THE PROFESSOR’S CORNER
/\ bailout for higher education?
ED MISETA
lecturer in economic;.
A recent Erie Times-News ar
ticle warned of “More Budget
Worries Ahead for Penn State.”
Apparently, $6,800 per se
mester per student (much more
for out of state students), plus
funding from the state and
stimulus money from the fed
eral government, are simply
not enough to keep this great
institution afloat.
Amazing, considering that
employees got no raise in 2009
and will probably get none in
2010 either. (Don’t worry about
me - I don’t live paycheck-to
paycheck).
The article states that Penn
State has an enrollment of
94,300. At $13,600 annually per
student (assuming all are in
state), that works out to over
$1.2 TRILLION per year, not in
cluding government bailouts or
the billions made on football
weekends (just from bottled
IN THE OLYMPICS
fTIItPS ONSOi'^fVtWk.l’*^
ZeZ'z 4 «>'<rz'o the/^-ditot'
belnorter then 350 words,
will be printed as written.
Subm
All:
RE: Answering questions from Democrats
I don’t know which dictionary Ed Miseta is using, but his defi
nition of socialism is quite a bit off. He makes the bold claim that
allowing the government to take money from one person and give
to another is “by definition socialism.” This is Tea Party revisionist
nonsense at its worst. This distortion of the beliefs of actual so
cialists spits on the grave of Karl Marx, which I’m sure Miseta
doesn’t have a problem with
Perhaps Miseta’s definition of socialism is derived from the
right-wing offshoot of the Second Communist International that
suggested capitalism could be reformed to make living conditions
for all workers more tolerable. These “socialists” join the likes of
Stalin and Mao in the pantheon of fools who have manipulated
Marx’s message for their own political benefit. Miseta’s abuse of
the term socialist may very well earn him a place right beside
them, albeit for polemic rather than apologetic purposes.
Miseta also assumes that everyone already knew that Obama is
a socialist (he’s not), even socialists (!). For his evidence, he asks
what else to call certain policy decisions - wealth redistribution,
government ownership of business, and support of unionism - but
socialism. Arguments like this have been refuted for over 130
years. Engels observes in his “Socialism: Utopian and Scientific”
that defining socialism simply by state ownership of industry
would bring the likes of Napoleon into the socialist tradition. If
Miseta was using a more adequate dictionary, he might have la
beled government ownership of property what it really is - state
capitalism. Not knowing “what else” to call it doesn’t mean you
can write any word you want.
I won’t bother to respond to Miseta’s comments on the Demo
cratic Party’s strategy or his questionable proclamation that the
Massachusetts special election was “earth-shaking.” Miseta has
proven himself adept at using Tea Party rhetoric, but this Boston
Massacre of the facts leads me to believe that he should keep his
mouth shut outside of reactionary circles.
470,Co^rSo e h' pa ' 6563 Thf. Behrend Beacon
itive B
Business Manager:
Bethany Long
bjlso37@psu.edu
Faculty Advisor:
Kim Young
kjylo@psu.edu
Marketing Manager
Katie Cook
klcs293@psu.edu
Editor-In-Chief:
Connor Sattely
editor@psu.edu
Managing Editor:
Shawn Annarelli
smaslB9@psu.edu
Web Editor:
Jeremy Korwek
jdksoo9@psu.edu
water and parking).
That number is just slightly
below President Obama's 2009
budget deficit and the projected
deficit for 2010.
To further put this in perspec
tive, the tuition for my spring
semester in 1982 was $382.
1 understand inflation, but
has an education at Penn State
improved by almost eighteen
fold in the last 20 years? That is
an almost 1,700% increase for
those of you keeping track at
home.
So what exactly is the prob
lem?
The school blames it on the
pension system and health care
expenses. But it’s hard to be
lieve that that alone could ac
count for these severe
monetary problems.
I think it might be time to
start looking in other places.
This is not simply a Penn
State problem. College students
in California are already rioting
over proposed tuition in-
Tte SPORT of ’CURLING"
ROBERT MOELLER
history major
News Editors:
Ally Orlando
ac 05051 @psu.edu
Rachelle Thompson
ritso§s@psu.edu
Ast. News Editor:
Eric Peirce
ewpsos2@psu.edu
creases, and I’m sure these
huge cost increases are com
mon to all major institutions of
learning.
Is it just me, or has anyone
else noticed that these costs
began to skyrocket as soon as
the government got involved?
The government decided that
EVERYONE should be able to
get a college education, and
suddenly costs are out of this
world.
Let’s see a show of hands -
how many people think that a
student with a 2.0 GPA will be
able to pay off a $70,000 stu
dent loan debt in his/her life
time? Yep. That might be part
of the problem.
