EHREND BEACON YEAR IN REVIEW
A look back at the stories that define the 2009-2010 academic year at Penn State Behrend
(ALL STORIES PRINTED WITH AUTHOR, THEIR STAFF TITLE AT THE TIME AT WHICH THE ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED, AND DATE THE. ARTICLE ORIGINALLY RAN IN THE BE BEAcoN)
(tort]
Living on campus, do you download (pirate]
music, movies, or software?
Data was compiled through the collective efforts of the culture
editor and four staff writers. The above data represents approx
imately 10 percent of the student body.
Percentage of information (in gigabytes) obtained by students who
live on campus
> 4 GB (1000+)*
3 - 4 GB (750-1000)*
3 GB (500-750)*
2 GB (250-500)*
< 1 GB (250)*
-____/
It has become normal and acceptable of people
to go to parties, drink, smoke, and sleep around.
Many people are praised for getting extremely
drunk and passing out at a party. However, there
is an alternative to such activities: straight-edge.
Straight-edge is a counterculture to many
norms in society and a lifelong choice to abstain
from alcohol, drugs, and promiscuous sex.
The movement began in 1981, with traces of it
a couple years prior. The band Minor Threat
wrote a song called "Straight Edge" which basi
cally set the groundwork for the movement. The
song suggested that although peers and/or par
ents may poison their bodies, you don't have to,
and that there are other ways to have fun. As
Minor Threat toured, the message was spread
and other bands and people began labeling
themselves as straight edge. lan Mac Kaye the
lead singer of the band never intended for it
to be a movement, but in the years that followed,
it became a way of life for people of all ages.
A freshman engineering major at Behrend,
who wished to remain anonymous, admitted, "I
need alcohol to feel less awkward. It helps me
meet people and makes me friendlier." Another
anonymous Behrend student said many times
2 349 MB
*Of the students who an
swered "No," 56% of them
claimed they downloaded
while at home.
11101
1 EP 4e.)
*Parenthetical values are the approximate number of songs that would equal the listed
values in gigabytes. Values were determined based on Penn State's bandwidth limits.
DAN KINEM
staff writer
September 4, 2009
_~.y.,~,>~ .
Size
367 MB
84.8 MB
554 MB
85.0 MB
itt — e4‘l
that his own girlfrie
doesn't drink.
"I had always been
cal of drug use," exp
man biology major
Bucklin, a straight-i
student. "I saw that a
of people around mi
were changing thei
priorities because
their use of sub•
stances. Their focus
was on obtaining al
these substances ant
using them rather than
more important things
in life that I wanted
focus on."
Over the years the
have been hundred:
straight-edge bands
hundreds of thousai
straight-edge people.
find straight-edge fa
different reasons.
Some are rebelling
their peers, some
want to take after th
ents, and others just
live a positive life.
Downloaded
64.3
44.0
EVAN KOSER
culture editor
February 5, 2010
In the world of piracy, people
belong in one of two categories:
they do or they don't. Justin
Pekular, a senior MIS major, is
one such "doer."
On Aug. 31, Pekular was
greeted with an e-mail that he'd
been caught downloading Para
mount's I Love You, Man and
was therefore to be repri
manded through the system at
Penn State Behrend.
His punishment came in the
form of a talk with Meeghan
Hollis, Assistant Director of
Student Affairs and Todd Say,
Manager of IT Support Serv
ices. The meeting was followed
by an online course that
..:I.i Yta
N 20.6% [F] Downloading
Downloading
0.0%
o. o%
0e
BCI,rJ%
teaches violators the negative
impact piracy has on society
"We receive notification from
security at University Park," ex
plained Hollis. "Normally that
notification comes via email.
Security normally receives in
formation from agents hired by
larger industry that have copy
rights on various media."
All steps taken are in accor
dance to University Policy AD
20, Computer and Network Se
curity.
Pekular, however, stated that
he felt he was doing nothing
wrong.
"I started pirating because
someone else showed me," he
said.
He claims that he began pi
rating in high school, as is the
case for many students who
1114 f t t a_ 4 1114 i it/ e ft/ e
Done Status
aren't aware that downloading
that new single from the radio
is illegal.
