Mom’s cry of “Turn off the TV!” is music to the ears of social activists who are sponsoring a campaign this week to leave the small screen blank.TV Turnoff Week, which runs through Friday, is an international campaign sponsored by Adbusters Media Foundation, a non-profit group based in Vancouver, British Columbia.According to Tom Liacas, the campaign manager for Adbusters, the TV Turnoff Week campaign draws attention to the negative effects of television, as well as censorship issues.”It’s really about media democracy,” Liacas said. “As media empires consolidate, corporations exclude other voices that might offend their sponsors. TV becomes a one-way transmission for a corporate voice.”The campaign first began seven years ago, starting as a lifestyle experiment, Liacas said. Participants wanted to explore new ways of living and study how habits and opinions might change without TV.Adbusters hopes to use this year’s campaign to demonstrate consumer power. The organization wants to lower television ratings and draw attention to the activities of large corporations that control the movement of information around the globe.According to Diana Schildmeyer, spokeswoman for UPN 53 in Columbus, the TV Turnoff Week is a “terrible idea.” “It’s the responsibility of a TV station to be enriching,” Schildmeyer said. Some Ohio State students sympathize with the idea of reducing the amount of television watched. According to Adbusters, the average North American watches 22 hours of television per week.”I don’t necessarily agree with their motive, but reducing the amount of TV people watch is a great thing,” said Julie Laipply, a senior leadership studies major.Abe Wylie, a sophomore art major, likes the premise behind TV Turnoff Week.”Usually watching TV is a waste of time,” Wylie said. “I just like to make fun of it.”Liz Webb, a junior interior design major, said she sympathizes with Adbusters’ goals.”I don’t think not watching TV would be hard for me to do, if I thought it was for a good cause,” Webb said.According to TV Free America, 7 million people in the United States participated in TV Turnoff Week in 1999. With 15 countries participating in the campaign this year, Liacas expects the count to be even higher.However, not everyone is willing to sacrifice watching television for a week.”I wouldn’t do it,” said Daniel Nelson, a freshman computer engineering major. “I think TV is entertaining. It’s relaxing.”