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Show ARTS &'EWTERTAIISSIIENT 12 "o'iiiiiSai .Erarranaiiimi irr inrawft tvH- - ' k" aL -I V I : .it i. iliiii liii Jll VO 9 rid New Bill slated to slash 0.01 4 Federal budget Nick Christenson Staff Writer Millions of Americans, including Big Bird and Mr. Rogers, are in imminent danger. The threat comes in the form of HR 1, a Republican funded bill passed by the House of Representatives on Feb.19. The bill cuts $747 million in food assistance, eliminates net neutrality laws, prohibits the Environmental Protection Agency from operating, and cuts assistance to community health centers. The bill also eliminates all Federal funding ,of public media, but gives $8 billion more to the Pentagon. More than half of all Americans 170 million utilize public media every month, such as radio, television and online services. The bill will now go to the Senate. If passed, it could cost thousands of jobs, and deprive American citizens of one of the few remaining communication oudets not controlled by corporate interests. Dave Santivasi, a volunteer DJ at local radio station KRCL, 90.9 FM, says the bill is masquerading as a measure, but has ulterior motives. Its an ideological attack, says Santivasi. It protects re the interests of the elite, of daddys lose The stand dont to boys. big boys anything. Everyone else is fucked. KRCL is a nonprofit, community radio station that has been broadcasting in Utah for 32 years. Over 70,000 listeners tune in every week for commercial-fre- e music, public service announcements, talk radio, weather and traffic reports. The station airs 56 music programs and 27 public affairs programs weekly. KRCLs mission is to provide media exposure for music, ideas and viewpoints that are in mainstream commercial media. KRCL is one of thousands of radio stations, TV networks, and online services that are in danger of losing Federal funding. Their philosophy is: if its not making money, then you have to pull it off the air, says Amy Wyer, interim general manager of KRCL. We need to have a source of news, information and entertainment outside of the avenue of ng multi-millionai- under-represent- ed corporate advertising. Public broadcasters and their audiences are fighting the proposal, and KRCL is one of the primary advocates of the 170 Million Americans for Public Media campaign. The objective is to advocate for Federal funding by raising awareness of public broadcasting importance and providing a unified form of activism. We want to make sure people are aware that this on the table, says Wyer. We are encouraging people to become aware of the issue and talk to their representatives. An online petition is available to sign, and contact information for senators and congressmen is provided through a link at krcl.org. This is your tax money, my tax money, says Santivasi. I should have a say where it goes. Ive completely lost my voice, our communities lost their is - - Issue 12 voice. This is scary. We should be screaming from the mountain tops. Public broadcasters receive 14 percent of funding from the Federal government, while the rest is raised locally, usually through individual donations. Funding for public broadcasting accounts for 0.01 percent of the Federal budget, a small amount considering the number of Americans who tune into public media on a daily basis. If funding was cut, the quality of public media would suffer. The funding allows for bargaining, like getting the rights to play songs on the radio, without having to pay every time we play the song, says Wyer. There are going to be community radio stations like KRCL that are going to be gone. They will just cease to function, says Santivasi. Many public media outlets are already struggling finanradio station, and recially. KRCL is a non-prolies primarily on listener donations. But the Federal funding provides stability and leverage to conduct pledge drives, or radiothons. For every $1 of Federal funding, public broadcast- ers can raise $6 locally. KRCLs longevity is a testament to its impor-tan- ce to the community. We as listeners have a say in what the station does, the music it plays, says Emerson Andrews, a Westminster graduate and of environmental education group E.A.R.T.H. Utah. Thats what makes KRCL so important. Anyone can participate. Its a station the people. Radio stations arent the only public media outlets threatened by HR 1. Public broadcast- ing is also home to such iconic television programs as Sesame Street, Mr. Rogers Neighborhood, Reading Rainbow, NOVA, Frondine, and hundreds more. The Public Broadcasting Act of 1967 created the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and its sister organizations, the Public Broadcasting Ser- vice (PBS) and the National Public Radio (NPR). The bill states: It is in the public interest to encourage the growth and development