Friday, January 24, 2003 :::
Two recent columns of note in the Daily Cal: Kevin Deenihan's commentary on a bill that was submitted to Congress earlier this month. The bill would reinstate the military draft. Kevin's take is that the bill is an affront to America's youth (the generation of you and me and Justin Timberlake) and that we're being forced, through legislation, by our government to prove our loyalty to this country. Kevin cites examples of mandatory community service to justify this point.
Also of interest in today's paper is new columnist Jose Luis Lopez. Jose's well-written article compares national events to popular culture, as the two seem to be intrinsically interconnected: Videogames and warfare, television and politics, pop music and anti-war chants ("Move, Bush, Get out the way!"). In some ways, this ties back to Kevin's article. The generation that is currently making all the fuss on campuses across the country is the same one that blows billions of dollars on entertainment and pop culture, so of course we're going to see some overlap. Is there a competition between the entertainment industry and the government machine for the hummingbird-length attention span of the Average American Youth?
And now, for my favorite meld of entertainment and news: The Daily Show with Jon Stewart recently had a segment entitled Peaced Off which showed some footage of San Francisco and Berkeley anti-war protests, including some footage of bare-breasted women holding dolls meant to signify dead children. Only in Berkeley can a protest be so unintentionally sexy. Anyways, you can see the video clip by following this link and clicking on "Peaced Off".
::: posted by Andrewski at 1:34 PM
Wednesday, January 22, 2003 :::
Also, there's a new Squelch available today. Of particular funniness is the piece on Tom Bates, "Bates Apologizes for Mass Killings", a send up of the Daily Cal article that first broke the news of Bates' guilt.
::: posted by Andrewski at 5:49 PM
Nuggets of News for you hard working Berkeleyites out there:
Hilary Rosen Steps Down as RIAA Chairman. For those of us who still pledge allegiance to Napster, Kazaa, and its kin, this is interesting stuff. Yesterday's landmark case in the fight against Mp3 pirates (read: students) can be summed up thusly:
The news comes a day after the RIAA won a landmark lawsuit against Internet service provider Verizon, which was ordered by a U.S. District Court judge to identify a subscriber who had illegally made more than 600 copyrighted music files available over the Internet. Rosen spearheaded these kinds of proactive anti-piracy efforts, which also included high-profile lawsuits against Internet file-swapping sites Napster and KaZaA.
So, before you download that Zwan mp3, keep in mind that the G-men could come knocking at your door with their sick sticks ready. With Rosen stepping down, though, who knows what direction the RIAA will take in tackling internet piracy? I'm surprised the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) hasn't been as involved in the anti-piracy fights as the RIAA has. It seems to me that with broadband and high-speed internet becoming more common, it's easier to download full length movies than to rent or buy them (or wait for the crappy edited network TV version).
If you'd rather be in a movie than steal it on Kazaa, you might want to check out the open casting call for a Spring Break Reality Movie! It's at the MLK Jr. Student Center on Tuesday, Jan 28th, from 12:30-6:30. Apparently, don't expect to take home a celebrity-sized paycheck.
"They'll become movie stars. That's payment enough," Fleiss said.
At the very least, expect to receive an offer to pose in Playboy.
::: posted by Andrewski at 5:42 PM
Tuesday, January 21, 2003 :::
Well, it's the start of a new semester, and if you picked up a copy of today's Daily Cal on your way to Anthro 10 or Poli Sci Whatever, you'll notice that the paper's relative girth indicates it's been a news-heavy winter break. Welcome back, everyone, now let's see what's in the paper.
All of these stories should be familiar to anyone who has been reading blogs over the break. First off, there's the Lab Fiasco, where laboratory money has been found as having gone towards "unorthodox goods" such as TV and VCR equipment. Hey, any scientist I know loves to come back from a hard day of embezzling to watch "Dude, Where's My Car" on a big screen. The employees who are being investigated were apparently given purchasing cards similar to credit cards to buy equipment.
There's also this announcement, which made its way through the UC Labmail system earlier this week. UC Student Fees will be raised, which will goes hand in hand with Davis' plan to enroll more students. More students, each paying more, seems to make fiscal sense in a time when California has a $35,000,000,000 defecit (that's billions, with a B).
We're also being driven headfirst into a war, according to those who gathered to oppose War with Iraq. Everyone's favorite dissenter, Barbara "I Agree With Me" Lee of the House of Representatives, was there to urge on the protesters. Only a few hundred protesters, according to the article, engaged in disruptive activity such as spraypainting buildings and overturning newspaper racks.
According to the advertisement at the bottom of page 5 of the Daily Cal, today is the 30th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Happy Anniversary! The ad is from Berkeley Students for Life, so I don't think they're breaking out the champagne or anything today. The ad states "30 Years, 42 Million Unborn Victims, 42 Million Victimized Women". They don't mention, however, 42 million children who very well may be born poor and unwanted, if Roe v. Wade had not legalized abortion.
::: posted by Andrewski at 2:43 PM
