Half Baked At Halftime DOER PROFILE ROSEPA„LL City: Huntington Woods Kudos: 4,000 Dolls . Why — at age 97 — did you decide to begin your third year with the Hadassah Doll Project, stuffing a total of 4,000 dolls to be given to hospitalized children? "I always want- ed to be a volun- teer — to help people. I like that I can stay home and make the dolls and I know they make chil- dren happy." When your kids were young, you sewed their clothes and coats as part of your routine; Now, how do you blend your work, stuffing 30 dolls a week, with activities, includ- ing weekly grocery shopping and nightly din- ner preparation in your daughter's home where you live with her family? "I keep the dolls and garbage bags filled with stuffing in one room in the house. If I am mak- ing dinner I just take my work into the kitchen so I can cook and stuff the dolls at the same time." Do you ever hear about how helpful the dolls are to children who receive them? "I teach fifth grade," said Doris Schey, Paull's daughter. "One of my kids brought in a doll from the doll project and told the other students it was given to her little sister who had just gone through surgery. Who knows, the doll that helped her could very well have been one of the dolls my mother stuffed." Shelli Liebman Dorfman, staff writer E very media outlet in America, including this one, wants to get younger. They worry about their aging demographics and spend a lot of time wondering how to bring in younger readers and viewers. Only GEORGE they aren't sure how to do it. So, in CANTOR that context, you can understand Reality Check how the Super Bowl halftime deba- cle occurred. I have to confess I missed the revealing denouement of this extravaganza. After watching the first part of the halftime show, I mut- tered something like, "If these are the greatest enter- tainers in America, this country is in bigger trouble than I thought," and wandered off to the kitchen to make myself a corned beef sandwich. I have better things to do than go hungry in order to watch sublimely untalented rappers and booty-shak- ers. But then I'm not the audience that CBS desperately wanted to attract. That's why the network turned production of the half- time show over to MTV, which supposedly connects with the youth of America much more tightly than the old-line media. The part of the deal the people at CBS didn't quite understand, however, is that they also had signed on to embrace the slumbucket values of an enterprise that feeds on shock and vulgarity. They forgot that when you lie down with dogs, you usually get up with fleas. On the same weekend, Shaquille O'Neal issued a stream of obscenities on the air after a basketball game. When hurriedly informed that the interview was live, he said he didn't give a s—. And he is supposed to be one of the nice guys in sports. George Cantor's e-mail address is gcantor@thejewishnews.com Fans of the Detroit Tigers treasure the memory of Eddie Brinkman letting a nasty word slip in a club- house interview during the 1972 playoffs. He apol- ogized profusely and was mortified by his mistake. But that was then. The steady debasement of popular entertainment and the embrace of the corrosive ethics of show business by sports are among the saddest aspects of our culture. Is it any wonder that other, more reli- giously observant societies, view us with contempt and hatred for exporting this garbage? I always promised myself that I would never turn into one of those old poops who kept saying that everything was so much better when he was young. It may be true, but I swore I'd never say it. But after watching this sad spectacle, I don't know how else to react. There was a time when television was referred to as the boob tube because it was merely stupid. Now that, too, has changed. And not for better. My mood was further soured by my first viewing of American Idol, a show I had scrupulously managed to avoid for the first two years of its existence. Many viewers are amused and puzzled by some of the delusional contestants who appear on this thing, apparently convinced that they can be musical superstars even though they cannot sing a note. I really don't know why that is surprising. They look at the big- name "rap artists" (an oxymoron if I ever heard one) or someone like Britney, who sings in a croak, or the Super Bowl gar- glers. And they conclude that if these tone-deaf per- formers can make millions, why can't they? It sounds like a perfectly reasonable premise to me. The media magnifies these stiffs only because it doesn't want to risk offending the young audience it pursues so avidly. My fear is, however, that in chas- ing after eternal youth it may lose the older, loyal audience that once was its mainstay. Shabbat Candlelighting "Shabbos candles bring a wonderful sense of tranquility to the home. It's like recharging your batter- ies after another hectic week." — Shoshana Forta, child care provider, Oak Park REPORT A DOER... Know a Doer — someone of any age doing interest- ing, meaningful things in their life outside of their job? Share suggestions with Ken Guten Cohen, story development editor, at (248) 351-5144 or e-mail: kcohen@thejewishnews-com 2/13 2004 10 Candlelighting Candlelighting Friday, Feb. 13, 5:43 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20, 5:52 p.m. Shabbat Ends Shabbat Ends Saturday, Feb. 14, 6:46 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 21, 6:55 p.m. To submit a candlelighting message, call Miriam Amzalak of the Lubavitch Women's Organization at (248) 548-6771 or e-mai• mainzalakjuno.com