“FCC guidelines limit TV shows’ authenticity”
by Lorraine Longhi
When the Federal Communications Commission was created in 1934, it implemented regulations that dictate what kind of material is cut out of radio and TV broadcasts today. Viewers are well acquainted with these restrictions. Whole words are faded out of our favorite songs, and certain cable television shows will never stretch beyond the occasional “damn” and “hell.”
However, in a changing landscape of language and everyday vernacular, the lines of what is or is not offensive to the general public are becoming blurred. Censorship is appropriate in some settings, but I have to wonder what demographic we’re pandering to when a show that depicts as brutal and grueling a world as “Sons of Anarchy” isn’t allowed to utilize the language that the characters would undoubtedly unleash in real life.
The State Press
Arizona State University
Full article here.
“The Elephant in the Room: the question of political discrimination at CU”
by Lauren Thurman
Next week, the CU Board of Regents will hear a proposal aiming to include political affiliation in the university’s nondiscrimination policy. Several members of the Board have expressed concern that there is a “pervasive liberal bias” on the Boulder campus.
Wait, what? There are liberals in Boulder?
Traditionally, nondiscrimination policies are set up to benefit oppressed or underrepresented persons, such as people with disabilities, members of the LGBT community or any number of individuals who still somehow don’t have the full run of our Constitution.
To assert that conservatives at CU are systematically oppressed might be a little far-fetched. And to assume that a policy change will improve the existing judgment and animosity is, at best, optimistic.
CU Independent
University of Colorado, Boulder
Full article here.
“Off the beat: Harassment on the street hurts”
by Livia Maas
Picture this: You’re walking to campus, and a group of men spot you from across the street. One of them starts to holler at you, and the rest join in. They call you a “slut” and make vulgar remarks about your body. And you just walk away in silent anger, their voices reverberating inside of you.
This is the unsettling reality of street harassment. According to an Oxygen/Markle Pulse nationwide poll in 2000, 87 percent of American women between the ages of 18 and 64 have been targeted by male street-harassers.
Like rape, however, street harassment (like harassment of any kind) does not suggest desirability. It normalizes the sexual objectification of women and contributes to violence against them. In light of the state’s audit of UC Berkeley’s sexual assault policies, it is crucial for us to combat street harassment as well.
The Daily Californian
University of California, Berkeley
Full article here.
“Budget fights derail Congress’ agenda”
by Nathaniel Haas
The last time both houses of the United States Congress agreed on a budget was April 29, 2009, when the Senate voted on party lines to give final approval to the budget for the 2010 fiscal year. In the interim, lawmakers have abandoned the domestic agenda to haggle about the best way to keep the government’s lights on.
Not only is this an embarrassing reflection on our country to the rest of the world, but the divided nature of our House also means that budget woes are resolved at the expense of domestic policy goals such as immigration reform.
The dangerous fiscal path we have been on for the last four years sends the perception to the world that Congress is lazy and divided. Returning to the process of passing an annual budget will ensure Congress does not get caught with its pants down in the midst of an international crisis.
Daily Trojan
University of Southern California
Full article here.
