OCR Text |
Show the ENTERPRISE aa0 PRAGMATIC DOGMATICS score on Horticulture We by Kent Shearer To many Utahns Enterprise subscribers and I so-call- ed suspect to most environ- mentalists are a group as controversial, as feared, and, indeed, as despised as were the anarchists and communists of old. Their number, we think, obstructs progress, economic growth, and the material welfare of the citizenry. They are a ruthless bunch who would cancel out the Central Utah Project. They are the ones who branded Sherm Lloyd one of the dirty dozen, and drove him from Washington as they did former Secretary of the Interior Stan Hathaway. In the process, they further literally sent Hathaway to the psychiatrists couch. Little wonder we cheer when our own Senator Jake Gam inveighs against the radical environmentalists and all their works. The difficulty, of course, it that there stems from this an atmosphere in which we, knowing automatically label ourselves to be we, which nurture nlant life. In a society which has lost its roots in the natural enviroment, an appreciation of plants is essential for survival. Tratchman s approach is exemplified by Horticulture's February issue. There is the merest bow to gardening mechanics, e.g. What to do in February, Forcing Bulbs, and Plants that Will Flower in Cold Winter There is a much greater slice of the Rooms. environmentalists and irrationally they applaud their every setback as our vicT tory. Which brings us to the strange case of Horticulture magazine in which they have lost a round they probably shoudln't. Horticulture is the venerable publication of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society, and was founded in 1904. In its present incarnation it is monthly, glossy and in technicolor. Also, it has the potential to be a deadly bore. As anyone acquainted with, say, Organic Gardening can testify, it is practically impossible to sustain, month after month, reader interest on a steady diet of mulch, more mulch and virtually nothing but mulch. Sensitive to this putative pitfall, Horticulture in 1975 brought on Paul Tratchman as its editor. He resolved to dedicate the magazine not only to practical gardening information, but also in his words, to a natural perspective, seeing plants as the source of a habitable earth. Tratchman I have held the conviction, continues, that Horticulture should be vital, intelligent and courageous, concerning itself with a crisis in our way of life. Gardeners care for plants, and the conditions of the earth tot esoteric and, frankly put, intellectually challenging including lengthy articles on genetic engineering and on natural plant defenses to pests. The owners Now, reports Tratchman, have strongly disagreed with my concept, and insisted that Horticulture be predominately a practical gardening magazine. The February 1978 issue, one of the finest issues of the magazine as I see it, has met with their complete disapproval. As a result, 1 have been fired. So score on against the hated environmentalists. Also, unfortunately, score one for journalistic drabness and for mulch, more mulch, and virtually nothing but mulch. m GCfc ne Aftxrr mrmCH wctu it, aSfJD.HV H a$t IM r; ft ,i sm MIAMI m T0 msr FROM I mttUWTTO H5? GUMP BACK To - TNX PM3Tm&, AU'VOU TALK ft iHrm . w msmm! A00UT mrm TDMe, fmv! i nmtiuis im ovett- - etem- - Mkfmxe N6S0T1ATIU6 mw-w- Kb t 1 u EO mwz? I- - Z o CL e LU O o Giving the little people e voice by Parker M. Nielson The communication medias role in contemporary society is a constant concern of those who are involved in improving the minorities. It has a quality of life, particularly for the poor and that the powerful and frequently subtle effect upon the images Blacks, native Americans, Spanish speaking groups and other minorities have of themselves, the models around which their children pattern their lives, and the norms that become acceptable for them and all elements of society. Hawkers of laundry detergent, sanitary napkins and breakfast cereal, who often dictate what shall be presented by commercial radio and television stations, may not have those defined problems in mind at all and do frequently subvert public interests. Their goal, in a word, is to sell merchandise, not present content oriented programing, and that goal may be better served by the shocking displays of violence and other forms of perversion which will attract the curiosity of children and (who in turn dictate their parents choices as consumers) even adults whose intellect is temporarily in abeyance. Now efforts are underway to reverse the trend by helping minorities, community groups and churches, among others, Phil Watson, acquire their own radio and television stations. Director of the Communications Resource Center, a division of the Booker Washington Foundation, is an example. Watson heads a cadre of skilled and experienced professionals, of diverse ethnic backgrounds, who arc assisting such groups in to finding both the financial and human resources necessary establish content oriented mass communications media. They supply technical assistance in designing facilities, advice on means to attract the capital necessary to even a venture, and legal assistance in dealing with the administrative maze that must be surmounted in relation to license applications. Experience proves, according to Watson, that the support of as little as two percent of the population can be leveraged into success for such an operation. Leveraging, in this context, contemplates that the project itself will generate additional support, financial and otherwise, among the little people it is designed to serve. Beyond that, the support of others who recognize the value of such voices in the community will be attracted because it is important to know you are there. Watson and his cadre got their start, surprisingly, in the Because it was a new medium of cable communications. industry there were not the establishment interests to buck that had developed in the broadcast industry. It also provided a training ground for underprivileged persons to acquire the skills needed to enter other media, thus overcoming one of major objections of the broadcasters. Now they are taking that experience and moving into other segments of the industry. Commercial radio and television broadcasters have grudgingly come to accept, at least publicly, efforts such as Watson's and recognize that it has advantages for them. With the rise of these content oriented stations there is less pressure from FCC for public interest programs, which usually arc relegated to low audience slots in any event. Commercial broadcasters can then concentrate on the forms of entertainment they do best. non-prof- it |