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8 U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAPER

Opinions NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1988

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1988 Student Body

U. THE NATIONAL COLLEGE NEWSPAP



Trying to cope
A new U. of Colorado
program helps some
athletes adjust to Boulder.
Page 27

Through the nose
Inhalants remain well
behind the front lines of the
war on drugs.
Page 29

FITN ESS
A female first
Washington State U.
hires its first female
football trainers.
Page 30

Marathon men
Basketball fanatics
Brigham Young U. pla
for the books.


Who's Got

Ti ckets?

I


Television as public's medium
should bmaden it message

By Rob Lutz
0 Amherst Student
Amherst College, MA
About two weeks ago, The New York
Times reported that the three major
television networks had agreed to step
up their fight against drunk driving.
According to the article, all scenes in-
volving drinking will include a short
snippet of dialogue in which a character
will indicate that he/she isn't drinking
because he/she is responsible for the
driving.
For example, one character might
say, "Have a drink," and the other will
respond, "No thanks, I'm the designated
driver." The networks are also planning
more public advertising campaigns to
further encourage the use of designated
drivers.
It is fantastic that the networks have
agreed to this policy. Drunk driving is a
Television is a powerful
social force which directly
affects more people than
any other type of media.
serious problem in this country; and the
idea of designated drivers ought to be
highly promoted. However, even more
campaigns of this type ought to be led by
the networks. The networks have a sig-
nificant role in changing the way people
think and act. In 1985, the average
adult in America watched 30 hours of
television per week. There are roughly
86.5 million television sets in this
country; and almost 98 percent of all
American households have television
sets.
Television is a powerful social force
which directly affects more people than
any other type of media. This fact is
attested to by the presence and effec-
tiveness of commercials. Advertisers

feel that even annoying 30-second
blurbs can have a significant effect on
what people purchase.
Birth control is another issue that
could be beneficially explored by the
networks. Sex scenes and romances
occur routinely on television. Yet rarely
is there any mention of contraception.
Television has the power to make the
use of birth control a routine and nor-
mal part of sex. Isn't it conceivable that
many people would give greater consid-
eration to birth control if their favorite
character on television did?
Television also has a very strong in-
fluence on the creation of stereotypes,
yet the stereotypes televison creates are
often harmful.
Many programs still portray women
as the weaker sex, as the ones who cry,
as the ones who are afraid of the mouse,
as the ones who must obey their hus-
bands. These portrayals give women a
stereotype which is not an accurate re-
flection of society. The networks could
easily change the stereotype for the
better.
The same is true for the stereotype
television creates for blacks. Blacks are
often portrayed as the hooligans and
violent thugs who must be brought to
justice by the white stars. Or else they
are portrayed as the dumb handymen or
cabbies who can only talk quasi-jive and
give people high-fives. Why can't the
networks use their influence to help
change that?
Many psychological studies demons-
trated the strong impact television has
in shaping everyday behavior. The tele-
vision industry must start assuming
more responsibility for its program-
ming. The networks should function to
work as educators as well as entertain-
ers. Their decision to give greater expo-
sure to designated drivers is great, but
it is just one example of the way in
which television could be used as a force
to improve society instead of merely en-
tertaining it.

TIP ~19

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Betting
By Chuck Green
Daily Nebraskan
U. of Nebraska, Lincoln
Betting on a favorite team, horse.
or dog is fun, exciting and reward-
ing - as long as you're winning.
But for at least one student,
gambling ruined his career at the
U. of Nebraska, Lincoln. Maybe
even more.
It was Oct. 3, 1987. It was a cool,
sunny day in Lincoln, not the type
of day that hinted of impending dis-
aster. But it was a day Jim (not his
real name) will never forget. Not
even if he wants to.
On that day, Jim lost over
$40,000 betting football games.
"It was the single most disastr-
ous thing that's ever happened to
me in my life," Jim said. "I was deli-
rious with fear. I didn't know what
to do, where to go... nothing. I just
wanted to run away and hide some-
where where no one would find me."
After losing an early game and
$2,200, Jim switched to a five-game
parlay, where a player must win all
five games to collect money. He lost
all five games and raised his total
losses to $7,100. Jim said he knew
he was in serious trouble, but his
"gambling instincts" told him to
win back the money he had lost.
Jim then called a friend, who was
a Lincoln bookmaker with connec-
tions to Las Vegas gambling casi-
nos. Jim placed a bet on three night
games and lost all three. He now
owed Lincoln bookies $7,100 and
had run up charges of $33,000 on
three credit cards. Jim then turned
to his parents, who have still not
recovered financially.
As a result, Jim had to quit school
and get a full-time job, and there
still wasn't enough money in his
parents savings account for Jim to
continue college. His father was
forced out of retirement and into
another full-time job.
"I haven't even begun to.put my
life back together," Jim said. "But
it's something I've got to do. I'm
only 21 and I can't give up ... The
only bet I'm making for the rest of
my life is that I'll turn my life
around."
That's one bet Jim can't afford to
lose.

