THE DAILY COLLEGIAN
U-WIRE COLUMN
O.C.'s testosterone-charged script, music make it guys' show
By Mike Metz
SPENDING MY SPRING BREAK in the
real O.C. made me think a Lot
about my favorite television
show. The Orange County that I
stayed in is nothing like the fictional
Newport Beach that Josh Schwartz's
show depicts every Thursday night on
Fox. My Orange County takes place in
Laguna Woods, a.ka. Leisure World,
a.ka the largest retirement commu
nity in the United States.
The only Cohen I encounter has a
first name of Ethel and the only drama
comes when she attempts to finish me
off in the community nine-ball billiards
tournament.
Things are certainly different here in
the real O.C. In fact, things are about
as different as my viewing habits of the
aforementioned television show
between this season and last. Last
year, I quietly watched episode after
enthralling episode, not saying a peep
to my fraternity brothers of my viewing
pleasure. If I was upset about some
thing that Seth had said to Summer, I
kept it to myself. If I felt that Marissa
should stop pounding the vodka bottle,
I kept it to myself. If I felt that Julie
Cooper should keep her mouth shut for
0 1 s 3
Patriotism in time of war should not cover corporate favors
By Eliot Sherman
AS A COLLEGE STUDENT, I get
about 8,000 new credit card
offers a day. Credit card com
panies target me because they think I
am lazy, naive and unlikely to spend a
lot of time reading the fine print about
just how much interest they intend to
charge me (please naive? No way).
They even throw in cool incentives
like competitions to win new gadgets
and extreme sports apparel. Boy, they
really understand their target demo
graphic. I'm wild! I'm extreme! I ... fall
asleep after The Daily Show.
Apparently, Congress thinks the calls
and e-mails I get are great. In fact, the
Senate just voted overwhelmingly to
make it easier for credit card compa
nies, long thought of as the true patri
ots of the financial sector, to keep
squeezing consumers for every last
ounce of debt. The recently passed
Senate resolution makes it even more
difficult for Americans to declare bank
ruptcy. At worst, the bill would prevent
20 percent of those who could currently
dissolve their debts through bankrupt
once, well, my mouth remained shut
forever.
But that was last year. The American
public, especially the collegiate audi
ence, has accepted this season with a
new perspective. All of sudden it is suit
able for a guy to watch and even ike
"The 0.C." In fact, I have slowly
learned that the more a guy watches
the show, the more the guy has to talk
to a girl about.
Joe College student and his buddy sit
down and watch an episode from 8 p.m.
to 9 p.m. on a Thursday night. They
then proceed to pound a few beers as
they discuss the storylines and major
plot points of the night's episode. For
example, Joe says to his friend: "Do
you really think that Ryan is fully over
Marissa?" His friend fires back "Well
of course not Joe, don't be silly. Ryan
tried his best to get over Marissa with
Lindsey, which in itself is a whole dif
ferent discussion that I really don't feel
like getting into right now because I
really don't know what he was thinking
with her. I just didn't like her. She did
not seem to care for him at all really.
Besides, Marissa is hotter." Joe replies
"The whole thing with Lindsay was
basically incest anyway" The friend
"Yeah, I agree." Next, they get into
cy from doing so, according to the
American Bankruptcy Institute.
The passage of this bill represents
the worst of American politics. From
Web log "Daily Kos": "This is clearly
Exhibit A of the corrosive effect of
money in our political system a bill
supported by nary a voter, yet pushed
through by a powerful, rich industry.
The credit card companies have had
their risk reduced by a significant
amount. Yet they will not lower rates to
reflect their reduced risk" Many
Democrats were left scratching their
heads. How could so many of their own
have voted for a bill that so blatantly
rewards credit card companies at the
expense of the average consumer?
But the most egregious example of
Democratic hypocrisy came from Joe
Lieberman, the target of many liberal
bloggers' ire. His Joementum notwith
standing, Lieberman's routine betrayal
of his constituents should make his
next primary challenge a difficult one.
By voting to end discussion on the bill
and then voting against it when it was
clearly going to pass, Lieberman must
have thought he was being very tricky
OPINION
whatever bar takes their fake IDs
From that point, they can basically
choose which girl is going home with
them that night. All they need to tell a
girl is that they model themselves after
Seth Cohen. The typical response to
this statement:
"Oh my god, I, like, am totally in love
with Seth Cohen. You don't even under
stand." If that does not work, they can
say they want Julie Cooper murdered.
