1 l s ~ , ~ i ,''"~l
View From The Lighthouse
H about the Benjamins
The fact that Student Govern
ment Association can't properly
handle its funding almost cost the
students the ability to read the
Calendar page of this newspaper.
And while that may not be so bad
for the residents because they get
their very own calendars at the
beginning of the year, for the
commuters the Beacon Calendar
page is sometimes the only way
that they receive information
about events on campus.
For the past two years, the
Beacon has been allocated money
from the SGA to produce a
weekly calendar page. They have
given the paper a set amount of
money to basically run a full-page
ad for the campus every week. Or
at least we thought they were
giving us the money for our
services
It turns out that for the past
year, the SGA treasury has been
stiffing the Beacon about half of
the money that they agreed to
allocate. And there is no real
reason why this should be. The
paper work involved should be a
fairly simple process. However,
for this entire year, the people in
charge have not been able to
figure it out and now the Beacon
is basically providing the Calen
dar page out of our own pockets.
Since there seemed to be a
problem in billing, rather than
consult us about the problem, they
basically took what money was
left over and made a profit of
almost $7OO
Another problem with the
system is that any money we ask
for has to be approved by Univer
sity Park. Why is it that our
campus even needs to report back
to University Park? We were
under the impression that we go to
Penn State Erie, not UP. And why
the run around to get money,
allocated or nonallocated, for
groups on campus that need it?
The current process to get
money that is supposed to belong
to any said group is going to the
RUB desk, asking for a treasury
request form, having certain
people from the organization sign
it and then turning it into the
proper person in charge and then
waiting, and waiting and waiting
some more for the money to
All this waiting can take up to
three weeks. And unless an
organization can prepare for
everything they are going to do
THE BEHREND BEACON
published weekly by the students of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Editor-in-Chief
Jason Snyder
Managing Editor
News Editors
Liz Hayes
Erin McCarty (assistant)
Editorial Page Editor
Katie Galley
Features Editors
Karl Benacci
Jermaine Hardy
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Deanna Svmoski
Sports Editors
Abby Long
Jeanine Noce (assistant)
Wire Service Editor
Rob Wynne
Photo Editors
Becky Weindorf
Neil Makadia (assistant)
Associate Editors
Christine Kleck
Josh Hilewick
Copy Editor
Paige Miles
Website Editor
Jon McLaughlin
Postal Information: The Beacon is
published weekly by the students of
Penn State Erie, The Behrend
College; First Floor, The J. Elmer
Reed Union Building, Station Road,
Erie, PA 16563. The Beacon can be
reached by calling (814) 898-6488
or (814) 898-6019 (FAX). ISSN
1071-9288.
and everything that they are going
to need with three weeks ad-
vance, there is no way for them to
get their money in case of an
emergency or an unexpected
event. As an example, last
semester the Beacon decided to
help to get people registered to
vote. We provided free pizza to
students. However, we did not
know we were going to do this
until a week before the event, not
enough to fill out the forms to get
the money that we needed. We
were left with two options.
The first was to ask the person
in charge at the RUB desk if we
could use their credit card to
order the food. The other option
was for someone on the Beacon
to use his or her own credit card
to order it and be reimbursed
about six to eight weeks later. We
opted, after a long goose chase, to
go with the first option.
If it is our money, shouldn't we
be able to have access to it
whenever we need it? Not just
when we plan a month ahead for
every little thing that we might
need in the office? This goes for
all of our funds, whether they
come from SGA or the Student
Activity Fee, because it is equally
as hard to get money from them.
Each organization here on
campus is established and full of
responsible adults. Is a credit card
for the organization use too much
to ask? It would make life so
much easier for a lot of people.
The final point is why should
we suffer going through UP and
having it take weeks on end for
things to get approved? We do not
go to UP; they have very little
idea about how things are here at
Behrend. Why should they
control our money'? They already
get half of our Student Activity
Fee payment, why should they be
in control of what little we have
left?
