Friday, April 10, 2009
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution:
0 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 right of the people peaceably to
assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.
-I]
Letter from the editors
RESPONSE TO: NOVA OVER DUKE
By. Rachel Reeves
editor in chief
rcrsos7 psu.edu
Last week, the
Behrend Beacon
received a letter to
the editor address
ing an error we
made in the NCAA
brackets. In the
bracket, we list Duke as defeating
Villanova in the Sweet Sixteen. We
would like to apologize for the misin
formation and for any confusion that
it may have caused.
Mistakes are something that hap
pens from time to time in newspa
pers. When we print an error, we
always try to assume responsibility
and clarify the truth as soon as possi
ble. However, for an error to be
taken for blatant and intentional bias
is a different matter.
The Beacon always strives to tell
the truth as we know it, and to avoid
bias and misinformation. We would
also like to remind the author of the
letter of the difference between a
typo and a purposeful lie. While we
may have preferences and opinions
on everything, we make certain that
our newspaper is not where we make
these personal ideas known.
As for Duke itself, Coach Mike
Krzyzewski does not need to worry
about his team advancing in the
postseason as he is already the win
ningest coach in tournament history
and became the all-time leader in
NCAA games coached with 93.
The Cameron Crazies are not big
headed, they are extremely passion
ate about their team and they are not
afraid to express this passion.
co Uy Connor Sattely
managing editor
cisso6o(a psu.edu
Basically, every
one said I was crazy
for thinking about
staying. I mean, it
makes no sense for
me, really. The
Collegian, the paper at University
Park, is considered to be among the
top ten or twenty college newspapers
in the nation. Why pass that up? Just
be part of the two-year revolving
door here, I was told, and head to
University Park.
In a way, the decision on whether
to stay, for anyone making the
choice, is largely academic. My for
mer roommate and one of my better
friends here, Matt Alto, is majoring
in Meteorology; he has to go to
University Park for an education in
that field.
For journalism, I could make it into
There
This letter is directed to Jeremy
Korwek, 10th semester communica
tions major. Jeremy was.so taken
aback that a student (specifically
Russ Becker) accused a road block of
being unjust that he wrote an article
criticizing the student's concerns of
police rights and constitutional pro
tections. To Mr. Korwek I must
say...WHAT?!
Mr. Korwek begins by suggesting
that these police were in fact target
ing us as students and young drivers
While he contends that this is okay
because insurance companies con
sider us more apt to accidents, you
Beacon Thumbs Up
3.14;40 • • •
-
1 0.
,tlr
Pageants for charity
- English language
- Hitting the printer with a bat
- Raising money
By Christine Newby
sports editor
.111
cen50560 psu.edu
• .IZ4 •
According to
ESPN, the Duke's
Cameron Crazies
have earned a repu
tation as the rowdi
est, wittiest, best
organized college bas
ketball fans in the land. Yes, the best
organized basketball fans in the
land.
Where else in college basketball
will you see more than 1,200 fans
outside the stadium in a tent city,
also known as Krzyzewskiville, just
to be able to get a good seat at a
Duke game?
"When some new group of fans
achieves notoriety, they don't run
around comparing themselves to the
Oakland Zoo or Pitt or the Grateful
Red at Wisconsin, their target is the
Cameron Crazies," said Al
Featherston, a local and long-time
Duke writer, published on a Duke
Basketball Report in January 2007.
If your fans are even compared
slighty to the Cameron Crazies, then
congratulations. Seriously, I mean it.
That is a hard task to accomplish.
Even Sean May, a former North
Carolina center, said in an article on
the Duke University website that it is
always tough to play at Duke and
one reason is because of their fans.
Not only players, but coaches in
the competitive ACC have comment
ed on the Cameron Crazies. Former
Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins
told the Atlanta Journal Constitution,
"They're my favorite fans in the
league. They do things so creative."
