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Lifestyles Local filmmaker eyes Sundance Edinboro University alumnus John Lyons is working on another film, drawing on experiences from his own life. Lyons intends to send the film to the Sundance Film Festival.

SPECTATOR

THE

Inside this week’s

E D I N B O R O U N I V E R S I T Y O F P E N N S Y L VA N I A

Volume 425

Number 19

May 1, 2007

New campus construction Election results in clean sweep and big changes

Lifestyles, page 4

Voices Find out what’s on Edinboro student’s minds In this issue of The Spectator there is a full page of letters to the editor. If you’ve got something on your mind, email us at: eupspectator1@ yahoo.com. Voices, page 8

Arts & Entertainment Sequels dominate this year’s summer movie lineup Check out the upcoming summer sequels that are bound to make you flee the heat and hit the theaters including ‘Spider-man 3’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean 3’, ‘Ocean’s Thirteen’.

Stella Vealy Editor-in-chief Despite the difficulty with state funding for the Pennsylvania Governor’s building proposal, the new Edinboro University Health Sciences Building on the campus will open this fall. About 70 percent of the building will be completed and occupied by the Schools of Pharmacy and Nursing, according to Bob Simmons, director of Campus Facilities. “What this money [$15 million] was going to do was finish out the remaining 30 percent of the building,” Simmons said. “I think our alumni and our students are collectively expressing their

disappointment at the state of affairs down there [Jefferson City, Mo.].” Other parts of Chancellor Guy Bailey’s $300 million plan for expanding UMKC will also be visible in the fall, when students return from the summer break. The Oak Street West development’s foundations will be laid and framing should start to emerge from the ground. Some of the underground utilities have already been completed, including the rerouting of the sanitary sewer lines. When the outside shell of the development is finished, work will begin north of the site on

Artist Jamie Adams’ new exhibition currently on display in the Bates Gallery features commentary on masculinity with strong visuals and technical capability.

A&E, page 10

New members selected for hall of fame The Edinboro University Althletic Hall of Fame will celebrate its 26th year with the induction of eight new mwmbers on April 28th.

EUP upsets top-raned Lock Haven With Vanessa Rose throwing a three-hitter, the softball team knocked off the number one team in Division II on April 20, with a 1-0 defeat of Lock Haven in the first game of the doubleheader at Edinboro. Sports, page 12

Index News....................2 Lifestyles.............4 Voices..................8 A&E...................10 Sports................12

Campus continued on page 2

Earth Day inspires change

Male vulnerability shown through sculpture

Sports

the replacement housing for Cherry Street Residence Hall. “I compare new construction to space launches,” Simmons said. “When the engines first ignite and there’s all this smoke and the thing just sits there on the launch pad, it seems like nothing is happening.” The Oak Street West development will include roughly 5,000 square feet of retail space in the southeast corner, next to Pizza 51, 5060 Oak St. This will increase the size of the commercial zone by about 75 percent. This fall will also see the replacement of the Volker campus air conditioning plant.

Spectator Staff For many, the 37th annual Earth Day was the perfect occasion to think of what humans could do to preserve this planet for generations to come. Edinboro students and educators marked Earth Day with a variety of activities. Last Friday, the Environmental Studies program at Edinboro celebrated in Flarshiem Hall with the showing of Al Gore’s movie “An Inconvenient Truth” and by distributing related flyers and brochures.

Professor Syed E. Hasan - who teaches classes in environmental science, environmental geology and waste management - is offering a class titled “Field Experience in Waste Management” immediately after the end of this semester. The class will deal with the different kinds of waste management and their effects on the environment. “If we want to be good stewards of the environment and do something to preserve the earth

and the environment, we have to have something going on a continuous basis, not one day a year,” said Professor Hasan. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), 2001, “An increasing body of observations gives a collective picture of a warming world and other changes in the climate system.” In the wake of this concern about global warming and its causes, scientists, and many others, have been looking for answers. A year ago, Dr. James Hansen, NASA’s top climatologist, warned, “The earth’s climate is nearing, but has not passed, a tipping point, beyond which it will be impossible to avoid climate change with far-ranging undesirable consequences.” These consequences would, as Hansen said, “...constitute practically a different planet.” He pointed to major species extinctions and a sea level rise of several meters per century. Many scientists and environmentalists say that depending less on oil and starting to look for an alternative source of energy may alleviate some of the problems.