An early season football game at U. of
South Carolina (USC) left some USC
students frustrated from the increasing
unavailability of student tickets at their
school.
Monique Jones, a USC senior, said
students shouldn't have to worry about
getting tickets to their school's games
like they did when tickets became
scarce for the USC-Georgia game. "It's
unfair and unjust," she said. "After all,
we are students, they know how many
students go here, there's no reason they
should run out."
It's a common problem at many major
universities who have recruits, boosters
and other alumni who want tickets.
Those tickets have to come from some-
where, and the students' tickets are a
common resource.
But Dean of Student Life Jerry Brew-
er echoed the thoughts of many uni-
versity administrators, saying every
student is not entitled to a ticket simply
because he pays the student activity
and athletic fees. "Students pay the fees
to support an intercollegiate sports
program and, in exchange, a certain
amount of tickets are made available to
them."
Students at USC are allocated 13,456
tickets by the Athletic Department, but

By Stephen Guilfoyle
The Gamecock
U. of South Carolina

That's the question some
frustrated students ask
when the can't get tickets
to see t eir own teams.
1,400 tickets are taken right off the top
for special interests.
Those tickets go to such groups as
student government, scholarship
athletes, prospects, handicapped stu-
dents and the Department of Student
Affairs. The problem at USC, and on

PHOTOGRAPHS BY TOWD ZENER
THE DAILY IOWAN, U. OF IOWA

Stopping scalpers ... A newly im-
plemented ban on ticket scalping at Notre Dame U.,
Ind., is working for security officials there. Fourteen
undercover agents, a combination of Notre Dame
Security and city and county police officers, patrol
the campus looking for people selling tickets above.
face value, according to Rex Rakow, director of Notre
Dame Security. "A student is probably in more
trouble than a non-university person because scalp-
ing isn't illegal, but is against university regula-
tions," he added. The ban on ticket scalping was
implemented this fall by the university. Scalping is
not against Indiana law. Bubba Cunningham, direc-
tor of promotions, said the university has confis-
cated and recorded tickets that were being scalped.
Kendra Morrill, The Observer, U. of
Notre Dame, IN
U..
Under the gun . . . Economic pressures are

gaining ground on the Purdue U. football pro
and may force the university to punt the id
distributing free football tickets to students
season. Although full-time undergraduate stud
contribute $5 per semester to the athletic progra
student fees, the Athletic Affairs Committee
probably recommend that students pay as muc
half price (about $8) for football tickets next sea
"We are the only school in the Big Ten that doe
have some charge for student football tickets,"
Buford Byers, associate director of athletics. U
some other schools, Purdue does not use univi
or state money to fund the football program,
Phil Nelson, committee chairman. Sanford Di(
student representative to the committee, said,
fear is that students won't have the ability to c
home games as easily as they do now." R
Konig, The Purdue Exponent Pur
U., IN

most other campuses, is that thos
ets come out of the student alloc
In addition to 730 already re:
tickets, the ticket office had val
1,375 student tickets for non-stu
use, meaning more than 2,00(
students will see the game with si
tickets - another common probl
bigger universities.
There are problems with the pi
especially for big games, said I
Pruitt, vice president of student a
"The problem is the honest sti
suffer and the dishonest stu
prosper."

1988


Clubgie much-needed lift Students wake u
to a givesg
S. . the Caffeinle way
to a speed sport on thin ice for exam crams

By Hart Miles
The Daily Tar Heel
U. of North Carolina, Chapel F
A college student's eyes are so
shot that he looks like a zombi(
Night of the Living Dead. His boc
for sleep, but, dedicated student t
is, he plunges into the 29 chapter;
economics book that he has yet ti
Yes, folks, it will soon be exan
Better put, it will soon be Vivarir
As the countdown to exams 1
stores become flooded with sti
purchasing caffeine pills to keel
awake while studying for their d:
finals. These pills have become
and more popular, bringing abou
tions concerning their safety.
At Top of the Hill, store manage
Kramer said sales increase inci
See CAFFEINE, F