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Penn State Erie,
the Behrend College;
First Floor, The J. Elmer Reed Union Building,
OUR VIEW
Lack of winter maintenance poses safety issues
How is it possible that $B,BOO to
$16,5()0 does not buy clean sidewalks?
With the exorbitant amount of money
that we pay Penn State every year in
tuition, you'd think that they would be
able to do something simple like win
ter maintenance. Not here at Behrend.
Here we are faced with snowy and
icy walkways going down and up our
campus on the hill. Walking to class
should not be an Olympic sport that
tests your sense of balance, reaction
skills and determination.
When a student is sliding down a hill
to class they must first attempt to keep
their balance. Often this is unattain
able and so reaction skills are put to
the test so that when you do fall, you
don't hurt yourself.
Finally, determination comes into
play. Not only do you have to be de
termined to go to class after a fall, but
also to sit through a class wet with dirty
slush that built up on the pathways.
This is had enough for those of us
who are walking on two feet, but what
about our fellow students confined to
wheelchairs?
Many don't feel safe driving up Jor
dan Road with the protection of air
bags and safety belts, while the handi-
capped on campus have to maneuver
From politics to sports:
things that make me tick
by Tim Denial
staff writer
Well, folks, this is my first-ever
editorial, so bear with me. It seems
like complaining and whining has
been the popular subject as of late so
I think I'll just jump on that band
wagon and take it for a spin.
I suppose I start off internationally.
I think the United States could solve
the increasing problem of companies
moving their production plants out
side of the country in favor of cheaper
labor costs by not allowing them free
trade back to us.
There has got to be some way to
keep American businesses here within
our borders. If there was a tax heavy
enough to counter the 13 cents-an
hour labor, CEOs might think twice
about leaving. So what if companies
change their names or owners, I have
no idea
Now on to a more domesticated
subject, is it just me or do sirens
played in the background of songs
suck. To me the only thing worse than
driving home from a bar, jamming
out to a tune and hearing a siren com
ing from the radio, is actually having
the police behind you. Seriously,
you've got Kid Rock on the radio (or
whatever else Erie radio stations play
.a.
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Editor in Chief
Lauren M. Packer
Managing Editor
Daniel J. Stasiewski
Assistant Managing Editor
Scott Soltis
Supplemental Editor
Lauren M. Packer
Station Road, Erie, PA 16563
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Telephone: (814) 898-6488
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ISSN 1071-9288.
their way down the hills with few
safety precautions.
We understand that it is a difficult
task to keep up the massive sheets of
snow that fall on Erie in the winter,
but sometimes it almost seems like the
school isn't even trying.
Rarely do you see salt on pathways
that would give students much needed
traction. This is supposedly not done
because all of the salt washes away and
hurts the grass and trees on campus.
Which is more important student wel
fare or turf grass management?
The college must do a better job of
maintaining the paths around campus.
When this is not done it is not only
dangerous, but it also makes the rest
of the campus filthy.
Just look at any of the rugs inside of
buildings by noon: they are soaked and
there is brown crud on top of them, if
not on the floor itself.
When this happens, you are not even
safe from slipping and falling indoors!
For the amount of money that we
pump into this school year after year,
is a little safety too much to ask for?
The Beacon's view is determined by a
majority of the board of opinions.
a lot of) and you hear that siren, next
thing you know your applying the
brake, checking all your mirrors
frantically, checking your breath and
swearing at yourself because you
have no idea where your insurance
card is. Okay, maybe it is just me.
Now on to sports: How the heck
can the Los Angeles Lakers be los
ing with a roster that consists of four
of the biggest names in basketball?
Oh yeah, because Karl Malone,
Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant
are all injured.
Not to mention their rookie cen
ter from Illinois is finally able to play
after surgery, and Gary Payton,
though a sure thing for the Hall of
Fame, can't handle the whole court.
And you can't forget that fact that
there is enough non basketball-re
lated news surrounding the Lakers
to fill an entire issue of the National
Inquire.
And now they're "not ruling out
Rodman." Do they really think that
he's going to be a big help?
I guess I'll stop here before I ruin
any credibility I had before the col
umn was concocted.
appears every
*11 , 4 1 0w6i
, 1"
igiiiii
Advertising Manager
Ryan Russell
Calendar Page Editor
Amy Wilczynski
A&E Editor
Daniel J. Stasiewski
Adviser
Cathy L. Roan. Ph . D.
