I I with LOWELL'S real cre a 'BlueberryBB NaAtural and•n t Flavored ISSUES I I I I , I I · , I I· _ W*e n ee* By Norman Solomon * This daily satellite-TV feed has a captive audi- * While they're about 25 percent of the U.S. pop- To celebrate the arrival of summer, here's an all- ence of more than 8 million kids in classrooms. ulation, a 1997 survey by the American Society of new episode of "Media Jeopardy!" While it's touted as "a tool to educate and engage Newspaper Editors found that they comprise You probably remember the rules: First, listen young adults in world happenings," the broad- only 11.35 percent of the journalists in the news- carefully to the answer. Then, try to come up with cast service sells commercials that go for nearly rooms of this country's daily papers. the correct question. $200,000 per half-minute -- pitched to advertisers What are racial minorities? as a way of gaining access to "the hardest to reach The first category is "Broadcast News." teen viewers." We're moving into Media Double Jeopardy with What is Channel One? our next category, "Fear and Favor." * On ABC, CBS and NBC, the amount of TV net- work time devoted to this coverage has fallen to * During the 1995-96 election cycle, these corpo- * While this California newspaper was co-spon- half of what it was during the late 1980s. rate parents of major networks gave a total of $3.2 soring a local amateur sporting event with Nike What is internationalnews? million in "soft money" to the national last spring, top editors at the paper killed a staff Democratic and Republican parties. columnist's article because it criticized Nike for * A few months ago, in a nationwide survey of Who are Disney (ABC), Time Warner (CNN), News rampant commercialism and use of overseas 100 local TV newscasts in 55 cities, the Denver- Corp. (Fox), General Electric (NBC) and Westinghouse sweatshops. based Rocky Mountain Media Watch found that (CBS)? What is the San FranciscoExaminer? this topic was the lead story more often than all other subjects combined -- and took up one-third * In 1996, this owner of the Fox TV network also * This seasoned United Press International of the air time for news. donated $1 million, from his own pocket, to the reporter, who has worked on the presidential What is crime? California Republican Party. beat since the days of John F. Kennedy, says: "As Who is Rupert Murdoch? long as I've covered the White House, there's Now we move on to "Public Broadcasting." been managed news. Secrecy is endemic in gov- * Last winter, 18 months after the Walt Disney ernment." * This public TV network, already airing sever- Co. bought the network where he's the main Who is Helen Thomas? al weekly shows hosted by conservatives such as news anchor, this journalist cautiously told William F. Buckley, John McLaughlin and Ben Parade magazine: "I feel, as any citizen, that more * Back in 1983, when this book by journalist Wattenberg, is about to launch a new one-hour and more media in fewer hands, in the abstract, is Ben Bagdikian first appeared, some critics called program called "National Desk," which will fea- reason to be concerned." it "alarmist."Now hot off the press in its fifth edi- ture a rotation of conservative hosts Fred Barnes, Who is Peter Jennings? tion, the book documents that today just 10 cor- Larry Elder and Morton Kondracke. porations control most of this nation's newspa- What is PBS? Now, it's on to "The End of Racism." pers, magazines, radio, TV, books and movies. What is "The Media Monopoly"? * It's the notion that PBS is a bastion of liberal- * A recent study of nightly news programs on ism, despite the fact that the network's weekly the big three TV networks found that barely 1 By now, we're in Serious Media Jeopardy. lineup doesn't include a single public-affairs pro- percent of the stories were about people with this No question about that. gram hosted by a political progressive. ethnic background (though they account for close Witat is a media myth that will not die? to 15 percent of the U.S. public), and four-fifths of those rare stories focused on negative topics Norman Solomon is a syndicated columnist. His book Our next category is "New Frontiers of Media like crime and illegal immigration. "Wizards of Media Oz" (co-authored with Jeff Cohen) Money." Who are Latinos? will be published in July by Common Courage Press. ~^ ,, ^_ - - mODEmOLiTion DERY is IEA VEn on THE ISLAfD By Scooter Poole Winston 500 event, it. At the signal everybody drove backward at The size of the track is its most interesting fea- about 10 mph angling to hit somebody's radiator. Just off the last exit of Highway 495, right