Indianapolis Recorder, Indianapolis, Marion County, 31 March 2000 — Page 15

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FRIDAY, MARCH 31, 2000 ■ PAGE B5 journalism and HriiHig Seminars Mi

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Teevt dating interest What we really want in a boyfrt* and giiifriend.(lt is not all negai

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By Mark A. Henderson Jr. Mtrla jildener #59 Recorded Intern t Teenagers are not as shallow as Wt ; apf>«*r. We look for more in ktopfe than just looks, money and larity. At least most of us do. are just what two people said jook for in a boy or girlfriend. A yopng lady said she said that she lopks for a boy who is humorous, fun loving, out going, open, someone who doesn't smoke (anything), has an interest in school, and wants to better himself. The young man said that he wants a girl who is to be cool with, someone to talk to about anything, someone who is fun, honest and open. He needs someone with a positive attitude, “smart and not dumb as a box of rocks”, and some-

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A role with a purp

one who is stable and will b that into the relationship, all teenagers are completely! trolled by their hormones.' are attracted to other thin; sides physical beauty. Also, agers aren’t looking for the teenage stereotype that ad as negative such as boys wi sagging around their knees

in skin tight clothes. Teens: ask yourself if yoi

ing for class in a potential mi sider these questions. Wh go looking for a potential m

a special event, the mall,

are, or do you go out expe someone? What do you prel looks and money, brains an larity with no future or so

looks, money and brains?

Love is in the air— for all

By Jane Tikr North CeAtral High School RocordorIntern All the way from diaper days to the last fevy seconds of life, every person has someone that they either look up to, admire, sr take exarepiieaJrom.Those ,people ere called role models. A role model has a very hard jobbteaching, understanding, explain-. ing and influencing. There are many different kinds of people like that - actors, singdns, baseball players, teachers, and'most of all, family. At some ptfint in time, for example, a little child'Wvith the family of doctors may tfcs> asked, “What do you want to be* when you grow up?” and the child Will simply reply, “I want to be just like my mom/dad, a doctor." That shows that the child looks up to his/her parents and recognizes the imporunce of that personis career. Plainly, though, the child just truly loves the pareht(s) and feels the security they givk “My role ntodel has always been my mother. I k>ve her so much and I thank her for everything she has done for me. I know that if I were ever in trouble, she^would always be there for me and fake care of me. She is a very strong and determined woman and I would love to grow up and have

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the same courage and vigo saida 16-year-old North Ce School student Kate Kondratiev. Mothers and fathers are top choices for role models because they were there when you were born; they raised you, taught you lessons and Ijfe and set examples for you. Primarily, they predetermined the child’s future and their influence will later on show up in the person’s character. As media became full of various ideas to give out to the society, actors, singers, athletes, etc., have also impacted the lives of the public: “For three years, besides my mother, my role model has been Aaliyah. Aaliyah is an R&B singer who has helped me cope with problems through going through them her self and sharing how she managed to do so. I love her style, her passion for singing and dancing, and her grace. When I read her biography, I understood how much we’re alike, I love that!”said a 14 year old, Janae Vincennes. “Maya Angelou has been my role model for a long time. I chose her as my role model, because she has so much perseverance, ambition, and creativity. I love it when someone sets goals for themselves and does not stop until they reach them,” said

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old, Natalie Wooley. i nere can be, of course, bad role models. It’s pathetic to think that someone may influence another person to take drugs or do something wrong, but the truth is, it happens. A .chjWTW looiroff loMa^oager ciute.-they’re cool or In with the crowd, but really, it doesn’t make a person cool to take in illegal substances or vandalize property. Sometimes the younger person may be used or maybe they don’t understand the difference between right and wrong at such an age. In any way, protection from parents, relatives and elders is required. “I used to not listen to my mother back when I was around 14 when she told me that my 18-year-old friends weren’t of any benefit to me. In fact, she discouraged me to be with them, because she said that they did illegal things and they were just using m6. She was right,but it was too late for me to listen. I got into some stuff and had to go to juvenile for jt. I know now, that itfs hard to pick your friend and people that you may call your role model. I think you should choose wisely who you take your inspiration from, it might help in the future,” said a 17 year old Steven Mollus.

