Friday, February 1, 2007
Primary Progress
• Senator John McCain was victorious in the Florida Republican primary
on Jan. 29 where he got 36 percent of the vote.
Mitt Romney, the only other Republican with a feasible chance for the
candidacy, came in second place with 31 percent of the votes.
• Hillary Clinton won the Florida primary for the Democratic party, but
her victory was nearly uncontested since the party had stripped the state of
its delegates following an unauthorized move to make their primary earli-
er in the year
• Rudy Giuliani withdrew from the Republican presidential race after fin-
ishing third in Florida with 15 percent of the votes.
Giuliani had staked most of his fate in the outcome of the Florida pri
mary and failed to win any states during his run at the presidency, despite
being one of the favorites from the time of Sept. 11 until early 2008.
Giuliani endorsed McCain in his conceding speech, and called him “an
American hero that is the most qualified candidate to be the next com
mander in chief of the United States.”
•John Edwards withdrew from the Democratic presidential race and
conceded the candidacy to either Barack Obama or Hillary Clinton.
Edwards gave the speech announcing the end of his campaign in New
Orleans, where he began his campaign in Dec. 2006.
Edwards said that he and his wife decided to end their campaign before
Super Tuesday because he felt that his chance to become president had
become nonexistent. One of his senior advisers, Joe Trippi, said, “He
wanted to have a shot at being president. He wanted to have a chance to
change people’s lives, not be a spoiler or a king maker and not play polit
ical games.”
He has yet to endorse either Democratic candidate, but said that he has
spoken with both and urged them to continue on with the goals specific to
his campaign.
•California Senator Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his endorse
ment of John McCain for the presidency on Jan. 31.
Schwarzenegger has long professed himself as non-partisan and moder
ate. and his endorsement could help sway many registered Independent
voters.
• Caroline Kennedy endorsed Barack Obama in an Op-ed piece for the
Sunday New York Times titled, “A President, like my Father.”
“He has built a movement that is changing the face of politics in this
country, and he has demonstrated a special gift for inspiring young people
known for a willingness to volunteer, but an aversion to politics to
become engaged in the political process,” Kennedy said about Obama.
Ted Kennedy, one of the most powerful Senators in the country, also
endorsed Obama.
•On Feb. 5, the biggest day of the primary election process will take
place, called “Super Tuesday.”
Twenty-four states will hold primary elections or caucuses on this day,
and with 51 percent of the Democratic delegates placing their votes on this
day, it could decide the winner of the Democratic primary race.
•Barack Obama’s campaign released information that they raised over
$32 million and attracted an unprecedented 170,000 new contributors dur
ing the month of January.
By: Andy McLachlan
Larry The Cable Guy
Bill Engvall
Carrot Top
Jay Mohr
Carlos Mencia
nr
_
5 Worst Co
['ULEI TT LI
Cloverfield lacks satisfactory ending
Michael Stahl-David. Jessica Lucas and Lizzy Caplan are three of the realtively unknown actors that star
in J.J. Abrams' big screen debut. Cloverfield.
Nick Haller
contributing writer
nphsol2(o’psu.edu
After the criticism that The Blair-Witch Project
received concerning it’s unconventional film work.
one would think that directors and producers would
stay away from the first person camera style of film-
ing for the big screen. This was not the case with
J.J. Abrams, the highly acclaimed creator of the hit
television series. LOST, in his first full-length film
ealled Cloverfield.
Cloverfield. a science fiction thriller that begins
with a surprise party for Rob Hawkins (Michael
Stahl-David) to celebrate a big promotion that w ill
force him to relocate to Japan. The party and trip
immediately go on halt when a jolt rocks the city of
Manhattan and mass chaos bursts out. Rob. his
brother Jason (Mike Vogel), his girlfriend Lily Ford
(Jessica Lucas) and their best friend Hud (T.J.
Miller) plan to escape Manhattan until Rob
receives a phone call from Beth, the girl he is loses
and she needs help.
Very typical, right'?
The group of friends then decide to embark on a
journey into the heart of the city to find her.
While they are on the way to her apartment, the
group is confronted by an animal that slightly
resembles Godzilla and is destroying the entire city.
They also encounter abnormally large spider-like
creatures.
The creatures easily fulfill their purpose, which is
to horrify the audience.
First-person filming style is not a thing of the
future. During the film, one might ask themself
when it will end and switch to a normal camera
angle, but it continues the entire length of the
movie. At times it is bearable, but at others the
instability of the camera makes you feel as though
you may lose your stomach in front of the person
Pennsylvania obsolete in primaries
Scott Muska
managing editor
srms()B2 (s' psu.edu
Less than a month ago. there were nearly 20 can
didates that had a theoretical chance to become our
nation’s next president.