Still, you really have to mar
vel at the ability of the govern
ment to wreck everything it
touches
The government gets in
volved in education and sud
denly no one can afford it.
The government starts a re
tirement system for its citizens,
RE: Last week’s Letter to the Editor
I appreciate Mr. Goetz's concern regarding current SGA projects
and our priorities. I want to assure you that SGA is currently
working on more than renaming a road. SGA operates and does
most of its work through a committee system, and Governmental
Affairs, the group working on the project, is only one of nine of
these. Part of the problem is that it is not nearly as exciting to
hear about projects being developed that are in their early stages.
The renaming project has come to fruition and is why it is cur
rently being publicized.
Ideally, this project will serve two functions. First, by renaming
the road, we hope to strengthen school spirit. Renaming a road,
while minor, serves as a stepping stone to make the campus a little
more prideful. Second, and perhaps most importantly, we will
need to work with the Harborcreek Township Supervisors to ac
complish this. Jordan Road, the road which Mr. Goetz hoped for
sidewalks on, is owned and maintained by them. Since 1 began
attending Behrend, sidewalks have been a goal but have always
been held up because of this fact. We are taking things in a new
direction by starting with the renaming project and establishing a
working relationship between the Board of Supervisors and
Behrend students. After this project has been successfully com
pleted, I hope that we can approach the Board with the working
relationship that we create and use it to deal with the sidewalk
issue.
The SGA is not only focused on this, however, as there are a
number of things being worked on behind the scenes that not all
students may be informed of.
Our Student Affairs committee is working on, among other
things, getting a DVD Vending Kiosk, like Redbox, at our campus.
The Diversity committee has hosted events that are showcasing
different lifestyles to students and will be bringing The Human
Race Machine later this semester.
The Budget Committee continually allocates thousands of dol
lars for club use; and the Academic Affairs Committee is currently
finishing its work on The Student Bill of Rights, a document which
will outline different policies, steps to take, and rights that stu
dents have within the University but may not realize.
SGA, I assure you, is not allowing harder projects to fall by the
wayside. We are working within our means to strengthen our
campus. If we were to solely lobby for things such a new Resi
dence Hall or focus on things which are completely infeasible like
a second entrance to campus, we would be wasting our time and
the possibility of change for those whom we represent. Further
more, if you have any question or want more information on what
the SGA is doing, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Editori
Culture Editors:
Shannon Ehrin
sbesol7@psu.edu
Copy Editors:
Jeff Kramer
jsksl6l@psu.edu
Marcus Yeagley
mjysol2@psu.edu
Sports Editors:
Nick Blake
npbso4l@psu.edu
Alec Italiano
ajiso37@psu.edu
Opinion Editor:
Neil James
opinion@psu.edu
IN THE UNIT GTATES
Photo Editor:
Daniel J. Smith
djss223@psu.edu
Videographer:
Mike Fultz
nyls2o4@psu.edu
and it goes bankrupt (but
Bernie Madoff would be
proud).
The government provides
healthcare via Medicare and
Medicaid, and both are bank
rupt.
The government runs a mo
nopoly on the delivery of first
class mail, and it loses billions.
The government decides to
make homes affordable to all
Americans, and the entire
banking system is destroyed.
Maybe it’s time we started
getting government less in
volved in business. How many
industries does the government
need to destroy before we real
ize that maybe it is not that
good at running things': 1
President Obama said re
cently that Americans no
longer trust the government to
do anything right or to get any
thing done.
If true, then maybe it's time
for less government rather than
BRAD KOVALCIK
S(,\ I’lvtidviu
Telephone: (814) 898-6488
Fax: (814)898-6019
Business Editor:
Garrett Carson : Any letters intended for publication must be addressed to the editor, be no more than .’ISO words, and include the
amrHn?l(a>ntin tvin i wnter ’ s name and phone number. Letters may be edited for content or length at the editor in chief's discretion.
u cm- • Ihe Behrend Beacon does not publish anonymous letters to the editor. If students want their letters to be
Humanities Editor: ; published, they must include their name. The Behrend Beacon intends for its Opinion page to be a forum for
Adam spinelli : discussion, not a screen to hide behind. Occasionally, The Behrend Beacon may request responses to online
alsssB9@psu.edu ■ queries in which responders will be identified by their username.
Science Editor: The Behrend Beacon is editorially independent from the Penn Stale system The Behrend Beacon operates par
r p | ' j bally on Student Activity l ee. and partially on advertising revenue It is published every I riday during the school
: vear except for before and during scheduled vacations, with exceptions for special issues
iggso29'.Vpsu.edu ; i ht . editl )r-in-chief has the final authority on editorial decisions, including, but noi limned to, all columns, edito
i rials, and letters lo the editor Complaints regarding Beacon coverage of school events should be directed to the edi-
MY VOICE
Our oxymorons
There are a lot of contradic
tions in life.