Why I decided to stay at Behrend
the career by going to either
University Park or Behrend. Yes,
University Park has a world
renowned journalism program. But
in the two years I've been here, I've
found that Behrend has some of the
best communications professors I've
ever met. These are professors who
are willing to sit down for an hour
and discuss the field. No graduate
students are teaching a class on jour
nalistic ethics here either.
But in Erie, it's the hands-on expe
rience that makes this school stand
out. I feel like Behrend should be
marketed as one of the best places to
get into journalism in the entire
nation, much better than University
Park. The way you can be quickly
involved in a great newspaper with
strong administration support is truly
unique to this school.
So far, Behrend has given me two
years of the most hands-on experi
ence that I could have gotten any
where. I spent a year with my own
brand new page, then a year manag-
is nothing wrong with a road
RESPONSE TO:
cannot justify the police officers' bla
tant discrimination in the situation at
hand with policies of a private indus
try. Insurance companies also con
sider senior citizens at a high risk for
accidents, but police don't roadblock
the entrance to a retirement commu
nity. While these "random stops"
may nab a few people trying to cheat
the law, it is this view of police
restraint that leads us into what Mr.
Korwek has a good laugh about:
totalitarianism.
While it is law to present identifi
cation upon request, this is still in
many states conflicting with their
Submission Guidelines'
Letters should be limited to 350 words and commentaries 700 words. The more
ciiickse the submission, the less we will be forced to edit it for space concerns and the
more likely we are to run it.
The Beacon does not publish anonymous letters. Please include your major, faculty or
administration position, and semester standing. Deadline for any submission is B . p.m.
• Wednesday afternoon for inclusion in the Friday issue.
The Bebrend Beacon reserves the right to edit any submissions prior to publication.
Please keep complaints as specific as possible.
Email submissions to jdjso6l@psu.edu or drop them off at the Beacon office.
PERSPECTIVES
I was
By Jennifer Juncosa
perspectives editor
jdjso6 1 psu. edu
10(
My suitemate
approached me to
participate in her
sorority event a
couple weeks ago
and like the good
suitemate I am, I said I would. It was
the Mr. and Ms. Penn State Behrend
Pageant.
So I filled out my application as
comically as I could and handed it in
with my picture like I was told.
Because I was unsure about the
pageant, I didn't really tell anyone I
was going to be in it. The way it
worked was that your name was put
on a bag and if after a week, the five
The Beacon is always
looking for more wnters.
Have an opinion? Want to write about spore Want to
get a front row seat to an event? Want to write about
movies or music? Like to take pictures?
All you have to do is email any of the editors, stop by the
Beacon office in the basement of Reedpor submit articles
online at thebehrendbeacmcom
ing the newsroom with a staff of
friends. I got to deal with organizing
staff, content, web design, investiga
tive reporting, legal issues, and
organizing brand new events. I got to
cover Barack Obama's visit to cam
pus. I sat next to Jerome Bettis at
dinner. I talked with Soledad O'Brien
about the future of journalism, but I
forgot to mention that if she needed
any children fathered, she needs to
call me.
Here, you simply reach out and try
something, love it, and you're in.
Whether it's being pulled into
Student Government Association,
taking a trip to Mississippi for hurri
cane relief, or being cajoled into
starting a jazz trio, there are oppor
tunities that simply would not exist
anywhere else.
More than anything, I simply love
this place..
Whether it's seeing eight people I
know walking to the REDC from
Reed, or grabbing coffee with a
teacher, or having a director of a
interpretations of right to privacy
and just treatment by the law. The
principle behind these road blocks
are in violation of the often quoted
and misquoted, "innocent until
proven guilty." You're right Mr.
Korwek, we aren't in a totalitarian
society, and I'd personally like to
keep it that way. When you willingly
waive your rights in the bettering of
security, you will have neither (need
I quote Ben Franklin? I really don't
want to do it).
Please don't try to associate unli
censed drivers with accident rates.