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Arsenal Technical High School “I like Black women better anyway. I Recorder Intern like their attitudes and personalities bet- |. It seems that the year ter. I mean white girls just act stupid, cf 2000 has sparked the Black women seem to have their head on inning of open interra- straight I sorted dating Black women teenage relationships, because I liked the way they presented

asian and African- themselves.”

leans are really start- Kate Kahn, 16, North Central, “ I don’t open up new horizons like good boys. The ones who never get ^ type of relationships, into trouble. Don’t get me wrong there , e some people who are white-acting Black boys. I like ghetto **- t this type of relation- boys. I don’t like boys that are all preppy, •t] does this effect other Most white boys are fake. It is like they try jl; lings? to be who they aren't I’m just not at-

who are in the rela- tracted to white boys.”

thing any one says Stephanie Glasstea 16, Pike Township, I;! r. It is up to you to I feel it's great for people to be in an -*• relationships work, interracial relationship. People seem to \Zdike the fact that you be more and more accepting. It shows £ They may even make how far the level of maturity in the United towards you. It only States has come. My boyfriend is white. think. He is a sweet person. I think I just prefer

ray, 16, Pike High to date Caucasians.”

rracial relationships « The outlook on these type of relationite, Japanese we are ships have changed over the years. Even -C I’ r--... *.1 ...ill v*.

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Organizations aim for multi-racial casts in TV and film

By Alesha Cooper North Central High School Recorder Intern Moesha, The barkers, The Hughkys and The Jamie Foxx Show. The commonality between these'shows is that they all include a majority African-American cast Although Black* on television are continuing to tak« the nation by storm, dramatically increasing their numbers, and paving a way 1 for future shows, their numbers are significantly low when compared to the general television population. A recent report revealed a suprising fact to the many miNions of television viewers in America. The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) sponsored study reported that black characters on televkion are frequently restricted to appearing on sitcoms and on adolescent networks with a small percentage of viewers. The report, called the African American Television Report, was conducted for the Guild bYa University of Southern Carolina professor. The report investigated ail of D* both comedy and drama series airing yn networks such as ABC,

CBS, NBC and FOX. including WB and UPN (the newer networks) during a period of five weeks in 1999. The release of this report occurred shortly after a group, including the NAACP and other civil rights groups signed an agreement a total of four major networks to try and incorporate more “ethnically diverse programming and hiring”. Numerically, the study shows, blacks are well represented on the networks. Blacks only make up 12.2. percent of the U.S. population, yet they account for 16 percent of the characters seen on the six networks during the review period. In addition, half of the Black characters starred in comedies, compared to fewer than a third, 30 percent, of the total amount of white characters. The Black characters were concentrated on United Paramount Network (UPN) and Warner Brothers (WB). Both of these networks produced less than a third of the total episodes aired, 29.4 percent, but accounted for more than 44 percent of all Black characters in prime time.

“My family and I enjoy watching the African-American sitcoms on UPN,” said a father oftwo, Michael Crawford. “They are very well created family-oriented shows that contain morals and lessons for African-American teenagers.” . A total of seven predominately Black sitcoms airing Monday and Friday nights on UPN and WB represent nearly twothirds of all Black prime-time characters who appear for a substantial amount of time, more than 10 minutes. While every show on UPN featured a Black series regular, less than half of WB's shows had Blacks as regular characters. That suggests “the WB lineup is largely segregated into ‘Black’ and ‘White’ shows,” the study revealed. “I, personally, enjoy watching UPN because they have so many Black shows,” said 17-year-old, Brandi D)elham of Broad Ripple. Other networks, like FOX poorly represent Blacks on their television shows. This might be causing them a loss of viewers because so many Blacks feel as if they can not relate to what they are viewing.”

This brings about an interesting point, because among the major networks Blacks are least represented at FOX and NBC. Fewer than 10 percent of the characters on FOX, and about 11 percent of those on NBC were Black. Most of those Black characters were not central to the story lines. In addition, nearly 15 percent of all characters in ABC series and 13 percent of CBS characters were Black. “I believe that blacks should aspire for more than small character roles on television roles,” said Cathy Strickland, a 35-year-old mother of three. “So many blacks have achieved careers as writers, directors and creators. It is time for Blacks to accomplish as much as possible in the media, and not setde for less. The problem is that Blacks have settled for the small lesser important roles. With more demand, and less settling for less. Blacks will climb to the top of the television polls.” In addition, many television shows are taking the effort to incorporate an interracial cast into their programs. This effort will take the support of millions of viewer encouraging this move.

PERCENTAGE

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OF BLACKS

100 95

AMONG THE

MAJOR

NETWORKS

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