Journal and Courier from Lafayette, Indiana • 9

Journal and Courier Thursday July 10 2003 Opinions A9 Too much Laci makes the case for closed courtrooms MHtMCA6UOMIaDNS60M Rutten writes about the me dia for The Los Angeles Times months NBCs Today has devot ed fully 2i hours of coverage to this single story Only the war in Iraq received more attention There was a time not so very long ago when thin shreds of shame still clung like irritating rags to the TV news vestigial consciences Then they felt compelled when pressed to insist that this sort of blan ket coverage was somehow vaguely in the public interest When Steve Brill went about the country forcing television cam eras into the courtroom thereby transforming criminal trials into soap operas and Court TV into a staple of basic cable he virtually wrapped himself in the irst Amendment It was all about educating the public and the right to know No need for any of that any more today a refreshing Gordon Gekko like candor prevails among 24 hour news heavies In the current issue of Vanity air for example Bill symptoms of cable mania of the moment the chat shows: Since the first of the year ac cording to the compilation the Peterson case has been fea tured 79 times on Greta Van evening program on ox News 40 times on The Abrams Report 38 times on Hannity Colmes 38 times on Countdown 37 times on top rated actor 34 times on Larry King Live and 20 times on Hardball Nor is this solely a preoccupa tion of the cable news competi tors According to figures com piled by the Ty ndaUReport an industry newsletter the Peterson case has been the second most re ported story on the morning news shows broadcast by NBC CBS and ABC During the past six channel 5 Ptttvson's badly ports' ByTim Rutten The Los Angeles Times Summertime and the is sleazy Or at least the way bound to seem if you take your notions of life from one or more of 24 hour cable news networks and their courtroom cameras Inhabitants of the real world may still be curious about where if anywhere Saddam Hussein stashed those weapons of mass destruction or for that matter his own sorry hide Here at home there must be people con cerned about what amounts to a death a day among the American and British troops left to police what Secretary of Defense Don ald Rumsfeld unshakably as sures us is not an Iraqi quag mire Somewhere there may even be television viewers who wonder why the post war reconstruction effort was so ill planned that it ul timately may make Baghdadis nostalgic not only for the Baathists but also the Mongols Osama bin Laden? ask Israeli Palestinian peace? orget about it What the world needs now accord ing to the people at ox News CNN and MSNBC is more Laci Peterson What it demands in fact is all Laci all the time As The Washington Post pointed out last week in the six months since the young housewife and mother to be from Modesto Calif disappeared on Christmas Eve the major newspapers each have done just a handfill of stories on the case The Los Angeles Times her home largest paper has fol lowed the story incrementally but has run only three stories on its frontpage Meanwhile despite the brief hiatus imposed by the war in Iraq the 24 hour news net works have run wild Put aside the hours of air time given over to live broad casts of every legal proceeding connected to the indictment of her husband Scott orget all the news conferences by what seems like every single member of both Laci and extended fami lies Discount the on the scene analysis from the usual cadre of on camera All these at least have some tenu ous connection to what can be called news Consider instead the clearest flatly says do Laci Peterson every 15 minutes and the numbers go Monday ox News executive producer Bill Shine told the Post a compelling story with many angles that people judging from the ratings seem to be in terested in responding to the ratings a serial quali ty to the story that has lent itself to the nature of 24 hour something else that lends itself to the 24 hour news insatiable maw: pictures In part the cable news opera saturation coverage of the investigation into a pregnant Modesto disappear ance was fueled by anticipation that they were laying the groundwork for an even greater ratings prize: live television cov erage of a good long summer doldrums filling murder trial As Gordon Gekko said is The investment looks like it going to pay off In the months since the war in Iraq wound down and Pe story assumed its current promi nence ox has virtual ly doubled its ratings lead over CNN in nearly every time peri od The truth is howev er that without grip ping live pictures from the courtroom TV news would lose inter est in this tragic case as quickly as it down graded its coverage of the Iraq situation when there were no more embedded re porters to send back live footage offirefights If the cable news organiza tions actually believed there was a compelling public interest in covering the Peterson trial they could send journalists to the courtroom to report on the case There is