Friday, December 14, 2007
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exerci
right of'the people peaceably to aSsembitb, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
Penn State Erie,
The Behrend College
Reed Union Building
THE BEHREND 4701 College Drive, Erie PA 16563
BEACO Room 10H
Telephone: (814) 898-6488
Fax: (814) 898-6019
FOUNDED IN 1948
Why are we in Iraq?
By Christopher Brown
opinion editor
cnths3l3 psu.edu
Much time on the presidential campaign trail is dedi
cated to discussing what the candidates plan to do
with Iraq if elected, but this leaves a more important
discussion ignored. Why are we in Iraq to begin with?
Astrological planetary alignment? President Bush's stupidity?
The neoconservative kabbal? Nay, none of these offer a true
explanation for why we are still there.
The fiasco in Iraq is a symptom of a much larger problem in
America and apportioning blame to a single person, company
or philosophy gives too much credit to where it is hardly
deserving
Many are quick to blame Bush for misleading Americans.
They say. "well he gave us false information and skewed intel
ligence." Sure, he made some inaccurate comments; I'll be the
first to agree. He should have never went public during his
State of the Union Address with unreliable information from
undependable informants like the infamous "Curveball."
But, who let him get away with it? Even a cursory inspection
of the National Intelligence Estimate on Iraq before the war
reveals some huge holes; the report is filled with enormous
caveats. For instance no one bothered to read, or were to afraid
to point out that the footnotes said Iraq's "efforts are not clear
ly linked to a nuclear end use." It continued, "the claims of
Iraqi pursuit of natural uranium in Africa are...highly dubious"
(My Emphasis). Yes it was a mistake for Bush to present such
claims as fact, but it is just as much our fault for not critically
examining the evidence.
The America I live in today is a comp!etely different country
The ghosts of America the great
now haunt America the eresent.
than the America I envisioned as a child. I used to believe that
we always fight the good fight. We were on the side of truth
(Truth=America) everyone else was simply mistaken, we
could do no wrong. As I grew older, and to my horror, I real
ized nothing could be further from the truth.
Where did things start to go wrong? Schools. Today, school
ing is more about preparing the future workforce of America
than creating an informed public in an active democracy. It
seems every day a headline in the Erie-Times News here more
and more about how schools in America need to focus on math.
Media oversteps boundaries again
By Rachel Reeves
copy editor
rersos 7 02` psu edu
Just think...l'm gonna be [expletive] famous!" After years of
feeling humiliated and insignificant, Robert A. Hawkins got his
wish. Nearly every American knows that on Wednesday, Dec. 5,
he walked into a shopping mall in Omaha, Nebraska and fatally shot
eight people before shooting himself.
Over the following few days the media delved deeper and deeper
into the tragic story. Surveillance images and video show Hawkins
walking into the mall and taking aim with his assault rifle.
Witnesses, friends, an ex-girlfriend and the last person to speak to
him were interviewed. Psychologists tried to analyze this killer's
mind. Direct images of his suicide notes were broadcasted and post
ed online. Most disturbing were clips of 911 calls from some pan
icked shoppers, their voices breaking, gunshots and incoherent
screams in the background.
The sight of Hawkins aiming his AK-47 is the last thing his vic
tims ever saw, and now every American with a computer or televi
sion can witness it as well. The average citizen, drinking their morn
ing coffee while watching the morning news, can hear a victim's last
screams and hear the gunshot that killed them. Anyone can see his
0 • C• • • • • • • lUt • • • o_o • • •Jl_o • •• •• •• •• o_ll • • • • • • o_All • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• Beacon Thumbs Up Beacon Thumbs Down •
• •
• 40. I i l / 4 ft 4 1 / 4 .0
•
"P"1 1 f t '
(1"16113'°°16.1"1" •
•:
•
4:
t
•
•
ebb die alb. 40 air tl .d.
•
A , v. , . \
‘
•
'r • ' . '."
„ ,
.W s
'* A A
• #
—i! ' ( f
* r.. .r i z . ,
1 NP 1 ND I No •
• . •
- Poofy Snow
- Catching up on sleep over break
- Mountain Dew Code Red
- Sled Riding
Executive Board
Christopher LaFuria, Editor in Chief
Mike Sharkey, Co-Editor in Chief
Tiffany Flynn, Advertising Manager
Kim Young, Faculty Adviser
science, and business. while schools cut extra-curricular activ
ities, require less English courses, and de-emphasize art.
