Newspapers / Saint Augustine’s University Student … / Dec. 1, 1994, edition 1 / Page 3
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3 The Pen Pec,, J994 Perspectives Commercial T.V. brainwashing By Chris Forte Television gives people ac cess to all different types of infor mation that they could not readily obtain for themselves and in most instances would not go to the trouble of obtaining. This informa tion is not allowed to flow to the viewers unchanged. Every picture and sound is censored and edited with the thought in mind that the end product must influence the mind of the observer. This is true for all television programming, from the news to sitcoms to dra mas to documentaries. The question then comes as to what are people being influenced to think and do? The answer to this question lies with the name given to television audiences by advertisers-consumers. Advertis ing controls television. The money for the development of new pro grams and current programs all comes from advertisers (with the exception of public television which receives its money prima rily from the government cor porate sponsors). Consumption then is the foremost goal of television. The audience is constantly being bom barded with the message that con sumption is not merely good or evil but a necessity. Consumption is in fact a necessity of life. We must consume food and water to stay alive. The problem with tele vision is that it advocates a mass consumption of things that are not necessarily needed to support life and in many cases serve only to make life difficult and at worst hallow and devoid of any true value. This comes about by por traying people and events on tele vision as fulfilled when they con sume and somehow broken and inadequate when they do not. Many of the character crises that are so common to television sitcoms are caused by characters' desires for things that they don’t have and just don’t feel good without. The storyline can take many avenues to this; a young lady doesn’t have a special dress CONTINUED PG. 12 A study of infertility: Part 1 It's the huntin' season ■ . - by Anakha As Christmas rolls around, there is a lot to be said about this season. This is the time when we in America and the western world spend most of our money. From November 23 to December 25, we will go into "hock" to buy, buy, buy, just because we see advertise ments on T.V., or supposed sales in the newspapers. We seem to have selective amnesia, because we seem to forget that the day af ter Thanksgiving or Christmas we see the same items that were on "sale" at a price that is lower than the sale item ever was. As a mat ter of fact, we even notice that these supposed discounts only amount to the tax we would nor mally spend on an item. And, per haps the greatest irony of this whole period is that these mer chants encourage us to spend all our money on seasons that they do not even celebrate and like good 'ole Negroes (from the Latin root for dead ) we go out and spend one month borrowing money to spend and 11 months working like slaves to pay it off, only to repeat this cycle again the next year. All this is beside the way. My real beef this time is those guys in uniform - the "bounty hunters." These white fools are out there dur ing this season to incarcerate us. Just the other day, a friend of mine related to me how he and a few friends were returning from the movies and they were stopped at a DWI check point. My partner, who was driving a cherry apple red Honda Passport, was stopped after these triflin' cops let four cars roil on without so much as a "by your leave." The first word out of that fool's mouth after requesting my partner's license was "Is this ve- hicle yours?" Naa, his question was not,"Have you been drinking?" or, "Where are you coming from?" but, "Is this your vehicle?" Like a young brother can't own a nice set of wheels. Another thing that struck me was that the "officer" was incredulous that my partner was a student, had a job, and owned the vehicle. Why does this "pig" think my partner does not work? Then this "cracker" goes on to say, "If you can afford this car, you can afford an NC drivers license!"—since his reason for making them pull over was that my partner was driving with an out-of- state license, and "it is policy to investigate persons driv ing with out-of-state licenses in NC." Anyway, let me end this be fore I really get angry. Peace y'all and be careful out there. It's the huntin' season and guess who we are? Egos in the 90’s By Dawn Randolph In the 90s, why do we find it so hard to love... to trust... to be affectionate... or to even care? We all probably have different answers to these questions. But I believe the majority of your answers all point to one thing, us. What about us? you ask. Well, it’s our ego. We all have egos. An ego is the self-awareness we have inside that sometimes is confused with pride. Today’s egoism can nega tively affect our relationships, de cisions, and lives, if they are not controlled. Everyone, reflect on your present or previous relationships. You could probably find several examples where you or the person you were with was egocentric. For example, women, I won’t ask you to identify yourselves if this situa tion is familiar to you. However, have you ever gone to the mall and decided to pick up a card for a male friend. And, as you look at the cards, you find several cards that say exactly what you wanted to say but you decided not to get any of those because your ego said no... get the “Just wanted to say hello” card so that you won’t feel like you were “sweatin’” him. An example for you, men. Have you ever gone to a party or club and you’re looking good, smelling good, and feeling good... and you’re