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.
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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