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The Behrend Beacon
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I think somebody needs a nap
This column is a rebuttal to an
editorial, which ran in the first Bea
con issue of this school year. If you
missed it, fear
not, I will en
lighten you.
The column
was by Amanda
Prischak and
titled, "Not an
Abercrombie
girl." In case
you failed to di
gest this piece
of editorial
junk food let
me fill you in
on the greasy con
tents.
Ms. Prischak began her
column with a list of complaints.
She knocked people who "try to fol
low age-old stereotypes" (whatever
the hell that means) and people who
buy into mainstream America.
Somehow fraternity brothers, Ma
donna, boy bands, Abercrombie
clothing, and slim blonde-haired
American girls became targets of
Amanda's whiny assault on Ameri
can
On the anniversary of 9 / 1 1 be a
Dear Editor,
I was extremely appalled and mortified
to read the editorial entitled "Let's Dance,
Saddam!" by Guy Reschenthaler (August
30, 2002). I would like to address some
of his statements.
Mr. Reschenthaler claimed that the in
ternational community and the UN are
cowards for not backing the U.S. on its
recent adventure called "war on Iraq."
According to Mr. Reschenthaler, "... both
the international community and Saddam
are completely nuts." I will tell you who
is a nut, a complete loose head, the per
son who dares put peaceful nations of the
world in the same category as Saddam
and call them nuts. Is it so irrational to
ask the Bush administration to present
evidence of Saddam's threat? Is it so un
reasonable for Americans and other citi
zens of the world to request the exhaus
tion of diplomatic venues before declar
ing war? I don't think Mr. Reschenthaler
understands what he is advocating. If a
war is declared, it will inevitably be a
slaughter-fest of millions of innocent Ira
qis (and thousands of Americans). If we
are willing to massacre innocent Iraqis,
what makes us so different from the de
mented and vicious Saddam Hussein?
Mr. Reschenthaler stated why he be
lieved Saddam should be destroyed: "he
has used biological weapons..., he rules
with an iron fist, etc." Well, if these are
Editor-in-Chief
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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. Monday for inclusion in
uy Reschenthaler
the criteria for being demonized and de
stroyed by the U.S., I urge us all to come
up with a more complete list of countries
that fall under this category (at this mo
ment I can think of China, Korea, U.S.,
Germany, many African countries and
South American countries). Is the U.S.
going after all of these countries?
It was also infuriating to read Mr.
Reschenthaler's "you are with us or
against us" sentiments (in any case, aren't
these junior high sentiments?). Accord
ing to him, those countries that are not
"with us," meaning countries that do not
support war, should be "taken out," I beg
your pardon! Is the U.S. so "right" that
no nation or international organization
should dare question it for fear of being
"taken out?" If so, what is the difference
between this attitude and a dictatorship?
The leading democratic country in the
world is becoming a dictator and, if we
don't take an anti-war, pro-peace stand,
we are aiding in this transformation.
The writer of the editorial summarized
his points as follows: "...We need to take
on Saddam. The Iraqi government needs
to be destroyed and replaced with a pro-
U.S. government...let's go into that glo
rified sandbox, slap some anti-Americans
around, prop up a puppet government,
and start pumping oil." Let us not forget
bin Laden was once a tool in creating the
"pro-U.S." government in Afghanistan-
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GZIE
that week's issue
culture
Let me now address Prischak's
complaints one at a time.
First complaint—
fraternity brothers.
Wow Amanda,you
sound a tad bitter.
This "guest colum
nist" said that frater
nity brothers try to
model themselves af
ter the Animal House
ideal, get sub-2.0
GPAs, and fall asleep
"in drunken stupors."
I think someone needs
to lighten up and look
at the facts. Amanda,
you claimed in your
opening paragraph that you hate
people who try to fit into stereo
types. Yet it seems you are the one
who is labeling others with the ste
reotypes you supposedly despise.
