OCR Text |
Show Wednesday, August 17, 1994 4 The Summer Chronicle IT To Vtewvoint ai-r- Woodstock '94 a Chronicle Editorial dolled out premium quality, and slabs of 100 percent corporate American culture last weekend at the misguided "Woodstock '94" Eager promoters AA, homogenized pre-packag- ed concert. Though Woodstock '94 included some great performers, anyone in attendance should have recognized this alleged anniversary of the original '69 lovefest for what it really was: a vast corporate and media exploitation and a sorry attempt to generate nostalgia which deviated from the basic principles of the the original concert. Whereas Woodstock was a statement, Woodstock '94 was an enterprise. After purchasing tickets for $135, concertgoers were forced to buy forms of Woodstock currency so as to assure the most spending possible on the festival's many vendors. On the concert grounds, fans could buy $20 pizzas and a vast assortment of other expensive foods and merchandise. And for the folks dud corporate-engineere- d who weren't lucky enough to venture all the way to New York to be used and insulted, TCI Cablevision gladly offered full weekend coverage for a "generof Woodstock '94 on t ous" $49.95. w pay-per-vie- The corporate mediamongers behind the scenes aren't displeased, however. While the origi- nal concert lost $1.8 million, Woodstock '94 grossed about $120 million with half as many people in attendance. This relentless profiteering is just one of the ways that Woodstock '94 abandoned the fundamental principles of its predecessor. Woodstock '94's promoters planned a systematic, authoritarian assault on the fans. The battle strategy was simple. It included tall wire fences, metal detectors at the gates and bus stops, and cops with dogs looking for any drugs, alcohol, or lethal contraband like lawnchairs. If the hundreds of police surveying the perimeter and 550 state troopers surrounding the wires weren't totalitarian enough, fans could count on the 900 security full-scal- e, stormtroopers inside the camp to spoil their plans the instant they started having fun. And all of this was supposed to commemorate an evening of peace, love, freedom; sex, drugs, and rock and roll? Any of the twentysomethings who attended should be embarrassed that "Generation X" can't come up with anything better than the sorry nosn baby talgic pining of a bunch of boomers. Hopefully, one day today's youth can experience something just as innovative and paramount as Woodstock without having to borrow culture from mommy and daddy entirely. As the Byrds so eloquently paraphrased the Bible back in 1965, "There is a season ... and a time for every purpose." And perhaps people should "turn, turn, turn" away from anniversaries in the future and leave Woodstock back in 1969 where it belongs. The Chronicle is an independent student newspaper. Unsigned editorials reflect the majority view of the Editorial Board. has-bee- ChronicleLetters Chrony leans too left Sffisil Editor: For many previous years, all of the institutions on this campus have been dominated, nay, monopolized by individuals of the, pardon the expression, liberal persuasion. The ancient and creaking Daily Utah Chronicle has been the most glaring and obnoxious example. Year after year, the ubiquitous Publications Council picked an EditoJr-in-Chief'wh- had o L Sb J5OTl5n PERHNPS SOME m(A 'W oJ3 L. f?- rj f&& ASPECTS of WooDSToCKASI BEST LEFT TO mbwww, demonstrated the proper liberal ideological credentials by writing mindless puffery for the campus propaganda rag and conservatives were never given serious consideration (including those who had previously worked on papers in the Real World which had darkrooms larger than the offices at the Chronicle, such as yours truly). Okay, what else is new? Well, outwardly nothing. Conservatives again stand frustrated at the doors of the Chronicle while all of the major positions are filled by people who's main claim to expertise is thinking that Peanut Butter is recycled Sodomy, a magic wand causes a "mass of protoplasm" to become a human being, a gun jumps off the table and shoots people, a "Drug War" is just part of the Republican agenda to incarcerate innocent people, violence is not to be criticized or punished, and it is the feminists turn to fight the next war and thus be included in combat roles (maybe Haiti). Under the surface, however, a groundswell of opposition has become the tidal wave of the future. Conservatives on campus see a way to stuff the hypocrisy (a.k.a. political cor- - see "Benef ield" on page five Baseba stri ke reminds that pro sports aren't needed 1 1 Ruth Ann Farnsworth Chronicle Editorial Columnist baseball strike has lasted a week and everything seems to be just fine. Of course the owners and the players aren't dose to reconciliation, but this might not be such a bad thing. Perhaps the break from professional baseball will help wean this nation from professional The t sports. " one common factor e nation it is a love id this of sports.- Americans see sports as a way to build character, strengthen community, and above all -- Ae most Now if there is hodge-podg- ; - v- - we watch too much LvM g to a relative few. Yet, the burden of building a stadium or arena is placed on tax payers many who can't afford the ticket price to see a game live. - danger in America's obsession with professional sports is that we aren't critical of the sports industry. We invest ourselves emotionally and financially without ever considering that the sports industry might not be good for us. Maybe during this break from baseball we can evaluate our favorite past time workers can't even afford a ticket More importantly, professional sports promotes an unequal distribution of wealth. The middle class pays the ticket price that helps the players and the owners the rich and the richer -- get even richer. , - Americans see sports as a way to build character, strengthen community, and above all-t- he most American of objectives make money. - spectator sports. The first step is to dispel the three myths that have shielded sports from criticism for the last century. Myth No. 1: sports are good for the economy. This argument is used by teams when they want local governments to help them build arenas. True, the team owner and the players can make a lot of money. The average baseball player's salary is $54,000 ; we grow v more than the average CEO salary."- - American of objectives make money. i Americans have a lot' of bad habits The money made by a team is kept lawns, we eat greasy hamburgers. In comparison with these vices, watching a few games seems harmless. The difference is we are aware of our other indulgences. The water-guzzlin- Myth No.' 2: sports strengthen the community. Hollywood has created the image of the assembly line worker rootand the banker sitting Yet this the same for team quaint ing picture is nothing but a mirage in today's, world of professional sports. . Seating in games helps. create new the classes the upper middle class upper upper middle class and keep them strictly separated. Most factory . side-by-si- - - . Myth No. 3: sports build character. I am a runner and I like to think that running five miles a day makes me a more disciplined hence a better person. But, I don't run for money. As advertisers invest more - money into sports, the objective to better one's self becomes secondary to the desire to line one's checking account Did years of workouts instill art impeccable Tonya Harding with ' .' ' character? ', '. '' .' The most dangerous part of this myth is its corollary watching sports inspires us to better ourselves. Does - the husband who chooses to watch football over spending time with his wife show great character? : - We shouldn't fool ourselves into thinking we are watching something a football inspirational. Let's face it game is nothing more than an elabo-- ' rate episode of Tom and Jerry except a bit more exciting because someone " can really get hurt - ; Once we dispel these myths profes- - sional sports becomes open to criticism. We see the sports industry as it is an extravagant extension of the - advertising industry. And professional sports, like the rest of the advertising industry, is not free from corruption. ; We can use this knowledge to become wiser consumers who refuse to pay exorbitant ticket prices or to allow our taxes to build arenas. We could also reevaluate the time we spend watching sports. Perhaps the time, we spend watching sports would be better spent playing sports. So what should Americans do to fill the void of the baseball strike? Go play . ball. (Or any other sport. 'As for myself, I think m go water skiing.) . l |