Friday, November 9, 2007 WGA strike frustrates students Julia niis-I)rry fus supported the Writers Guild on the picket lines on Monday Scull R. Nluska studem /Or Milo/ p,u ctlii The medium of tele% ision has become the most popular American pastime in recent years, especial in the tall and winter months when new episodes of lan fav ()rite shows are run e\ er\ night or week. Consumers return home from a long das of school ing or work to kick their shoes oft and settle down on the couch to watch the newest episode of their lit\ °rite proi . 2l . ants. ould happen if the Ile‘k episodes stopped and tele\ ision entertainment sunk into a \ orlil of rcrun'! I hat e \ \\\ hat ha , . begun and \\ ill continue to happen the \\ Filer, Guild of America went ,trike Nlondd \ morning. Niel - ibers of the Guild ha\ e abandoned their poq~ behind t\ pe\Nriteri, and computer, to tiincl in picketing lines throughout I.ON Athlete, and Ne\\ York. Their contracts ended last \\ eel,. and attempts to riclotiate a nev, one \vent sour. and the \v liters belie\ c th I c\ :Kt\ been sicttinv the short end of the stick 1(11 - quite sometime as far as "new media - is concerned. - New media - includes technological ad\ tinces like the dovtnloading of television shows to computers Irom iTunes and the free internet ic\\ ing of episodes on network wehsites. both of hick the \klter. do not garner an royalties from. Writcp, .11 , 0 seek to increase the ro\ alties they col lect Irom DVD collections from four to eight per cent. This strike (Idlers from the last one that took place in 1988 and lasted 22 weeks hecause the writ ers arc not only fighting tic host piece of the technological ad\ Lull telex ision that ha \ e alread \ dehti hut arc al,o attempting to t the\ 00 in o\\ n portions of the tic media that have not vet heron it\ ailal)le or co en been in\ ented. "There are of h! [IC 110\ ter of sa\ s Da\ id Duchovi star of the new hit sl Cc/Nom/cation when he showed the LA picket lines earlier this wet port the Writers Guild. "We don't know what they are. hut rill sure people arc thinking them up. inayhe this minute. People much smarter than you or I. It's a difficult discussion to have, because you're fighting over air at this point. hut I think it's Lin important discussion to have.' . Penn State sophomore Bryan Ramsey. an avid fan of The Shout with Jay Leno, said about the strike. "It sucks. I watch it almost every night. and I always look forward to it. It's disappointing whenever you turn the TV on and realize that it's a repeat of the show that you saw just last week.- Many actors appeared on the picket lines to sup port theirs and all writers. including Leno who said. Video games remain popular pastime at Behrend, despite rising costs BY Matt Schwabenbauer assistant news editor 553870' pstLedu Video games are becoming more and more important in the life of most college students. Walking down the hall of any dormitory or apartment complex. you will see many people sitting in front of their televisions playing games. Almost every college student owns at least one video game system, and having more than one isn't very uncom mon. With the holiday season fast approaching, there is a veritable flood of new video game releases. On Nov. 13 alone, there are 39 new releases on the three major consoles combined. Such a massive amount of titles is proving problematic to the average person on a college budget. With little spending money, it is unlikely for most college students to buy more than one video game a month, if that often. "Video games are getting really expensive," says Behrend fresh man Matt Kirkpatrick. "Most games cost around $6O, and sometimes even more if they come with accessories or are a collector's edition." The cost of video games is rising quickly. With the last generation of video game consoles, an average game cost around $4O-$5O. Unfortunately, in the past few years the price of games increased sub stantially. With the new consoles, there is rarely a game that costs less than $6O. "I've been working with these people for 20 years, so I support them. People kinda get the wrong ideas what writers make. I know I'm cheap and don't give them anything, unless they get royalties from these DVDs and other stuff. I think it's a good Len° went on to say that he wouldn't cross the picket line and do a new show during the strike. hut he would cross it to pass out doughnuts to the pro testors, which he did. Julia Louis-Dreyfus. former .Ceirtfeid star and cur rent star of New Adventures of the Old Christine showed up in Burbank. CA to support the writers of her show. She joined picketers in chanting. "Hey. hey. pencils down. Hollywood's a union town... "How this is resolved will directly , affect our union. too. - Louis-Dreyfus said. speaking of the actor's union, whose contract expires in 2008. Movie star and writer Tim Robbins (Mystic River. High Fidelity) also showed up on the picket lines and sought to forward a message through CNN. "Our detractors will tell you this is a dilettant strike of millionaires and it's