in fact a great deal at stake in that Northern Califor nia courtroom serious things such as the life and liberty of a man accused of a crime and what justice can be obtained for a dead woman and the child she will never raise What should not be at issue are the ratings of television news networks and the profits they bring their owners Without live television images the cable net interests be a part of this equation which is why the Peterson frenzy is the latest piece of evidence in the ever growing case for getting TV cameras out of our courtrooms 4 ms 1 Journal and Courier file photo educational institutions In the most difficult of times loyd ithian restored hope and faith in government and the political system ing into one of three regional of fices 2 calling him on a toll free 800 number 3 resolving case work problems 4 visiting a rov ing mobile office 5 meeting with him during the 40 to 45 week ends he traveled the district each year and 6 attending hundreds of town hall meetings in nearly every small town and rural area or a congressional district that had not seen much of a congress man for 45 years ithian seemed to be everywhere He revolution ized congressional constituent service It was his way of getting people involved in government and restoring their faith in the po litical process He provided hope and trust when America was struggling to overcome Watergate the Nixon resignation and the ending of the war in Vietnam The late Speaker often said that politics is lo ithian championed local causes such as Lafayette Railroad Relocation grain export facilities at the Port of Indiana the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Park the Wildcat Creek reservoir proj ect and killing the SELM proj ect or ithian local issues played a significant role in his representing the district As a congressional legislator ithian fought for farm and rural By Warren Stickle or the Journal and Courier ormer Second District Con gressman loyd ithian recently passed away but his legacy and contributions to American poli tics will always remain with us As a Purdue University history professor (1964 74) a farmer a Methodist deacon and a 20 year veteran of the Navy and Reserves ithian a man of his times forged a new majority coalition of farmers teacHers working fami lies young and old voters to win congressional cam paigns from 1974 to 1980 Asa Democrat in a heavily Republican con gressional district the home of Charlie Halleck ithian demonstrated that he could win epito mizing his Second Dis trict constituents ithian had the re markable talent to court and win Republican vot ers and became the king of the split ticket vote in Indiana politics In the unsuccessful congression al campaign in 1972 ithian garnered more split ticket votes against a win ning Republican incumbent con gressman than anyone else in tiie nation In 1974 he carried several counties that had not gone Democratic since the Civil War In 1976 he became the first Democrat ever to win re election In 1970 the US Census re ported that for the first time more Americans lived in the sub urbs than anywhere else Long before Bill Clinton carried the suburbs in 1992 and 1996 loyd ithian was winning the Second District suburbs around Lafayette Merrillville and Portage in 1974 and thereafter clearly in tune with the district's shifting demographics ithian turned the concept of participatory democracy into a re ality He demonstrated that ordi nary citizens could participate in congressional politics by: 1 walk or tne nouse Agriculture commit tee fighting for farm programs farm credit gasohol ood for Peace and national pesticide reg ulations SuCh as the ederal In secticide ungicide and Rodenti cide Act (IRA) which ithian introduced and pushed through the Congress in 1978 Others have frequently referred to ithi an as the of In 1975 76 ithian introduced a constitutional amendment to balance the federal budget an idea well ahead of its time In the late 1970s ithian experienced his own in over the return of the Panama Canal to Pana ma With public opinion in the Second District about 2 to against the canal transfer and local newspapers lined up against it ithian a trained diplomatic his torian a Navy veteran and a member of the House Committee on oreign Affairs courageously fought a successful campaign to return the canal to Panama By Election Day ithian had turned the is sue to his advantage first love always re mained the Second District its loyd ithian: A man of his times Guest Columnist his public service for their causes in the House In the most difficult of times ithian restored hope and faith in government and the political system Stickle was a colleague of loyd ithian at Purdue Uni versity campaign manager in 1972 and his chief legislative assistant and cam paign fund raiser from 1975 81 He is currently president of the Chemical Producers and Dis tributors Association located in Alexandria Va if 1 vk I Mil riends for Life Westminster me What are you looking for in a home as you get older? High on the list is