Sean McClain and DaRon McGee smile at the election results Bridgett Johnson has just posted. With a hefty margin of votes, The Gold Standard Party defeated The Roo Party: Moving Forward in the Student Government Association (SGA) election last week. The referendum for a new student fee of $2.72 per semester for the Collegiate Readership passed narrowly by 23 votes. Five days of voting registered 837 total votes, with Gold Standard Party candidates winning all four SGA executive council positions. Sophomore Sean McClain will be SGA president starting May 1. “My first goal is to work with the individual councils and help them get better organized,” he said. The other three elected are: sophomore Tara Kloeppel as executive vice president, freshman Emily Shaw as administrative vice president, and freshman DaRon McGee as comptroller. McClain, McGee and Roo Party presidential candidate sophomore Jason Kotlyarov waited outside the Student Life Office Friday evening, before the results were known, to see who won. McGee was philosophical about it. “Whatever happens happens,” he said. “I just hope people voted for the right reasons,” McClain said. Kotlyarov said he hadn’t slept much the night before. When Election Director Bridgett Johnson, junior, posted the results at 7:30 p.m., precisely 30 minutes after the polls closed, there was a quick exchange of handshakes, and then everyone reached for their cell phones. “My first call was to Jason Finley [outgoing SGA EVP],” McGee said. “My second call was to my good friend Larry Vaughn [outgoing SGA comptroller].” The Gold Standard Party ran a campaign that included large color posters. McClain said though the posters looked expensive, in reality, the party spent very little, less than $50. He said they relied on friends for design layout and printing, and only had to buy the paper. Separately, McGee gave a different reply. “I think we spent about $5,000 for the campaign,” he said. “We all know elections cost money.” Johnson said campaign expenditures for both parties have to be declared by April 23. Collectively, the four executive council members earn about $18,000 per year, according to outgoing SGA president Austin Case. This money comes out of the SGA’s yearly operational budget of roughly $80,000. For her part, Johnson, who is also this year’s Court Warming queen, said she won’t be returning as election director next year. “It’s a lot of work,” she said. “I also had to run the Student Union referendum, and supervise all the individual council elections.” Johnson said in the future “people will run my elections for me.” With a “yes” vote in the referendum, the Collegiate Readership Program can be expanded next fall.

Earth continued on page 2

Election continued on page 2

Edinboro Presidential search continues

Erin Thompson News Editor On April 21, the Edinboro University of Pennsylvania Council of Trustees completed the slate of three presidential candidates required by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education. The Trustees - following the recommendation of Edinboro University’s Presidential Search Committee unanimously voted to add Dr. Jeremy D. Brown, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, State University of New York, Canton, to complete the slate. The Council initially submitted the required slate of three to PASSHE on March 2, but one candidate, Dr. Nabil A. Ibrahim, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and Chief Academic Officer at Purdue University, Calumet,

withdrew from consideration several weeks ago, leading the Committee to extend its search. Dr. Brown now joins two previously named candidates, Dr. John William Folkins, CEO, Bowling Green State University Research Institute, and Dr. Sue Kiefer Hammersmith, Provost and Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs, University of Wisconsin, Green Bay. As I have written to you before, the slate of three is required by the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors before they can choose a successor to Edinboro President Frank G. Pogue, who will retire June 30 after 11 years of exemplary service to the University. Again in possession of the complete

