching within three years. No wonder we have such a shortage. Have you ever met a teacher hap py with their pay, content with the feedback from supervisors, ecstatic about the curriculum changes, thrilled about the parents' phone calls they are going to receive blam ing the teacherfor their child's failing grade, energized by the overpopu lated and undermanned school, mo tivated at the technology in the class room or eager to put in extra hours on schooldays and weekends to meet the requirements for paper work, grades and student activities? Before you criticize those indi viduals eager to become teachers despite all the danger and thankless days, I suggest you go substitute one week at a local high school. See what kind of students we deal with, and ask yourself again why there is such a shortage. Maybe then you will understand that there is no rea son schools should not allow those who want to teach to do so. Aleisha Force Battalion subscriber