dancing and talking with this girl that just seems to be the one for you and you can’t wait to ask her out at the end of the party... Then, when the lights come on and you look at your once upon a time Ms. Right and find out she either looks wrong or is dressed wrong does your ego say to you, “No, no, get away” before your boys play you for dancing with a beast? Don’t get me wrong. Having an ego is not bad; we all have one. But in today’s world we so often allow our ego to become so big, because of our friends or society, that we may be really losing out. Hey, ladies, who knows? When you allowed your ego to influence you to not choose that card that said exactly what you wanted to say... he may never know how you feel and you may end up losing Mr. Right And men, so what? The girl was busted. You enjoyed her com pany in the dark, which means you enjoyed who she really was inside. Who knows? You could have been walking away from the best wife a man could ever have. So, decrease the size of your egos. Your future relationships, decisions, and lives may depend on it. by Sheryl Cooper Infertility is the inability to conceive a child after a year or more of unprotected intercourse, or the inability to carry a pregnancy to a live birth. Most couples anticipate that when they are ready to have a baby, nature will take its course. But for one out of every six couples, the dream is transformed into a nightmare. One-third of all infertility cases are male-related; one-third are female-related; and one-third are couple related. In this report, I will apprise you of the causes of infertility in men, the male infertility work up, and treatment avail able; causes of infertility in women, the female infertility workup, and treatment available; inform you of the emotional impact of infer tility and the social pressures on the couple; enlighten you about the options that are becoming increasingly available to infertile couples; and discuss the lack of insurance coverage for infertility patients. Let’s look at male infertility first. Andrology is the scientific name for the study of male infertility. In the past fifteen years, there has been a need to study male infertility more. This is perhaps be cause of the increase in sexually transmitted diseases, environmental pollutants, alcohol and drug abuse, and exposure to work place tox ins, which have caused male infertility to increase. Andrology is said ' to be perhaps a generation behind gynecology in its research and un derstanding of physiology and reproduction. The male infertility workup starts with a trip to the urologist. A urologist who specializes in the male reproductive system is also known as an andrologist and is better qualifiied to deal with infertility problems. The urologist/ andrologist begins with a consultation with both partners and dis cusses their medical history. The male is then given a physical exam, which includes routine lab work. The next step is obtaining a semen analysis, which gives an analysis on the number, motility and charac teristics of sperm. Other tests that may be administered, if the semen analysis does not indicate a problem, include: sperm antibody test, testicular biopsy, vasography, fructose test, hamster egg test, and the bovin cervical mucus test. All of these tests indicate whether or not there is a problem in the male reproductive system. In her publication titled, "The Infertility Book," Carla Harkness says that low sperm count was blamed for all male fertility problems for decades. She notes that there is now increasing evi dence that other factors can also contribute to male infertility, but concedes that there is little knowledge of how such problems affect male fertility, suggeseting that more research is needed on the sub jects of immunology, sperm production and motility, infection, and Another common problem that tends to affect male fertility is known as a variocele. A variocele is a varicose vein in the scrotum. “A variocele forms when the valves of the vein fail to close behind the retreating blood. The blood backs up and pools, and the vein swells. In about 25% of infertile men, varioceles cause variable sperm count, motility and morphology problems" says Harkness. Other causes of infertility in men are: duct obstruction, ejaculation abnormalities, en docrinological abnormalities and DES. Sexual behavior is not the same as skin color Webster defines a homo sexual as a person with “the ten dency to direct sexual desire and sexual intercourse toward another of the same sex.” There has been no scientific proof that shows ho mosexuality is a sexual tendency acquired from birth. A person’s sexuality is a choice of mate made based on sexual preference. Therefore, it is my opinion that homosexuals prefer to court the same sex. As a child, sexual dis covery and curiosity are natural. by Dawn Randolph but as an adult, sexual activity be comes a person’s personal decision and preference. I have no feelings of aversion toward homosexuals; however, I do become angry when I hear homo sexuals compare the oppression Afro-Americans underwent to the inequality homosexuals face in the US. I think it is wrong for homo sexuals to march with the NAACP and other black civil rights orga nizations in the name of inequal ity, because skin color and sexual preference are not the same issue. Afro-Americans are bom black; homosexuals choose to be gay. No, I don’t think it morally correct for the rights of any one to be taken away because of their sexuality. However, saying the oppression of black America is the same as the inequality of ho mosexuals is wrong. You can regulate your sexual behavior, but your can not choose your skin color.
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