61 Behrend Beacon OtII 111 DTI
February 19, 2010 V/ L-/ XXXI. V-f X X
I www.thebehrendbeacon.com X
POINT COUNTER-POINT
Snowboarding vs. skiing:
All about boarding
ALEC ITALIANO
s > '<///< 1/
It kills me to badmouth
skiers.
Once upon a time, skiers
ruled over the mountain.
Snowboarders were kicked
out of resorts simply for pur-
suing a n
that event'
country in<
Gradual!
started pic
one piece <
stead of t'
heading oi
slopes. An<
these kidf
slowly i
tionized .
can cultun
Boarder;
been the
many an
local slop'
badmouthk
in the midd
taking an
into their
spontaneo
five feet
you on
slope the
obviousl;
shouldn’
be on.
1 hatt
these little
twerps as much as the next
guy, but because of these in
competent few, it does not
give skiers the right to un
dermine a sport where they
can only dream about half
the tricks boarders do.
Don’t just take my word
for it. Look at the Olympics
and the popularity sparked
THE EDITOR’S BLURB
Stop retconing
Nothing irritates a comic
book geek more then a crappy
retcon. To see a beloved char
acter have his or her story dras
tically change simply for the
sake of asinine drama is ex
tremely heartbreaking.
For those who don't read
comic books and are not famil
iar with the term, "retcon” is an
abbreviation for "retroactive
continuity.” It is a strange con
cept to explain to non-comic
readers.
Basically, it means that the
official storyline has been
changed.
Here is an example. Imagine
that you did something to upset
your significant other. Maybe
she caught you kissing some
one else. However, it was later
revealed that it wasn’t actually
you who kissed somebody else.
It was actually a robot sent
from the future.
This is very
common
comic books, because it allows
the writer to do less work get
NEIL JAMES
opinion editor
in boarding within
games
Just about every boarder
and skier has heard of
Shaun White and the ab
solutely ridiculous things he
can do on snow. Skiers have
their stars with names like
Bode Miller and Lindsey
Skiers and boarders may
attempt to get along on the
outside, especially when
traveling to other parts of
the country. I have seen the
two groups perfectly co
exist.
Riding up the gondolas in
Killington, Vt. there was no
grudge between the two
holes. Instead of having to
think of a clever way to resolve
a story, they can just change the
past and the events that got the
character to that point.
It's completely asinine for a
couple reasons.
One problem with it is that it
completely wastes the reader’s
time and money. I started read
ing comic books when I was 12
years old. My favorite was Spi
der-Man, and each week I
would drop over 20 bucks on
comics to follow his awesome
stories. I loved watching his
character grow and change
from a dorky photographer to a
respectable and matured sci
ence teacher.
However, in 2008, Marvel
Comics massively retconed Spi
der-Man, essentially erasing 30
years of comic book history.
Peter Parker never married
Mary Jane, Harry Osborn never
died and a whole bunch of
character development never
happened. And according to
Marvel, this new universe is
“officially canon."
With this thought it mind, I
believe that I just wasted hun
dreds of dollars buying comic
books that do not matter at all.
What is the point? I might as
well bum all of them, consider
ing how they are now entirely
irrelevant.
I feel like it is the written
equivalent of having the Marvel
editorial board strap on a pair
of cleats and stomp on the nuts
of their readers.
The other reason that I can’t
stand retconing is because it
completely disrespects the pre
vious writers. The things they
did helped shape Spider-Man
into the iconic character that he
is. To completely disregard the
work of past writers is basically
the comic book way to take a
huge dump on top of their face.
Retconning is the vice of the
lazy writer. Instead of actually
putting time and effort into a
story, a writer can just throw
Scrabble tiles against a wall
and whatever doesn’t fit into
the continuity will be rewritten
like they are the hand of God
rebuilding creation.
It’s a cheap trick whose only
success is in irritating loyal
fans.
unique sports.
Almost everyone had
enough respect for the other
to prohibit the use of the
“stink eye” and merely go
on their way enjoying the
beautiful terrain.
A major difference be
tween here (Erie) and there
hat the
•oarders
datively
parties
wn rep
aining to
teenagers are taking over
the slopes and leaving the
old sport of skiing to the old
men.
Snowboarding is taking
over this country’s snow re
sorts, and this revolution is
not slowing down for any
one, especially not skiers.
