Friday, November 17, 2006 I 1 Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the i right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. - The First Ammendment to the U.S. Constitution The Behrend Beacon Published weekly by the students of Penn State Behrend t*|hi: behrend beacon News Editor Christopher LaFuria Assistant News Editor Ashley Bressler Assistant Sports Editor Daniel Mitchell Penn State Erie, The Behrend College First Floor, The J. Elmer Reed Union Building Station Road, Erie, PA 16563 Contact the Beacon at: Telephone: (814) 898-6488 Fax: (814) 898-6019 Staff Editorial The Behrend Beacon staff (herein known as “we”) stands firmly behind its deci sion to publish the article “Behrend student arrested on multiple child pornogra phy charges” found in Vol. LIII No. X, printed on November 10, 2006. As a news publication, we have a duty and obligation to report the truth, whether it is pleas ant or not. We do not excuse or condemn Jonathan Demerecz; it is neither our job nor our aim to judge him. We want only to inform you, the reader, of the charges filed against him so as to allow you to make your own judgements. We are not the only news source to have printed or aired a piece pertaining to the child pornography charges facing Demerecz. We ask those of you in disagree ment with our publishing of the article, did you question the other news outlets at the time of release? To not publish this article would have been a disservice to the students of Penn State Behrend. We would have printed this same story even if the subject were not a student, but a faculty or staff member regardless of his or her title or position. The students here deserve the right to know. No matter the outcome of the investigation or the trial, there will be comprehen sive coverage of the events to follow. Keeping the students up to date on this situ ation is not only our duty, but our mission. We strive to produce well-written articles about local events as they relate to Penn State Behrend through unbiased and balanced reporting and writing. The information printed in The Behrend Beacon is factual. The facts were received from reliable sources. Other than these sources, we spoke with people familiar with Demerecz in different elements, both at home and at school. Another point that most seem to forget is that printing a picture of the alleged offender as well as his address or the vicinity of his address is common policy and practice, and is not a violation of privacy. People are accused all the time of all types of things. We are only conveying the truth and facts. Do not shoot the messenger. Cooling off on Global Warming The debate, or lack thereof, on global climate change has taken center stage in society over the past few years. With the recent release of A 1 Gore’s documentary, An Inconvenient Truth (and you thought he was boring on the campaign trail), and daily barrage of experts and scientists appearing on nightly news programs, it would be easy to believe that global warming is happening and is caused by humans. I dis agree. The earth’s atmosphere and oceans are large and complicated. We learn new things everyday. Models and theories that were once accepted as true have now been dis proved and replaced by new and improved theories (See Global Cooling Alarmism circa 1970). What many people, including scientists, fail to take into account is earth’s natural fluctuations over time. Looking at historical accounts of CO2 in the atmosphere over the earth’s existence, there is evidence that at one point, when humans weren’t present on earth, CO2 was six times its current level. The earth has even seen some level of cooling occurring in the 1940 s and 1970 s that cannot be explained by models suggesting that CO2 has such a large impact on global warm ing. Science also does not completely understand the effect the sun has on our cli mate. Recent studies have shown that there are natural variations in the energy emit ted by the sun than once thought. I don’t know about you, but I have a hard time believing a weatherman’s 10 day forecast and an even harder time believing a fore cast projected for the next few hundred years. A 1 Gore and other proponents of global warming like to fill the scientific void left in their climate models with the assertion that there is a scientific consensus on cli mate change. This is an unsubstantiated claim. The Oreskes study is often used to prove this consensus but when other scientists tried to replicate this study they achieved drastically different results. Dr. Peiser, Liverpool John Moores University notes, “A recent international survey among some 500 climatologists found that a quarter of respondents still question whether human activity is responsible for the most recent climatic changes.” This is pretty significant considering the uphill battle faced by dissenting scientists. Richard Lindzen, a professor at MIT, has seen the intimidation of scientists first hand and writes, “scientists who dissent from the alarmism have seen their grant funds disappear, their work derided, and themselves libeled as industry stooges, sci entific hacks or worse. Even if this isn’t convincing, there is absolutely nothing that can be done to stop global warming if it is human caused. You can call me a nihilist, but I like to think of it as just being realistic. If the United States signed the Kyoto Protocol and fol lowed its regulations with all the other countries in the world, wanning would be reduced by less than a tenth of a degree Celsius. This is because developing coun tries like China and India would not be required to decrease their CO2 emissions and developed countries would only be forced to slow the rate of increase in emissions. Any meaningful change would require a reduction from cunent levels, which is Jennifer Haight, Editor in Chief Patrick Webster, Managing Editor Lindsay Snyder, Advertising Manager Kim Young, Adviser Sports Editor Jordan Gilmore Opinion Editor Kate Kelecseny Humor Editor Ben Raymond By Chris Brown copy editor Student Life Editor Sean Mihlo Head Copy Editor Rachael