required slate of three candidates, the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education’s Board of Governors and PASSHE Chancellor, Dr. Judy Hample, will schedule interviews and select the 16th president of Edinboro University. We’re hopeful the Board of Governors will act in a timely fashion and select Edinboro’s 16th President within the next several weeks. When the vacancy in the original slate occurred, the Presidential Search Committee acted quickly to extend the search and return to our pool of highly qualified candidates. Committee members acted with professionalism and diligence in completing the selection of a third candidate in the most responsible and timely fashion

possible. Six months ago, the committee began with a pool of 50 candidates. Through a comprehensive search process, the pool was narrowed to 12 for personal interviews. In all, seven candidates were invited to be interviewed by campus constituencies and members of the community. I speak for the entire Committee in telling you how much we appreciated the participation and support of all campus constituencies and the community during the search and interview process. We also thank each of the candidates who spent time with the Edinboro Family during this process. We’re still extremely confident a new president will be in place on July 1. President continued on page 2

Arts & Entertainment

Page 10

April 27, 2007

Sequels dominate this year’s summer movie preview

Scott Renshaw Movie Critic First, the bad news: If you go to the movies this summer, you’ll probably sit in a lot of very crowded theaters. Now the good news. You probably won’t care. This summer is likely to be unprecedented. In 2004, the top 10 films released between May 1 and Sept. 1 grossed a cumulative $2.2 billion at the North American box office, the current record. In 2005, six individual summer-release films grossed more than $200 million, also a record. It will be a huge surprise if both of those records are still standing come Labor Day. Never before have there been so many summer movies that so many people are going to want to see. Here’s how it stacks up: The rule of threes The summer of 2007 brings us not one, not two, but six third installments in ongoing movie franchises. Three of those — Spider-Man 3, Shrek the Third and Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End — are almost certain to be the summer’s three top-grossing films in some order or another. In 2004, Spider-Man 2 and Shrek 2 teamed up for more than $800 million; Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest raked in $423 million last year. If this year’s three sequels average only $350 million apiece, you’re looking at about a billion dollars.

As for the other third installments — Ocean’s 13, Rush Hour 3 and The Bourne Ultimatum — each holds the prospect for $140 to $170 million in earnings, based on previous franchise performance.

hicle I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry — about two Boston firefighters who pose as a gay couple for the domestic-partner benefits — seems likely to lure the crowd that turned Wild Hogs into a hit.

Pixar and Potter

Other familiar properties

Four films averaging $274 million in domestic gross; four films averaging $279 million in domestic gross. Those are the track records of Pixar’s recent computer-animated features and the Harry Potter franchise, respectively. If we play it safe and assume that Pixar’s Ratatouille and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix will do only as well as the least successful efforts in their respective franchises, you’ll still be looking at $500 million between them.

It’s been more than a decade since the last Die Hard installment, but Bruce Willis as John McClane should still be a draw in Live Free or Die Hard. Same for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, which follows the original that earned $150 million in 2005. Also, certainly, more than 18 years on the air will lead to a built-in audience for The Simpsons Movie. Lastly, there’s a wild card: Michael Bay’s Transformers, which could ride its combination of Gen-X nostalgia and kid appeal to big, huge or ridiculous numbers. Even if each of these films succeeds at its lowest estimate, we’re still looking at $2.3 billion. This summer looks as if it is on track with all of the hype and excitement behind the upcomnig movie season, there surely shouldn’t be any concern about money making unless they are this summer’s disappointments like last year’s “Superman Return”, that was below average in many categories. Still, this season seems promising.