There is no correlation or causation
in the Ms. PSB Pageant
LOOK, AND THINK
STOP,
girls and five guys with the most
change were in the pageant. I figured
if I didn't tell anyone then I could
have supported my suitemate but
didn't have to risk possible humilia
tion.
Somehow, without any publicity,
one of my friends found out and
filled my bag with change. That led
to me being a finalist.
I had my three outfits picked out
and I had my three songs per outfit
picked out. I did the pageant, smiled,
and twirled. At the end of the day, I
lost. But, in my defense I raised
almost 40 dollars and came in first if
it was strictly based on how much
money was raised.
People always tell me that when
you are in college you should get
involved in as many things as possi
ble. I am not the kind of girl that
does pageants and it was personally
Beitrend office stag tc check qn d bow
an article's coming, this campus
shows a personal element that's hard
to find. It's the pace, I think - relaxed
enough to enjoy yourself, but not
slow enough to stagnate. Big enough
to blend in, small enough to stand
out.
Here, I have professors that I can
waste hours with discussing politics,
journalism, or an NCAA March
Madness bracket. Here, I have found
a problem saying "no" to things
because around every corner is a
life-changing opportunity. Out of fear
of falling, I run.
Here, I have found myself. Part of
me, for sure, wants to go to
University Park. The parties, the big
city atmosphere, the ability to lie low.
And don't get me wrong; I know that
I would still have fun and be involved
at University Park.
But there, there's not a cookie cake
waiting in the LEB office the day
after I have a bad day. There's not an
April Fool's edition where we can sin-
Saying that someone who doesn't get
their car regularly inspected doesn't
care for the well being of others is a
hasty generalization that makes
every Ohio citizen a sociopath.
His last point mocks Mr. Becker's
suggestion that police are just trying
to generate revenue by saying that if
police really wanted to increase rev
enue they'd make more speed traps
on the Bayfront. Really, if they want
ed to increase revenue, they'd have
road blocks so they wouldn't need
any primary traffic violation to check
your stats and get a quick peak in
the cabin.
The Behrend Beacon I 7
humiliating and completely nerve
wracking. But a part of me had fun. I
was in my own clothes and hearing
my own music so I was pretty com
fortable, so comfortable that at one
point I twirled, winked, and pointed
to the crowd to please a friend's
request.
I had one friend in the pageant to
keep me company and I had no idea
who the guy I was paired with was.
Neither my friend nor I won the pag
eant and we just laughed throughout
the entire thing.
A blonde-haired woman came up
to me and said, "Just so you know,
you were really close to winning." It
made me feel good but I wasn't
heartbroken after losing. It would
have been fun to win the pageaht
being the only non-Greek girl in the
pageant. It would have been cool to
beat a Greek.
gle out faculty because we know they
have a sense Of huMdr. There, there's
not a professor who can accurately
learn how to tell a Mom joke, or a
janitorial crew who will stop to check
on my sanity when I'm stuck working
on the paper until three in the morn
ing.
There's not Bradley Kovalcik, or
Ken Miller, or the Wintergreen Gorge
to hear me rant. Most importantly,
there's not the Beacon. There's not
my jazz trio, or weekly trips to
Dabrowski's
At Behrend, I have the opportunity
to make a difference. To change this
campus for the better. I hope that I
can, with your help. I hope that my
staff and I can provide a consistently
high-quality newspaper. I hope that
we get plenty of angry letters, opin
ion-page banter, and occasionally a
compliment or two. And, above all, I
hope that I can make other students
love this campus as much as I do.
block
All in all, Mr. Becker never wanted
to be pulled over, and might not have
given the cops any good reason to do
so. But he was unconstitutionally
put in detainment with no rhyme or
reason other than age discrimination
and a chance to make a quick buck
for the glorious state of Pennsylvania.
If you are not upset at the oppression
of our authorities, then it's really
time to stop, look, and think.
Josh Wittmershaus
4th semester Political Science Major
jkwso62@ psu.edu
Beacon Thumbs Down
- Snow in April
- Accent marks
- Printer pulling an Office Space
- Keegan missing