independence as is peace of mind privacy and of course friends Village At Westminster Village we are a community of people who really enjoy life Stop by and see people savoring a cup of coffee in the Cafe as they read their mail Others are gathering in the lobby to go to a Purdue convocation while you hear from a sunny comer crafts room the sounds of people laughing Vacations shopping gardening and even delicious restaurant style dining are a part of our Village life What we provide at Westminster Village is really quite simpleriends for the rest of your life! WESTMINSTER VILLAGE Aging is not an option How you do it is 2741 North Salisbury Street West Lafayette Indiana 47906 7654637546 ADVERTISEMENT ADVERTISEMENT SPORTS TECH NEWS 2003 New golf secret metal hits too far on some par Once secret Armor Pierce Metal was developed by the military for the tips of shells and torpedoes On the face of a golf club the extreme hardness adds significant yardage to a golf shot Metal created by Department of Defense for tips of torpedoes and shells How to win a long ball contest YALES VILLE CT A once secret metal used to penetrate enemy neiping goners mi very long shots The metal a combination of ceramic tungsten and four other materials was necessary because steel and titanium are too soft to pierce modem dav armor Now an ex Navy engineer work ing with a small golf company in Connecticut has applied the metal to the face of a driver and some strong golfers are hitting shots so far they nave to use the 3 wood on par toavoid over hitting the green or instance a PGA professional who played a round with the new driver told me he had to use the 3 wood on 300 to 330 vard holes to keep the ball from flying over the green Here are more stories that help illus trate the potential power A golfer in California after 40 years of golf won his first long ball contest using the club Another shot his first sub par round in 20 years A golfer handi capped with an artificial leg out hit his pro with a 320 yard drive and cut six strokes on his score Two broken two long ball wins At a driving range a golfer using the new club was hitting the ball so far others had to try it Everyone Out hit their own driver including a young man who had just bought a new $40000 titani um driver Another golfer a long hitter surely with some help from the wind hit a 420 yard tee shot That exceeds the average drive on the PGA Tour by over 150 yards Another hit shots so hard he split a balata ball and a Surlyn covered Titleist He destroyed two bails but he won two long ball contests A Director of the company that markets the new driver told me this three years in the business and I have never seen shots hit so far This new Armor Pierce Metal clobbers balls like a battering ram There is vir tually no loss of energy at impact All the juice goes into the ball At high club head speeds it can actually break balls! And easy to control 78 Straighter well known professional we know tested the club for us during a tournament warm up and was curl ing 300 yard shots around trees with such accuracy several of his peers wandered over to try it They were awed But for their contracts seven top pros could have been playing our Controller Driver in a national tournament that day We would have sold thousands Controller control comes from probably the biggest most forgiving sweet spot in golf and a scientific roll and bulge that tames hooks and slices A good golfer can draw and fade shots just like our famous friend independent lab found that these features keep tee shots 78 closer to the centerline than a lead ing tour driver We found this so startling we asked an outside con sultant to test it among a group of real life golfers The results were just as startling They landed four times four times as many tec shots within ten yards of the center line with the Controller Driver than with their own drivers dynamite We know of no other driver that can match its The Controller head is about the same size as the Great Big Bertha titanium driver and its shaft is 45 inch long for extra club head speed If you want to try it on the course or in a long ball contest the maker NGC Golf will let you keep the club for 30 days and return it for a refund if its extra power doesn't help you cut 6 to 8 strokes off your score (if you average 85 or higher) To order the Controller Driver call 1 800 285 3900 or click wwwngc golfcom (anytime or day) Or send your name address and check (or cc number and exp date) to NGC Golf (Dept ON3126) 60 Church St Yalesville CT 06492 Ask for the Controller Driver and choose from three shaft models: steel at $14900 graphite at $17900 and their top of the line big butt TurboTip graphjte at $19500 Add $1495 sh CT add sales tax When you buy the driver the matching 3 and 5 woods are avail able at a $2000 discount off the dri price Be sure to specify regu lar or stiff flex right or left handed or Oh yes If you swing at 120 MPH carry some extra balls MO 9 Inc 2003 DptON312 armor is now by Charlie Allen SPORTS TECH NEWS 2003.