The gamecock. (Columbia, S.C.) 1908-2006, August 30, 1993, Page 13, Image 13
"I an i,
for WIS-TV
worked for
production
staff."
-L
Senior, Graphi
Cable compan
Thursday nights ~ ~
without "Seinfeld."
Saturdays without
. USC football. No
Children" and no "In
Living Color." Shows
such as "Saturday
Night Live," "Days of
Our Lives" and JENI
"Roseanne" will all be SE1
gone. Even the 7
o'clock report with
Susan Aude Fisher and Ed Carter
will be gone.
This is the future of cable TV.
Under the provisions of the 1992
Cable Consumer Protection Act,
cable companies must enter into
fair compensation agreements with
local television stations, which
allows local stations to negotiate
for compensation for the use of
their signals,
i Translation: If cable companies
do not reach a fair compensation
agreement with local TV stations
before Oct. 6, local television will
be dropped from your cable lineup.
British cultur
Returning to "
Columbia after three
weeks in a more tern- jffl
perate, civilized land mL
such as Great Britain <f
is akin to swapping
nrime rih fnr fripH
pickles. 9
That sums up my g
sentiments about the 1
resumption of my reg- J'
ular American life Kl
after a marvelous trip
to Oxford and points
elsewhere in the U.K. Columbia
has a certain charm if you're a
mosquito or some other swamp
critter, but as cities go, it's just a
puppy, an ugly, little half-bred
Chihuahua that keeps humping
your leg. You try to run away, but
it follows you.
Those of you who read this and
We wa
The Gameco
letters to the
. .1 i- x
some tnougni
everyone kno
author to the
them. Keep i
edit all letters
Br\
What was tl
n tern "I i
and ovi
the tin
set
Ch
ee Dixon
c Design F
ies shouldn't d
That means no WIS
TV and no WACHTV
programming.
WLTX-TV and
WOLO-TV have
already reached
agreements.
So, what's the big
deal? As a virtually
unregulated monopMIFER
oly, cable has been
TZER able to impose a
string of substantial
~ " rate hikes with no
accountability to the consumer.
Why? Because cable companies
knew that you couldn't do anything
about it. Congress believed cable
operators were abusing their power,
and that's why Congress passed
the cable act last vear. The Cable
CONSUMER PROTECTION Act.
This act is designed to protect
you, the consumer, from inflated
prices. For more than 40 years,
cable companies have been charging
you for local stations' signals
without paying for them.
Think of your basic cable package.
In a typical 12-channel basic
e teaches appi
know from experience
what it's like to
return to tedium after
^^1 an exhilarating trip
Hpfrf abroad can corrobogr
rate what I write.
Namely, after such a
trip, it's hard to
iJT evade the depression
and disorientation
associated with endNG
ing a new experience.
Of course, fried
chicken and grits help
the Southern psyche heal itself, but
even those of us who are pan-fried
Bubbas lament the homecoming a
bit.
As many of my friends know,
I'm thoroughly Southern and
unlikely to ever stray far from
home. Yet, I feel a bit of the wanderlust
and think it is healthy to
nt to know
ck encourages all sti
editor. If something
; or if you just want t<
w about it. All letters i
Russell House room 3
in mind though that T
for style and try to ke
lco:
J Co
le most interest
I'
traveled all
er the U.S. setg
up junior and
lior high
ristian camps."
-Whitney Gardner
:reshman, Undeclared
iscard most po
cable package, cable companies
don't pay a single penny for more
than one-half the programs that
they sell to you at an unfairly high
rate.
If cable companies can pay for
MTV, CNN and ESPN, why not
local TV? Local television offers
first-time programming, local
news, sports, weadier, local election
coverage, value-added services
such as closed-captioning,
emergency bulletins and many other
services you simply cannot find
anywhere else on cable.
Plus, you know that local sta
tions are good neighbors to the
communities they serve. They not
only capture the spirit of the community,
but they contribute hours
of public service work to improve
the cities they serve.
Compensation from the cable
systems for use of local television's
only property, its signal, will
allow local stations to invest more
money to enhance news coverage,
purchase advanced weather technology
and improve programming.
Cable subscribers spend 70 per'eciation
of So
taste life in different places before
we really come to understand the
beauty of what we have at home.
Within the first two days of my
return from abroad, I noticed I
saw things here I'd never seen,
heard things that had gone unappreciated
and became aware of
that special rhythm of American
cities. I also noticed how quiet
American toilets are compared to
the British loos. They're practically
bloody silent.
