Newspapers / Winston-Salem Chronicle (Winston-Salem, N.C.) / July 22, 1999, edition 1 / Page 7
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? I t FORUM ^So bull, eliminate the causes and the problem goes away Nigel Alston I Motivational Moments r "The person who sets the J frame of reference will be the ' one with the most influence." - Anthony Rohhins ; It may sound strange, but t watching the running of the t bulls helped me understand deci \ sion making. An instructor during a recent t class called on the plight of {those bulls to make us under ; stand the process we should use ? to solve problems. ! You have no doubt witnessed \ the curious spectacle "Encierro," { or the running of the bulls. Each > year, thousands of men and ! women risk life and limb in a ? dubious race down the streets of - Pamplona, Spain. \ Their mission is simple - to avoid being gouged to death by Jthe overwrought bulls that are ? chasing them down the city's ! winding streets. ! If you are like me, you've ? probably wondered a zillion ? times: what would possess an adult to try to outrun a pack of ; angry bulls. ? - It seems absolutely crazy, not / to mention downright foolish. J Watching them is like watch j ing a nightmarish tennis shoe < commercial. Instead of graceful .. t - athletes captured in full flight, groups of slow-moving average Joes hustle down the mile-long obstacle course, dodging specta tors, bull droppings and the bulls themselves. Instead of "Just do it," Encierro's slogan should be "Don't do it. Just watch." Then, th? bulls, which for obvious reasons typically make it to the arena unscathed, do battle with nattily dressed tore adors, or bullfighters. Not a particularly good day for the bull. After running a mile, being jeered by leering spectators and doing battle with a much smaller - but heavily armed - enemy the bull is stabbed in the neck and left to bleed to death. It's a no-win situation for the bull. If bulls could rationalize their dilemma, they would prob ably ask the four questions essential to solving problems. Exactly what is the problem? What are the causes of the prob lem? What are the possible solu tions? What is the best possible solution? Problem identification is most important. A problem well stated is a problem half-solved. Once it is clearly stated and you gather the facts, you weigh them and then come to a decision. It was during this discussion that the instructor asked the question: "Which is more seri ous, to make the wrong decision about the right problem or the right decision about the wrong . problem?" It was the example - the run ning and fighting of the bulls - he used to illustrate the point that capttired my attention. A bullfight begins in the late afternoon with the bullfighters' team of assistants using large, purple capes to see how the bulls move in the bull ring or the plaza de toros. The promoters under stand how to create excitement 4 that leads to the main event. You can sit back in the arena and watch as lancers on horse back enter the ring and pierce the bull's neck. Older bullfighters run toward the bull to make it charge. Their job is to insert two decorated, barbed, wooden sticks with spiked ends over the horns into the bull's neck. This is not a good day to be a bull. The toreador enters the scene. He is dressed elegantly in his Traje de luces - a colorful, sequined suit. In complete con trol, he exchanges the different capes, purple and yellow - large capes for a smaller cape and curved sword. He is responsible for the death of the bull. Sports writers might use any number of terms to describe the details of the event and the vari ous moves the matador uses. Put yourself in the bull's position. You are bred from birth to fight. You have the right atti tude. You are tough. You have chased young men through the streets on the way to the arena and you are ready for battle. You are in the best shape of your life and have been conditioned to chase and kill the moving object - the cape. ? You don't notice the different colors the matador uses because you are colorblind. All you know is that it moves and you must attack it. Today has been a pain in the neck and you have two wooden sticks to show for it. There is a sure sign that you will not sur vive. In the inner arena are hors es prepared to quickly remove your body and distribute it for sale in butcher shops in the local market. You have the right answer chase after and attack the target - but the wrong problem. You are chasing the cape. You don't realize that the cape can't hurt you. It's the matador who is the root of the problem. He and his team are the cause of your distress. Remove them and the prob lem ceases to exist. That's the best possible solu tion, but of course, the. bull doesn't realize that. "We don't solve problems," remarked the instructor. "We eliminate causes and the prob leWJOes away." Try telling that to the bull. Nigel Alston is an executive with Integon Insurance and can he reached at P. O. Box 722, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27102 or e-mailed at nalston237@aol.com !: . Remembering the real Jr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson Guest Columnist "I don't think I've seen as many of you in one place since ' they announced the results of my first bar exam." This off-the-cuff quip by John F Kennedy Jr. was his way of showing his displeasure at the ' mass media's glutinous feeding frenzy after his failure to pass the New York bar exam in 1989. Kennedy had spent most of his adult years trying not to indulge the media's lustful " Attempt to shove down the pub lic's throat the image of him as " the "crown prince," "heir to . Camelot" and an "American (icon. He thought he had found ways