Lansing State Journal from Lansing, Michigan • Page 31

Lansing State Journal TYING Tim Makinen Features Editor 377-1053 E-mail: livingIsj.com Thursday April 4, 2002 www.lsj.com Atlanta group to acquire WILX By Mike Hughes Lansing State Journal I el Wild world of the Web spawns new teen craze For nearly a decade, CNN consultant Peter Bergen has covered Osama bin Laden and the Jihadist terrorist network that operates globally. He is one of only a few Western journalists to have interviewed the world's most wanted man face to face. He'll discuss global terrorism at 8 p.m. today in Michigan State University's Wharton Center. Admission is free.

Info: 432-2000. Riverwalk Theatre opens "Equus," an adult drama about a psychiatrist's intellectual and spiritual obsession with a violently disturbed stable boy who has cruelly blinded the horses in his care. The play is at 7 p.m. today at 228 Museum Drive. Leave the kids at home; "Equus" contains nudity and violence.

Tickets are $10, $8 for seniors and $5 for students; the show runs through April 14. Info: 482-5700. I Charles Baxter is the author of "The Feast of Love," which was a finalist for the National Book Award. The author of numerous works of fiction and essays, he is currently an adjunct professor at the University of Michigan. He'll conduct a question-and-answer session with students from 6 p.m.

to 7 p.m. and do a reading at 7:15 p.m. today in Room 458 of Lansing Community College's Arts and Sciences Building. Admission is free. Info: 483-5306.

By Christine Rook Lansing State Journal jn ou should have dumped that Nakron energy stock, your teen chides. 1 I "Enron," you correct. LI "No. Nakron." he insists. 1 I jt.

fen traded on the Neodaq." "You mean Nasdaq." "No. Neodaq." Has the latest craze in online trading left you feeling like a market neophyte? Blame the confusion on Neopia, or rather NeoPets.com an interactive and self-contained online universe that is about to become a neo-household word among kids. The Southern California company that is NeoPets is launching a merchandising campaign that will build on what for two years has been a free-to-the-user Web site world. Neopia is to cyberspace what Disney World is to Florida a tourist stop where 28.7 million kids and adults worldwide immerse themselves in real life that isn't real. Neopia, for example, has its own weather.

Tuesday was hot and humid with a chance of rain. It has its own newspaper, the Neopian Times. It has its own calendar. April, by the way, is officially the month of Eating. Just like Disney World did long ft For local WILX-TV (Channel 10), a new owner is on the way.

The deal might not close until the end of the year, however. Even then, viewers might not notice. "We expect no changes, on-air or off-the-air," Michael King, the WILX general manager, said Wednesday. The station, an NBC affiliate, is one of 22 belonging to Benedek Broadcasting. That company has signed a letter of intent to be sold to Gray Communications Systems in Atlanta in a deal valued at $500 million.

Benedek filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection March 22, the Washington Post reported. When the deal requiring Federal Communications Commission and U.S. bankruptcy court approval is concluded, Gray will have 34 stations, most of them smalL Together, they'll reach a little over 6 percent of the nation. Gray's biggest station is in Knoxville, the nation's No. 62 market in size.

Lansing, No. Ill, will be in the upper third of the King said. The deal follows a new set of Nielsen ratings that brought good news for WILX. "For the first time in the history of the station, we led in every news time slot," King said. That reflects a four-week "sweeps" period in February, when ratings are taken in every market Those are usually important for setting ad rates.

This time with NBC airing 17 days of Winter Olympics in February the ratings book is disputed. "We pretty much throw it out," said Ross Woodstock, the WLNS (Channel 6) general manager. "None of the ad agencies will be using it." The WILX people, however, say there are ratings that weren't inflated by the Olympics. At 4 p.m. weekdays, WLNS "Rosie O'Donnell Show" outdrew the Olympics.

Despite that, WILX led slightly for the 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. newscasts. Besides, the WILX people are happy with any win. "We've been fighting history and the habits of viewer-ship," news director Kevin Ragan said.

Local history has had WILX and "Today" dominating early in the morning, with WLNS (the CBS affiliate) ruling afterward, sometimes by huge margins. This time, WILX averaged a 2 rating (2 percent of TV homes) at 5 a.m., compared with a 1 for WLNS. WILX also won at 6 am. WLNS, with the only noon newscast, had a 6. WILX then won the news battles at 5 p.m., 6 p.m.

and 11 p.m., each by a single ratings point Contact Mike Hughes at 377-1156 or mlmgheslsj.com. ROD SANFORDLansing Slafe Jblrffraf Get ready, 'cause here they come: "Cybunny" (left) and "Aisha" are two of the online NeoPets created by a Southern California company. It is preparing to unleash a neo-marketing campaign for merchandise directed at young collectors. ago, this fantasy land is outgrowing its Neolithic phase and is ready 1 to make big money off of neo- Wanda Herndon, a Starbucks executive, will present a lecture titled "The Crisis in Crisis Communications" at 4 p.m. today in the Big Ten room at MSU's Kellogg Center.

