April 04, 2007

Indian ad inspires donation

‘On The Rez’Until recently, Robinson, a retired human resources professional who divides her time between Florida and Connecticut, admits that her knowledge of American Indian culture was derived from travels to places like Mesa Verde, Colo., and from Tony Hillerman novels.

But last winter, Robinson happened upon an advertisement from the American Indian College Fund that set her on a journey to expand her understanding of Native culture as well as the role of tribal colleges. Grabbed by the bold image of the “If I Stay on the Rez” ads and the campaign’s compelling statistics, she logged on to the College Fund’s Web site and made a $300 donation on the spot.
Comment:  Her Native knowledge came from travels and novels--i.e., the media.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

That Rob Schmidt sure is a jealous
gay-guy! About Rez Dog Calendar:
Always someone trying to stop an
Indian's progress in his white world? Remember Indians were here first!

Rob said...

Two non sequiturs in a row...congratulations!

Jealous of what...the American Indian College Fund's success? Why would I be jealous of that?

FYI, I'm not gay. But you must be one of those idiots who thinks "gay" is a cutting insult.

Thanks for giving me a chance to plug my writeup of The Rez Dog Calendar:  Role Models or Sex Objects? If you want to highlight any of my other pages, please do.

Meanwhile, do you have anything to say about this posting? Apparently not.

Rob said...

"Media" refers to the antecedent "novels," of course.

A scam that quickly disappeared 20-30 years ago isn't evidence of racism today. And it isn't nearly as bad as the killings and imprisonments that occurred a century ago.

Fortunately, I don't need your out-of-date anecdotes to note that racism and stereotyping persist. While you're sitting on your couch doing nothing, I'm documenting the ongoing problem in my Stereotype of the Month contest.

Rob said...

Writing science fiction about Indians doesn't necessarily do anything to thwart stereotypes. Neither does winning awards.

As far as I can tell, your biggest claim to fame continues to be your animated Star Trek episode. Most of your screenplays were optioned but not produced or appeared as B through Z-list movies.

My Eiteljorg appearance was paid for, but so is all your writing. While you're hacking for a paycheck, I'm doing this website because I believe in my cause. Readers can decide whose motives are purer.

I have 6-8 feet of the magazines my writing has appeared in, so I'm not impressed with your three feet. If size matters, mine is bigger.

In addition to the tens (millions?) of people who have read my 400+ articles, my comics and short stories, etc., this website is averaging 31,000 hits a day (as of March). That's almost a million hits a month or about 11 million hits a year. I've been doing this almost 10 years, so you do the math.

In short, I'll put my written output against yours any day. Moreover, my output and its popularity are increasing daily. And I'm 16-17 years younger than you. By the time we're both done, I'm confident my output will be greater than yours.

That doesn't say anything about the quality of the output, of course, or whether it has changed anyone's mind. But I often receive plaudits about my work. I'm satisfied that it's having the intended effect.

Even you must be spending 30-60 minutes a day reading and responding to my postings. Again, why are you spending so much time here if it's a waste of time? It does not compute.

Rob said...

Incidentally, since you keep boasting about your accomplishments, I feel free to offer a reality check. The viewers at TV.com have rated all the animated Trek episodes:

Star Trek: The Animated Series

I'd say they rightly picked "Yesteryear" and the "The Slaver Weapon" as the two best episodes. Here's how they rated all the episodes, including yours:

  1 Yesteryear  9.26
  2 The Slaver Weapon  8.38
  3 Albatross  8.17
  4 The Pirates of Orion  8.03
  5 The Practical Joker  7.99
  6 The Survivor  7.85
  7 The Jihad  7.80
  8 Beyond the Farthest Star  7.77
  9 The Eye of the Beholder  7.70
10 More Tribbles, More Troubles  7.63
11 The Time Trap  7.62
12 The Counter-Clock Incident  7.56
13 The Terratin Incident  7.49
14 The Ambergris Element  7.49
15 One of Our Planets is Missing  7.33
16 The Infinite Vulcan  7.10
17 Once Upon a Planet  7.10
18 The Lorelei Signal  7.06
19 How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth?  7.06
20 Mudd's Passion  6.98
21 Bem  6.11
22 The Magicks of Megas-Tu  5.98

I'd say this ranking is pretty accurate. Does anyone want to disagree?