It's strange in a way, but I experienced
an epiphany of sorts after
this trip was over. From my experiences
in Britain and with the
British culture, I did indeed come
to a better appreciation of what we
have here.
But more importantly, I realized
that if it wasn't for the places
abroad, the different cultures and
what you
idents, faculty and s
concerns or upsets y<
3 get something off yi
mist be personally del
21 and we'll do our b<
he Gamecock reserve
ep them to 250 words.
re,
iriing soon to a n
ing thing you d
r
"I skied every
Monday in
Mississippi. 11
lead life guard
a country club
-Wendy Wil
Senior, Athletic Jre
pular stations
cent of their television viewing
time watching local stations. And a
recent Roper study indicated that
82 percent of viewers said they
would object to a cable company
that dropped local stations. Twothirds
of those surveyed said they
would cancel their cable service if
cable refused to carry local programming.
So, why do cable companies
refuse to pay fees to the people
who create and produce 70 percent
of the stuff you like to watch?
If you live off campus and don't
want to lose your Thursday night
lineup on NBC or vour favorite
Fox television shows, call your
cable company and voice your concerns.
If you live on campus, USC
supplies your cable. Find out how
the re-transmission consent will
affect you.
Tell the cable companies to play
fair. We can't afford to lose the
quality and contributions Of local
television.
Jennifer Setzer is a columnist for
The Gamecock.
uthern living
the different peoples beyond our
kith and kin, we would lead bland
lives. I hate to quote it, but it's
appropriate: Familiarity breeds contempt.
It all boils down to diversity.
Sure, it's a catch word now, and I
suspect there are a good many of
you out there who say blow it out
your $#%&"*. But without those
subtle and not so subde shades of
difference between ourselves and
others ? wherever and whomever
these others are ? our lives would
be as bland as the brown gravy and
boiled new potatoes I had every
single day in England.
Life needs a little spice now and
thnn T cav; nlH /^han no c c thp
paprika.
Jay King is City Editor for The
Gamecock
think!
taff to write
ou, provokes
our chest, let
ivered by the
est to publish
s the right to
11
En
ewsstand near y>
?
id this summer?
leybal
vas merits
1 at in Cle,
Atlant
liams
lining Jun
An open letter
jf*
MELISSA
TENNEN
Dear Woman,
My God, what have you done?
You have taken a man by the
shoulders with your hands shaped
as jaggedly as your grandmother's.
And looking into his eyes, you told
him you are alive. But he did not
know what to say.
Each time he slaps you, each
time he rapes you, each time he
walks out the door on your pregnant
belly, you remember, stagger
backwards and lose your place for
a moment. He aims at the core of
your womanness repeatedly.
You know this. But it is each
time that you wipe your body
clean, knowing he can't prove he is
better than you. Not ever. It is
because he fears you that he is violent
to your maternity, your beauty.
Oh, your beauty.
He said you can't fight for your
country, you can't rule a country
and you can't even work next to
him at the factory.
"You are too emotional," he
\JUST A LITTLE MORE Nl
THE THREE OF YOU WIL
9Iff? St lout r?flr-puv??M
COl
ou. ;
red in volI
tournaall
summer
mson and
a."
-Meridith McCue
ior, Anthropology
to a woman
cried with his square fist raised
next to his country's flag. But you,
in your s-curves, saw his lies clearly.
You knew he cried in the middle
of the night, too.
Because you want to choose if
you want to have a baby, if you
want to make love, if you want to
go to a nine-to-five job, .he calls
you a slut. What does he know? He
cannot understand how you love,
how you live because he refuses to
look inside your beautiful eyes.
But what is in those eyes of
yours? I see the haunting tongues
of Gloria Steineim, Alice Walker,
Joyce Carol Oates, Anais Nin, Toni
Morrison, the Central Park Jogger,
Georgia O'Keeffe, Margaret
O'Bourke-White and so many
more. They knew like you do.
Life's circle of courage is shaped
for both men and women.
Think of this as you touch his
face with your mouth. You are
kissing him because you want to.
And as long as he sees the colors
of your soul as clearly as his own,
you will live. Yes, embrace him,
Woman. But don't let him crush
your soul.
I feel you smile while you rub
your grandmother's palms together.
I know this because I am Woman,
too.
With Love,
The Next Generation
Melissa Tennen is an Encore
Editor for The Gamecock.
EGOTIATING AND I THINK
L GET IT ALL WORKED OUT'
WKB*"''*
^ STr^awLi1.!"
tW
el