Eileen Falkenberg, Editorial Page Editor
The Behrend Beacon
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r - 11 )
is a Chicago
Woe
Cabbies fan
by Ryan Russell
advertising manager
At around 10 p.m. on Tuesday night,
I thought I was in heaven. The Cubs,
my Chicago Cubs, were a mere five
outs away from going to their first
World Series since before most people
in the United States had a car. Five
outs. That's all. And then, Cubs fans
everywhere would get to celebrate, fi
nally shaking off over 100 years of
being called "Loveable Losers," and
facing "The Billy Goat Curse," or
whatever other crap Yankee fans in
vent. Five more outs, then the heav
ens would part, beer would flow all
over Chicago, and Harry Caray could
finally crack open that Budweiser in
heaven with The Biggest Cubs Fan of
All.
And if you watched the game, you
saw what happened next. In the course
of 30 seconds, all of the country's, nay,
the world's, hopes and dreams were
shattered by a 26-year-old Cubs "fan"
named Steve Bartman. Bartman inter-
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fered with left fielder Moises Alou's
attempt to catch a fly ball in the eighth
inning that had drifted one row into the
stands. Other fans moved out of the
way, trying to give Alou the chance to
catch the ball; only Bartman stayed
put. His hand hit the ball right before
it dropped into Alou's glove. No out
was made. The Marlins' Luis Castillo
then walked, and the wheels came off
for the beloved Cubbies. The Marlins
scored eight runs in the inning, taking
the lead, and the win, from the Cubs
by five, in an 8-3 final score.
Now, on the eve of game seven,
which will be decided by the time any
one reads this, I have no idea what I
will do if the Cubs lose, or even if the
Cubs win. I may go insane, I may do
bodily harm to the closest Yankee fan,
I'm not sure. I do know that there is
only one way I can try to explain what
Cubs fans across the world will feel
by approximately II p.m. Wednesday
night, so with apologies to Ernest
Thayer, I offer you my version of
Casey at the Bat.
Advertising Manager
Ryan Russell
A&E Editor
Daniel J. Stasiewski
Healthy Living Editors
Courtney Straub
Erika Jarvis
Hide , October 1Z 2003
Wrong turn for the right wing
Rush Limbaugh and I are as far apart
on the political spectrum as John
Ashcroft and the ACLU, but I don't
think it is appropriate to harshly lam
poon the talk show host based on his
recent admission of narcotics abuse.
Some of my friends have gleefully
welcomed the news of Limbaugh's
drug addiction, allowing their political
motives to overshadow a true tragedy.
If politics is to be applied to the situ
ation at all, it's more appropriate to look
at the big-picture hypocrisy of the
moral right.
Limbaugh has long been the advo
cate of the good and pure American ex
istence, promoting personal responsi
bility above all else. Between the lib
eral bashing and the corporate advo
cacy, Limbaugh has always put him
self on a pedestal above regular folks,
proclaiming on his radio show, "The
views on this program are right."
He has portrayed himself as an all-
American, while relying on his status
as a super-human moral leader to
propagate his own political views.
The problem is an eight-year $250
million dollar contract (making him the
The truth must get to youth about STDs
by Shepherd Smith
Institute for Youth Development
Evaluating risk is often difficult, espe
cially when there seems to be conflict
ing data. Ralph Nader convinced us that
Pintos were unsafe. We've pretty much
concluded that cigarettes are harmful.
And as a country, we're beginning to re
think how often we should hang out at
fast food restaurants.
But what about condoms, something
we thought were pretty good?
UNAIDS is issuing a report on
condoms, just as our government did a
few years ago.
Two little words at the front of our
government's report are putting
America's teens at great risk. Fortunately,
more and more data are debunking this
government mistake. But getting the ac
curate information to young people is
another matter. Researchers concluded
condoms offered 85 percent protective
value. Put another way, they have a fail
ure rate of 15 percent over time.
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That's roughly one out of six.
The report that was issued was a Na
tional Institutes of Health examination of
the effectiveness of condoms at prevent
ing HIV/AIDS and other sexually trans
mitted infections. The words in question
are "highly effective." That's what the
NIH said about condoms when it comes
to keeping people safe from HIV/AIDS.
And it's been used to support the tradi
tional approach to teens and sex, which
is promoting "safe sex" -- or "safer sex"
-- by using condoms. Many trumpeted the
NIH report as proof that "condoms are
the best method for sexually active
by Ryan Russell
It's looking pretty good for Cubbies fans today, the Cubs are in the Series, the hated Yankees they will
play.
After Steve Bartman dropped the foul ball, and Alou did the same, the Marlins scored eight runs, and
went on to win the game.
All Cubs fans left the park, in deep, deep despair. But they all clung to the hope which springs.eternal
from the bar's tap. They thought "Wait till tomorrow, when Wood starts to pitch. We'd put up even money
now, and then watch Marlins' fans bitch."
And day turned to night at Wrigley, and fans did file in; because with Wood on the rnound, they knew the
Cubs would win.
So when he started pitching, the Marlins, they were doomed; and they stood•no chance, especially when
Sammy's bat went BOOM.
Wood pitched the whole game, striking out 14 in all. And the Cubs were in the World Series, overcoming
the dropped foul ball.
And now part two of Cubbies at the Bat, only to be read if the impossible happens, i.e. George Steinbrenner
and Bud Selig conspire to keep Cubs fans waiting 'till next year.