Have Your Say:
Which is the better sport:
skiing or snowboarding?
Justina Solties
senior
science education
“I think that snowboarding is
better than skiing because it
looks more hardcore when
you fall.”
Which
Winter sports are few and far
between
Yes, if you are currently
watching the 2010 Winter
Olympics in Vancouver, you'll
see lots of eve
However, most of
these aren’t very appeal
ing and don’t offer much to
someone in the market for a
new winter activity.
So, unless you want to take ’
up curling or speedskating
(and get freakishly monstrous
quadriceps in the process),
you're only viable options are
to pick either skiing or snow
boarding.
not the
;ill levels
barely
t down
ping off
This creates an even bigger
dilemma: Which one should a
person choose? Which one is
cooler? Which is more expen
sive? Can summer just come
sooner so I can get back to
beach volleyball?
B e -
:ause of
this, an
under
ground
war be
we e n
Sadly, summer is out of the
picture so you
might as well
buckle into
some ski boots
and make the
most of it
iers and
oarders
t on the
N’ Peak,
d Seven
I’ve skied since I was 4 years
old. So trust me, it is a good
choice
Skiing might not have the
glitz, glamour and shattered
collarbones of the half-pipe
tricks that snowboarders can
attempt, but it has its perks.
matter is
o a local
nthused
First off, I’d like to direct my
readers to the number one Man
Rule: “Guns make everything
cooler."
With this in
biathlon. It’s an Olympic event
comprised entirely of skiing
and shooting. The only thing
that could make it cooler is if
the Olympic Committee made
zombies the targets.
Abby Dudzic
freshman
psychology
“I think snowboarding is
cooler. It looks more fun,
so if I had to choose
between the two, I’d choose
snowboarding.”
i is the better sport?
All about skiing
NEIL JAMES
opinion ('dilot
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All profile photos taken by Daniel Smith / Behrend Beacon
Cross-country skiing also has
a rich history. The sport was
first used by prehistoric Nordic
people as a form of transporta
tion. This will come in handy in
the future, because we all know
history tends to repeat itself.
So when World War 111 finally
ered in nuclear winter, you will
be able to travel in style as you
scavenge for food and fight off
Deathclaws.
On a more serious note, be
coming a good skier takes
more skill then one would
originally think. Instead of
standing on a
gle surface,
a skier must
learn to evenly
distribute their
weight between skis
and since turning is all
about weight distribu
tion, it is a pretty impor
tant concept.
Now most snowboarders
use a half-pipe, thus it is not as
fun.
However, skiers can say the
same thing to boarders about
moguls. Moguls are nearly im
possible for a boarder to tra
Jenna Schwabenbauer
freshman
elementary education
“I actually know how to ski,
but if I had to choose, I’d have
to say snowboarding, because
it looks a lot harder.”
verse and, depending on which
resort you go to, are on most
Black Diamonds.
That will really restrict the
places a person can go at a par
ticular resort so make sure you
do your research before you get
the lift passes
These
are all pretty good rea
sons to ski, however, the decid
ing factor for people usually
comes down to which one is
cooler.
Coolness is usually given to
snowboarding because of the
tricks associated with the sport.
That being said, don’t count
skiing out just yet. The next
time you get a chance, check
out the X-Games or the cur
rent Winter Olympics.
Skiers can pull off some
gnarly tricks too. And
when it comes to the
laws of physics, skiers
actually have a vast ad
vantage.
Not to knock boarding, but
the physics at their disposal are
somewhat limited.
A boarder’s legs are confined
to the restrainst of the board. A
skier, however, has the free use
of their legs in the air. They can
use the momentum of their in
dependent limbs to pull off ex
tremely unique tricks.
If you get a chance, look up
skiing trick videos on
You Tube. I think you may
be in for a pleasant surprise.
Skiing also provides a great
lower-body workout and cross
country works the whole body
like nothing else. Between the
poles and the kicking, cross
-country skiing provides and
lleled cardio workout.
.iing is a great sport. But
regardless of whether you
choose to ski or snowboard,
shredding is shredding.
So just go hit the slopes and
decide for yourself.
To see video footage of the
interviews on Have Your Say, go to
wvm.thebehrendbeacon.com
Brianna Fisher
sophomore
physics & chemistry
‘Td go with skiing because I
can’t balance sideways”