Critical thinking, who needs that? History? That sniff is olcl
news. Why do high school and elementary history courses
always stop at World War II? Has nothing of historical rele
vance happened since?
Today,
preparing the future workforce of
America
informed
democracy.
Such are the trials of the times in which we live a post
World War IL a post-Cold War America. and ultimately a fan
tasy America. When we think about America. we still sec our
selves as the good guys. After all, we did defeat the Nazis. We
are trying to live up to the standards of a country that will never
exist again. America will never he as powerful economically as
it was after WWII. America will never have a greater enemy
than the Soviet Union.
Unfortunately, these ghosts of America the great now haunt
America the present. We learned all the wrong lessons. Instead
of realizing that America's prowess after World War II resulted
from being in the right place at the right time, more of a testa
ment to our geographic isolation and he rest of the world
destroying themselves, we concluded that might makes right.
If we just smash something harder, eventually we will come
out on top. Instead of realizing that America's singtilar focus
on the Soviet Union's destruction in the Cold War forced
immoral actions. If we trust the government, we will always be
safe.
Capitalism is king. The ends justify the means. If America
does no wrong, then everything it does must he right. America
doesn't torture, therefore if we do waterhoarding it can't he tor
ture. cause we don't torture. You dig?
Despite what Alan Greenspan said, we are not in Iraq
because of oil. Despite what the White House said. we are not
in Iraq because of weapons of mass destruction and to promote
democracy. Despite what Sean Hannity said, we are not in Iraq
to fight the war on terror. In the end, the best explanation for
why we are in Iraq is also the simplest. We are in Iraq because
no one bothered to stop it.
- Sleet
- Drainage on campus
- Teacher evaluations
- Finals
[l\f [CiNf
Editorial Staff
Lenny Smith, News Editor
Matt Schawenbauer, asst. News Editor
Chris Brown, Opinion Miter
Andrew McLachlan. Sports Editor
Matt Waronker. Sports Editor
Scott Muska. Student Li/ Editor
Ryan P. Gallagher. Student Life Editor
Janet Niedenberger, Head Copy Editor
Mike Sharkey. Humor/Photography Mimi
Jennifer Juncosa, Com. Editor
Rachel Reeves. Copy Editor
Connor Sanely, Entomittment Editor
schooling is more about
than
public
final words of despair and hate scrawled in black. Robert A.
Hawkins is not just a troubled teenager, he is also an image of terri
ble and final power. He is at last respected.
Two days later, Matthew Murray shot two people at Colorado's
Youth With a Mission center. The next morning he opened fire in the
parking lot of the New Life Church in Colorado Springs, killing two
and wounding others before he was gunned down by a security guard
These murders did not take place in a
TV drama or a thriller film; these were
real leo Ile livin • real lives.
and finally killed himself. But unlike Hawkins, this is more than the
story of a young man snapping: he had a vendetta and a plan.
The cycle began again, and soon the news was full of background
information, professional theories, first-hand accounts and direct
sources. The hate postings he left on the public forum of the
Association of Former Pentecostals website were removed, but
excerpts are everywhere. Some of his warnings were verbatim of the
warnings left before the Columbine shooting, which occurred just a
few miles from his home. The title of his last post "You Christians
creating an
in an active
'se thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
Penn State proud?
By Lenny Smith
lievt's edit°,
1r550460 r,u.cdti
Ihaven't always been a Penn Stalci
Neither of my parents went to col
lege so I was never really raised to
follow a certain team (except for the
Steelers, of cour s e:). So it wa , ,n'i until
my junior year of high school \k hen
started looking at collqi.cs that I
"found - Pcnn State.
My first visit to State College wa. in
August of 200 i It didn't take long
me to realize that I didn't
need to loot,
any further. I had found Inv college
There are hie thine and small thin 2 ,.
but since I became an official Pc H n
Stater, this universityhas done a H It,
make me proud: Penn State ['loud.
The Penn State IF('/Panhellenic
Dance Marathon (THON) is the Itiii2es:
student-run philanthropy in the (Irid .
Last year, THON raised over 5.2 mil
lion dollars for pediatric cancer. Penn
State Proud.
It didn't take long for
me to realize that I
didn't need to look
any further. I had
found my college.
SaturdaNs at E3ca cr Stadium arc one
of the greatest experiences a college
student can has e. Penn State has one of
the most talked about student sections
in the corium. Our White Outs. cheers.
and volume can intimidate even the
most respected quarterbacks. Plus.
tell me 110.000 people veiling. We
Are... Penn State!" doesn't give you the
chills. Penn State Proud.
