The ticker turns 25

Regina Miller staff writer

Ageing is equivocal to death in this

:h-oriented society. Every wrinkle cterizes determination and hope, retiring minds are disregarded. obody thinks about it, but everynconsciously wants to grow old, or east older. Time races. Itis measured

• at annoying tick, tick, tick of the A blatant reminder of the hours ng-the 60 minutes in each hour.

: u:ty minutes in not only a measure tune. It is also a title of a much 'rated show. The show, "60 min- spends each Sunday sharing pro-

·n e stories and insight.

-S.xty Minutes" is the home of such J journalists as Mike Wallace, .ey Safer, Dan Rather, Ed Bradley, e\ Stahl, Andy Rooney and Steve r.:ese reporters, stars in their own spark interest and respect from 31.4 million weekly viewers.

• These older types typically are ted to fade into the cosmos. Surgly, they only continue to relish .1ccomplishments.

'"I hink that they are pretty up on the a!5. but I personally cannot underhow they are in the top 10, week •reek," Chris Erdmann, senior, said.

:..:.::nkthat people would be kind of of it, since they've been around so _ A.ndy Rooney doesn't exactly float ;it, either."

&en Andy Rooney is surprised. In a interview in "TV Guide," he spoke surprise with the results of a 1990 ~ews and World Report" survey ces "60 Minutes" at the top. ~ney said you could not have m that 60 Minutes would main- high ratings without those breakbe-door-with-the-camera-rolling that were so surprising.

""SixtyMinutes" does not do as many sneaky, investigate pieces as in '-1, yet the show is more popular s usually the story I go for," Claire ilo, continuing education student ior, said, "not the reporter. It has ..-.lished look,-the way their format f"''wn, and it's like a script that they = •JJg through every week." : look raked in $1.3 billion since mutes" first went on the air in A consensus theorizes that the is due to the drawn-out drama .in front of American faces, a get-the-bad-guy approach.

- defense of sometimes question:tics, Sam Hewitt, producer, said is like print journalism, and in cype of medium, reporters have alalked right up to their subjects anced and ambushed them with :is. reminded the audience that the -·:1ce is they see it, rather than read :: reiterated that no one is ever unless they refuse a convenmterview.

•r do tend to come down hard on

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wasBarnoy',voice. WU the ftCUUID, -.-1UU11ctida.a;a.' qr WU the Flintstol'le$• ruesomeswereueatedfrom the government and business," Carin Pesotski, senior, said. '·But you know that they know what the outcome is going to be, but they continue to build it up and build it up. I really like the show a lot."

Wallace attributed his success to this simple inquisitive approach. He asked simple leading questions while filling the gaps with great listening skills. He was even noted to give a second chance at a go-around interview.

The silver anniversary distinguishes the show as the only program to rank No. 1 in all three decades. "The Ed Sullivan Show" lasted 23 years. It 1s rare. Episodes of "60 Minutes" are broadcast in 35 countries.

Critics have commented on the notable amount of feature stories on the program lately. "TV Guide" explains that most stories are not pegged to major news events, partly because of the need to build a group of stories, and not all will run. Sometimes, the characters are too dull.

Some of the personalities reminisced about memorable interviews. Bradley remembered a Wyoming teenager, Richard Jahnke, who killed his father after years of physical and mental abuse sustained by Jahnke 's entire family.

Bradley noted his body language in the interview. He commented that even the silences said something.

Stahl remembered the time she interviewed an angry Boris Yeltsin. The complaint was about a tape, in whichYeltsin appeared inebriated. Hewitt denied the charges. Yeltsin asked Stahl to cross her heart, if Hewitt's denial was true.

Dan Rather spoke of a time that he went into Afghanistan in 1980, dressed in native wear, and reported they were gassing people. He received a lot of "beat" from Hewitt and others, questioning the accuracy of the story and his attire. • Rather claims that, as an aftermath, everyone discovered people were being gassed all over that country, due to experimentation with the gas.

The show has upset the gay community and reeked havoc, in some instances. The gay community became upset when Rooney made a comment that homosexuality leads to premature death, just as too much alcohol might.

Havoc occurred when "60 Minutes., did a story on fake IDs, and a man followed the procedure on the show and made 10 aliases that enabled him to steal $10 million.

"I think some of the views are biased," Erdmann said. "I think Mike Wallace, Morley Schaeffer, those types, are from an older breed. I think that they are from the old school, and they are a little more conservative."

"I'll sometimes just watch'60 Minutes' whenever I am able to sit in front of a television and watch it," Lisa Migoraccio, a sophomore, said. "It's difficult for students to always sit and watch."

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Today'snumberis 25!

by Margaret Malo staff writer

Grover, Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch are characters with whom most people in the United States are familiar. They are from the television show that has both entertained and educated pre-school children for the past 25 years, "Sesame Street."

"Sesame Street" first aired on Nov. 10, 1969, on public television. It was the brain child of Joan Ganz Cooney and the initial production of the Children's Television Workshop. The target audience was inner-city children who were disadvantaged in language skills, compared to their middle-class counterparts.

The show received wonderful reviews, and the present weekly audience is an estimated 11 mill ion households. The audience's diversity is seen in the diversity of the characters on the show "Sesame Street" is set on an innercity street, in a run-down neighborhood. The characters come from a multi-racial, multi-ethnic background and are both young and old. Accompanying the people are Jim Henson's Muppets, which are often the most popular characters on the show

The goal of "Sesame Street" is to teach letters, numbers and social concepts to pre-school children. The show has won 33 emmy awards and has been showcased in a special exhibition in the Smithsonian Museum.

The show is copied in 15 other countries, and the English version is shown in more than 80 countries.

"The show allows me to feel comfortable with what my children are watching, and that is not always the case," Susan Sargent, a mother of two from Devon, said.

Sargent likes the characters because they grab her children's attention and teach them while entertaining. She also likes the diversity of the characters. "They show my chil- dren a world beyond their own,'' Sargent said.

Karmen Gaffin. senior, watches the show more now than when she was a child. She said the show is very positive, because it allows children to have more than one type of role model.

Gaffin said the show is very natural, and there is no competition. She also said she likes the diversity of the characters. "It shows the characters relating to one another like children, before they learn prejudices," Gaffin said. "It is very natural."

The Muppets seem to capture the hearts of viewers the most, and some remain in the minds of people who no longer watch the show.

Senior Priscilla Fuentes watched the show every day as a kid and saw the characters as her friends. Her favorite character is Elmo, a red puppet with a yellow nose. Fuentes said she likes Elmo because he is and explorer, and he is "cute."

Kayce Pottichen, senior, really enjoyed the characters and the songs. She said they were songs that you sang around the house.

Pottichen said her favorite character is Cookie Monster because she loved cookies, and her grandmother used to bake her cookies whenever she watched the show.

"Sesame Street" may have taken a backseat to up-and-coming children's programming, such as "Barney," but it still lives in the hearts of millions.

Other shows have since followed from the Children's Television Workshop, such as "The Electric Company," "3-2-1 Contact" and "Fat Albert."

"Sesame Street" is still aired daily on public television stations across the nation. Although the audience has changed, the message remains the same.

"Sesame Street has been brought to you today by the letter L and the number 3."