People use contradictory
terms, also known as oxy
morons, like act naturally, same
difference, and no comment
(after all, the person is giving a
comment).
We see examples of it every
day, whether it is the double
chinned, potbellied lady at
McDonald’s scarfing down
double cheeseburgers, talking
about cutting carbs and losing
weight, or listening to semi-ath
letic white guys like myself
talk about s
which athlete:
best
Even here at.
see a bunch of a
dictions a
things that ju;
don't add up.
Here are my
top three.
1. Tan girl in
the winter:
Everyone
loves a little
color, but with
the harsh
Erie win
ters, it
would be
to see red, rosy cheeks
But it seems like the more 1
walk around campus, the more
1 see orange. A lot of female
college students like to go tan
ning in the winter, and that’s
their choice.
However, they do stick out
among the white snow, and it's
even worse when they look like
they escaped from Willy
Wonka’s Factory.
I’m not suggesting that every
one should take a tip from the
Twilight movies and be pasty
white. I’m just saying that
there’s a difference between a
little bronze and Oompa-
Loompa orange.
2. Gatorade for the lazy
guys:
MY VOICE
Killing grammar
Throughout every year of
high school, you probably had
to take an English course.
When you got to college,
your major required that you
take at least two more English
courses. We take all of these
courses, yet every day I hear
people using words incorrectly.
I’m not an English major or
anything of that sort. These are
just common things that every
one knows; and still, we use
words wrong.
1 just don’t get it. We spend
all these hours sitting in Eng
lish, so why not just use the in
formation you learn so you
don’t look unintelligent?
My biggest issue is with the
word "seen." I do not under
stand how so many people can
use this word incorrectly.
You cannot “seen” someone
You "saw” someone
most often in text
To most people, hea,
one say they “seen’
doesn’t even sound i
ally does make you
ucated.
Another word that
often used incorrectl
is “ignorant.” You a>
ways hear “ignorant
being used in place
“rude.”
They do not mea,
same thing. Soi
being ignorant ha:
with a person havin;
of knowledge towari
ject. “Rude” is whei
one says something
out of line or impoli
I live at Universii
partments and I’m ,
we all know what goi
on there during th
weekends.
When people tell
Single copies of the Beacon are free and available at newsstands around campus Additional copies can be pur
chased with permission of the editor-in-chief for $1.5(1 each
( ipinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of all students, faculty or Lniversity administration. Opin
ions expressed in columns, cartoons, and letters are not necessarily those of The Behrend Beacon unless otherwise
indicated.
In almost all of the vending
machines around campus,
there’s water, pop and
Gatorade. While water has its
benefits and pop has its down
falls, Gatorade is what seems
most contradictory.
It seems that most often peo
ple are drinking Gatorade
when they are doing nothing.
Gatorade is intended for con
sumption during physically ac
tive occasions.
I’ll admit to grabbing a
Gatorade a few hours after
playing, basketball, but
-is the guy
he Gatorade
■ he couldn’t
ifference be
iaseball and a
te ball.
Say one
do another:
m guilty of
myself, espe
ly when it
>es to classes.
BRANDON BOYD
senior wntt'i
the week. I put it off for a day
or two, whether it’s for watch
ing Sports Center or writing my
article.
Eventually, it gets to the point
where it’s nine at night the day
before the test, and I’ve glanced
at my notes for all of three sec
onds. I frantically cram in
studying for the next few hours
and am usually able to get a B
on the test.
Of course, I tell myself that
I'll study harder for the next
exam. Or, that I’ll write my ar
ticle a little bit earlier next
week. Will I continue on my
path of saying that I’ll do some
thing and then doing some
thing completely contradictory?
No comment.
about the U-Gates Apartments
you will often hear, “I was so
belligerent this weekend,”
when in reality they mean that
they were just extremely intox
icated.
Belligerent is defined as,
“warlike; given to waging war.”
This has nothing to do with
being very intoxicated. If you
were actually really intoxicated
and fighting people then you
use the term correctly.
People always say it doesn’t
matter what they say in normal
conversation because it is just
with their friends.
In reality though, after so
long it will become a habit, and
you won’t be able to control it.
Therefore, when you go to an
interview or something impor
tant, you will more than likely
still speak incorrectly.
stories
All profile photos taken by Daniel Smith / Behrend Beacon
itorial Policies
•out a week
: ore a test
jmes up, I tell
myself and
those around
me that I plan
on studying
throughout
s(,m writer