to beat the media's ploy. He quietly became a social and potitical activist. He warned about the dangers of environ mental destruction. He founded Reaching Up, an organization dedicated to assisting poor and 'developmentally disabled youths ; through scholarships - and grants. He established an educa tional foundation to bankroll programs to challenge South African apartheid. ? He also tutored low-income Children, served as a Peace Corp 'volunteer, founded a politically savvy magazine and founded the jTrofiles in Courage Award that 4 was given to individuals for their i service to humanity. In a back jdoor rebuke to Hollywood, he a said he hoped that one day the J ceremony for the award would jbe as big as the Academy 'Awards ceremonies. V" He wisely resisted the pleas jofDemocral^ run for an pflfice, any office. He understood that they were more interested in exploiting his name and image than his talents. The sensible personal deci sions he made about his life and his involvement in social and political causes have been drowned out in the ad nauseam deluge of mind-numbing refer ences from the TV network talk ing heads to him as the most eli gible bachelor, gossip about his glamorous wedding, endless tales of his romantic links Mth Hollywood starlets and dredg ing up the sprdid saga of the drug, alcohol, sex, violence.and reckless-living escapades of other Kennedy family members. These were the same things that the media pounded away on when he was alive, Kennedy probably wouldn't have been too surprised by the downplaying or fiat-out omis sions by the TV networks, major news weeklies and newspapers of his significant social and 9 political contributions. From the start he was ripe for the tabloid pickings. Tabloids decided that the public had an insatiable appetite for every tidbit of rumor and gossip about his and his family's pri vate lives, and that's what the public got. And why not. The National Enquirer, Star, the Examiner and the other tabloids have suc cessfully parlayed gossip, innu endo, ,rumor, half-truths and outright lies into hugely prof itable empires. They have mil lions of devoted readers. Their market continues to expand. More peopl^ read the tabloids than read the Los Angeles Times, New York Times or Washington Post. More Americans get their "news" from "Extra" and "Res cue 911" than from the three major network evening news programs. But the tabloids exploited the life and now death of JFK Jr. for cash and public titillation. They don't pretend that they are informing or educating the pub lic. The mainstream press does. It kids itself that it is a public spirited benefactor satisfying the public's seeming bottomless need to know about JFK Jr. The mass media have honed and refined the technique of icon creation and celebrity image making and enhancement with the O.J. Simpson case, the Monica Lewinsky-Clinton sex frolic and the Princess Di tragedy. News gathering is, of course, a business and sensational news dtoes' sell. TV and magazine advertisers depend on those increased sales to more effective ly market their products. Pub lishers run the stories and the ?TV networks air the news and features that they think will boost sales and attract greater ad revenue. The JFK Jr. tragedy is cer tainly a moving and compelling human interest story. In the coming weeks he will be fea tured in magazine and newspa per cover story after cover story and TV news clips and specials after news clips and Specials. The political and social con tributions JFK Jr. made battling apartheid, homelessness, educa tional neglect and environmen tal devastation will be a scant footnote deeply buried beneath "the Kennedy family curse," . "heir to Camelot," and "the crown prince" spins. In 1992 Kennedy told an interviewer that he wanted to create something on his own terms. The ultimate tragedy is that despite his best efforts the media preferred to create him on their own terms. ? * And it wort't stop with his death. f , r v * Earl Ofari Hutchinson i.s the author of "The Crisis in Black and Black," His e-mail address is ehulchi344@aol.com ? i ? i I Photo by The Associated forest* A young John F. Kennedy Jr. talutet the catket bearing hit father. I COOP HEAVENS!!! Trinky's 27 From Charles & Kids & Ms. Lady I Bobby, Pinky, Chucky, \ ffi j '*) Chardonnay | and Charlois ? /instate Yorire in good haikfa. Allstate Insurance Company 3911 University Parkway, Suite A Winston-Salem, NC 27106 ? Bus (336) 759-3911 MOSE BELTONBROWN, LUTCF FAX (336) 759-9192 Senior Account Agent LUTCF Fellow Premier Service Agent 24 Jlour a 2>ay Service \ ? .? . ? ? City Of Winston-Salem, /^?^L Towns of Lewisville & Rural Halt, /^\Vr| Villages of demmons &Tobacooville Outdated telephone books can be Jiii^n^-r recycled year round! CjR$L ! rWW Ifs easy through curbside recycling! Place books with your other paper products. Hanet Mill Road Landflll...325 Hanes Mill Road Forsyth County Recycling Center...445 Lindsay St., Kernersville Forsyth County Recycling Center...6328 Yadkinville Rd., Pfafftown ? "JE EES? mffortof: \f* COUNTY ,,,u0iumt , m " * ?. .. Bcnnie | McBitcM wants to help you with your If next new or used car ? purchase. He's also plugged into the Modem Automotive Network, so you can ask him about the deals available at Modem Nissan and Modem Toyota! Don t worry about past credit problems. Bennie can work.with you on special finances to help reestablish your credit. Bennie invites you to give him a call or stop by. He promises to make car shopping easy for you! hsherm**" (336) 722-4191 800 W, Fourth St ? Winston-Salem . ' - : The Chronicle The Choice for African American News IMPS 047910 617 N. Liberty Street Winston-Salem. 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