Take the time to meet a fraternity
brother instead of instantly dismiss
ing them all as dumb drunks. You
can start by getting to know me. My
extension is 2416. Give me a ring
and we can talk about fraternity life,
my alleged "sub 2.0 GPA," and how
Letters to the Editor
EDITORIAL
Friday, September 13, 2002
What is an American? Religion of 9/11
On Tuesday, members of assorted
creeds gathered together in the Smith
Chapel for an Interfaith Prayer Ser
vice, reflecting on the events of Sept.
11.
The varied list of speakers in
cluded: Michael Allison, Charles
Wertz, Mary C. Connerty, Abdu Nafi,
Hema Deshumukh, and Dr. Jeffrey
(Digging Bear) Nelson.
Those belief systems represented
were the Christian, Jewish, Islamic,
Hindu, and Native American. Al
though all present had different ideas
about how the world works, the com
mon thread for the evening remained
peace and tolerance, achieved
through understanding.
Allison began the evening in
prayer, and reminded those present
that as told in the bible, the death for
one's brothers is the ultimate act of
discipleship. This belief may have
been shared in a mutated form in the
minds of the terrorists.
Sept. 11, as illustrated by the service,
is one of those events which change
the whole feeling and connotation of
living in the United States. What it
means to be an American is different
I fall asleep at night. Maybe then
you'll see what a fraternity brother
is like, a TKE brother in this in
stance, instead of writing insults
about me, my brothers, and all other
fraters. Is this a challenge? Yes.
And do yourself a favor and accept
it. Maybe then you won't be so
quick to, dismiss others as moronic
alcoholics.
Second—pop stars. Amanda, you
have a point on this one. Many stars
lack talent and are simply puppets
for producers and agents targeting
young teens. Many top selling "art
ists" are not artists at all but pretty
cookie-cutter faces with mediocre
voices. But so what? This is
America. Our business is business
and if this music makes money, then
it should keep on making money. I
am sorry to see that a lot of people
are so idealistic that they fail to rec
ognize that money means almost ev
erything—yes, even in music.
Third—Abercrombie and Fitch.
This complaint really hurt. It really
did. Abercrombie is a great com
pany. Its clothes may be pricey but
they are of a spectacular quality. I
am still wearing Abercrombie
force of change:
has history taught us nothing?
Mr. Reschenthaler also claimed that it
will be "glorious for the American
people" because the war on Iraq will
"crush the Desert Stalin." I don't think
Mr. Reschenthaler understands the con
cept of war. It would not be just Saddam,
if he at all, that will die in this war. Mil
lions of innocent women and men, boys
and girls, fathers and mothers, sons and
daughters, wives and husbands will die
before Saddam's fingernail is touched!
War is not a concept. It is a reality!
Have we completely lost our humanity
that we are willing to sit in front of a com
puter and condemn the whole nation of
Iraq? Condemn millions of fellow human
beings? Also, for the sake of humanity, I
hope massacre is not the kind of "glory"
the American people desire.
On the one year anniversary of 9/11, I
implore all of you to advocate an anti
war, pro-peace position. I challenge you
to denounce war! War is not necessary.
War is especially not necessary in this
case. The U.S. has enough diplomatic
power in the world to get the weapon in
spectors back in Iraq without war. Con
trary to what Mr. Reschenthaler claimed,
the reason other nations do not support
an invasion of Iraq is because they un
derstand an invasion will only result in
the massacre of millions of people and a
World War 111. Again, has history taught
by Derek Pangallo
staff writer
today than it was before 9/11/2001.
When the radical few resort to acts
of extreme horror to make a point
against us, one can only question
why?
Upon asking, most often the an
swer comes back to faith. It is the
unfortunate tendency of mankind to
use faith as justification in commit
ting acts of atrocity. Ultimately, these
acts always prove to have a selfish
underlying. It is both righteous and
highly profitable to crusade around
converting people in order to assimi
late and control them. In the case of
Sept. 11, political and religious fa
natics manipulated a religion and it's
ignorant faithful to serve their own
ends.