's column
Tim Denial
three weeks
Friday, January 23, 2004
The Great Debate
Every other week, two members of the Beacon's board of opinions will choose a topic and discuss the topic from opposite
viewpoints. This week, the focus of The Great Debate is the State of the Union Address given by President Bush on Tues.
If nothing else President Bush's fourth
of eight State of the Union Addresses
was the most aggressive towards his
critics. All of the knocks on the Presi
dent were dispelled Tuesday night and
now the Democratic Presidential can
didates (and Democrats in general) are
grasping at straws to try and attack our
President.
Gen. Wesley Clark and most other
candidates made accusations of lies and
misleadings in the address. However,
they failed to report anything new to
refute Bush's words.
Yes, there was a lot of money spent
in Iraq, and yes, we have a massive war
time deficit. Those aren't new revela
tions that show Bush's weakness, in
stead it is just beating a dead horse with
common knowledge.
House Democratic Leader Nancy
Pelosi talked about President Bush's go
it-alone foreign policy. Apparently she
must have nodded off when the Presi
dent named 17 out of the 34 countries
that are helping us and the Iraqi people.
All of the rhetoric about unilateralism
is an insult to the 34 nations that are with
President Bush's temporary worker
plan for immigrants was also a target
for criticism. Is this because it could
As I watched the State of the Union Bush claims that the attacks in Iraq oc- of college close to free for almost all col
address Tuesday night, I sat in sheer dis- curred to meet the demands of the lege-bound students in America. Bush
belief. It is hard to imagine that a little United Nat i on s. has made it harder for students to move
under four years ago, we elected such a Yet, I still recall our country attack- on to college. Notice he doesn't men
pompous, arrogant leader into the high- ing both against the United Nations' will tion that. It would look bd.
est position attainable in our government. and without the declaration of war from One final point: Bush ' s sanctity of
George Bush was not concerned with the Congress. marriage. Granted, I could write an en
state of our union Tuesday night; he was And has anyone noticed we still tire editorial on this one, so let's just hit
concerned with covering his ass and get- haven 't
found any nuclear warheads ca- the main points. Bush
wants to defend
ting it re-elected. pable of destroying life as we know it? the sanctimonious union that is marriage
First and foremost, the entirety of the Bush wa nts
b the American people to in today's America, as long as it's be
speech proved Bush's one-track mind. believe t h a t . y
. god, we will find them, tween a man and a woman. But trust me;
He proved countless times th,t, it did h n't
: ,. i. .4pi1 ,.i,,‘ we wtli bring peacg. to ww.lcl , a s„*.. I kfyilijll of unhappi l y sanctimonious
matter to the American peoplts ' ksfiklkt it u a ,:: ''e
. and single
thought or wanted, but all t. 1 .0 t ' : ' "I ' 1111): "bai . l e nt 5 ; 3 11L - 21 0u m e iT i p h?, , y
hti t ,,, • , j parertlipmes have become rampant in
te
was finishing what he, an
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people
relate A ,, v e *l e ay'S society. Marnag e . is no b longer
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at
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Almost half of the speect;wa ‘ s'tiedi s " fri43 this goal 'is co mpletely intangible. Fight- just a set of words for most people. Till
cated to the war on terrorism. OK, I agree ing has been going on in the Middle East death do us part no longer really means
that two years ago, as I sat and watched and Africa for centuries now, and no anything for married couples.
New York City come to a complete halt,
I was worried. I agreed that something
needed to be done to retaliate against
those that attacked our nation, but I think
our country has went after too many of
fenders, with no real backings.
Last January, when Dubya was asked
his policy on war, his response was "With
what country?" Right there, the Ameri
can people should have become con
cerned with what was about to happen,
especially with our foreign policy.
Throughout the last year or so, we have
definitely begun alienating ourselves
from the rest of the international world.
Canceling classes costs money- my money
It's the second week of school and
everyone is running around to classes.
As I sit in Bruno's I get the ever-so
popular question "How's classes
going?"
My reply is "I'll let you know when
they start." Why do I reply like that
you may ask? I didn't have classes the
first week of school.
All right, that's an exaggeration. I
went to one class on Tuesday,
Wednesday and on Thursday. Sound a
little weird for someone with 17
credits? Yup, that's what I thought.
I understand that sometimes teachers
need to cancel classes due to illness,
snow, etc. Why did all my teachers
cancel classes in the same week? I got
a heads up on a few of my classes via
e-mail from some teachers that class
would be cancelled but it seemed that
for my 9 a.m. there was nothing except
that little white paper. You know what
paper I' m talking about. The one that
is posted outside of the door that says
your teacher cancelled class.
