Mesarina is a Ph.D. student in computer science.
By Malena Mesarina
I feel compelled to voice my opinion about the television
programming shown at the food court level of Ackerman Union.
Every time I eat there and look up at the TV sets, hoping to see
something resembling good journalism, all I see are music videos.
It is embarrassing that a higher education institution such as
this, instead of promoting the intellectual growth of its students,
is feeding inane material to them, using such an influential media
as TV.
I read on one TV screen that the programming is done exclusively
by the “College Television Network.” It looks like this
channel has exclusive rights to show their teenage-style programs
on those TV sets. Why is that? Why can’t we have freedom of
choice when it comes to TV programs? Not that there is anything
worth watching on TV anyway, but I would like to feel that I have
the choice to decide what I watch while I eat. I think that at the
core of this is the assumption that undergraduates at this
university are not interested in active intellectual engagement,
don’t want to be informed and just want to be entertained. I
hope this is not true for the majority of undergraduates. It would
be interesting to have a poll asking all students what they would
like to see on TV.
A year ago, I believe, CNN and other public channels were shown
in the food court. Although their journalistic value is very much
in doubt, at least what they have to offer is not as empty and
numbing as what we have now.
I find it incredible that a university promotes cheap mass media
entertainment, the kind that appeals to 14-year-olds, on its
campus.
Especially now, after the Sept. 11 events, there should be a
greater effort to educate and keep young students informed of world
events. Instead the university is showing students MTV brainless
clips, keeping them ignorant of happenings outside their UCLA
“world.”
If they are going to have TV sets on campus at all, I have one
suggestion: instead of the “College Television
Network,” why not, for example, show PBS? This would add
value to the students’ education instead of degrading it. And
more importantly, it will prevent me from having indigestion.