Yule times out of 10, the female reply:
"I know, I hate her."
For me the newfound acceptance of
males watching the show comes as a
great relief.
Last year I truly did not understand
why it seemed like it was not okay for
guys to enjoy the show. After all, it fea
tures the hottest mom (NO Cohen),
the hottest lesbian (Alex), the hottest
older woman everyone hates (Julie
Cooper), the hottest high school alco
holic (Marissa) and, for we East Coast
ers, the hottest climate we see all win
ter. The plotlines consist of many mas
culine undertones including drinking,
real estate and cheating on your wife
or girlfriend.
The music surpasses any other show
on television and introduced the male
public to many of the bands we cur-
But hey, who cares about Americans in
debt? There's probably a video game
out there that offends somebody right
at this very minute. That the senators
who eagerly supported this legislation
couched it in the rhetoric of populism
is even more disgraceful, but I suppose
hardly surprising. Maybe somewhere
there's a legislator who truly believes
that the system is plagued by people
who spend so lavishly that they cannot
cover their expenses and then declare
bankruptcy instead of paying off the
poor, patriotic credit card companies.
But a recent Harvard study found that
more than half of the people who filed
for bankruptcy did so because of med
ical bills, and that most of those people
had health insurance. So keep lecturing
me about personal responsibility. Real
ly, I love it.
It's not enough that these people are
unemployed or seriously injured or
both. Visa will have its pound of flesh
ounce by ounce, but they will have it.
Our government has already spent
far more of our money on the war in
Iraq than credit card companies have
spent to get this bill passed. But this
rently have on our iPods, including The
Killers. Not to mention the fact that the
show features the coolest father-son
combo on television today in Adam
Brody and Peter Gallagher:
Yes, "The 0.C." is a primetime soap
opera Yes, the writing is sketchy at
times. Yes, most of the storylines are
over exaggerated. Who cares? The
show is simply entertaining and fun to
watch.
There are tons of viewing parties
across this campus every Thursday
night. I remember a guy telling me
once , "This place practically shuts
down between 8 and 9 p.m. on Thurs
day nights." It truly does.
The truth is, I can't wait for next
week and I know that there are tons of
other guys out there with the same gut
feeling in their stomach.
And I am here to tell you that it is
okay to like the show We no longer
have to tell girls that we watch it
because we think "Summer's hot" or
say "I only watch it to see the lesbian
make out scenes."
Although those are still fantastic rea
sons to watch the show.
NM Metz writes for The Daily Free Press at
Boston University.
nasty piece of domestic legislation
reveals far more about the priorities of
our representatives, Republican and
Democrat, than our foreign policy ever
will. The war in Iraq remains palatable
to the American electorate because, for
most, it has not altered our daily lives
in the slightest. But this legislation will
make a difference, especially as the
cost of health care continues to spiral
out of controL
At least on the Internet, resistance to
this bill has been surprisingly biparti
san. Maybe, just maybe, the massive
Republican support behind this bill will
chip away at the painstakingly crafted
image of the GOP as the party of the
little guy. But I won't hold my breath.
No amount of flag-waving or patriotic
sloganeering can undo the corrupt
underside of American politics that this
vote exposes. Is it the best system
we've got? Absolutely. Is it a govern
ment of the people, by the people and
for the people? Well, that just depends
on which people you're talking about.
Eliot Sherman writes for The Daily Pennsylvan
ian at the University of Pennsylvania.
WEDNESDAY, March 16, 2005 19
VOICES
The Pew State admhdstraden is
considering whether to replace the
Child Development Laboratory, where
many staff members take their chil
dren for childcare while working at
the university.
Is good childcare a
significant factor
when choosing a job?
"Yeah,
absolutely. I
used to be
one of those
people who
only thought
about my
career, but as I got further
into my college career, I
realized how important it
was to manipulate my ,
career around family."
Leann Duprey
junior-English
"No, because
I think it is
pretty easy 7,
to find other,
places to ,
take your •
kids."
Kimberly Kozak
freshman-civil engineering
"Yeah. If
you're going
to start a
family, you
need proper
childcare if
you are
going to work, especially if"
your wife is working."
Justin Wolcott
junior-finanT
—Complied by Ann Na*
Photos bY Bei SlVdei.