Friday, November 4, 2005
Saw 2 exceeds expectations
Even Saw 2's poster scares its viewers
By Dominic Petrazio
staff writer
dmpso2 I (a psusedu
Picture this: you open your eyes and
you're locked in a strange room and fas
tened to a wall with a cable. Your body
aches, your right eye is bloodshot and sore
and around your neck is some sort of gigan
tic metal device that you cannot remove.
Suddenly a television across the room turns
on and some sort of toy clown on the screen
tells you that you have 60 seconds to find
Rosa Parks dies at age 92
By Earl Gordon
Staff writer
engs(XY2(q)psu.edu
A civil rights icon has passed away. On
Oct. 24, 2005, the mother of the civil, rights
movement passed away due to natural caus
es. Rosa Parks died at the age of 92 years
old. She had dedicated the majority of her
life to helping create a better and more inte
grated world where everyone could he
equals.
On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks left her job
as a seamstress for the day, and rode the bus
home. The common place for African
Americans was located at the rear of the bus.
The seats on the bus quickly filled up. When
asked to move from her seat to allow a
Caucasian man to sit, she refused to comply.
The outcome of this situation led to Mrs.
Parks' arrest. This event brought about the
beginning of the civil rights movement.
Parks, who at the time was the secretary
of the NAACP (National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People), sparked
the attention of the African American com
munity. A boycott of the buses in
Montgomery, Alabama began and lasted
381 days. The boycott was organized by
Martin Luther King Jr., and ended on Dec.
20, 1956, when a supreme court ruling was
passed ending segregation on transportation
systems.
Her actions of the past helped to mold the
world that we all live in today. "Rosa Parks
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the key to unlock and remove the device on
your neck. The voice explains that the
device will snap shut on the front and back
of your head (similar to a Venus-fly trap),
consequently crushing your skull. The loca
tion of the key is also revealed on the televi
sion an x-ray of a human skull with a key
behind the right eye briefly appears on the
screen. Across the room is a mirror and on
the floor below it is a box containing a knife.
As you walk over to it, the chain discon
nects from the metal device attached to you,
and the 60 second timer begins counting
down. How much blood will you shed to
stay alive?
Thanks to much better acting, improved
character development, and a cleverly exe
cuted plot that connects to every meticulous
detail throughout, Saw 2 proves to be a sur
passingly superior movie than its parent.
The plot is similar to the first movie,
hostages locked away forced to pass ridicu
lous 'tests' in order to survive. Only instead
of two people chained to pipes, eight people
have been locked in a house. All eight of
them have been poisoned with an airborne
chemical which affects the nervous system
and causes bleeding from body orifices.
Each character must redeem his or herself
following The Jigsaw's game rules, thereby
attaining a syringe containing the vaccina
tion for the poison in their bodies, but they
only have two hours to do it before their
bodies succumb to the poison. The games
they are forced to play are both clever and
gruesome. Yet, despite the fact that each
gory and twisted scene made the movie
harder and harder to watch, I was at the
was symbolically important for civil disobe
dience. Without the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, it would have been
just one person against a large group," stat
ed Professor John Rossi. "She was an
important figure who helped mobilize sup
port. Without her, things wouldn't be the
way they are."
Penn State Erie students were also grate
ful for Rosa Parks' accomplishment and
acknowledged her struggles in the past. "I
think she played an important role in
American history. If not for her, then we
would not be as integrated as we are today,"
said sophomore Kirsten Strobel. Without
Parks' courageous stand against injustice,
the exact world we know today would not
exist. Some places would still be segregated
even in the twenty-first century.
Students also spoke out about Rosa Parks'
actions on the bus. "It was the morally cor
rect thing to do. She needed to take a stand
and she did. She handled herself appropri
ately by using a forceful, yet nonphysical
way of confronting those who treated
African Americans wrong," replied
Philosophy major Masoud Sayles.
"I think it was an absolutely necessary
step to take. She definitely had a major
impact on people, especially on the people
who made such ridiculous laws such as seg
regation," Penn State student Chris Callahan
stated.
Although this event took place over fifty
years ago, every person today has benefited
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same time becoming more and more inter
ested in the film and its story.
Now I must warn you ahead of time this
is a horrible choice for 'dinner and a movie'
especially if dinner follows the movie.
However, the storyline was very well writ
ten with many clever twists and concepts
that you could only understand after you
leave the theater.
This film and the previous film have left
me with one question that's been keeping
me up at night: The 'Jigsaw' is an 80-some
thing cancer patient nearly too weak to hold
the IV's in his arms, yet he is the master
mind behind each and every game his vic
tims must play. How in God's name does he
manage to wander around to retrieve all of
the supplies for his games, as well as build
and setup so many devices? He has trouble
walking across a room to get a glass of
water, yet he manages to install gigantic
metal doors, conveniently put thick metal
safes wherever he desires and set up com
puter monitors and video cameras in so
many distant locations. Oh well...it's only
a movie.
