watch too ‘much television and
the message Of Pull the Plug
Week is “you can survive
without it,’’ says one of the
event's: Organizers.”

“-Confirming.this-‘was the first

time : the: campaign. had ‘been _
tried ;in. Terrace, . ‘Mary: Swift:
said: its: alm, was. to’ persuade -.

‘people’ :to’ give-up: watching
television ‘for one full week.

ae a mem mp NTE

fe eet tw ewe

_... The problem, she. said, was
the’ hours spent. sitting in front -

of the TV were hours that could
be®. ‘better: spent doing. other
things,

"We want. people. to ox
perience the, alternatives,” she
explained: "Siiggestions of
‘more i interesting and fulfilling
activities’ included reading,
socializing both within the fami-
ly and outside and recreation.

Pointing out. the average per-
son by age 18 had spent more
time watching television than in
the classroom, Swift said
studies had shown children who
watched a lot of television were
less able to think logically or use
their imagination and were less
creative than their non-viewing
peers, --.*

Long-time teachers also con-
tend today’s children are more

y it’

TERRACE. —_ ~ People in general ;

_- television,’
- definitely. impedes their intellec-

difficult t to. teach because they
need: constant stimulation and
had short attention spans. Sug-

gesting those problems were at- .

tributable’ to the effects of
Swift..added, ‘“‘It

tual processes,””

‘She ‘said. ' Pull the Plug

organizers - ‘wanted children,

particularly the younger ones, . -.

” to spend more time reading and

shift the emphasis from passive

viewing to ‘a “more “active

lifestyle.

- Conceding television was not .
—all.bad, she agreed it offered
- ‘some very good programming,

particularly on the PBS and
Knowledge networks, The pro-

blem was those watching more
“than three hours a day were not .

viewing ‘‘predominantly educa-
tional television.’®
‘Swift

said organizers

.Yecognized. excessive viewing
"was an addiction and therefore

some people would go through
withdrawal symptoms as real as
for any other. However, she
maintained, the benefits were
worth it in the end.

And if individuals were un-
willing to do without television
entirely for the week, she asked
they at least give up a few hours
each day.

THERE’S MORE than one way to read a book as s demonstrated by
Mary Swift, one of the Pull the Plug Week organizers. Not only are
residents being encouraged not to watch TV next week, but there's

Terrace Standard, Wednesday, January 31, 1990 — Page AS

a line up of events planned t to easy any withdrawal symptoms that

might occur.

_ Four opinions on a tubeless lifestyle

J. Rocky Gray

BY J, ROCKY GRAY
I was asked to scratch out an
article on what it would mean if
there were no televisions.

Let's look at the positive
aspects — papers much like this
one would have to go daily or
even hourly to represent the

coverage that we receive

through the lens of a camera.

The arm chair quarterback
would lose a lot of exercise, be-
ing that he would spend a lot
less time going to the
refrigerator during the commer-
cials, to get the beer and
pretzels, and possibly dumping
the empty beer cans or emptying
the ashtray.

The old remote control trig-
ger fringer would become fat,
lazy and of little use other than
an obese stubby nose gouge.

I wonder if our medicare
coverage would cover the
various : surgeries to remove
channel selectors from the
hands of these quaterbacks or
the easy chairs that would have
to be removed surgically from
the rears of the sports fans,
treatment centers for the arm
chair sports addiction and the
visits to the optometrist to
change rectangular eyes back to
the much common oval type.

Taking away from what I had
just jotted, I must also admit

that without the ability and
knowledge of what educational
reading gives to the individual
and or individuals as a future
has no bounds as to the ability
to achieve any goal they wish,

Just what is more apparent is
that television is rapidly becom-
ing the main medium on what
the world is doing or what is
happening around us, [t’s put-
ting all our eggs in one basket.
Fahrenheit 451 or what?

We all know that television

‘employs a great deal of people,

but we should know that televi-
sion has become a teacher of
our up and coming generations,
so the time they spend in front
of the idiot square shauld be a

prime concern .to all young and
old.

Reading is 5 still one of our
most valuable and greatest
assets. Surviving without
reading is like living on the
foods of ignorance which, in
this day and age, is archaic.

So take this time to think
about it, is having the television
on one of those great
necessities? Pull the plug for a
week and see.

Think of the other
possibilities you can do —
without television for a week or
two.

