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
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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!
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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
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Send your submissions to
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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
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