You're Wrong, I'm Rafferty : Televising a new year

Andrew Rafferty

Rafferty talks about his new years resolutions and how he loathes the new Corbo TVs

My New Year’s Resolution for 2008 is to exercise more/watch more TV. You might think that doing more of one would leave less time for the other. I was a little worried myself. But, the new renovations to the Corbo Center are making all my dreams come true.

Let me just say I think it’s cool. Putting TVs on all the treadmills and elliptical machines is something I wouldn’t expect from JCU. But, I guess it goes along with

the old enrollment adage, “The more TVs per square inch a campus has, the higher enrollment will be.”
I have a little problem because I can’t watch one channel for more than five minutes. I am constantly pushing buttons. It’s a distraction, but I guess it’s my own fault. Generally, more buttons lead to more problems.
I also feel like I’m being judged by what I watch. Nobody knows when I’m rocking Right Said Fred on my iPod.
They do notice when I’m watching “Sex in The City” reruns.

But, like everything in life, I use this to my advantage. The other day I turned to the girl on the machine next to me and said, “Hey, I don’t know if you noticed, but I’m watching The History Channel. And that says something about me as a human being.”

I am a little concerned about what this says about society, though. I mean, we can’t even exercise without being entertained? The whole, “let’s put TVs all over the place” mentality can be problematic.

For example, why is there a TV hanging from the ceiling when you walk into the library?

No student has ever looked at that and said, “Wow, I’m really glad that’s here; it is going to be such a valuable resource!”

It’s more like, “Wow, I know that in some way, I paid for that.”

I don’t care if someone donated money for the sole purpose of putting that flat screen in the library. JCU should have told them to give the money to feed the homeless, or any of the other million more effective uses.
The future will have TVs everywhere. I’ve seen them in fancy bathrooms, which is completely contrary to the effectiveness of a bathroom.

A good bathroom gets people in and out. It doesn’t encourage them to stick around.
I would like to think that I’m not so afraid to be alone with my thoughts that I need to be constantly entertained. I’m waiting for a TV to be invented that I can put in my shower.

I do some of my best thinking in the shower, and if there is a distraction, that won’t happen. I’ll have to daydream more effectively during classes.

I can’t wait for books on DVD to be released. Instead of having to read the book, I will be able to watch someone read the book to me.

If you really want to boost enrollment, put TVs on desks in the classroom. That is something no other place can offer.