And when the ball had dropped, and fans saw what had occurred, there was the ball on the ground, Alou
screaming at the fan, loud enough to be heard.
Then from thirty five thousand throats there rose a mighty yell; it rumbled off of Waveland, and through
all the bars as well; it raced through the highway, and up to the apartment seats; for Steve, Steve Bartman,
had made Cubs' fans' lives a living hell.
Everyone knows the rest of the story; everyone was there; when Steve Bartman's damn fool hand went
grasping in the air
Oh somewhere in the USA, the sun is shining bright. Harry Caray is somewhere, enjoying a Bud that's
tall, cold, and just right. And somewhere Yankees fans are laughing, and somewhere Cubs fans shout -
"Why in the hell did that idiot Bartman have to stick his damn hand out?"
by Daniel J. Stasiewski
a&e editor
highest paid radio personality in U.S.
history) gives Limbaugh an affluent
life-style that puts him at odds with
the middle-class American attitudes he
still promotes. It's not that he doesn't
deserve the money, but his verbal and
monetary powers allow him to con
struct a moral monopoly that goes un-
questioned.
When Bill Bennet, author of "The
Book of Virtues" and a self-pro
claimed guardian of traditional values,
was caught in a scandal surrounding
his multi-million dollar gambling
habit, Bennet quietly admitted to the
charge and took a leave from public
life. Still, his supporters made the
claim that gambling doesn't harm any
one, and it didn't put his family fi
nances at risk. Was it hypocrisy? Yes.
Does anyone care? Not really.
Conservative Georgia Congressman
and family advocate Bob Barr has
been married three times after not one,
but two divorces. South Dakota Con
gressman Bill Janklow is silently deal
ing with a second-degree manslaugh
ter charge. And, of course, George W.
Bush has in the past had his own sub
stance abuse problems.
Like his conservative brethren,
Limbaugh will eventually be forgiven
people to prevent sexually transmitted
infections."
Trouble is, looking a bit deeper into
the NIH report reveals that there's noth
ing "highly effective" about condoms
when it comes to protecting young
people, especially teenagers, from
STDs. Indeed, really reading the report
and looking at all of the research con
ducted since reveals that condoms do
not eliminate the risk for any STD and
only reduce the risk for two (and that's
out of approximately 25 that plague
young people today).
It's not even accurate to say, as many
in the AIDS activist community have
for years, that condoms will, at least,
keep people safe from HIV/AIDS.
Here's what the Boston Globe recently
reported: "A draft report for the (United
Nations) AIDS agency has found that
even when people use condoms con
sistently, the failure rate for protection
against HIV is an estimated 10%, mak
ing them at larger risk than portrayed
by many advocacy groups." Not to
mention that sexually active teenagers
hardly ever use condoms 100 percent
of the time-teens (and many adults) are
notoriously bad condom users.
The Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention report that 65 million
Americans live with an incurable STD
and 15 million new infections occur
every year. Two-thirds of these 15 mil
lion are between the ages of 15 and 24.
The most common STD is Human
Papillomavirus, which causes more
than 90 percent of all cervical cancers.
Yet there is no evidence that condoms
prevent or ever' reduce the spread of
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The Behrend Beacon
for his faults and retain his status of
the right wing king. Hell get the re
prieve he and other conservative com
mentators don't offer the opposition.
Why are their offenses are forgiv
able, when Bill Clinton's sex life is still
used as a jab at his presidency and his
wife's current position in the Senate?
Senator Edward Kennedy, too, is still
attacked first as a drunk before his po
litical beliefs are scrutinized.
Conservatives paint the left in this
country as a group of perverts and
potheads, when the right-wingers try
to hide their pasts as frat boys and phi
landerers. The holier-than-thou atti
tude of conservative talk show hosts
and moral leaders in American is set
up for implosion, and their do-as-I-say
not-as-I-do justification is a ridiculous
and unacceptable attempt at redemp
tion.
For the sake of Limbaugh as a fel
low human being, I hope he makes it
through his rehabilitation. But with
crime like drug abuse on his record,
Limbaugh needs to swallow his pride
and attack Democrats and liberals for
policy, not partying. It may be the only
way he can take his talk show to an
other, more moral level.
HPV. And condoms do not eliminate the
risk for chlamydia, another common STD
that is directly linked to female infertility.
Much was made in the media recently
about a study concluding that distribut
ing condoms in schools does not increase
sexual activity among young people. But
what's being missed is that distributing
those condoms isn't keeping young people
safe from diseases that can change their
lives forever. This doesn't mean condoms
should play no role in the battle against
HIV and STDs, they just shouldn't play
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is to tell them the truth -- about STDs and
condoms. And tell them we know they are
capable of, and we expect them to, avoid
sexual activity. Most people don't realize
it, but today a majority of high school stu
dents do not have sex and the numbers
are growing.
We want young people to make fully
informed decisions based on the best in
formation. Terms like "use protection" or
"unprotected sex" infer condom use is safe
but is both misleading and false. The big
gest predictor of acquiring an STD is the
number of lifetime partners, with or with
out condom usage. Fewer partners, less
risk -- one lifetime partner in a faithful
relationship, virtually no risk.
The government did a dangerous dis
service to America's teens when it incor
rectly called condoms "highly effective."
Research shows that the only way young
people can be safe from a STD epidemic
is to wait.
Fortunately, more and more teens are
making just that choice.
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