The media and some of our classrooms constantly barrage us with bad news, disasters, and crimes. Since I can't say this better than Alvin Toffler did in the introduction to his book, Powershift, allow me to quote him:

"In describing today's accelerating changes, the media fire blips of unrelated information at us. Experts bury us under mountains of narrowly specialized monographs. Popular forecasters present lists of unrelated trends, without any model to show us their interconnections or the forces likely to reverse them. As a result, change itself comes to be seen as anarchic, even lunatic."

I'm not proposing that the media shoud stop telling us about the corruption that exists in our government and institutions. It would be nice, however, to have well-rounded (oh yeah, you can't major in that here...) journalists who can do more to relate an issue to its readers and to analyze it rather than function as sensationalist soundbite machines.

Excuse my idealism, but doesn't the media supposedly exist to keep us informed? Isn't it supposed to let us know about things which are important to our lives as citizens, students, taxpayers, ratepayers, workers and consumers...

The Collegian, not unlike other papers, has displayed every effort to keep people from being mobilized. In my own experience, the Collegian failed to give contact numbers in at least three important articles this past week. When a journalist writes an article about an issue that is important to people, they should include the number of any organization that people may want to call to get involved. This is called mobilizing people. Everything that is done in the classroom, on television, in the newspapers and in the radio is done in a way to keep people as sedated as possible.

Whenever something that challenges the establishment (corporations, government and/or this university) is printed, a journalist will seek another opinion for what they consider to be balance. For "balance," a journalist will get someone with a financial interest in discrediting the person who challenges their system. Sometimes (like at Penn State), they will only have to get someone who is taught by those who have a financial interest in maintaining the status quo. (Many professors who get corporate or Pentagon research grants fall under this category.) "Balance" seems only to be needed to soften the blow of people trying to spread awareness about corruption, however. Articles originating in the establishment rarely contain feedback from critics for balance.

Instead of setting up conflicts (like reporting on the guards and metal detectors at Conrad Muhammad's speech), the Collegian should report more of the substantial things about what they cover and should include contact numbers for those who desire more than soundbites. This way, people have a way to reach out and change things for the better, rather than feeling hopeless when being bombarded with conflicts and bad news.

The world is made of more than just soundbites, black power means more than a T-shirt (sorry if I'm ripping off a Consolidated song), and "Get involved" means more than wearing a pin. The teachers, journalists and editors must do a better job at mobilizing students to become active citizens and change society. Right now, they are the main reason behind all of the supposed "student apathy" on campus.

Some people will say that things like voting are a right, not a privilege. I say that working towards democracy is more than a right, it's a responsibility. Teachers and media personnel who don't promote activism are nothing more than irresponsible.

The article on the protest against the bovine growth hormone should have included Eco-Action's number (863-1972) for more information. For more informations regarding the campaign to shut down the Army's School of Americas ("School of Assassins" column last Wednesday) you can call Amnesty International's number on campus (238-5444).

Monday's article on Congressman Walker was all about how he's one of the first U.S. legislators to use e-mail (first in Pennsylvania). It didn't include his e-mail address, although it talked all about it. For those in his district (District 16, which includes most of Lancaster and Chester counties,) his e-mail address is PA16athr.house.gov.