Thursday October 8, 1998
Put on
Where’s the
By Valerie Trost
staff writer
When I decided to become a veg
etarian about three years ago I was not
prepared to justify my decision every
time I sat down to a meal with a friend
or family member. Nor was I pre
pared for the massive explosion of
hype this lifestyle has brought to a
generation of well-informed, environ
mentally aware teens and twenty
somethings. I came to the conclu
sion that the most productive way I
could answer the questions of my
friends and simultaneously arm my
self with facts for the not so open
minded meat eater was to become as
educated as I could.
Ever since the Pulitzer Prize nomi
nated Diet for a New America by John
Robbins was published, information
about vegetarian diets and lifestyles
have been available almost every
where you look. With the surge of
This American Life
By Jim O’Loughlin
Beacon Advisor
Until recently, you couldn’t
hear the best radio on radio in Erie.
Fortunately, WQLN 91.3 FM has just
changed their programming schedule
and brought This American Life to the
local airwaves (it’s on Sundays from
10 a.m. to 11 a.m.: check it out if you
know what’s good for you).
The mix on This American
Life is unlike anything else you’ll
hear on radio, but it’s a recipe that
works. Take one cup of The Real
World, add in a few ounces of con
versations you overhear on the bus,
stir in a pinch of stories your crazy
aunt used to tell. Throw it all in a
blender and serve it up with the dis
tinctly nerdy voice of host (and Na
tional Public Radio veteran) Ira Glass.
The themes of individual
shows vary widely. One week may
feature the story of a couple who be
came involved when the man helped
our bathin
both this topic and the internet, I was
able to go on-line to conduct a search
for all the information 1, and others,
seemed to be curious about.
My favorite site (and the one that I
am recommending) is called the MIT
Vegetarian Support Group. This
group was founded by a small group
of students from MIT
(Massachusettes Institute ofTechnol
ogy) who wanted to start a very in
formal organization interested in veg
etarian issues.
These students strongly believed in
the importance of their lifestyle and
wanted to create a support group to
educate, inform, and update other stu
dents around the country. The best
part of all is that these kids are stu
dents and understand how important
and difficult it is for us to take a strong
stand on an issue that is not always
accepted by everyone in society. (By
the way, being a vegetarian is not a
prerequisite for a visit.)
his to-be wife write letters to another
guy she had a crush on at the time.
Another may focus on a finger pup
pet opera based on the story of
Chicken Little (and written in Italian,
no less). One episode consisted en
tirely of home tape recordings people
picked up a tag sales and flea mar
kets. It’s all real, it's all out there, but
you never hear it on radio.
So, what’s this got to do with
the Internet? Well, you've already
missed over 100 episodes of This
American Life. It’s time to catch up
and you can do it on-line. The This
American Life website
<www.thislife.org> has all the old
shows archived. With a soundcard
and the free Real Audio or Real Player
plug-ins you can listen to each one on
your own time. I recommend episode
36 (people read letters they’ve found),
episode 66 (the Internet show), and
episode 100 (a show all about radio
which will make you realize how bad
most radio is and how good it can be).
Beef?
One can find general information
inside regarding health, the environ
ment, ethics and philosophy. Specifi
cally, you can discover great little
pieces that range from information on
Greenpeace, fact sheets on PETA
(People for the Ethical Treatment of
Animals) and what details as to what
McDonald's doesn't want you to
know. There's also sections on reci
pes, health benefits and animal rights.
You can find a fun list of famous veg
etarians and vegans throughout enter
tainment, history, and politics.
And for those of us who find our
selves in this situation almost daily
there is a write up titled "How to win
an Argument with a Meat Eater." So,
whatever your pleasure, if you have
the time, interest, or energy you
should check it out <http://
www.mit.edu:Bool/vsg> (maybe
even today, National Vegetarian Day).
The rest of the website is
standard fare: information on upcom
ing shows, FAQs, a plea for donations
(it’s public radio, you know). I did
find this great description of the show
on the site, however. “One of the
problems with our show from the start
has been that whenever we try to de
scribe it in a sentence or two, it sounds
awful. It’s a bunch of stories some
are documentaries, some are fiction,
some are something else. Each week
we choose a theme and invite differ
ent writers and performers to contrib
ute items on the theme. This does not
sound like something we’d want to
listen to on the radio. And it’s our
show. In the early days of the show,
in frustration, we’d sometimes tell
public radio program directors that it’s
basically just like Car Talk. Except
just one guy hosting. And no cars. It’s
a weekly show. It’s an hour. Its mis
sion is to document everyday life in
this country.”
. 'fe
v, fc *‘-*5
'IS
l' 1, JVv '•
suit because
Find a long lost friend
By Danielle Marshall
staff writer
You know how you see the U.S.
Search ads pop on your T.V. screen
after a segment on Sally Jesse Raphael
or Maury Povich. U.S. Search can
find anyone across the country for
about $39.95. Instead, be wise and
use the net. You can save your forty
dollars and spend it on a transcript
from the talk show you watched.
You can find people fast with pow
erful search tools on the Internet. Not
only can you find their phone num
ber and address, you can also look up
their e-mail address. This “White
Pages” website <www.netscape.com/
netcenter/whitepages.html> gives you
Do you have any
future Beacon supplements?
Behrcolls @ aol.com
«• -a!
• •*
'" J,;
the place to insert their last name, first
name, city and state/country. You can
choose from any country throughout
the world.
“White Pages” gives an advanced
search of any member of your fam
ily, a friend, or companion. You can
also have your listing removed from
its directory. All you have to do is
find the individual listing and click the
automated e-mail link at the bottom
of their page. For example, I looked
up my parents’ address and number
and the correct information appeared
on the screen. The search is also suc
cessful when looking for a celebrity’s
address, phone number, and even e
mail address. For example, I looked
up Oprah Winfrey. All I had to do
E-Mail us at
■'iPb
ideas for
i
m
•» ~Jt • J
- i
was either type in her first name or
her full name. Her e-mail address au
tomatically popped up. If nothing was
found under her name, then it would
read “Listing not Available.”
This website offers other services,
particularly the Yellow Pages. You
can search for Member Directory.
Professional Connections, Netscape
Web Directory, and Instant Messen
ger. You can even access from
webmail through this website and
send flowers with national or inter -
national delivery. It helps you keep
in touch on-line and off because it s
easier to pick up a phone and dial a
number instead of writing a letter
However, you can’t pick up the phone
if you don’t have the number.