Can you keep your eyes open through it
all a plunge into a pit of syringes, brains
oozing from bullet holes, slit wrists and
throats...l can practically taste the vomit in
the back of my throat. The bottom line: if
you can stomach intense gruesome violence
and appreciate a well written story, check it
out! If you can't take the gore, at least go to
the movie and close your eyes during the
scary parts. A sequel much better than the
original finally!
from this period in history. The outcome of
Rosa Parks' actions has helped to pave the
way for not only previous generations but
also for the generations to come. The world
as a whole has come a long way from what
it was before. We are one step closer to
what Rosa Parks and other civil leaders like
herself had envisioned in the past. History is
important because people should not repeat
the Misiakes' cif the pa 4. Thanks to Parks
contributions, the only steps we have left to
take are the ones moving forward.
Civic rights icon, Rosa Parks, 1913-2005
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Simple solutions
to better service
Everyone likes to have good service when he or she is dining out.
Likewise, servers tend to enjoy good customers. Unfortunately, not
all servers are the best and not all customers are enjoyable. To help
this situation, there are some things you should know before going
out to a restaurant.
One thing all customers should keep in mind when eating out is
that the server is not the cook. Your server may take down your
order and bring out your food, but he or she does not actually pre
pare it. It can be very upsetting for a server when an irate customer
blames the server for an ill-prepared meal. If you find yourself in a
situation in which you are unsatisfied with your food, politely
inform the waiter or waitress. In most cases, the server will do his
or her best to fix the problem, even if that means having your meal
remade. If you find that your food is so terrible that you simply
must complain, ask to speak to a manager. Whatever you do, do not
blame the server.
Nobody likes to wait long for his or her food to arrive.
Sometimes, though, that wait cannot be helped. If you are going to
a restaurant during peak dining hours, plan on waiting. Peak dining
hours are defined as: 8 a.m.-10 a.m. for breakfast, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. for
lunch and 5 p.m.-7 p.m. for dinner. During these hours, the kitchen
may be backed-up, and you could end up waiting for an hour or
more to get your food. Once again, this is not your server's fault.
Do not complain to him or her. Most likely, your server is waiting
on multiple tables and has heard the complaint already. Rather than
getting annoyed, avoid going to restaurants during peak hours, or go
to a fast food establishment instead.
What many consumers don't realize is that most waiters and wait
resses are not paid minimum wage. Their hourly income is often
considerably less than minimum wage. Servers rely on gratuity.
Since tips make up the bulk of servers' paychecks, it is incredibly
inconsiderate to leave a restaurant without leaving behind a tip. The
general rule for gratuity is to leave a percentage of your total bill.
The percent left can be decided on according to the service you
received. If the service wasn't great and your waiter or waitress
wasn't very attentive, leave 10 percent. If the service was good and
your waiter or waitress was adequate, leave 15 percent. If the serv
ice was excellent and your waiter or waitress left a great impression,
leave 20 percent.
At some point or another, everyone is faced with poor service.
When you dine-in at a restaurant, naturally you expect your waiter
or waitress to be friendly and attentive, but this doesn't always hap
pen. Whether it's because the server is having a bad day, is over
come by an onslaught of unsatisfied customers or just has a nasty
headache, he or she may not be doing his or her job appropriately.
There is no excuse, however, for a server not to give the best serv
ice he or she can, especially since waiters and waitresses know that
their attitudes will be reflected in the tips they receive. That's where
the two-cent tip comes in.
If you visit a restaurant and receive absolutely horrible service
from a waiter or waitress with a contemptible attitude, you have the
right to refuse your server a tip. If you don't leave anything at all,
though, there's a good chance that your server will simply assume
that you forgot to leave a tip. To make it blatantly obvious that you
didn't forget but were disgusted with your service, leave two pen
nies. Only resort to the two-cent tip in extreme cases! As a warn
ing, you should know that there is a chance that your waiter or wait
ress will remember you. You may not want to leave the two-cent tip
at a restaurant you frequently visit.
If, even in the most extreme situations, you don't want to resort to
the two-cent tip, you can simply ask to speak to a manager. (This
often has better results than the two-cent tip.) Talk to the manager
after your meal and explain to him or her your dissatisfaction with
the service. The manager will most likely attempt to rectify the sit
uation by appeasing you, the customer, and approaching the prob
lematic waiter or waitress.
Keep these things in mind the next time you go out and hopeful
y your dining experience will be a great one.
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The Behrend Beacon I 7
By Allison Gray
copy editor
amg34B@)psu.edu