In response to the Virginia Tech
shooting, the Beaver Stadium student
section set aside their traditional "S
Zone - to make a maroon and oraluzc
"VT Zone. - Penn State Proud.
However. Penn State Proud has start
ed to go out the window m recent
months. Just so you know. I will alwa \
bleed blue and white, hut the students
of this university have not done much
lately to make me proud.
Several players from the Penn State
Football team have done nothing but
get in trouble this year. .1 side Iron a
sub par and worse-than-expected sea
son, this season has been overshad
owed by constant off the field legal
brought this on yourselves... Miura\ had a cause. and he died for it.
I am not saying that victims should he forgotten or security neg
lected. I am not saying the questions of those directly and painfully
affected should not he relieved. I am not saving that excessive media
coverage causes kilhngs like these. But there is a line of dignity and
decency that the media has crossed. These murders did not take
place in a TV drama or a thriller film: these were real people living
real lives. The shoppers calling 911 are not actors: they are humans
in a terrible state of fear and hopelessness. Moments like these
should not he on public display. It is possible to honor the victims
without also honoring the violence.
We should pay tribute to those killed and offer support to their
loved ones. We should he aware of any security measures that need
more attention. And then we should let mass killer s die in the obscu
rity in which they lived. No one should see their faces in the morn
ing paper. no one should read their last words and wishes on the
internet. No one should give them titles like "greatest killer - or
- biggest mass murderer.-
These murderers should fade away with no respect. no memory
and no name. The only hope they had was to he remembered and
feared, and America cannot pander to their dying wish. To forget for
ever is the only justice \‘e have left.
Submission Guidelines
Letters should be limited to 350 words and commentaries should
be limited 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 submission.
The Beacon does not publish anonymous letters. Please include
your major, faculty, or administration position and semester stand
ing. Deadline for any submission is 5 p.m. Tuesday afternoon for
inclusion in the Friday issue.
The Behrend Beacon reserves the right to edit any submissions
prior to publication.
Please keep complaints as specific as possible.
Email submissions to cmbs3l3@psu.edu or drop them off at the
Beacon office.
The Behrend Beacon I
tioill)lc. - this irotihle is highlighted by
\ tistm tiLott's rapc charge. Not so
\lter II ie nation ‘‘as ,o apprecia
tive of "VI tone - at the Blue
\\-hac la , ,t ,pring, two Penn State
11 , 2CLICl it sou Id he a good
idea to die,. tip a , \ tetims of the shoot
in l 2 rh,, , „ , ,Indents wore Virginia
lech t shirt, that were smeared in
Hood \\ iih d huller-hole visihle as well.
Needless to s',.ts. these pictures were
Hploadc,l to Facehook.com and now it
national news. Not so
mom!.
\ .tudent ‘Lindaliictl car in the
\ \ lEt I IV I lot. ',mashing' in
and punching in roof.. This
ha. no rc.pck.l lor other people's
I \\ a..unie that the majori
t~ iii ,tti,lent. have‘vorked hard
to hu% edi anll keep it maintained. Not
riolid
It I popular to put magnets on the
hack of \ our C.lr and being. as I said. a
Penn State:. I nattail\ have PSI I mag
nets on in\ car- in at least I did. People
on this campus think that it is okay to
lust take magnets oih of other people's
ears. I he things are like S 3 people. buy
oui ovv 11 damn magnets. Not proud.
Last ninth I mistakenly dropped my
PSI II) card outside of Inv building at
night \\ hen I lealiied it and went hack
to look tor it. It was gone. After I got
nn n,•\\ ID. I checked my account bal
ances on the Internet. Someone had
pent 1 of my meal plan. I want to
thank \\hoc\.er decided spending my
mom:\ \\ ould he the good thing to do.
All \ ou had to do was look me up on
Facebook.com and message me. So
again. thanks...oh. and not so proud.
On Oct. 27. students partying at the
Phi Delta theta fraternity before the
()SI . football game harassed a
passing Ohio State fan. During the
harassment. student were shown throw
ing heel Cans at the tans in a video that
sin laced on You fuhe.com. The story
made national headlines and showed
the national that Penn State fans arc
rude and disrespectful. Not so proud.
In in\ CIIFI cut state of mind. the had
scent~ to oumeigh the good here at
good or l'St' IioNA C er. this does not
mean that I plan on transferring or not
follow ing Penn State athletics. It sim
pl\ means that right now. I am a little
11101'e appichensi‘c to hoast the fact that
I am from Penn State. and it' you know
inc. that \ a hig thing.