I would like to comment on Mr. Tim Paluch’s opinions concerning the show “Survivor.” First and foremost, Mr. Paluch openly admits having seen only the finale which gives him no credibility to judge the entire series. If he has to rely on his “fanatical” roommate to give him some details, he should have delegated such a commentary to someone, such as myself, who has watched all thirteen episodes, or at least most of them. I do admit that Mr. Paluch makes some good points about our society today. We love to watch people challenge themselves, and such television is indeed a perfect way to escape the torture that reality can sometimes be. After all, no one outside of such a contrived circus would ever be paid a million bucks for knowing which band earned the first Grammy for Hard Rock/Metal performance. That, by the way, is a real question from “Millionaire,” unlike Mr. Paluch’s exaggerated examples. But what Mr. Paluch doesn’t acknowledge is that people also enjoy watching “reality” that doesn’t involve “pain and suffering and embarrassment.” This is why the drama that dominated about the first half of the “Survivor” series focused on tribe-vs-tribe challenges, as well as the tribulations of living and working together as teams on a deserted island. The boat race, the breath-holding challenge and the trivia contest, among so many others, all appealed to our sense of sportsmanship and competition, not our “disgustingly morbid curiosity.” Many participants were voted off not because of “manipulation and backstabbing” but simply because of who they were or how they acted. Look at the workaholic B.B. Andersen, who tried to push everyone else around, or the wimpy Ramona, who got sick and did no work whatsoever, for just two examples. Many of cast were extremely likable. Admittedly, there wasn’t much time in which to judge, but Sonya Christopher, the first castaway kicked off, seemed like one of the sweetest people I’ve ever seen on TV. Gervase was the self-professed “jester” every step of the way, and Colleen was both nice to everyone she met and extremely beautiful to boot. Granted, these people may have become equally cut-throat had they survived to the end. Some, however, including the second-place finisher, Kelly Wiglesworth, detested the whole idea behind the alliance and, to an extent, the competitive aspect of the show as a whole. I would hardly say such an attitude qualifies her as “absolutely detestable,” but then Mr. Paluch should know, since he is such an expert. Next time you want to rain on our parade and complain about such “horrific corporatized exploitations,” try gathering accurate and complete evidence by witnessing it first-hand. And don’t contradict yourself by making such strong statements about our society and yet admitting that you were equally hooked. If you think it is disgusting, back off and let the rest of us soak in our supposed “reality” entertainment. And we will do exactly that. In fact, I’m thinking of organizing a contest similar to the “Survivor” show right here on the ISU campus. It would of course be engineered around students’ class schedules, but otherwise students would camp out in teams at locations around campus, meeting occasionally to take part in ISU-related competitions and vote each other out. It would be focused on fun, and hopefully avoid too much “backstabbing,” although strategy would play a big part. This is not meant to be a blatant plug, but as long as I am on the topic, I think I will mention it. Please go to http://www.inetsurvey.com/Survey.cgi/dheck/isusurvive to give your input as to whether this should happen, and if so, how it should be done. You can also e-mail me at [email protected] if you have questions. Dan Heck

Computer science