The News and Observer from Raleigh, North Carolina • 36

0 NEWS OBSINER TUESDAY JUNE 25 1996 TUESDAY I 3E 41 trtii 11160 bore itarelba lirstpliony probate filabodoKbool 29 ea Wormaty Pa Caw This t233 Red Eq)Ramblers ill10 1149 alsrAg FALkapli41)1111 Iti-2 ti stehotr a illE) Red Ciaq) itr2gel Okr) )11 It' '4R41J41)014ttd vithatt principled creator e)5' 01 4 tzi iztiirol gi gyot eT-41refill e1j141 treri eillikkt t14 DOI! I 05-4 rc 6Z-1i? Ike 44 tge irtroli IVIITTtair 04-1-6 I irtz1'Ssltritt 110 WroaTii: if riTps MIN 7561 411 i 41141161 VilitTrefi el 411 eTt Wei tqCgt omordip 11:1171441) ITV 7 "g4 ry NS1 Me Need' Canaan pproptioey die Tows et Cory Regency Petit awl Meisel Properties Proses Susestterterst Tickets $10 in advance $12 at the gate (12 under free) Call 831-6060 or 1-800-292-7469 Or IKketmaster (834-4000) or outlet in Blockbuster Music Marsha Its Sound Shop select Schoolkids Records Kroger and Hecht Regency Park is in Cary at the intersection of Lis 1 South and 64 West Snacks sandwiches and soft drinks available Or order a picnic ahead by calling Park Avenue Deli at 467-4097 Picnics and lawn chairs welcome but no biankels or chairs set up before 5pm Catpotete Sponsoos: Midway Airlines Jiffy Lube United Carolina Bank Lowry Opthalmology Red Hot Blue Proweited By NTEirv The Gary News OBSAR NW RI Ater397 mcny (Some restriclions may appY) Cligk Oul These Sizzling Summer Specials! Slip ials! Join Triangle residents for the HUGEST RUMMAGE SALE EVER! Leave no tent unturned to find the hottest prices in town! You'll find anything from inventory close-outs to selling the family dog! if you have left over inventory in stock or discarding stored ttems in your attic or garage then turn that HOT deal into COOL cash! The Flea Market will first appear in the 4th of July Classified Section We will then run your merchandise in the following Sunday's Classified (July 7 14 21 28) at rned to ed GREAT DISCOUNTS! I Di lbert's BY LAURA LIPPMAN THE SALTImORE SUN We had wanted to check in with Scott Adams bye-mail It turns out this demonstrated all the creativity and innovation of a boss in his comic strip "Dilbert" Everyone wants to interview Adams bye-mail especially now that his latest book "The Dilbert Principle" is on the nonfiction best-seller list where it has remained now for almost two months Besides Adams said he figured out that reporters who interviewed him by e-mail were making him do their job which directly violates a key tenet of "The Dilbert Principle" "Avoidance of work (is) in the best interest of the company and something to be proud of" So we settled on a long-distance call on company time which is consistent with yet another Dilbert tenet "Virtual Hourly Compensation" a theory that suggests your total compensation package includes office supplies and unlimited long distance Except we were working Honest Three years ago you put your e-mail address on "Dilbert" which was then in 200 papers Today it's in almost 1000 How many messages did you get today? I think we're pushing 500 A typical day is about 300 Do you ever regret publishing your address? A No because almost everything good that's happened to me I think you can trace back to that simple inspiration It really was the spark There were a lot of things that were hugely important after that you can point to a GOODBYE CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 says he'll be getting national television exposure always a plus in trying to snare that network contract He'll be living in a thriving cosmopolitan city San Francisco may not be the wicked and busy megapolis of his birth Bombay but it's a start in that direction "When I moved from Bombay to Seattle that seemed like a step down to me" he says And San Francisco he says ain't Gooberville "I just want to be in a city where the skyline has more than two buildings in it" he laughs Instead of the quick-hit one-minute reports he produced for WNCN he'll now have the luxury of reporting three or four longer more comprehensive segments each week He says the increased air time will make it easier for him to explain complicated technological issues to an often technologically obtuse television audience "I think the new progaml will have tendency to cover things in the Bay area but it won't be limited to that" he says "San Francisco is one of the meccas of technology in this country and that's a plus" With the plucky candor that you soon realize is a part of his personality it's a candor easily construed as arrogance he says he is not a technological nerd just because he's an Asian male Sreenivasan began showing an interest in technology reporting when he realized he wasn't "cut out for general assignment news reporting" at WNCN "I was interested in technology reporting because it's not the same old-same old" he says And the decision to begin covering technology news was a strategic career move that would have made a young Caesar proud "I realized that a lot of markets don't have the personnel to explain technology in a media-savvy way" It was a decision he took seriously at Channel 17 After some field assignments that