Herndon is an MSU alumna who is considered an expert in public relations. Admission is free. marketing. On March 16, the first of the collectibles hit Limited Too at Meridian Mall. Since then, the 3-foot-by-4-foot display of neo- (ri'B plush toys, stickers, jewelry and Neo knowledge Go online to the NeoPets Web site at www.NeoPets.com.

If you find yourself stumped by this Neo-what's-it stuff, check out this handy glossary and annoy your teenager with your vast knowledge of their secret cyber-world. NeoPets: These are animals that one can adopt. They range from www.necx&corp the cute and furry to the scaly i Ray Charles, the master of soulful blues, country, jazz and brings set and scary. Owners raise and train their pets for battles with challengers. Pets require grooming, feeding and the owner's love and hi i i Charles notepads increased foot traffic to this girlie store by an estimated 15 percent.

"It's bringing more people to the store that usually haven't shopped at Limited Too," manager Tina Holt said. "We're getting little boys." Imagine a marketing draw so powerful fifth-grade boys are willing to endure racks of pink and lavender, bebop and glitter. NeoPets promises more. Expect T-shirts, sun visors, magnets, cartoons and, of course, a movie. This is nothing new for parents who have survived the Teenage Mutant Nin-ja Turtles, the Power Rangers, Pokemon, Digimon, Dragon Ball and the whole tsunami of Toonami.

They dutifully learned to tell Pikachu from Raichu and now will master an entirely new species nomenclature and, in many cases, do so willingly. NeoPets, which was founded in February 2000, reports that 21 percent of its online members are age 18 and older. The SEENE0Page5D attention. Neopia: This is the planet to the Detroit Music Hall, 350 Madison at 8 p.m. today.

Tickets are $25 to $75; call 484-5656. fed where the NeoPets live. Pets can travel the globe to lands such as the Lost Desert, Mystery Island and Virtupets Space Station. Neopoints: The Neopian currency. Neodaq: Neopia's version of the Nasdaq, a place for trading stocks.

Neomail: The Neopian e-mail system. Minors need the signature of a parent or guardian to participate. Ts is nothing new for parents who have survived the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Power Rangers, Pokemon, Digimon, Dragon Ball and the whole tsunami of Toonami. From "Age Doesn't Matter Unless You're a "He who is of a calm and happy nature will hardly feel the pressure of age, but to him who is of an opposite disposition, youth and age are equally a burden." Plato sis tr Dream scheme of the future will be work of art In 1818, Congress decided the flag of the United States would consist of 13 red-and-white stripes and 20 stars, with a new star to be added for every new state of the Union. In 1887, Susanna Medora Salter became the first woman elected mayor of an American community Argonia, Kan.

In 1968, civil rights leader Martin Luther King 39, was shot to death in Memphis, Tenn. Compiled by Sarah Schmid. To submit info, fax it to377-1298 or e-mail sschmid1si.com. Kathleen Lavey klaveylsj.com 377-1251 One Christmas season, on a rural road between two small towns in Livingston County, somebody climbed up at every yellow deer crossing sign and fastened a red reflector to each deer's nose. All of a sudden, they were not businesslike pic-tographs warning of danger.

They were Rudolph. I will probably never meet the person or people who did that If I did, they probably wouldn't ad mit what they had done. But I admire them none- theless. ferent than day-to-day life. It sparks thought and conversation.

In my mind, I have my own projects. I dream about dressing East Lansing's bronze statues in moon boots and mittens during the winter, putting hats on their heads, scarves around their necks, down vests around their shoulders. I've even spent idle moments figuring out how to modify the clothes to fit them. Velcro would be involved. If I could pull it off, I'd be home free.

In a col or van to create an art project on the pavement behind me. At first, I was thinking abstract. But now, ideally, I'd lay down some mauves and blues and pinks that would wind up looking like some of Monet's water lilies if you happened to be driving over them at 70 mph. It is logistically impossible, not to mention dangerous. I will never do it, and nobody else should, either.

Still, I believe that crop circles are made by small cells of men using rudimentary tools and sworn lege town, nobody would ever suspect a middle-aged mom in a station wagon of doing something like that. Of course, I will never, ever do this, for fear of causing even the slightest amount of damage. Like other East Lansingites, I got mad when statues were damaged or stolen in past years. Just picture it for me, OK? My other dream project is much more ambitious. For years, I have been trying to figure out a way to spray paint from out of the back of a moving truck into a secret society.

I believe that the Statue of Liberty would look really nice wrapped in a giant American flag. I believe that there are never enough wacky, harmless ideas that actually become concrete. I believe that if I think hard enough, and long enough, I eventually will come up with the perfect harmless, thought-provoking, easy-to--implement scheme. You'll know it, someday, when you see it. Kathleen Lavey's column appears on Thursdays.

It was brash. It was harmless. It was delightful. It added a little whimsy to a weary world. While other people cluck at the exploits of the artist Chris-to, known.for such projects as wrapping the Reichstag in Berlin with nylon fabric, I applaud him.

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