in the ture. A quarter mile is the same size as a high Most of the cars were hit or disqualified in the first groin of the North and South Forks, lies the school gym track - a small space to race 30 cars. ten minutes. There was no checkered flag. The last Riverhead Raceway. The Riverhead Raceway is a There is virtually no straightaway. Since the cars mobile gladiator was declared winner. shrine for racing enthusiasts on Eastern Long are constantly in turns, there is at least the percep- Station wagons have a natural advantage in this Island, and a vestige of the fun people invent for tion that they may spin out at any moment. But area. Cars must be driven backwards because it themselves when they are beyond the reach of there is no escaping the track. It is smelly, it stinks, is the only way the drivers can see with all the Manhattan. When the cars take a turn, it is like inhaling a smoke coming from under the hood. They have a Most folks will go to see the traditional racing, the Vantage Ultra-lite. lot more rear end to lose before the rear axle goes. endless rounds of stock cars, the thrill of victory, The non-demo highlight of the evening is the Two station wagons lasted until the final four. the agony of defeat... or that is what they would Blunderbuss division consisting of some beat-up One had a Batman motif, but I was betting on a have you believe. We know they are there to see old Monte-Carlos. The cars are virtually worthless white station wagon which still had all its wheels fenders buckle and snap. Blood. Broken struts and except for their engines. The drivers are much less and was moving pretty fast. However, the driver bones. careful about protecting their cars than the modi- must have miscalculated because he threw him- A $16 admission card is valid from 4pm to 11pm. fied drivers. The night I was there, the Blunderbuss self against the other wagon while an 86 Buick Most of the early races consist of soupped up winner ranted into the P.A. system about being maneuvered around a couple of bad-off losers. ESPN-type "modified" cars so if you aren't up for disqualified for unsportsmanlike behavior three While the wagon was missing and smashing a full day of racing show up at 7 PM. There is no weeks before. Then the announcer compared him parked cars, the Ford deftly delivered blows to discount for showing up late. The beer isn't cheap, to Tiger Woods because, like Mr. Woods in the the back of the wagon, forcing it further into a and a $2 hot dog has no toppings, but you didn't Masters, this was his first championship win. mess of wreckage. The Ford won the trophy, but come for the service. If you're looking for food and Around 11:30, after the ground had been moist- the wagon won $400 based on crowd response. ambiance, go to Big Barry's. ened and about half the crowd has left, about twen- Now that is a great, democratic sport. You'd probably find more blood in a restau- ty stripped down pieces of junk drove in and took rant, anyway. Although the track is only 1/4 up positions facing outward around the rim of the mile around and the seats are right over the track. The rules were reviewed over the P.A. "Stop edge, the drivers are as skilful as those in any when you see the black flag." And that was about THE STONY BROOK PRESS PAGE 2 I - · s. · I I ICCI IE .·2:·:·~:~:~:~:~:;:;5'~'~; .·.·.~:·~:~:~~~:~:~:'''; r5s ·~I :.~·:··· ..;;·~~· :;2:t·~2· i :z··;.t~'~':· :· ·:5~"'· .·.·;·~·~:s:~:~:2' ~· ~ ~~;" .~pnp~e~-- ~"""1~""""~""""""""""""" ~~~~~~: ,tl ..... ·.··:·::.~:::::'·~:::::::::...............::: ·::·:·:·:··:s···:·:·.':'·I:·:;· ti.:·: Provided By Amnesty International The organization also emphasized the growing Thousands of Rwandese and Burundian refugees reluctance amongst African governments -- who have been killed by combatants in Zaire, where Africa Refugee Day shelter the majority of the world's refugees and who fighters of President Laurent Kabila, supported by Governments Must Take Action have traditionally treated refugees generously -- to Rwandese troops, have attacked refugee camps 20 Million Refugees in Search for Safety accept new refugees and recent examples of mass since September 1996. Since the forcible return of refoulement of refugees to dangerous situations. more than 500,000 refugees from Zaire, increased ABIDJAN -- Governments in Africa and world- "The international community has a shared insecurity has prevented UN human rights wide are failing to prevent the mass human rights responsibility to work together to solve the refugee observers and UNHCR personnel from monitoring abuses which are behind the refugee crisis in crisis," Amnesty International said.