J. Racky Gray is a writer liv-
ing in Terrace.

BY JO PATTERSON
How -many times in the 80's
did you hear yourself or. so-
meone else moaning “If only I

had .more time’’. It's a new.

decade — well at least for those
of us who think of it beginning
in 1990, not 1991. Would you
like to have more time?

I clearly remember a col-
league, when I used to talk
about something on TV saying
“I don’t know how you have
time for TV’’. Now I know. I
don't anymore. For over a year.
- And guess what? There’s
time...

Jo Patterson

for more reading. ae em
for storytelling and. visits,.. wed
correspondence — fost arts
with friends and family -
for listening — radio is an
efficient way to hear head-
lines
for in-depth study of import-
ant news stories, issues
But, you say, aren’t you sorry’
you missed Gore Vidal on The
Netional talking about the
Panama invasion? Yes, I am
but perhaps I enjoyed hearing
about it, discussing it with
friends even more,
And there are two major

reasons to.unplug besides more
time, especially for the young.
TV watching ‘usually cuts into
reading time; you must read to
write well and some young peo-
ple are watching too much dur-
ing their formative years and
are not writing well, TV wat-

‘ching is inordinately influential,

even addictive.

Sister Mdry-Jo Leddy
reminds us in January Our
Family that “the average person
who watches TV 2 couple of
hours every night will, by the
end of his or her life, have

listened to and seen three solid

_, years of, advertising . alone’, So
we are very influenced by the

values of, consumerism as it is
put through advertising.

Think about it, More time,
better communication skills,
better mental health. Why not
pull the plug for just one week
— and keep a journal to record
the effect. .

Jo Patterson teaches English
and French at Northwest Com-
munity College and listens daily
to French Radio Canada and
CBC Radio.

By GEORGE STANLEY

I haven’t owned a TV for
eight years. I traded the old
black-and-white set I had to a
friend (who had a nine-year-old
daughter who wanted to watch)
for some house plants. One of
the plants is now five feet high,
with big, glossy leaves, and is a
pleasure to look at, But I don’t
miss the TV.

I think people who watch TV
see it as a window on the world.
{think they believe this noisy
barrage of hype — pop stars
and disasters, politicians and
game shows, punctuated by
pretty models gushing over
hamburgers and toilet. bowl
cleaner — has something to do

with reality, or is at least enter-
tainment.

But this is not what TY is all -

about. TV is no'a window on
anything. It is a stream of bright
images, each one carefully pro-
duced (with the aid of
bahavioral, scientists and
marketing specialists). They go
so fast they trigger, over and
over again, a visual reflex, to
keep you watching. The point

_of TV is to make you feel

unhappy -— dissatisfied with
your life — so you'll go out and
buy the things advertised on TV
(which you think will make you
feel better).

The TV-watcher’s feeling of
being al loose ends —. the addic-

George Stanley

tive feeling — is part of the
sellers’ strategy. It keeps you
buying, trying to derive some
satisfaction for your real needs

_ (which are, of course, not for

some junk from the mall but for
community, friendship,
creativity, nature, leisure).

The real world starts where
the screen ends — or, more to
the point, when the set is turned
off.

Reality, though, may take a
little getting used to. It may
seem a little boring, even Lonely.
After all, your home and your
neighbourhood, the outdoors,
your life (not Lifestyle), are not
brightly backlit or accompanied
by a loud rock soundtrack.

But don’t lose courage. Per-
sist, and soon you will find
parts of your numb, spaced-out
mind returning, parts you never
knew you had lost: renewed in-
terest in people, curiosity about
the world, love of nature,
pleasure in reading, even
creativity (whether your art be
painting, home repairs, or bak-
ing).

That sinking feeling you call-
ed boredom will turn to a feel-
ing of expectation, an interest in

.the true real world, this world

we live in. And you will begin to
see agains, not just watch.
George Stanley is in the
English department at Nor-
thwest Community College.

By DEVON KUIPER
‘Television sets are found in
almost every home, In. fact ina
1987 poll by Statistics Canada,
98.5 per cent of 9,556
households owned television

sets. The only two household |

items that outnumbered TVs
were radios and refrigerators.
.When someone ° is “bored,
‘television is often what that per-
‘son resorts to. With a flick of a
switch he can see the news of the -
day ‘or even a rock video, °
Television gives us plenty of
entertainment and provides us
with much-needed ‘information.