The funny business From the writer/director of The 40 Year-Old Virgin comes Knocked Up, a comedy about a one-night stand between wildly dissimilar people that results in an unplanned pregnancy. Early test screenings — and a fall-out-of-yourchair-hilarious trailer — suggest it could be a massive word-of-mouth hit. Evan Almighty probably won’t reach Bruce Almighty’s $242 million, with Steve Carell taking over for Jim Carrey, but it’ll still do well. And the Adam Sandler-Kevin James ve-

Aqua Teen movie great, but only if you’re a fan Josh Page Movie Critic Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film For Theaters” Directed by Matt Maiellaro & Dave Willis Starring Master Shake, Frylock & Meatwad 5 Stars (for ATHF fans. For anyone else, don’t even bother) What do a talking burrito, a flying watermelon spaceship and a kitten cannon have in common? Not a damn thing, and that’s the beauty of the Cartoon Network darling turned big screen endeavor “Aqua Teen Hunger Force.” The show, which usually runs in segments no longer than 15 minutes per episode, has (somehow) been stretched to a lengthy 87 minutes. The film opens with a musical number performed by singing condiments and snack foods (probably the finest eight minutes to hit the silver screen this year). It then loosely follows a storyline based around the three Aqua Teens (Frylock, Master Shake & Meatwad) as they look to discover the secrets behind the Insane-O-Flex exercise machine. Along with the irreverent trio, the movie also features many favorites of the show including Carl, the Plutonians, MC Pee Pants, the Cybernetic Ghost of Christmas Past from the Future, Dr. Weird and the Mooninites. Not a lot of coherent sense is ever made throughout the film,

but that’s what has intrigued viewers of the show and will undoubtedly cause fans to see this movie more than once. If this movie review has made any bit of sense to you, then head on over to the theater and see this film. If you are still stuck at trying to imagine a kitten cannon, then steal your floormates’ Aqua Teen season one DVD and see if it’s worth spending eight bucks to see a film that means nothing and revels in its (brilliant) lack of standard structure.

My advice: If someone offers you stock in a popcorn company right now, buy it.

This summer is full of action packed movies like ‘Ocean’s Thirteen’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End’, and ‘Spider-man 3’.

Artist shows male vulnerability and socio-political contexts in artwork Nicole Catalfamo Staff Writer Jamie Adams’ MFA exhibition “A Silver Mt. Zion – Sculptures and Works on Paper” is currently on display in Bates Gallery. Adams’ show, which features sculptures and prints, is a testament to both Adams’ diverse range of technical capability and his loyalty to a certain vision regardless of form. Moving seamlessly from medium to medium, manipulating each to serve his content, it is clear that Adams’ art begins with concept – the material merely serving as a vehicle for the idea behind it. For all of Adams’ commentary on masculinity, there is an undeniable sensitivity to his work. The concept of male vulnerability is in stark contrast to the meticulous and controlled nature of Adams’ line, perhaps an allegory or the confidence his subjects in reality lack. From the delicately furrowed brow of the earthenware “Cain”, to the gestural figures of his relief prints, Adams imbues such emotion to the medium that a clearly defined content becomes almost superfluous. As Adams explains in his artist’s statement: “We live in an image-based world, and each of us carries around a visual encyclopedia in our mind. My work takes advantage of these sets of visual cues each of us owns.”

The inherent ambiguity in his pieces is then in no way elitist, but rather an invitation to the viewer to take what the piece offers and interpret is as they will. Adams’ prints and sculptures all contain an underlying theme of vulnerability and fear – namely that of failing to live up to expectations set before us. While being born male in this country is generally considered preferential, Adams makes clear that high expectations and a failure to met them exact their own toll, and the ensuing fear of failure is the truth of many men’s condition. Explored mainly in a socio-political context in his prints, Adams’ reliefs include astronauts and cowboys, military men and lovers, all juxtaposed with jarring imagery that conjure a wild variety of possible narratives, each more uncomfortable than the next. Sculptures focus on more universal themes, such as that of low self-confidence, through all exhibit a nuanced sort of melancholy. “Adam” is not the classical male nude of biblical renditions. Adams’ “Adam” is slouching, eyes downcast. The lips are ever so slightly pursed, as if to lament that even being the very first is no guarantee of a life free of self-doubt. Jamie Adams’ exhibit runs from mid-May until June.

Bruce gallery

www.brucegallery.org

Edinboro University

The Bruce Gallery would like to thank the SGA and the EUP community for an excellent 2006-2007 gallery season! Please come back and visit us next season.

