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Show i WWW.NETXNEWS.NET MONDAY • NOVEMBER 13 • 2006 Staff Views Materialism television One person's opinion Communication easier Justin Ritter Opinions Writer I i )"-.• Technology has improved our lives in many ways over the years-but best of all, it has simplified the social responsibilities that have plagued humanity for millennia. Take the Internet for example. It used to be that in order to find out how people were doing, one had to either call, write a letter, or (heaven forbid) actually pay a visit and talk face to face. Technology has simplified this by introducing email. Already, however, email is outdated. Websites such as Myspace and Facebook have made it possible to keep tabs on people without really communicating at all. What a wonderful innovation. With just a few clicks of the mouse, you can see what your friends are doing, their relationship status, class schedule, political affiliations, religious convictions-the list goes on and on. With great advancements like these, you don't even have to email people, let alone call or write them. However, there are still circumstances that require some communication-birthdays, weddings and anniversaries, for example. In the old days, people commemorated such events by sending a handpicked card or a bouquet of flowers. While it's becoming acceptable to simply post your congratulations on the recipient's Facebook wall, there is a classier way to go about delivering your wishes-the e-card. Nothing says "I care" like an e-card. There are literally thousands of them to choose from, so chances are there's at least one out there that will be the perfect fit for your friend. Many e-cards have a text box where you can type a personalized message; this box is large enough for you to deliver your salutations but small enough to keep you from writing too much and developing a meaningful correspondence with the recipient. For those of you who would like to develop meaningful relationships with others, the new-age answer is the chat room. At first you may think it strange to correspond with people whose identities can't be verified, but this just makes things more exciting. Is she really a skinny, blonde runway model or did she just scan that photo from the latest issue of Cosmopolitan! Is he truly the gentleman he is online, or is he really an Internet predator? Chat rooms keep you on your toes. Cell phone companies have picked up on our desire to type rather than talk, and to fit this preference, they have introduced text messaging. Forget about actually calling people on your cell phone; why risk the chance of racking up extra minutes by talking forever with long-winded friends when you can simply send them text messages? Text messaging also improves finger dexterity and phonetic spelling skills. This new age of lessened communication is great indeed. For the first time in the history of humankind, we can perform all the functions of social life while sitting at a computer, waiting for our MP3s to download. Who cares if none of it is meaningful? For us college students, it's convenient, and that's what counts. Gideon Yago s visit to campus puts MTV in the cultural crosshairs his Wednesday the campus will get a chance to hear from Gideon Yago, an MTV News correspondent and freelance writer, as part of UVSC's Global Engagement Week. We hope that students take the opportunity to listen to Yago, who has become a popular voice in today's youth culture. As a journalist, Yago has been to some of the world's most intriguing places (Iraq during the occupation and New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina to name a few) and is certainly qualified to provide students with further insight on important issues. That being said, we encourage students to take a closer look at Yago's employers at MTV, and their record of providing programming targeted at young people. We feel that the channel that has had such a huge effect on youth culture for the past 25 years has wasted their chances to educate and edify a generation that so desperately needs direction. We particularly take issue with the rampant materialism that is often deified on MTV. From shows like Cribs, Laguna Beach and My Super Sweet Sixteen it appears that money and all that it can buy is the core of the channel's programming. It is hard to watch an hour of MTV and not see the celebrity lifestyle glorified as the pinnacle of human existence. The intimate details of the decadent lives of rock stars and movie gods are showcased in a neverending parade of instant gratification and excess. MTV has crafted the digital equivalent of the Hebrew's golden calf and they ask all to bask in its opulence. Perhaps it is time to come down from the mountain and let this cultural institution know that there are more important things in life than diamonds and fancy cars. It wasn't always this way. Not so long ago, MTV took their position as the voice of young people very serious. They tackled issues like AIDS, human rights and voting. Reporters like Kurt Loder and Tabitha Soren patrolled the political circus, reminding those in power of the obligations they had to America's youth. MTV also played these things called music videos. Nowadays it seems that MTV's social conscience, like their music collection, has taken a back seat to the voracious appetites of conspicuous consumption. The serious work of journalists like Yago is diluted in the sea of avarice and banality. It is bad enough that they sell the attention spans of our nation's youth to the highest bidders, but now their very programming serves as a commercial for the hyper-consumerism that is bankrupting our society both morally and fiscally. We ask MTV to remember their early convictions and to stop inundating young Americans with the idea that material excess should be one's life pursuit. And maybe play some music from time to time. Staff Infection Television's Fall Sweeps are upon us so we asked the news crew to tell us about their viewing habits. -Johnny Boyd "Cainpus Ladies on the Oxygen Network I t is time to get rid of My Name is Earl. It's is one of the funmest shows on TV and • not funny anymore," nobody knows about it Can't go wro *Ben Webster with Weedz either" .r;, ,; *< • § "Avatar: The LastAirbender on Nickelodeon. It's the first American, "We were watching M f the other night JapanairiSfti."- Marcus Jones i/ ' and we were laughing so hard that we were crying. We had to pause the TiVo." "Bringback ArrestedDevelopment" -LukeHickman • w . • *i',v.v "I enjoy the subtle grace and sublime beauty o1 Monday Night Football? -AmyWilson , ^ ^ ^ - M a n W i l l i a m s *: "Get rid of CSJ.Miami and CSJ. New York. One £5.1. is enough. gh" ^AshleyRobertson Got an Opinion? Put a stamp on it! * E-Mail letters to uvscopinionstf'1 hot mail.com * The NeiXNews room is located on cainpus in SC220. * All letters become property of NeiXNews and may be edited for content, specifically clarity, length or other concerns at the discretion of the Opinions Editor. * Letters between 50-250 words are encouraged and those letters market! by their succinctness are more likely to be published. * Letters must be accompanied by full name, address, and phone number for verification purposes (contact information will not be published). |