took him around the area he began doing reports on local technology firms the best sites on the World Wide Web and consumer-oriented segments designed to demystify the Internet The technology reports soon became one of the more interesting and informative appendages of the newborn WNCN "New Generation of News" corpus And let's be honest: With his exotic good looks and a mustache Hercule Poirot would pine for Sreenivasan probably doesn't look like any television news reporter you areused to The only other Indian lace that has appeared on :) the wicked of his birth in that om Bombay to i like a step A rs nd San ain't in a city where than two aughs ck-hit one- roduced for we thel longer ou re segments the increased easier for )licated tech- in often ise television prop-am will iver things in won't be limit- "San the meccas of ountry and mdor that you -t of his candor easily mce he mological nerd I Asian male showing an gY rePrting i wasn't "cut gnment news vr in Rechnolog it's not the he says And covering is a strategic ould have ar proud "I "markets don't to explain ha-savvy way" le took 17 After ents that took a he began al technology on the World umer-oriented to demystify chnology le one of the id informative lewborn ration of st: With his iid a mustache Id pine for )1y doesn't look iews reporter only other appeared on up the studies are all made up the outlook if taken seriously is absolutely dismal That said can "The Dilbert Principle" be used in the same way as say Tom Peters' "In Search of A There's an important parallel which is: I'd like to sell as many (books) as he did I do get reports from all over of CEOs who are buying the book and giving it to their managers More often lower-level managers are buying it and giving it to their CEOs 0 But if "The Dilbert Principle" is correct isn't the chapter "Pretending to Work" alerting otherwise clueless managers to all the tricks of the trade? A You're giving them way too much credit You're making the assumption they can take information process it and use it On my planet there's not much evidence to support that theory OK but what about the part about making sure you always arrive before your boss and leave after he or she departs? Did you really have to give that one up? A I can honestly say if I were still working my day job I could not have written that So it's true what my boss thinks I'm doing is more important than what I am doing? A Absolutely What you actually do has no bearing whatsoever on your salary or your happiness What he thinks you did does And there's a section about the employee who learns how to bitch endlessly I had a co-worker who was the expert in that Whatever topic you discussed he said "Oh man working so hard" I never saw anybody do less work in my life and talk more about it And it works heard Seattle calling During high school in suburban Seattle he deejayed an afternoon radio program at the school's student-run radio station but replaced his interest in radio with interest in television at the University of Puget Sound where he studied communications HERE'S A DPACT OF MY NEW 0531CTIVE5 I TRIED 'TO MAKE THEM ACHLEVAOLE dozen other things but if you go back to the big bang that was the actual impetus Did you consult a single reference book (except perhaps a dictionary) while writing "The Dilbert A I don't remember looking at a dictionary I have spell-check and dammit that's what the editors are for What are the implications of the "Dilbert most ineffective workers are systematically moved to the place where they can do the least damage A It's part of an overall problem that the world has become so complicated that even smart people are bluffing It used to be only dumb people had to bluff Now smart people have to do it Even if you take someone who used to know what they did wait a year and they no longer know The people who are making the decisions never have enough information to make the right decisions Everyone comes out looking absurd because they don't have the tools they need If all you have is a woodchuck everything looks like a lawn Your statistics are all made your television unless you've recently rented "Salaam Bombay!" or "Ghandi" is probably that Indian convenience store owner with the exaggerated accent on "The Simpsons" It's a stereotype Sreenivasan wants to buck while still doing good reporting "I think it's positive that people are seeing an Indian on TV who doesn't speak with an accent" he says "It's something people here aren't necessarily used to They tend to lump you into the category of Middle Easterner" Once on a reporting foray that took him outside the Be Wine "in a rural area" the person he was interviewing would address his videographer instead of him "You just have say 'Chin up man you have to do your job' he says "I had to remind him that I would be the one making the editorial decisions with this story so talk to me It doesn't happen daily but it's out there" He says he's one of the few Asian-American male on-air reporters in this or any other market outside of California and an even smaller number of male Indian-Americans