certainly not. This is a mid dle class issue... This is about putting kids through school and paying mortgages. - The Colbert Report on Comedy Central is arguably the show that could take the hardest hit from the strike, since it was one of the fastest grow ing shows going into the contract disagreement. It had hit a recent boom in ratings due to his satirical run at the Presidency. "It's not so had, because his old shows are good too." said sophomore Frank Nagy. "It gets frustrat ing at times, though. because I'll look forward to watching it at night and turn on something I've seen miss the updates he gives on and want to see him hash the a - candidates since he was not owed to run in the race. I hope ey remedy the problem soon so 'eryone can get hack to work Id fans can get hack to enjoying to he affected the most by the strike, but weekly sitcoms should not he affected for some time since their scripts are written and shows are recorded far in advance of the season's begin ning. The strike is anticipated to last for quite some time, much to the chagrin of the actors and avid fans of the entertainment industry. "It all starts with these incredible people who sit in a room by them selves for hours on end coming up with ideas, and there's nothing, no story, without the writer first, that's where it begins," said Joan Allen (The Notebook). If they don't come to an agreement soon, the writ ers will also be where show business ends. r' ri_DEI 7 Li it work Shows that are filmed ly like Leno's and David an's late-night programs are Rock Band, released around Christmas, should be a big seller among students When games come with controllers or extra accessories, their price increases even more. One of the most popular games for college stu dents to play, Guitar Hero 111, costs $99 for the Xbox 360. The high pricing is a result of the game being bundled with a guitar controller required by the game, but is still a stretch with a college student's tight Behrend College Specials 50 % OFF Friday, Saturday, Upcoming events on campus and in the Erie area "Picasso at the Lapin Agile" at the Studio Theatre. The play will be shown at 8 p.m. Friday Nov. 9 and Saturday Nov. 10. Tickets are available for $5 for Behrend students, faculty and staff. General admission tickets are available to the public for $7. To reserve tickets, call (814) 898-6242. "Stump the Chump," a program hosted by the Behrend Inter-varsity Christian Fellowship to help answer questions that students have about God and religion. It will be held on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in the REDC 180 conference hall. Free food from Subway will be available. The 20th annual Thanksgiving Dinner for Six will be held on Thursday at 5 p.m. in the McGarvey Commons and is offered free for Behrend students, faculty and staff. If interested in attending, RSVP to the Office of Student Activities. They can be reached at (814) 898- 6171. An information session for the nursing major will be held on Monday at 6 p.m. in room 101 of the Otto Behrend Science Building. It is free and open to both traditional and adult students. Registration is requested for the information session and can be made by phoning the Penn State Behrend Office of Admissions at (814) 898-6100. Comedian Jim Gaffigan will be performing live at the Junker Center on Friday December 7. Tickets cost $2O for Behrend students and $3O for the general public. They are available at the information desk in the Reed Union Building or online at https://estore.psu.edu/home.asp. - 71 - F1 rd iii PIZZA , I $ Better Ingredients Better Pizza Sunday ONLY! 824-8282 budget. Guitar Hero is a staple at many college parties, which shows its high pricing is a non-issue to college stu- A game similar to Guitar Hero called Rock Band is being released this holiday season. hut instead of being bundled with just a guitar controller. Rock Band is going to include a guitar, microphone, and an entire drum set. With such a large amount of items bundled together, it is priced at a startling $l6O. Regardless. it is expected to be a hit with college students this holiday season. "I will def initely be purchasing Rock Band," said Behrend freshman and video game enthusiast James Svolos. "It may cost an arm and a leg, but when you think about all the possibili ties you have with Rock Band, such as getting your friends together for practice, or even playing with other people online, Rock Band is impossible to turn down.- Despite the high costs of video games, college students aren't going to quit playing them anytime soon. Although games such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band are obvious choices for college students to play at parties and get togethers, video games are also quickly becoming some thing more than just a pastime. "I buy one to two games a month," says Behrend student Luke Tabacchi. "Games are getting expensive, but that isn't too big of a deal when you consider all the fun things you can do with them." The Behrend Beacon I
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