I love and despise that paper at the
same time. It seems that I only see that
paper when I have to go to my early
classes. I get up early, I make the frigid
walk and then there's that paper. I
could have continued sleeping in but
nope; I'm up now! Yet at the same time,
I like that ler because class is
grant legal status to many illegal immi
grants? No, instead the policy is too hard
on the illegal immigrants. In the Demo
cratic Party's official Spanish response
to the address, Gov. Bill Richardson
complained that after three years (im
migrants) donit have a guarantee they'll
be able to stay. Apparently the Demo
crats realized that it was not a free am
nesty pass or a burden on the average
worker so they decided to pull for the
illegal immigrants.
lose caucus r Reit also
made s bonehiSeded*Seitherit l*declar
ing that President lisedi id 03411 ), while
we lost morelobs then el* rime since
the Oreat Derrteisiort.
The mere comparison of the current
downturn in the economy to the Great
Depression is ludicrous. Firstly, our
president did not stand by, he tried sev
eral things to get the economy back up
and running. Some helped some didn't,
but all of them constitute not standing
by.
Secondly, at the end of the Great De
pression the United States population
was at roughly 133 million. Currently
we have an estimated approximate 292
million citizens. When you start talk
ing about the number of lost jobs in those
two times you are comparing apples and
amount diplomacy will bring it to an
end. Ever.
Bush claims that our economy is
working, and working well. If that is
the case, then why have institutions seen
on average a 28 percent increase in tu
ition since the beginning of the Bush re
gime?
By comparison, Democratic presi
dential hopeful Wesley Clark plans on
readjusting the tax brackets to allow for
a $6,000 undistributed college grant
available to all students whose parents
make under $lOO,OOO a year.
This would make the first two years
Erika Jarvis
canceled. I saw that paper more times
last week than I saw it in my entire
college career, which is all of three
semesters.
As I talked to friends and
complained about how nrby classes
kept getting canceled they didn't
appreciate my whining while they got
ready for class. It seems that when
your friends have class, they don't like
to hear that your class was canceled.
On Friday when my classes were
canceled yet again my friends yelled
at me.
"Stop complaining! Not having
class is great," they yelled at me.
Then I thought about it, I am paying
The Behrend Beacon
oranges. Add to the paltry numbers of
the Depression's population the fact that
women did not hold nearly the number
and types of jobs then and they do now,
and the analogy is further skewed.
Finally, the President's view of the
sanctity of marriage has been attacked.
This is also mind blowing as Bush is
merely continuing the work of Demo
cratic Savior Bill Clinton.
Let's recap: Bush supports Republi
can ideas, he's wrong; Bush supports
Democratic measures, he's wrong.
Something just doesn't sound right there.
Many conservative states are over
whelmingly against "redefining mar
riage" but the Democrats would have
their new will imposed on ail states and
their citizens private lives whether they
like it or not.
Our president did an excellent job in
his State of the Union Address. Some
accuse him of "fluffing" and using
"smoke and mirrors." I applaud him for
explaining. If some people want to be
ignorant of the truth, then that is their
prerogative, but direct the criticism
where it belongs. Remember whenever
you point a finger there are a._ le point
ing back at you. Put up some new mate
rial or shut up.
Yet, there is a decent percentage of
Americans that will never be able to say
those words. Outlawing or even not rec
ognizing a homosexual marriage is un
just. It is our God-given right to pursue
life, liberty and happiness, as outlined by
the Declaration of Independence. and if
we can't be legally tied to the one per
son whom we love, our pursuit is halted.
Almost all of the other candidates run
ning for election support some type of
recognition or benefits for homosexual
couples. But not Bush, the hardcore
Republican that he is.
about $14,000 to come to Penn State
and my money went nowhere for the
first week. It seems that all I paid for
in my first week of this semester was
to chill in Bruno's, hang out in my
room and find ways to keep myself
busy and not bored out of my mind.
Had I had a single class it would
have been a little better and could have
done work, but there was no work to
be done! I didn't even have the blow
off day where you're handed the
syllabus and you learn about what the
semester will be like in that class.
Granted. I wasn't too upset but I felt
like the biggest waste of space. Also,
my parents weren't the happiest
people in the world when I'd call and
give them the news that yet another
class had been canceled. Try calling
your parents and telling them that all
of their hard work and money went to
you watching another episode of
"Oprah" instead of going to class.
I'm not going to lie to you; I do
journalism a lot better than I do math.
I was wondering one thing: Penn
State? Think I could get reimbursed
for the classes that were canceled?
Erika Jarvis' column
appears every three weeks.
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