in broadcast news He puts it at fewer than two dozen "We should all have a potluck and meet every year" he laughs "The number of Asian-American males is growing in print journalism but TV seems to be the last fortress" He says there aren't enough Asian-American males in broadcast news simply because the talent pool is so parched They tend to enter engineering science or medicine professions they know will bring prestige wealth and security They are also professions that have seen many Asian-American males enter and succeed before them But even when they break into the television news industry the stereotyping continues "I remember talking to people who assumed I had an engineering degree becauseI'm Indian" he says "They start explaining things to you in a language you don't understand and then they say 'I'm sure you know about that' Well I don't I'm a normal guy and a regular reporter" And being a "normal guy" has given him some of his most rewarding experiences in Raleigh Once while attending Hindu temple Sreenivasan was singled out by an Indian-American mother who told her young son "Look he's a TV newsgu3r It's possible for him to do that and he doesn't have to be an engineer or a doctor" "It's nice to be breaking molds and trailblazing" he says Sreenivasan was born in Bombay and spent the first eight years of his file on the subcontinent before his parents 0 ditik iliPhilA I' 1 ni --1 minx it's positive tnat people are seeing an Indian on TV who doesn't speak with an accent" he says "It's something people here aren't necessarily used to They tend to lump you into the category of Middle Easterner" Once on a reporting foray that took him outside the Beltline "in a rural area" the person he was interviewing would address his videographer instead of him "You just have say 'Chin up man you have to do your job' he says ao remind him that I "I hd would be the one making the edi- tonal decisions with this story so talk to me It doesn't happen daily but it's out there" He says he's one of he few Asian -American male on-air reporters in this or any other market outside of California and a -A Ian even smaller number of male nianmericns in broadcast dt news He puts it at fewer than two dozen "We should all have a potluck and meet every year" he laughs The number of Asian- American males is growing in print journalism but TV seems to be the last fortress" He says there aren't enough erican males in broad- Asian-Am cast news smply because the talent pool is so parched They tend to enter engineering science or medicine professions they 'mow will bring prestige wealth and security They also profes- are sons that ave seen many Mian-American males enter and succeed before them But even when they break into the television news industry the stereotyping continues I remember talldng to people who assumed I had an engineer- ing degree becauseI'm Indian" he says "They start explaining things to you in a language you don't understand and then they say 'I'm sure you know about that' Well I don't I'm a normal guy and a regular reporter" And being a "normal guy" has given him some of his most rewarding experiences in Raleigh Once while attending Hindu temple Sreenivasan was singled out by an Indian-American moth- er who told her young son "Look he's a TV newsgu3r It's possible for him to do that and he doesn't have to be an engineer or a doctor" "It's nice to be breaking molds and trailblazing" he says Sreenivasan was born in Bombay and spent the first eight years of his life on the subcontinent before his parents His parents who are still in Seattle wanted him on a more 919-829-4600 Ot 1-800-662-6040 stable career track They like Call a Ciassified Represen- FAX 919-829-4824 Or Mail To many first-generation immigrant tative to place your ad Ip today! Flea Mark FESTIVAL parents wanted their son to become a doctor or an engineer The News Observer or a scientist and they wanted Classified Advertising Dept him to find a road that would lead 17 THE 111INKOBSERVER PO Deadli ne Box 191 ne: July 1 1200pm Raleigh NC 27602 to his pot of gold He chose instead a long and winding road 1 that has taken him to three cities since he graduated last year He i Alitgrn'-- cut his teeth at an independent 1 e' o4 station in Yakima where he "one- i man-banded it" in one of the THE IEWSISOBSERVER dreariest cities he says he's ever lived in eSS1 3 "Like most first-generation par- ents my parents didn't have lofty They're in a sur idealistic goals vival mode of thinking" he says alloA Aollt VOA "I think someday they'll get over 11! Ct lz the disappointment of my being i 1 in television They thought at first it was phase that I would get stt e4 1 I over I don't think it hit them until I 'A the day I had my car packed and i was headed for Raleigh" 1 But they're warming up to the idea that Sreenivasan could make it to the big time "Even now they tease me that I work eight hours a day to put on one minute of televi- 1 Saturday LI Sunday 1 sion" he says I Eight-hour days were the mini- July 13-14 mum for Sreenivasan a WNCN He says he was in the office by 8 every morning and didn't