Page 4- The Belt rend College Collegian Thursday, October 17, 1996 Letter to the Editor The only way to start this article is to say "enough is enough.” What is the problem here? This is my last semester here and after being involved in so many different organizations I have gotten pretty used to the apathy syndrome so many of us have. As 1 walk around campus I hear the daily buzz of the last good party or the horrible test Dr. Gamble just gave, but I am not hearing people discuss the upcoming elections. Is it not important to our generation? Can we say that it is good enough to let the Rossomandos of the world (no offense John, you know we go way back)to give us our information on the issues at stake. Or, how about the bleeding heart liberals like myself to relay the message of what our candidates stand for. The question should be what do you stand for. What is important to you. Maybe this election hits hard on me now because I am about to embark on the whole adulthood thing, but PEOPLE WAKE UP!!!! I know that politics may not be your thing. As a Political Science major I know haw grazed over or double talked things seem to get. But I still believe that everyone should have an opinion. This shouldn't be about who look belter or who's wife we like listening to more, it should be about what issues arc important to us, not just as a generation but on our own. Which candidate we believe can best represent us. Not just nationally, but locally as well. And, you know what, if no one is talking about the things that you want to be addressed, get involved. NO Dear Diane by Diane Van Arsdale DEAR DIANE: I have never written to an advice columnist before, but I’m worried sick and don’t know where to turn. Over the past year or so, I’ve watched my beautiful teenage daughter go from a bubbly, happy-go-lucky kid to a withdrawn, unhappy young woman. No matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to get through to her to get her to open up to me. Her father, whom she always got along with so well, can’t seem to penetrate her armor cither. At first, I thought it was just the typical teenage rebellious phase. Her grades began to drop and she was sullen and smart-mouthed with us. However, now I’m con vinced there’s something more going on. She barely eats anymore and at night, I hear her prowling around the house. I’ve talked to her teachers and Smoking by Eric Saraceno Collegian Staff Lett’s face it, cigarette smoking in today’s society is usually considered a dirty and disgusting ‘habit’. It seems those who choose to light up end up an easy target for the self-conscious, Power Bar wheeling health nut. The biggest complaints about smoking arc bad breath, stained teeth, smoke infested clothing and endless health risks. These of course, are all true. So why do we smoke? I don’t think people are purposely trying to rot their teeth, nor do I think that people are attempting to kill themselves by dying of some heart disease or who knows what form of canccr-there are so many these days! An excuse you might get from your typical ‘‘Marlboro man” excuse me, “Marlboro person” is that, “It relaxes me.” , or that “It curbs my appetite.” Both of which may be true. Well, what about the people who smoke simply because they feel cool? What the hell is “cool”, anyway? There are many people, especially in our own age group who feel that if they see someone they like, or want to be like and they’re smoking, they should copy it. I see so many friends and acquaintances at parties lighting up only to be like someone else. It’s somewhat amusing watching them try to inhale or even hold their cigarette. Have you ever thought about the people who smoke because they feel they have nothing else to do? They may be lonely or even depressed. In there eyes, they may KIDDING one person cannot make a difference, but HELLO I bet you will find about 10 people on a campus who think and feel like you do. IT ONLY TAKES 7 TO BE A RECOGNIZED ORGANIZATION ON CAMPUS. Seven people at over a 1000 colleges and universities nation wide, the numbers gel pretty big. Do you get what I'm saying? I guess it is hard for me to understand why ads on television or debates or where people stand on abortion doesn't get us mad as a generation. It is frustrating to know that here we are the "X" generation with all this great talent and knowledge and it isn't being used for our right to stand up. It is absurd to me that people think Clinton is cool because he was on MTV. Dammit, pay attention! If you arc going to vote, vote because he has bettered our economy, or because he has helped decreased the deficit. All I am asking is that you think about what this election means to you personally. What direction do you want to sec your country going in. Whether we want the responsibility or not we arc the future, and I think it's about time we all start realizing that our vote is just important as what will do with our future; as plastics majors, business majors, pshyc majors, and yes, political science majors we should all think about where our future stands with the men and