Page 11

Arts & Entertainment

Upcoming Campus Arts Events

Dancers perform challenging works Nicole English Staff Writer The dance community braved the Edinboro weather to see a remarkable spring concert presented by the university dance students in the Cole Auditorium. “The performances were amazing ... the kids were really on their legs ... everything really came together,” dance major Christopher Page, sophomore, said about his peers. The concert opened with “Unplugged,” an unconventional, fast-paced modern ballet piece choreographed by Paula Weber, with music by Kenji Bunch. Dressed in jazzy short skirts and shorts, dancers performed angular movements to driving music, pushing the envelope of what most people picture as ballet. Next up was a politically-themed suite choreographed by Sabrina Madison-Cannon to rock and

blues standards: Edwin Starr’s “War,” “Tryin’ Times” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Fire.” The cast was relatively large at 20 dancers, because the faculty wanted to include as many dancers as possible so they have performance experience. “The students work very hard ... and they deserve an opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned,” said Madison-Cannon. “It also gives them the opportunity to gain more stage experience, which ultimately makes them better, more seasoned dancers when they graduate.” “The project has been a wonderful process,” said Jordan. “When I met the composer at a Young Audiences fundraiser last May, we hit it off, and we collaborated over the summer .... then we worked with the dancers weekly since mid-January. I am very pleased with how it turned out.”

The piece represented the phenomenological experience of the creation of the choreography, as it was happening, for both for the choreographer and the dancers. “We are all individuals and yet we are all part of a community, a collective, as well ... I tried to represent that experience in the choreography,” Medina said. “At times it is like the 29 dancers represent 29 different phrases in the music through dance.” The ballet prompted a standing ovation and a host of commentary from the ballet community. “This program tonight moved the whole dance department forward,” said Pembrook. “They took on a challenge that was monumental and pulled it off. I could not be more pleased - it took my breath away.”

Edinboro featured on TLC reality series Spectator Edinboro University was featured on The Learning Channel’s “Little People, Big World” April 23. Unlike many reality series, this one doesn’t rely on scripted tension, catfights or a million-dollar prize. Instead, it offers an honest glimpse inside an American family -- one that happens to consist of little and average-sized people. Matt Roloff, an Oregon native, saw fit to travel the country to motivate others. Part of the episode was filmed on campus November 9 when Matt Roloff, who stars on the reality series with his wife and children, spoke at Louis C. Cole Auditorium. Roloff, his wife and one of thier twin boys are dwarves. The Roloffs’ other children are average sized, including thier other twin. The show follows the many challenges the Roloffs face as a family. The episode is sheduled to air again April 28 at 8 and 11p.m. so be sure to tune in to take a look at our campus! The episode featured many shots of campus and excerpts from Roloff’s motivational speech to a packed audience. EUP’s President Frank G. Pogue made several appearances in the program, all of which were shot while Pogue shared the stage with Roloff. He appeared at EUP as a part of the university’s sesquicentennial celebration. This event was funded in part by a Social Equity Grant from the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education, Matt Roloff’s presentation was titled “Thrive, Don’t Just Survive.” He also signed copies of his book, Against Tall Odds. You can pick up copies of his book at the campus bookstore located in the University Center, or anywhere books are sold.