Then, the primaries and caucuses began.
Since then, the number of potential candidates
has dropped drastically. With each state primary, it
seems, more presidential hopefuls have thrown in
the proverbial towel.
On Jan. 30. both the Democratic and Republican
party lost two of their higher-profile candidates
when John Edwards and Rudy Giuliani bowed out
of the race.
They both dropped out because neither one of
them felt that they had a chance at becoming the
next president, and, with each primary loss, came
downsizing in their funding, making it more and
more difficult to participate in the race.
At the time of their departure, there remain only
three Democrats and four Republicans left in the
race, with Mike Huckabee. Ron Paul and Mike
Gravel expected to concede soon, which would
leave Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton to fight it
out for the Democratic nomination while John
McCain and Mitt Romney battle for the Republican
nomination.
The fact that so many candidates have withdrawn
is extremely unfair to Pennsylvania voters (but not
the fault of the candidates), and it's only going to
get worse before April 22. when we are finally able
to cast our primary ballots.
After Super Tuesday, which takes place on Feb. 5
and has 24 states casting their primary votes or par
ticipating in caucuses, the primaries—at least for
the Democrats—will be all but over. This poses the
question, what about the other states?
Think about it, shouldn’t Pennsylvanians have
just as much say in who will have a chance to rep
resent our chosen party as someone who lives in
lowa, South Carolina or any other state that was
The Behrend Beacon I
sitting next to you
In spite of the visually straining experience, the
movie does well to actually keep the audience's
attention because you feel exactly what the charac
ters are feeling. It is as if you are being attacked
with them—which is possibly the only benefit that
the first-person filming brings to the overall enter
tain
ment of the movie. The film almost gives off the
eerie feeling that you tire right there trying to sur-
The first person filming also takes away from the
acting in the movie, which is a good thing: the qual-
ity of the acting in this movie is sub-par at best.
These young actors did what I hex seemingly
knew best, which was to hold onto a camera, run.
scream, refer to each other as "dude." and "babe.”
and blurt the occasional swear word.
After the climatic part of rescuing Beth, the group
travels frantically to the evacuation area where hel
icopters are taking the last gioups of civilians from
the citv.
The military plans to level all of Manhattan, and
Rob. Beth and Hud are among the final group to
leave, but are taken down bv the monster.
The ending is. unexpectedly, very uneventful and
unsatisfactory. It lacks any type of closure, but does
not leave an opening for a sequel. The screen goes
blank and the audience is left bewildered, wonder
ing what happened next.
Not only was the ending uneventful, it was very
perplexing, so much so that much of the audience
simply sal in the theater for about five minutes after
the conclusion in a state of confusion.
Cloverfield definitely is not for everyone, but if
you're already excited about it. it might be worth a
try. It was a relatively unique experience that
included monsters and a few interesting fight
scenes. It's a short movie, at only an hour and 24
minutes long, but it will certainly keep you wonder
ing long after you leave the theater.
allowed to vote months before us'.’
When the debates and campaigns began. I found
that 1 could see myself casting a vote for two differ
ent candidates, one a Conservative and the other a
Liberal.
Since then, one of these candidates has with
drawn from the race, and the other is hanging on but
will no-doubt be gone by the time my turn to vote
rolls around.
I’ve been stripped of these chances because other
people got to decide who they liked before 1 was
allowed to. thus letting certain candidates jump out
to leads and gain more funding, while the losers in
the first few stales cut their losses and walked away
from the race.
It feels as though I have no voice now. except to
vote for a candidate that wasn’t my favorite anyway.
My vote has been rendered all but obsolete in the
primaries.
1 feel like I'll be voting for "the lesser of the two
evils." which is how my mother explained her vot
ing choice for the 2004 election to me.
Rudy Giuliani didn't win any of the states during
his run. but if Pennsylvania had been able to vote,
he probably would have. At the last polling in the
state, he had a convincing lead amongst those in the
Republican party, but now he’ll never get that
chance to collect those votes and that victory.
The entire primary process is Hawed and unfair.
There should be only one day of voting, with no
caucuses. It should mirror the actual presidential
election. This could take place later in the year,
maybe a few months before the election so that can
didates would have enough time to span their cam
paigns across the entire country, and all citizens and
delegates would have the opportunity to cast an
equally significant vote.
The last time I checked, in a democracy, every
civilian vote was supposed to be equal, and in the
current system they are not.
I resent that people in low a and other states can
diminish my choices for a decision before I get an
opportunity to make it for my self.