| "Kid Nation" has CBS on defensive
CBS hopes its awful-sounding new reality show is television's most controversial social experiment yet. It is potentially more grievous than the vicariously disgusting sight of people eating larvae on a dare, and even possibly worse than seeing 20-something housemates drinking, coupling and unraveling on the air. This one involves 40 children, average age 11, who were taken out of school for 40 days and left unsupervised in a ghost town, trailed by film crews. "Kid Nation" debuts on CBS Sept. 19, but promotional clips are everywhere (here's one promo on youtube.com), along with outrage. Even before it begins, producers face allegations of child abuse and endangerment. Documents surfaced last week confirming that the producers were warned by the New Mexico attorney general's office during filming in April that they were in violation of child labor laws.
Going - Listings
Joliet Junior College: Fine Arts Department, 1215 Houbolt Road. "Blithe Spirit": 7 p.m. Aug. 20-21 open auditions offered. Director Marie Salvaggione will be casting two men and five women. Production dates are Oct. 12-21. "Hellcab": 7 to 10 p.m. Aug. 20-21. Auditions will consist of cold readings from the script, individually and in groups. Rehearsals begin Aug. 23. The show runs Oct. 26 to Nov. 18. Joliet Drama Guild: at Billie Limacher Bicentennial Park Theatre, 201 W. Jefferson St., Joliet. Call (815) 722-1001 or visit jolietdramaguild.org. Theatre-on-the-Hill: Bolingbrook Performing Arts stage, 375 W. Briarcliff, southwest corner of Bolingbrook's Town Center Building. For more information, call (630) 759-2970 or tothbolingbrook.com. MYSO auditions: 6 to 8:30 p.m.
Book gets students to think before they eat
Mary Garvin of Lexington witnessed a dramatic change in the on-the-run eating habits of her two oldest children this summer. As the family scurried through a hectic schedule of swim meets, relying on fast-food meals, Garvin said her daughters chose more healthy selections. The girls went so far to the other extreme, I didn't know why initially," she said. Now she knows. The Garvin girls were among the 2,600 Lexington High School students assigned to read "Chew On This" over the summer. Teachers in all disciplines will use the book as a catalyst for lessons throughout the year. The book is a 2006 sequel to the controversial "Fast Food Nation," but geared to teenagers. Laura Garvin, a freshman, said the reading assignment made her "think before you eat." "It had a lot of 'worst-case' scenarios in there to get the 'wow' factor," she said.
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