April 27, 2007

Saturday, April 28, 2007

Bates Gallery, MFA Thesis, Ceramics Exhibit by Aaron Young, April 28 - May 5, Loveland Hall. Sunday, April 29, 2007 Artistic Discovery, noon, Diebold Center for the Performing Arts. Edinboro University Dance Team Tryouts for Fall 2007 semester, 5:00 - 7:00 p.m., Louis C. Cole Auditorium - Memorial Hall, music rehearsal hall. Country Artist Jo Dee Messina Concert, Sunday, April 29, 7:00 p.m., McComb Fieldhouse. Tickets available at www. edinborotickets.com or in the SGA Convenience Store located in Lawrence Towers lobby. $10 for students with valid ID, $20 all others. Details. Tuesday, May 1, 2007 Student Art League meeting, 8:30 p.m., Loveland Hall, Studio 6. Meetings are open to all art, art history and art education students. Meetings are bi-weekly on Tuesdays. Bad Movie Night: “Plan 9 from Outer Space,” 9:00 p.m., Doucette Hall, room 119. Friday, May 4, 2007 Movie The Number 23, 7:00 p.m., University Center, Zahorchak Seminar Room. Saturday, May 5, 2007 Bates Gallery, Printmaking Exhibit by Kris Squires, May 5 12, Loveland Hall. Sunday, May 6, 2007 Edinboro University-Community Orchestra Concert, 7:00 p.m., Louis C. Cole Auditorium - Memorial Hall.

Local Filmmaker sets sights on Sundance Film Festival Becky Bookstern Photography Editor Director John C. Lyons called it a mini-meeting. It was a quick chance to show the crewmembers how far they had come. It was a chance to get them fired up. When Lyons showed the crew, on paper, just how far the production had come, the long weekends and weeknights were put into the proper perspective. They had made it past the halfway mark in filming the independent feature Schism. Being halfway done with filming is an accomplishment, though the production has faced problems. Some cast members were replaced. Likewise, a few people on the crew didn’t make it to this point of celebration. Lyons admits that January 2007 wasn’t as productive as he would have liked. The minimeeting, however, got people on track and Lyons said February’s filming schedule is now set to be the most aggressive yet. “We should be left with 20 odd scenes after February,” said Lyons. Not bad for a production that has 120 total scenes that need to be shot at night and on

Are you interested in working for us? Want to be a part of all of the events on campus? Do you like being heard? Do you have a major in communications? If you can answer YES, two any of these questions you qualify for an exciting campus job! Some of our wonderful staff will be heading towards graduation, this means that we will have many open positions for students willing and excited to be involved in our great campus publication. This is also a great way to get experience in your desired major, or simply just meeting new and interesting people! Positions available in the sports, entertainment and voices sections of the paper. All positions are paid and we also reimburse gas for the traveling you do! Not interested in writing? Well there are also opportunities reporting on ETV, the Edinboro television station, as well as hosting and managing radio shows. Still Interested? Please see the list of cantacts below to apply for the job that suits you the most! Seth Berns The Spectator Head Editor Centennial Hall 239 814-897-8967 Dr. Will Covington ETV Staff Coordinator Faculty Annex 131 814-903-6532 Adrienne Herring Edinboro Radio Manager Faculty Annex 166 814-823-0912

weekends. The problem with the filming now lies in the preparation each scene requires, outside of the lighting mentioned in previous articles. Schism was mostly shot in a linear fashion, meaning that the production, which takes place over a year, now has to more vividly illustrate the main character Neil’s physical deterioration. That means make up. Even as the preparation is getting more complex, the linear filming schedule allowed Lyons to move ahead with other parts of the project. For some scenes already filmed, Lyons and company have begun to tackle the score and the sound. In December, Lyons took 10 days off work to produce a 20-minute assembly cut, which he handed over to his sound man Andi Wondersound. Making it halfway through the filming means more than just getting into editing and sound, though. It also means Lyons is learning more about his production. Idiosyncrasies have been added to match the actors with the characters. Scenes have been extended and deleted as the strengths of the cast have been discovered. Redundancies have been eliminated.

A production still from John Lyons’ new film ‘Schism,’ which is currently in production. The film revolves around the emotions one experiences when placing a family member in a nursing home. As Schism takes a distinct shape, Lyons is now more So in the next few months, when Edinboro Univerthan ever able to communicate what he and his sity students work on latex masks for the mysterious filmmaking team are creating. “strangers” or when dancers and the band Mambo “You need to really feel for Neil and his relationperform in a music sequence, Lyons is working to ships,” said Lyons. “Visually you have to feel that.” dramatically connect Neil with the viewers.