Conway Copy Editors Chris Brown Miranda Krause Janet Niedenberger Photography Editor Mike Sharkey Calendar Page Editor Jerry Pohl OPINION Letters to the Dear Editor, I am writing in regards to the Demerecz story published in last week's paper. As the President of The Matchbox Players, I would like to express my concern for the ways in which you portrayed Demerecz. “Earthquake” has active membership in our organization; he regularly attended meetings and functions. However, I would like to point out that he was always paid to attend many of our events because of his job at MISC. When we needed a sound technician or access to anything in McGarvey Commons, he not only came to the functions as a member, but also as an employee performing his job. Next, I would also like to point out Earthquake's involvement in other clubs which failed to be mentioned in your article. Not only is he on the Executive Board of the Gamer's Club, but he is also on Thalia's board and works for MISC. Also, I think it is important to mention that your caption on your picture is mis quoted. Earthquake was in costume to attend the Mystery Dinner put on by Student Activities. After that event, he came to our late night Improv. I am concerned about the stigma which your article poses on not only Matchbox, but also on the other clubs (primarily the Gamer's) which he was a part of. I would like to say that just because a person commits a crime, does not mean it has any relevance to those clubs which he takes part in. The arrest came as a shock to everyone, including Matchbox and The Gamer's. While 1 am not asking for an apology, I am asking that your writers take more care to report all the facts, rather than singling them down to fit the certain needs of an arti cle. I would like to close by saying that this issue is not directly connected with The Matchbox Players, Gamer's, Thalia, or MISC, and this issue should not scare students away from getting involved in campus organizations. Sincerely, Meghan Whitesel President of The Matchbox Players Senior, Literature - The First Amendment - MiniTHON - JoePa will be back in the game - Cardboard City *•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••* Isubmit it to the “Thumbs up-Thumbs Down” box at the RUB desk. I Have an opinion regarding this, that or anything else? Don't like what was Say it yourself! Beacon Thumbs Up 41 \ .1 9 tibolo Dear Editor, I am writing in response to the article “Behrend student arrested on multiple child pornography charges” printed in the November 10 issue. Although I am upset, and as shocked, as most students are to hear this news, I also commiser ate Jon. I am not afraid to say that I, along with others, was, am, and will be Jon’s friend. An important thing to remember is that this sort of thing is an addiction, as is any narcotic to its user, and, as with any addiction, the subsequent uses beyond the initial became more extreme and the feeling of necessity harder to shake. Right now, Jon needs the support of friends, family, and any one who can show empathy about his situation, in order for him move on in life. That being said, I am not condoning this habit. I feel that child pornography is wrong, but I also feel it is not my place to pass judgment on the lascivi ousness of others. All we can do is aid our friends when they are in need; and in cases like this the true friends will be sifted from the rest. Sincerely and sadly, Amanda Chamey Alumnus, ‘O6 Submission Guidelines The Beacon welcomes readers to share their views on this page. Letters and commentary pieces can be submitted by email to klksoos@psu.edu or directly to the Beacon office, located in the Reed Building. Letters should be limited to 350 words and commentaries should be lim ited to 700 words. The more concise the submission, the less we will be forced to. edit it for space concerns and the more likely we are to run the a*^s^y|s,ipn.. Aft submissions must include the Writer’s year in school, major and name as The Beacon does not publish anonymous letters. Deadline for any sub mission is 5 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon for inclusion in the Friday issue. All submissions are considered, but not all are published. Reasons that your submission may not be published are due to space limitations and libelous content. Submission publication is subject to the discretion of the Opinion Editor. The Behrend Beacon reserves the right to edit any submissions prior to pubiication. Have a Thumbs Up or Thumbs Down? (check a box) Send your submissions to KLKsoos@psu.edu! 3 I The Behrend Beacon Editor Dear Editor. Re: Behrend Student arrested on multi ple child pornography charges: November 10, 2006 issue 1 would personally like to complain about the journalistic ethics I think were violated in November lOth’s Behrend Beacon. The front page article was about one of our very own students. Jonathan Demerecz. who was charged with pos session of child pornography. The reason that this article bothers me is because he has not yet stood trial. Because the placement of this article (with his photo!) was on the front page, he will forever be pictured as a "bad" person by anyone who recognizes him on campus, whether he is guilty or not. In addition, 1 do not like that his address was posted because assuming he was released from prison, hate crimes could be easily committed against him. He is innocent until proven guilty. I hope that if he is found innocent, this will also be posted on the front page along with his picture. However, even if he was the oretically innocent and the article was published, he would no doubt suffer severe public alienation due to the first article. And it is precisely because of his possible innocence that it was unjust for the article to be published when it was, in the manner it was, regardless of what any other newspaper did. -Amber Schorr Sophmore, Mechanical Engineering Beacon Thumbs Down j - Crazy last names - Loud ticking clocks and watches - Heavy breathing - Ripped jeans with MASSIVE holes ilk soft 111 .0 0 !,z said?
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