of public radio and television broadcasting. It is necessary and appropriate for the Federal Government to complement, assist, and support a national policy that will... make public communications available to all citizens. The bill also encourages programming that takes creative risks and addresses the needs of underserved audiences and says the expansion of public media depends on freedom, imagination, and initiative. Santivasi says HR 1 Completely negates those principals. They will cease to exist. It is a truly sad day, truly sad. dispro-portiona- - Film, like any other form of art, must be viewed without judgment. A true critic cannot think one film is better than any other. Each film deserves equal treatment. Each film deserves to be mocked relentlessly. films like Casablanca, From Academy award-winniLord of the Rings and Titanic to blockbuster franchises like Star Wars, the Twilight Saga and Harry Potter and every category in between, RiffTrax.com gives each film a commentary designed to make viewers snort milk out of their nose. Michael J. Nelson, head writer and one of two hosts for the cult television classic, Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K,) launched RiffTrax.com with Legend Films in 2006. Based in San Diego, Legend Films specializes in restoring classic black and white movies. The premise of MST3K was that a man and his two robot made. In order friends are forced to watch the worst to keep sane, Mike or Joel and their robot friends would make constant jokes or riffs at the movies expense. Jokes would range from pop culture references to political satire to simple puns and every punch line in between. After MST3K ended in 1999, Nelson wanted to find a way to bring his riffs to mainstream Hollywood films. But most of the films on the TV show were in the public domain. He thought about releasing DVDs with commentaries but abandoned the idea when he realized he would be sued out of existence. Nelson also thought about releasing CDs that would play along with the film. But it was the emerging podcast technology that allowed Nelson to finally release his commentaries on st movies. Nelson records commentaries and put them online for purchase. Viewers can buy the commentaries on RiffTrax.com, but will have to provide their own copy of the films. Like MST3K, a viewer can watch movie and hear the same style of riffs done by Nelson and a variety of guest riffers. But unlike the show, films do require an effort by viewers to keep the RiffTrack synchronized with the film. However, Nelson makes sure that Disembodio, a robotic voice, speaks a line of dialogue at the same time as a character in the film so the viewer never gets too far out of synch. Nelson usually wont perform his commentaries alone. He will often feature guest riffers to join in his fun. Guests have included Neil Patrick Harris, Weird A1 Yankovic, Fred Willard, and Joel McHale. Most often Nelson performs with Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy, both known as the puppeteers for Nelsons robot friends on MST3K. One of clever aspect of a RiffTrack is how Nelson will have joke references to other films hes provided comedy for. Often referenced is The Room, an independent film by Tommy Wiseau. The film is often credited with being the Citizen Kane of bad movies. The horrible acting, poorly written script and terrible directing, all provided by Wiseau creates ample opportunities for jokes and Nelson, Corbett and Murphy provide them. Sam McConkie, a junior at Utah State University, loves to watch movies that are so bad theyre good. He loves RiffTrax. com for Nelsons ability to make these movies even better. They exaggerate bad parts of a movie and flush out the comedy, McConkie said. This makes entertainingly bad movies even more entertaining. Matt and Katherine Gardner, a married couple from Glen Allen, Va. , were skeptical about watching Twilight for a second time after hating the movie the first time they saw it. But after viewing the film with the RiffTrack, they were amazed at the great time they had. It was hilarious, Matt Gardner said. It was the hardest Ive laughed during a movie. It was smart, said Katherine Gardner. It incorporated re references to from when I was younger. It makes the film watchable, otherwise, its too painful to watch. Rifftrax.com offers a wide variety of films and shorts that have commentaries. There is something for every taste on the website and it makes an awesome group activity. Katherine Gardner said, Even if its a movie you like, its fun to see it from a different perspective. ng Public Broadcasting in jeopardy Vt , Stephen Cook Staff Writer f lave Santivasi, a volunteer DJ at local radio station KRCL, cost-cutti- , comedic commentary - f 1 VOLUME XUV RifFTrax offers T V 02.23.2011-03.08.201- lly A-li- fit j s j j co-foun- by-and-- for j j j j j j j j j t j pop-cultu- |