The Edinboro Entertainment Mouthpiece You Can’t Do That On Television

Stella Vealy Editor-in-chief The decency police are on the move again. Two Republican lawmakers have their indecency sights set on satellite radio and TV and they are hunting for what they claim is smut. With that in mind it doesn’t sound out of the question , even though new options are a button click away. Although what they end up targeting and attempting to regulate is clearly ridiculous! Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Ted Stevens and House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Joe Barton have decided the government should regulate satellite radio and TV as it does over-the-air broadcasting and they are planning to press for legislation that does just that. There are a lot of questions and people fighting against such legislation and lawmakers because of the concept of “freedom of speech”. “Cable is a much greater violator in the indecency area,” said Stevens. “I think we have the same power to deal with cable as over-the-air.” These guys love to use their power to deal, and deal they will. Howard Stern and shows like The Sopranos are going to be reshaped by the long arm of the law if these guys have their way, as they shouldn’t because there are ways to block mostly anything and everything if you don’t want your children or yourself watching or listening to it. People should wonder what we really have to worry about. When channels like TBS or A&E show famed HBO darlings such as The Sopranos and Sex and the City, do you really feel like they are the same shows? Isn’t there something missing, like the shocking situations and the language? I suppose we should be happy for getting the shows at all. Although there is always DVD.

When Stern decided to leave over-the-air radio and go to Sirius satellite radio, he believed the move would allow him more freedom of speech. He thought the decency police wouldn’t be able to regulate his language and ideas on pay-tolisten radio. He was very wrong. Stern might get a complex. They hunt him down, or his indecent behavior, wherever it runs. The GOP used to promote less government involvement, not more. The idea of legislating morality has become the permanent platform for many in the Republican Party and it’s growing every year. Where does this stop? Or more aptly, where does this begin? The top is a good place to look for the leadership of the GOP and President George W. Bush has been very clear in his use of moral authority to wage a war under false pretenses and to propose a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. While Bush takes on the world, these two Republican crusaders will do the micromanaging of what we can hear and see on the home front. Not scary enough? Well, the changes this group promises could be a reality. Don’t let this slip by, like Iraqi weapons of mass destruction. If we don’t cry out for one thing will the American public be outraged at the change in the television schedule, or favorite radio shows being forced off air by this over exposed juggernaut. Will we even recognize our entertainment industry at all? Shouldn’t the preference of the viewer be held at their own discretion? I will stand-up for the right to see and hear what is offered out there if I choose to pay for it. If I don’t want to hear it or see it I can cancel my subscription. I wonder whether people understand

the simplicity of just removing themselves from the situation we most dislike, or maybe we don’t. I wonder if people are thinking whether the country will just snooze along on this one until we no longer have freedom of speech and can’t rally back with our words? It is a scary thought when it is put that way, but should we let it get that far by letting them take hold of our entertainment? I really hope not, but what are we going to do about it? For one, say what you want to say about it. The chances are slim that this indecent proposal passes, but the money and time these two obscenity overlords use could be spent on a few other more glaring domestic problems. Let’s see, hmmm, education, health care, Medicare, Medicaid, the massive deficit, to name a few. I really don’t want my tax dollars spent on policing the pay channels of the satellite and cable world because it was only meant to be entertainment and yes, that means it can and will offend some people. Haven’t some of us been offended by simply walking down the street during the day? Although why should it matter if I am paying for the channels because I wanted them because of the programming it was famed for offering? It doesn’t make any sense to waste more money on senseless things that we could do ourselves. People need to have the responsibility to regulate their own lives rather than leave it in the hands of the United States government. If people should stand up and rally for something, it’s that we should use all this money their spending on this crusade to give to educating the youth of this country, to charities, or to organizations trying to cure diseases! Besides, I could use the cash to pay for my education or my old age or perhaps a new Sirius radio.