"I went to my neighbor's
house and he had all this stuff
on his computer," explained
Pekular, "so he told me about
Bit Torrent and all the stuff you
could get."
Pekular isn't alone. Students
at Behrend aren't as privy with
their habits in obtaining music
and other electronic media as
one might suspect. When it
comes to the legalities of these
methods, a significant number
of students don't bat an eye.
While living on campus,
many students still find time to
download illegal media, and
some fervently claim to do so
with good reason.
"If it's,, song I really like, I'll
doiarffl‘oyfi 4t," says Sarah
Tan sophomore biology
major. "And if I really like the
artist, I'll go to their concerts. I
know it's wrong, but oh well."
Junior software engineering
major Chris Shumaker says,
"It's there, I'm just making a
copy of it for myself. Bands get
their money from touring and
merchandise."
As a self-proclaimed musi
cian, Shumaker equates down
loading a song to recording one
off of the radio. "The RIAA is
the most opposition [to
piracy]."
While the wave of piracy sub
culture at Behrend is certainly
prevalent, there are those who
don't download anything
through the various channels
available. Programs such as
Bittorrent, pTorrent, and Vuze
offer a myriad of opportunities,
though some students choose
not to indulge in such things.
Zeke Patterson, a junior me-
others take to the
, calling them-
"hardline" and vio
tly taking a stance
gainst smokers
nd drinkers. In
articular, the
iardliners in Salt
Lake City are noto
rious for such acts.
Darren Man
gold at 19 and
currently training
to be a cop, says,
"Straight edge
a great lifestyle.
xe is] no sense in
ig this short life
up and not re
ing half of it. I
high school and
or smoke the
hink high school
without the poi
need that crap to
;et through high
need it to be cool.
period. Nothing
come from the
tyle. I don't think
Queued
Queued
Queued
anyone, anywhere, should have anything against
our common goal: staying clean and pure till the
day we die."
Straight-edge has positively changed the lives
of many.
Derek Ski, the lead singer of a local straight
edge band and a substitute teacher for East High
School, says, "It impacted me by keeping me out
of trouble, legally and personally, because I don't
make the types of bad decisions that those who
are intoxicated make. I also am a lot healthier
because of my clean lifestyle."
Not only do straight-edgers say it benefits the
self, but his or her friends as well.
"Since I am in the military there is a lot of pres
sure to drink, especially when I went overseas to
Iraq," says Greg Waldon, a member of the armed
forces. "[There have] been several occasions
where I've had to go pick up my buddies from
out of ditches because they got lost on their way
back to the barracks from the bar. They view me
as a guy they can always rely on."
Straight-edge may not be for everyone. In fact,
for some it might be a trend, or maybe even a
gang, but to those who do it for personal reasons,
it is a way of life.
Bucklin explains, "being edge instills a sense
of being more free. You feel that you no longer
need or want to use substances. You are free
from addiction and free from peer pressure."
1 ,00, .0 '
r's
.ailli:
chanical engineering major,
chooses not to pirate media.
"Piracy is stealing. I won't
hold it against [the people who
do it], but I don't feel like it
makes you a horrible person."
Still, little more than half of
all those who responded "No"
to the piracy questionnaire ad
mitted they do it while at home
for many different reasons.
While many students believe
it's just not possible to do so on
campus -therefore not attempt
ing to try—others simply be
lieve it will ruin their computer
or are worried about getting in
trouble.
"I actually stopped down
loading because my roommate
got busted," said Dan Trilli, a
junior marketing major.
In accordance with policy,
Penn State withholds a viola
tor's identity from their accuser
as part of a deal made with
recording companies. This
provides Penn State an oppor
tunity to reform the student, so
to speak, and allow the student
to make the right choices there
after. Any subsequent viola
tion, and the student is on his
or her own.
On-campus piracy isn't a
local issue; it happens all over
the nation. Yet, some students
still feel it's their right, so long
as it's available to them, to ob
tain something for free if they
have the opportunity. In the
end, it all boils down to ethics
and morality which will always
vary from person to person.
"I'll still support the things
that I like. I bought Microsoft
Office after I pirated it. Igo to
concerts of bands that I enjoy
after listening to their pirated
albums," Pekular says.