The Griffin: volume 52, issue 06 - Oct. 30, 1981

              The CPS article reported a nation-wide trend ot student migration from private colleges to the lowercost public colleges. The proposed cuts in federal financial aid, and the inflation rate were cited as reasons for the shift to public schools. This migration does not seem to be affecting Canisius. Over 1800 freshmen applied for the Fall "semester, of which 1185 were accepted and 603 enrolled. In fact, the number of applications had in- However, she noted that fears over federal funding cuts had an effect on the type of students that enrolled for the Fall semester. Lips reported that more students than usual had previously attended community colleges. It also appears that more adults are returning to college, possibly because they are unemployed, or because they wish to obtain higher-paying jobs. Lips believes that the aid cuts and inflation will probably have a greater effect in future years. With this in mind, the college's primary concern in the coming years will be maintaining the affordability of the school, she said. creased by 125 over last year. Lips attributed this to the administration's efforts to maintain the positive image of Canisius, both in Western New York and elsewhere. Forum Explores 'Press vs. Politics7 Howell said that the increased technology, which has the poten- ting Howell, an experienced broadcast and print journalist, stated, "Print journalism is much more superior to broadcast journalism. Print journalists are better educated to the issues, they know how to write and they don't have to worry about appearances." "Most TV journalists are so concerned with appearances that a mirror and make-up become their primary tools of journalism." Sheila Murphy said that "TV news tells you what you should be reading about in the newspaper. There is no way you can get it all in a half-an-hour and you're lazy if you think you are going to get it. It's your responsibility to go after the news, not to be spoon-fed it." Sensationalism (mostly in TV news) was also discussed. Coan criticized TV news for simplifying "to the point of ludicrousness many serious and complex issues." a?s ;■ " ,;' . II.'yTim ■ j.i'' m >Mlw<lt'l'T"HI 'ill' "v'"'Mf' appeared to be unanimous among the speakers that the print medium does an infinitely better job of covering political issues. Berlin in his argument, made the distinction between "spot news" (stories on events that occur quickly) and "processcentered news" (stories on issues that happen over a longer period of time and are more in-depth). Berlin claimed that while the broadcast media (radio and TV) are more suited to cover the former, the print medium is tailored more to handle the latter. Coan argued that, although the broadcast media may be more suited to cover spot news reporting, it does not give enough background on these events. It merely covers each "crisis" as it occurs (with no explanation of the build-up which led to it) and then drops the issue as soon as it is over, he said. Coan used television's coverage of the Iranian crisis as an example of this incompetence in spot news repor- "Journalism is a business and there is a difference between public and corporate interest," Thomas stated. "Unfortunately, the demands of corporate competition mean that we don't always get objective reporting." Howell agreed with Thomas: "The biggest problem with American political journalism is advertising." "Advertising is poisoning the news process, especially on the local level." He maintains that noncommercial radio gives the most thorough and objective news casts of the broadcast media. The performance of the print medium versus that of the broadcast media was also discussed. It Several factors were cited as contributing to this situation, such as time limits in broadcast, the placement and amount of space devoted to an article in print and commercial influences on the businees. kind of journalism, be it broadcast or print. This brought up the question of how far the press should be allow(continued on page 3) "Therefore," Galie continued, "NO government can satisfy the press and this will eventually reduce the effectiveness and credibility of the government itself." Galie also noted that "the press in the United States has a status unheard of in any other country." This status, he argued, gives the press such a pompous, authoritarian attitude that they are "opposed to any government which isn't perfect." something really rotten — when there is just as likely to be nothing really rotten there." "The press puts more and more effort into trying to expose things with less and less results," Galie said. "But they keep searching because they believe that underneath jt all is 'the truth' Galie used the metaphor of the press being like a pack of sharks who follow a ship at sea waiting "for it to sink or for someone to fall overboard. Thomas noted that in many cases, "early reports can be misleading and even wrong." He used TV's coverage of the attempted assasination of Reagan last spring as an example. "It is still necessary to take time to report well," Thomas concluded. Galie devoted much of his argument to the question of secrecy in government and when it should or should not be honored' by the press. "The American political system is the most open one in the world," he stated, adding that, in our government, "secrecy is a mortal sin; the press will not tolerate it. Everything must be exposed."tial to be used positively, is being abused by the television news medium. "Each station, he said, "it's 'mini-cam or i, >o eye' or 'Instant eye' iust so they can say "We were there first!" When-the audience doesn't even care who was there first!" The interpretation of news events was another major point that was covered during the symposium. All of the speakers seemed to agree that some degree of interpretation is inevitable in any Galie defended the qualifications of reporters when he said, "There seems to be a new breed of articulate, educated reporters." Murphy, who was a political science major herself in college, added that, "probably the finest journalists today do not have journalism degrees." Other speakers included Barry Berlin and Dr. Jack Howell, both of the Communication department, who spoke on behalf of the press. Dr. Ronald Coan of the Urban Studies department along with Dr. Stafford Thomas and Dr. Peter Galie, both of the Political Science department, spoke from the perspective of the government during the symposium. Thomas began the symposium by raising the issue of reporters' qualifications and how this affects their interpretative abilities in the area of politics and government. "The problem," Thomas stated, "is that most reporters have experience as reporters, but they have no experience in the topic they're dealing with." Coan emphatically agreed on this point, noting that, "most journalists are trained more in the technical aspects of reporting. They learn how to get the message across rather than what the message is." Sheila Murphy, former anchorperson and producer of WGR-TV 2's news program and candidate for the office of Buffalo Councilman-at-Large was the guest speaker. by Bridget Storm Naylor The questions of "Is there truth in politics" and car« the press tell us what it really is?" were the topics of discussion at last week's symposium held on Wednesday, October 21 in the Fireside Lounge. Construction workers structure a walkway between the College's Main-Eastwood Complex and Old Main, designed to serve handicapped students and general community. ran griffin/bui Murphy Enrollment Up Despite National Trend Rev. Edmund G. Ryan, S.J., Vice President for Academic Affairs, also believes that the fear of federal aid cuts had an influence on the students. He stated that the proposed cuts "slowed down people's choices." Students enrolled about two months later than usual. But Ryan feels that students are willing to work hard to obtain the necessary funds, if they believe they are receiving a quality education. Ryan stated that, if tuition costs were cut in half, "massproduction education" would result. If that occurred, "I wouldn't want to be here." Ryan believes that students will continue coming to Canisius because of what he called "personal recognition and education." by Paula Horvath In contrast to a recent College Press Service (CPS) story that reported decreasing enrollment at several private colleges, Canisius enrollment has been relatively stable over the past few years, and should remain so, according to Penelope Lips, Director of Admissions at Canisius.