Newspapers / Grimsley High School Student … / Feb. 27, 2004, edition 1 / Page 4
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High Life Friday, Februaty 27, 2004 Opinion Angered by Super Bowl halftime show, FCC retaliates against AOL.MTV, CBS Broadcasting groups take the rap for musical performers who exercise creative freedom without considering the many repercussions. A show established for all ages, the Super Bowl halftime production proves disturbing for much of the viewing audience. By Nick Moore Reporter Justin Timbcriakc exposed Janet Jackson’s breast for about one second at the Super Bowl, and men were shown grabbing their “groin area.” According to the Parents Television Council President and politicians seeking to support their squeaky clean image, this halftime show has corrupted the children who were watching the Super Bowl. All the attention to the incident was brought about in part by whining parents who have sparked interest in finding pictures of Janet Jackson’s breast. Democrats and Republicans alike have decided to draw huge amounts of attention to this one breast on TV, making it the most searched for news item ever on the internet. Instead of calling the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to complain, parents should be watching little Johnny, who is viewing the picture of Jackson’s breast on his computer. The FCC, a group of unelected public officials who determine what is appropriate for the public to see on television and hear on radio, is highly concerned about this year’s halftime show. The FCC is highly concerned about making sure American children are not exposed to the F word and parts of the human body. The lead singer of the band U2 used the F word at an awards show, sparking a demand from lawmakers to change the penalty for such an instance of “indecency” from a fine of Speak Out: Which of President Bush’s recent policies or agendas do you support? *, “I support his proposals for cutting unnecessary spend ing in Congress to better use the money for Medicare.” Zack Gurvis, senior I support his views on moral issues like abortion and gay marriages and things like that. Trudy Li, junior I support President Bush in his attack on terrorists and the countries that harbor them. Garrett Sherwood, junior IB “[Regardless of] personal opinions, the decision to send troops into Iraq and Afghanistan is for the future safety and stability of our country and all Americans.” Megan Westbrook, senior “I do support Bush in Iraq. I think that despite the fact that he was given bad intelligence I still think he did the right thing. I think the world’s a safer place.” Temple Eller, Latin teacher “I enjoy the Bush Adminis tration because he always asks the people what they want him to do, like the de forestation of the Tongass National Forest in Alaska for wood....” Nick Pearse, senior $27,500 per instance to $275,000. For each instance, the penalty might not sound like a large sum for a huge television network like Instead of calling the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to complain, parents should be watching little Johnny, who is viewing the picture of Jackson’s breast on his computer. CBS or NBC, but the FCC can fine each station that broadcasts the indecency $27,500, resulting in millions of dollars in fines. The head of the FCC, Michael Powell, is determined to be stricter on stations that show such indecent material. He has promised a quick and thorough investigation of the Super Bowl halftime show. It is unclear to me what is to be investigated. It seems like the media has thrown the incident in the public’s face from the moment it happened; everyone knows the facts by now. The FCC is out to make sure that children are completely sheltered so that their innocence is preserved. However, children are not corrupted by a second of a revealed breast and a rap artist grabbing his crotch. Children are fed subtle sexual references through Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen in their skin-tight halter tops and constant MTV exposure. They are constantly shown images of what they should be, with beautiful women and sexual attraction being what is cool and popular. A group of politicians who are not elected and therefore do not represent the people’s views should not determine what the American public is able to see. Similarly, parent groups should not determine anything ever. Special interest groups persuade politicians and manipulate them. The 200,000 people (out of the 89.6 million who watched the Super Bowl) who called in to whine to the FCC about seeing a breast for a second should not determine policies for millions and millions of United States citizens. Bad language on television is not the cause of bad children. Curse words and breasts are not discovered on the television set, but rather in places like the school yard and the school bus. While little Johnny’s parents are calling to complain and moan to the FCC, he’s on the school bus learning every curse word in the English language. Michael Powell is on a crusade against free speech. Other countries are shunned by America for dictating what their people can view based on the religious beliefs of the government, but the people at the FCC are deciding what can be shown or said on television in our own country. Parents should stop trying to make the government force their parenting beliefs on the entire United States because children cannot be sheltered from everything. Instead, the 200,000 people who called in to the FCC to complain about a breast are out of touch with reality and should not decide anything for our country. Foreign language department Continued from page 3 are offered through the AP or IB levels, students can opt to take German, Hebrew, Japanese, Italian, or any number of other languages available at other high schools in Guilford County. Not only does Grimsley-make all these opportunities available to students, but it also provides exceptional teachers and resources to properly prepare students for the next level, or for their AP or IB exams. The efficiency of our foreign language teachers is demonstrated yearly with outstanding AP and IB scores. In spite of many students’ complaints about the time, energy, and effort required in their foreign language classes, especially the upper level offerings, students generally agree that it is well worth their while. Most colleges, including the UNC system, require high school and college level foreign language course work. The students not only enter college with a significant advantage in terms of their abilities, but they also often place out of their language requirement with their outstanding AP or IB scores. The school community should consider Grimsley’s exceptional program as one to be remembered for its strengths and should continue to note in the future. Vital to the perpetuation of the upper level classes are enrollment and completion in at least level one in middle schools, a concept that is not stressed as much as it might be. Hopefully with time, however, these programs will see growth and will result in even more success at the high school level.
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Feb. 27, 2004, edition 1
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