get out WRAL CASL Soccer Center US I North of Raleigh until 8 pm He says he rarely took a lunch break When he sent his i audition tapes to WNCN last sum- Deadline for entry: June 27 '1996 $125 'ream ent ry fee mer for its startup news i operation he didn't think he was For more info call (919) 8294843 or 8343951 good enough to work at an NBC affiliate in a top 30 television mar- Open to ALL soccer players (men women co-ed U7 adult) 45-55 divisions I ket i 1 "It really took me a couple of Instructional recreational competitive Round robin format 30-40 yd fields weeks to settle in" he says "And Over 40 games played simultaneously NO GOALIES 6 12 ft goals it took a couple of stories for me to realize hey I can run with Up to 5 members per team with 3 on the field at any time these guys I can write and corn- Two 12 minute halves 3 games per team guaranteed 1 municate stories just as well as the competition" T-shirt for each player IS! Soccer bags for division champs He wants a national network Entry forms at area soccer shops CASL office and area Hannaford Superstores news post by the time he's 30 But the irony is that once he achieves i that he'll toll the bell on his i broadcast career He ultimately i Event IVSS OBSE RYER TSI i wants to teach journalism and Sponsors 1E SOCCER 1 Philosophy in his native India I And he wants to devote a part of I his life to the study of the Veda the sacred Hindu religious text It-takft Hann aford REICHHOLD 1 1 i And like the typical young jour- Food and Drug Superstore neyman journalist he doesn't have much furniture or many earthly belongings CASE I All the proceeds benefit the rim 101 5 0- USAir wz "I could live like a gypsy just Capital Area Soccer League doing what I want to do Facility Development Program 17MIL-Flii well: USAir beginswithyou Broadcasting is just one career for me I don't want to be a gray- haired Walter Cronkite" r3 4 His parents who are still in Seattle wanted him on a more stable career track They like many first-generation immigrant parents wanted their son to become a doctor or an engineer or a scientist and they wanted him to find a road that would lead to his pot of gold He chose instead a long and winding road that has taken him to three cities since he graduated last year He cut his teeth at an independent station in Yakima where he "oneman-banded it" in one of the dreariest cities he says he's ever lived in "Like most first-generation parents my parents didn't have lofty idealistic goals They're in a survival mode of thinking" he says "I think someday they'll get over the disappointment of my being in television They thought at first it was phase that I would get over I don't think it hit them until the day I had my car packed and was headed for Raleigh" But they're warming up to the idea that Sreenivasan could make it to the big time "Even now they tease me that I work eight hours a day to put on one minute of television" he says Eight-hour days were the minimum for Sreenivasan at WNCN He says he was in the office by 8 every morning and didn't get out until 8 pm He says he rarely took a lunch break When he sent his audition tapes to WNCN last summer for its startup news operation he didn't think he was good enough to work at an NBC affiliate in a top 30 television market "It really took me a couple of weeks to settle in" he says "And it took a couple of stories for me to realize hey I can run with these guys I can write and communicate stories just as well as the competition" He wants a national network news post by the time he's 30 But the irony is that once he achieves that he'll toll the bell on his broadcast career He ultimately wants to teach journalism and philosophy in his native India And he wants to devote a part of his life to the study of the Veda the sacred Hindu religious text And like the typical young journeyman journalist he doesn't have much furniture or many earthly belongings "I could live like a gypsy just doing what I want to do Broadcasting is just one career for me I don't want to be a gray- haired Walter Cronkite" Call a Classified Representative to place your ad today! THE NEMOBSERVER THE YEIIISKOBSERVER SAPICCER Saturday la Sunday July 13-14 WRAL CASL Soccer Center US I North of Raleigh Deadline for entry: June 27 1996 $125 Team entry fee For more info call (919) 829-4843 or 834-3951 Open to ALL soccer players (men women co-ed U7 adult) 45-55 divisions Instructional recreational competitive Round robin format 30-40 yd fields Over 40 games played simultaneously NO GOALIES 6 12 ft goals Up to 5 members per team with 3 on the field at any time Two 12 minute halves 3 games per team guaranteed T-shirt for each player IS! Soccer bags for division champs Entry forms at area soccer shops CASL office and area Hannaford Superstores Event Sponsors Alt the proceeds benefit the Capital Area Soccer League Facility Development Program Food and Drug Superstore remilff 10 LS WRAL-FAI 919-829-4600 Or 1-800-662-6040 FAX: 919-829-4824 Or Mall To: Flea Marke FESTIVAL The News Observer Classified Advertising Dept PO Box 191 Raleigh NC 27602 Deadline: July 1 oll.