Battle of the Bands looking for acts

If you’re a member of a band in the Ames area and would like your band to compete in this year’s annual Veishea Battle of the Bands competition, log on and visit www.veishea.org to get an application.

Applications are due by March 15 in the Veishea offices in the West Student Office Space in the Memorial Union.

Ten bands will be chosen for the event. Two alternate bands will also be chosen.

The battle will take place April 19 on the Taste of Veishea stage on Welch Avenue with the Maintenance Shop as a rain location.

TV shows contain more swearing

Two TV programs that aired this weekend reached a new level in regards to the amount of swearing contained in the shows.

CBS’ “9/11,” a documentary by two French filmmakers about the collapse of the World Trade Center, contained the most swear words ever for a single prime-time broadcast network show.

Similarly, “A Season on the Brink,” ESPN’s first original movie, featured frequent swear words. ESPN has traditionally shied away from profanity.

At the beginning of “9/11,” host Robert De Niro warned viewers the program contained rough language.

According to Mark Shapiro, ESPN senior vice president, the network used focus groups who claimed to prefer the more profane version of “A Season on the Brink.”

“You couldn’t produce a movie on Bobby Knight and use phrases like `aw, shucks’ and `golly gee,”‘ Shapiro said. “It just wouldn’t be believable.”

However, ESPN simultaneously broadcast a less-profane version of the show on ESPN2.

The use of swear words in TV programs is on the rise, according to the Parents Television Council. During the 1989-1990 TV season, there was less than one use of rough or profane language per prime-time hour on all of the broadcast networks. During the 1999-2000 season, there were almost five per hour.

– News gathered by Bethany Kohoutek from the Associated Press