111 4 11 '
Jiff Miller
letter ' 'cy: The Beacon encourages
letters to the editor. Letters should
include the address, phone number,
semester standing and major of the
writer. Writers can mail letters to
behrcoll2@aol.com. Letters must be
received no later than 5 p.m. Tuesday
for inclusion in that week's issue. Letters
should be no longer than 500 words.
Auto Page Editor
Rob Wynne
Money Page Editor
Arnortya Sinhu
Health Page Editor
Sarah Orr
Advertising Manager
Ann Marie Havey
Business Manager
Kristine Harakal
Public Relations Manager
Ainslie Ulmer
Distribution Manager
Doug Smith
Secretary
Melissa Proba
Advisor
Robert Speel
BEELER 'Ol
Simplistic ignorance
Dear Editor,
People's actions often amaze me. In the case
of Jared Matola's unpublished second article
entitled "Body Shots," this once again proved true.
I stare and wonder at his ramblings that lack
intelligence and reek of close-mindedness.
I cannot comprehend how he wakes up in the
morning and feels justified to be so critical of
others. Indeed, it is true that everyone is entitled
to their opinions, yet when these opinions lack
factual evidence and whisper tales of nothingness,
they become inappropriate. Jared ends his latest
article by saying, - It's the same reason I am not
saying what is right and wrong here, I am giving
you the FACTS on the subject to let you ponder
this issue."
This column expresses a noticeably different
tone compared to his unpublished article. I did
read that imprinted article and have a few
questions about the supposed FACTS. Once
again, you dedicate a paragraph to insulting the
baseball team. You previously stated that it seems
`Rape is wrong; it's not a joke'
CISD
tie*
Two weeks
APia . , ago, I was conned
into taking photos of someone who would be
speaking on campus. I've never been a big fan
of some of the speakers who talk here at
Behrend, so I figured I would run up to the Reed
Lecture Hall, take a couple photos and head
back to the Beacon office.
I did that. Only I stayed an hour and a half
longer than I anticipated. The speaker that
night, Katie Koestner, had my attention from the
time she began speaking, until she ended her
speech to a silenced and shocked audience.
When I entered the lecture hall, I didn't even
know what the speech was going to be about. I
turned around and asked my news editor what
the topic was for the night.
"Something about rape" was her answer. So I
was anticipating a speech filled with statistics
and a message that I have heard more than a
handful of times in my relatively young life.
That is not what I got. I got a lesson in life
that I won't ever forget.
Koestner shared a story that made people sad.
It made people confused. And it made people
mad. We watched a woman relive the most
painful night of her life in front of our eyes. She
spoke quietly, but her message was loud and
clear.
"Rape is wrong; it's not a joke." She said this
a couple times when her story was complete.
The words really sank in. It's not a statement
that was anything new to me. I knew that rape
Do you have an opinion about something going on around campus? Or do
you have an opinion about everything? Think you have what it takes to
write editorials? The Beacon is currently looking for new editorial
columnists for this fall. Send an original sample editorial of at least 500
words to be4rcoll2gaoLcom. Deadline is April 17 at 5:00 p.m.
wasn't anything to joke about. And so did the
people who were in attendance that night.
Caught in the The problem was that the people who don't
`Spyder' Web understand the seriousness of rape, weren't there.
They could care less if there was a woman
Jason Snyder talking about how painful and horrific the act
is. Koestner was speaking to an audience
who already understood her message before
she shared it. But she knew what she was doing.
She told those in attendance that her story can
only do so much and that her words weren't loud
enough to reach the people that need to hear it.
She asked us, particularly the men in the audi
ence, to spread the message that "Rape is wrong;
it's not a joke."
If I went to the lecture hall that night and heard
a bunch of statistics about rape, my concerns
probably would have ended there. Because
nowhere in numbers is there the message that I
can make a difference.
