University of Tampa - Moroccan Yearbook (Tampa, FL)

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in terms or civil leberty? press exposed this story, and should they have? Traditionally, the press has stayed away from ‘‘after- hours” behavior. No one re- ported John Kennedy’s af- fairs until long after his death, and no one revealed that Franklin Roosevelt’s train made stops to pick up or discharge his mistress. But that was before Watergate and other scandals focused new attention on the charac- ter of politicians. As U.S. News and World Report reported, That is the signal difference this year: Journalists practicing the neoscience of gaffeology have decided that it is no longer sufficient to ex- amine men by their public acts. Their pri- vate lives and those of their families are, in the memorable metaphor of Richard Nixon, ‘subjected not just to a microscope but to a protoscope’.” This attitude was strongly displayed when The New York Times Washington bureau chief. Craig Whitney, asked presidential candidates to waive privacy rights on intimate details and tell all. This new kind of journalism, called urine-test journalism” by Professor Ralph Whitehead of the University of Massachusetts, brought down Hart, Joe Biden, and Douglas Ginsburg (Supreme Court nominee). among others. The questions which arose this year included, Is this new kind of journalism; new exposure, good or bad? Do the Ameri- can people want or need to know all the private details of public lives? Should they know? Should the degree change by posi- tion? Where should it stop?” Unfortunately, the issue was still un- resolved at the end of the year, and the people were pre- sented with many conflicting cases. When Hart challenged the press and lost, many people were indignant; why should the press be allowed to violate privacy when mere sexual habits ABOVE: Evangelist Jimmy Swaggeit in eaily 1988 wa» asked to leave his publicly confessing a tryst with a prostitute. Swaggert later began hit own council of churches olaced him on Drobation. ministry after ministry after the md ABOVE AND INSET: Gary Hart Donna Rice were caught together, eventually ending Hart's campaign for President. BELOW: Criticism takes many forms after court nominee Ginsburg con- fesses to smokino do! decades aeo. would have no effect on the presidency? The doubts rest- ed, instead, on Hart’s foolish- ness in having an affair after challenging the press • was this bad judgement a flaw about which the public should know? On the other hand, when Biden was exposed by the press as a plagiarist, doubts about the public’s need to know were almost non-exis- tent; if a man is a cheat, it will definitely have an effect on the presidency. Then President Reag- an’s second supreme court nominee, Ginsburg was ac- cused in the media of having smoked pot in college during the sixties and early seventies, and Ginsburg admit- ted to the act. But he also stated that he hadn’t used the drug since then. Again, controversy arose on whether something done so long ago should be a deciding fac- tor, indiscrete or not. “There is no consensus on what’s rele- vant to a person’s qualifications,” said Democratic strategist Bob Shrum. In the absence of agreement, we have reached a stage where anything anyone prints any- where is deemed relevant.” The danger for reporters in acting as morality-enforcers could have been seri- ous. A pollster warned that there was a public backwash developing because vast num- bers of voters feared reporters were operating out of control, according to U.S. News World Report. The dark side of press competition is like the Sorcerer’s Apprentice,” said press observer Stephen Hess of the Brookings Insti- tution. You start with very legitimate stor- ies, but it keeps going till you get off-the-wall stor- ies and you can’t shut it off.” « STUDENT LIFE 27

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problems in finding space to perform is gentrification”. Artists move into a declin- ing area and begin to re- vive old buildings, create cul- tural events, and attract shops, restaurants, and gal- leries. This makes the area move valuable and creates a housing demand for expen- sive homes, thus raising prices, and low-income artists can no longer afford to re- main. This happened in Tampa in several areas, including Ybor City, and performing groups had to move out. The Tampa Players found a home in UT’s Spartan Arms, the Tampa Ballet and Florida Orchestra The idea that artists must suffer to create has been around for ages. One reason for this superstition is the fre- quently deplorable state of the areas in which they have lived and worked. The need for inexpensive space with large floor areas and high ceilings has led many performing artists into abandoned commercial and industrial areas, or old ware- houses, which meet the provi- sions plentifully and cheaply. Although they provide per- forming space, these facilities are usually unsafe and uncom- fortable, and the artists have claim to moved into Falk Theatre and McKay Auditorium on cam- pus, and a small dramatic group, Ground Zero, moved into an empty building near campus on Howard Avenue. Last year, several changes af- fected the state of the per- forming arts around Tampa; UT sold Spartan Arms, and with it Lafayette Arcade, and the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center was finished. These changes caused both relocation problems and bene- fits for the groups involved. With these changes however a new awareness of the arts grew, and with this aware- ness, a new appreciation for the arts. only a them. One of the most common