Most likely, the entire objective
was not only to destroy the buildings
which make America: the Towers,
the Pentagon, the White House.
They were trying to destroy our sense
of self. It is possible that in the dis
torted minds of our enemies, with
those icons in ruins, we would lose
our sense of unity, anarchy would re
sult, and America would be ripe for
a new rule. Of course, this is con
jecture, no one but those responsible
know the real logic, though it un
doubtedly fits the pattern.
clothes that I bought when in the
ninth grade. But somehow I believe
it is Abercrombie's marketing that
bothers you. The company tries not
only to sell clothes, but also a
lifestyle. The lifestyle just happens
to be the one that most teens de
sire—the All-American one. All
Abercrombie adds depict (like you
said) blonde, blue-eyed good-look
ing teens, who appear to be well off
financially and seemingly in love
and having fun. Man, wonder why
they use this "stereotype?" Could
it be that this is what we all want?
It is called marketing, Amanda.
When we buy Abercrombie we
buy good quality, fashionable
clothes. We also buy into the Ameri
can dream. And what is wrong with
that? I cannot think of anything that
would be better than living the
American dream, save for, living the
American dream in a pair of well
fitting comfortable Abercrombie
jeans.
Look, here's how it is, Amanda.
You need a nap. You remind me of
a small child who is tired and
cranky. Why don't you go to your
room and relax?
Denounce war!
us nothing? Besides, as Mahatma
Gandhi's words remind us, "Evolution of
democracy is not possible if we are not
prepared to hear the other side." Let's lis
ten to the world!
-Banchi Dessaleg
Psychology/Biology, 09
The Behrend Beacon
Representing Erie's Muslim com
munity was Abdu Nafi. He read an
excerpt from the Koran, and showed
that in no way does the teachings of'.
the nation of Islam glorify or con
done this kind of act.
We can see today that phase two
of our invisible enemy's plan has
gone terribly awry. While
devastatingly tragic, the events of 9/
11 have uplifted the spirit and soul •:
of America to a level not known in -;
most of our lifetimes. We are many,
we are one
Thoughts now turn to patriotism,
and our newfound unity. I wish it
did not seem that people need a com
mon enemy to find harmony. After
all, Christians, Jews, Iraqis, Ameri
cans, Eskimos, are just people. Tra
ditions and border lines are man
made; the differences are inconse
quential. An American is a person
who lives between two big bodies of
water, and a couple particular lines
of latitude. One nation under God is
good, but what about... One World,
One Mind?
While you run off for "quiet time"
I'll address our audience in a seri.:
ous, logical, and practical manner....
Look, here's how it is. Amanda at-i
tacked college Americana. She dis-f,
missed fraters without getting to;
know any. She idealistically dis
missed our pop music. Sure, it isn't
that artistic but it makes money and
that is what we are all about. If
Amanda and others don't like this
they can move to France where art . ,
is just art and takes a higher prior
ity than defense, the economy, and
other big-boy issues. She knocked
the American image.
don't know about you but I love the
American image and the American
dream. I like being able to watch
"Animal House" and say, "I've beenif,
there." I love good-looking blonde,'
girls and Corvettes and Jeep Wran
glers
and Coca-Cola and pick-up
football games and fraternity parties
and college and rock and roll and
Abercrombie and Fitch.
YOU ROCK, AMERICA!!!
Reschenthaler's column
appears every three weeks.
Co-ed Perry Hall?
Say, what's all this about Perry Hall
being all-male? Having lived there last
year, I know that Perry Hall is by far the
greatest of all the lower residence halls;
I'd even be annoyed by it if it were all
female. Everyone should have at least a
chance of living there. I can't think of
any good reason for this change.
• 4:'#cfl''x'r •'*
Page
-Karen Niemla