Winners of the Chips writing contest

This is the second edition of the Chips Writing Competition. A number of students replied to the question below in their English classes, and the entries were all judged by Chips staff members. The following are those entries that we felt were most effective in style, content and language use. Winners can come to room 165 either 5A or 5B lunch any time this week to pick up their prizes.

Question: What is your least favorite TV show and why?

Winners:

Douglas Adams
The worst show on television? That's a hard question, seeing as how they are all bad. Every show on every channel targets the lowest common denominator, with ever-increasing amounts of sex, violence and foul language. Even the news is sensationalist, selecting stories based on ratings and interest rather than what people need to know. To compete, other channels show worse programs, which creates a vicious cycle that deteriorates into explosion scenes checkered with sex. There is no redeeming value for anything shown on TV.

Audrey Kubetin
The worst show on television today is The Swan. This series takes advantage of the insecurities women have about their appearance in order to gain viewers. "Ordinary"-looking women are supposedly transformed permanently into more beautiful creatures, but they end up shallow and ugly on the inside. As if this was not bad enough, "transformed' women who are not up to the show's standards are kicked off in front of a television audience. They trade their dignity and natural bodies for public humiliation, but perhaps it's what they deserve. The Swan just proves that America is well on its way to rock bottom.

Andy Wang
The worst show on TV is Survivor. Survivor is the first reality show and from which others are measured. While entertaining, I consider it the worst TV show because it promotes cheating, lying and backstabbing. Viewers are entertained by the misery of the contestants and cheer the contestants to triumph over the others through any means possible; the more vulgar, the better. It is a measure of society's continuing degrading morals.

Alan Bateman
The worst show on television has got to be Smallville. Way to ruin the better part of a century of he-man sized violence with a teen-angst drama. The absurdly written show gladly trashes decades of comic-book mythology in favor of trashy love triangles and superhero feats that leave you wondering how Kent could ever have a secret identity; especially when half the villains he locks up witness his powers. So, for the crimes of defiling a classic icon of America and sophomoric plots, Smallville is the worst show on television.