But one story by Koestner hit me hard. I don't
remember the absolute specifics, but I remember
the message. There was a man at a party one
night who overheard a group of guys planning on
raping a woman who was passed out drunk in the
bedroom. This man sat with the woman until the
night was through, protecting her from the group
of "men" that had planned on raping her. When
the woman was out of harm's way, this man left
and never told the woman what he had done.
"No glory," are the words Koestner used to
describe this man's act. It sounds like such a
simple act. Simply sitting with a woman who
was in harm's way. Such a small act made a huge
difference in that woman's life.
This editorial is my way to spread Koestner's
message that she only got to share with 50
concerned students two weeks ago.
I'm not a big partier. So chances are, I won't
be the man sitting next to a passed out woman at
the next college party that goes on here at
Behrend. I'm calling for the true men on this
EMSWI
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
as though all it takes to start is a "spare tire," etc.
Is that FACT? Have you ever inquired as to how
many hours we all dedicate to baseball throughout
the season? We choose to become involved in an
activity that adds to our total college experience.
We do not receive fame and fortune playing
Division 111 baseball and ask for no special
exemptions, we are merely trying to grow as
athletes and people.
While we practice, you sit in front of your
computer pondering whom you can insult next.
What is the point of this and why does it even need
to be written? Should we, as a college, be proud of
the fact that our student newspaper has such insults
to read at our leisure? What is the difference
between his insults about the baseball team to
another person's insults about a particular ethnic
background or religion?
The point is that there is no difference; they are
both the spilling of opinion onto paper without
investigation on what is being stated. The fact of
the matter is that certain standards are inevitably
followed to prevent such foolishness from
happening. By viewing Jared's insults, are we as
a college saying this is acceptable'?
His imprinted article goes on to rip on Dean
Lilley, Bruno's entertainment, the snow removal
staff. and construction crews on campus. Where
in your ['LET education, Jared, did you become
an expert on these issues'? Keep me posted; as I
will surely buy a copy of "A Snow Removal
Synopsis" should you ever publish it.
To summariie, I am merely asking Jared and
anyone for that matter to not pass judgment on
others until they have an understanding of what
they are saying. I realize that debatable issues
stimulate campus-wide involvement, but in this
case the comments were inappropriate and untrue.
I could care less about what he thinks, but when
misleading stories are printed, that is when we
should all take notice.
Jake Boyle
Baseball Piave'
campus to keep their eyes open and their ears
listening.
The statistics are enough to tell us that rape
isn't beyond Behrend. Any moment of any day,
a group of guys can be plotting how to help their
buddy have forceful sex with a woman who
can't defend herself. And if you are in that
group and do nothing you are just as guilty, you
are just as much of a coward and you are just as
much of a rapist. Law might not get you, but
your conscience will.
For too long, we have tried to fluff up the idea
of rape. We've taken it lightly. We've called
victims liars." We've believed that rape is rare
and overexaggerated. We've seen leaders of
cities, schools and police departments take rape
accusations as a joke. Again, "rape is wrong;
it's not a joke. -
Mostly in the past, I have seen women, and
women alone, tackle issues of rape. For the
most part, it's not the women who need to hear
this message. So I ask the men who are reading
this to continue the message. It's not difficult to
remember and it's fairly easy to act on. Take a
seat next to woman in harm's way and take a
stand against anyone who dares to cross the line.
If you are a true man at this college, then it's
time to team up against the men who aren't.
This campus can start by joining Behrend's
Women Today in marching at "Take Back the
Night" on April 25 at Erie's Perry Square.
Koestner said in her speech that she dreams of
a "night with no rape." She asks that across the
world, people will unite to put an end to these
acts.
It is wrong. It is not a joke. And now, it is
your responsibility to keep this message going
For more infOrmation on "Take Back the
Night," call x 7450 or x 7162.
Snyder's column appeared every three weeks
FRIDAY, APRIL 13 , 2001
war Do 100
WINK HAPPENED
To ALL- TM
DISSIDOO-5?
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