It opens up a viewing ‘portal,

which. lets us see things | that:a

plain radio can only describe.
This allows for a better presen-
tation of the facts or the story.
Most of television’s programuti-
ing is aimed at entertainment. If
-it wasn't for the entertainment
aspect then TV wouldn’t be as

- popular as it is. ,

Some commercial producers
use subliminal messages to get

people to'buy things. When this
_ method is used, a. person sud-
 denly finds the product appeal-
‘ing “for no apparent’ reason,
Something that was hidden in
the commercial (subliminal

- message) was picked up by the

person’s subconscious and not.

the commercial was doing was
playing with the viewer's mind.
_ Television, of course, is good
in many ways tao. TV shows
like Sesame Street are great for
kids who are young and learn-
ing. It is a good source of infor-
mation, Channels like the
Knowledge Network are great
for learning things.
If people don’t overuse televi-
sion then it is a good household

. item for entertainment and in-

formation. Try and imagine
what it would be like without
television, We use it for so
many things, but people should
give themselves a break once
and a while.

Devon Kulper

I am locking forward to not
watching TV for a ‘week. 1
watch on average about 25
hours of television each week. It
occupies a lot of my time and
sometimes it affects work that I
have to ‘do, especially
homework from school,

This week without television
is going to be great because I'il
get a chance to catch up on
some work that has been sitting
idle for a couple of week. I also
plan to catch up on some exer-
cise, but all this won’t be easy,
. Devon Kuiper is editor of
Caledonia Senior Secondary
School’s newspaper, THe Rear-
Trap.

his conscious. Essentially what. -

‘Describing excessive tele-

viewing as an addiction,

Organizers of Pull the Plug
: Week recognize the habit can be

ard.to.break, They therefore
ffer’ the following suggestions
‘help people cut down o the

pedo of. hours they spend

set so you can keep track of how
much and what you are wat-
ching.

*Remove TVs from bedrooms.
*Put the TV in the least inviting
room in the house — it’s been
shown to work.

*Plan the programs you will
watch and watch only them. It's
idealistic, but it's a goal to wark
towards,

*Turn on the record. player: or
tape deck: if you want

background sound. It will not
only cut down the amount of
TY viewing, it will also save on
electricity,

*Use ‘the ‘arf-and-arf’

half and half between TV and
other activities, Turning off the
TY may not send the kids runn-

- . ing to their algebra texts, but it

‘may get them involved in more

; active, socially-oriented things.

rule:
_divide your recreational time

No-TV
events

TERRACE — Although Puii
the Plug Week does not of-
ficially begin until Feb. 5
organizers are planning an
early start with a display in
the Skeena Mall this
weekend.

That will also be the place
to pick up a pledge form that
could win you a family swim
day-pass and take it to the
library. You must also pro-
mise to give up at least a few
hours a day of television
viewing. There will be daily
draws

On Monday, Feb.4° and'}

: Tuesday Feb.5 the recreation

department is offering a
special deal. If any partici-
pant in one of the depart-
ment’s various pro-
grams/classes brings along a
friend, that individual will
pay only $1, a substantial
saving over the normal drop-
in fee.

On Tuesday evening, the’
Northwest Singers will be ap-
pearing in concert at the Art
Gallery in the public library.
It gets under way at 7:30

m,

The following night, again
at 7:30 p.m., local travel con-
sultant Teresa Brinkac will
banish thoughts of snow and
rain with a travel talk on
cruising. That -takes place in
the meeting room in the
library basement.

Thursday night's feature is
an evening of' poetry and
prose by members of the Ter-
race Writers’ Guild. It takes
place in the Art Gallery
beginning at 7:30 p.m, and
tefreshments will be served.

Friday's finale is the Great
Debate in which Gary Mills,
an audio-visual technician at
Northwest Community Col-
lege, and CFTK reporter
Blaine Gaffney will attempt
to defend the reputation of
television against the com-
bined assault of NWCC
English department instruc-
tars Jo Patterson and George
Stanley. The verbal duel gets
under way at 7:30 p.m. in the
library meeting room.

Special activities arranged
for younger TV fanatics in-
clude an After School Chib
which will meet Tuesday
through Friday, 3:30-5:00
p.m. at the library. There
will be numerous board
games on hand and par-
ticipating youngsters are en-
couraged to bring their own
favourite, The club will also
continue to meet once Pull
the Plug Week ends — every
Thursday afternoon through
February and March.

And on: Saturday, Feb, 10,
two face painting sessions are
planned. Professional artists
will be on hand to either
paint uo the kids or show
them how to do’ it
themselves. The first session
runs 11 a.m, to noon and the
second from 2-3 p.m,

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