women being elected to serve our interest. I know who I am voting for EX) YOU? Nicole A. Buthcr Senior Political Science they, too, have noticed a big change. They say that she doesn’t socialize anymore with her friends and just walks around the school by herself, barely speaking to anyone. This isn’t like her at all. How can I get her to open up? She’s just not talking to anyone. DESPERATE MOM DEAR MOM: Depression in teenagers is more common than a lot of people know. If left untreated or ignored, there could be very serious consequences. I’m not a doctor, but it does sound to me that your daughter is suffering from depression the veal clinical «ype Ask your family doctor for a refer ral to a good psychiatrist who spe cializes in teen problems. Even if your daughter refuses to go, take her anyway. A good professional will be able to penetrate her shell and get her the help she needs. Send letters to Diane c/o King Fea tures Weekly Service, 235 East 45th Street, New York, N.Y. 10017. 61996 by Kin* Features Synd. Problem see nothing really wrong with smoking because that may be their only outlet to expression. There are endless reasons and excuses for cigarette smoking but only the person who actually smokes can make that decision for himself or herself. I admit, there arc some benefits to smoking, but the flip side is that there arc many more dangerous consequences. Igs, w pool sets a bad example for a generation that is imperiled by illicit com pounds. This politicizing of the grim issue of drug abuse only adds to the multi billion dollar curse, because it deludes Americans into believing that they can ease the suffering of their addicted relatives and themsel ves by citing scapegoats. We Americans have long tended to blame someone else for our drug scourge. The farmers and politicians of Colombia, Peru, Mexico, Turkey and even India and Thailand have been cursed for a generation. The latest people cited as the villains who “sell poison to our children" are the island dwellers of the Caribbean of Barbados, the Bahamas, St. Kitts and Nevis, and especially the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico. Now finger-pointing politicians are helping the American people to remain in denial of the fact that the demands of affluent Americans for illicit drugs keep the dope trade alive, even as it defiles and corrupts many aspects of American life. Dole wants voters to believe that he can and will use the Army, Navy, Coast Guard and National guard to cut off the flow of illicit drugs into the U.S. to the point that our teenagers will be safe from the addic tions, pregnancies, murders and other awful things that flow out of Columbus’ discovery by Joneatra Henry Collegian Staff This past Monday, I was watching the WB channel and I saw a commercial saying “Happy Columbus Day.” My aunt fed called earlier and said my allowance would be late because the post office was closed due to Columbus Day. 1 didn’t even know it was Columbus Day. What is Columbus Day anyway? . . . Oh, the day Columbus discovered America. But did he really discover America or is this holiday a pure fact of Western European Domination.? I don’t know much about Columbus, but isn’t he the dude who thought he was in the East Indies when he was really on Native American soil? How can one find something that’s already there? That’s like me coming to your house and “discovering” the keys to your brand new Jaguar and driving it home. Sounds like stealing to me. Finders keepers, losers fight back. After Columbus sailed the ocean blue, his western European friends decided to come take a look for themselves, thereby causing confusion and much drama among the Native Americans. See, Columbus’ friends couldn’t just come to America and tour it. They decided “hey, let’s take over this inhabited land.” This may sound familiar. Why is it that the western Europeans were so conceited that they thought they should dominate the world. Every Dole promises what he will never be able to deliver. I’ve always been a “hardliner" regarding dope. I've opposed the legalization of marijuana and all the other destruc tive drugs. I've backed all the programs for military interdiction, and still do. But I’ve learned that when the American appetite for such drugs is so strong that “solid citizens" will pay anything for them, the drug traffickers bribe sheriffs and judges, pay off politicians and pilots, to deliver the most-craved drugs to Wall Street or Washington, Hol lywood or hamlet X. This political season has produced a contest to see which candidates can make the most inflammatory char ges, or the most alluring but im plausible promises. Thus, the politicians are helping parents to dodge self-examinations about their roles in making druggies of their children, including whether they’re lavishing enough money on their college-age children for them to buy drugs without the parents ever having a clue. It seems most parents prefer to wait in the futile hope that some politician will concoct some “cost-free” military scheme for making the United States a drug-free zone. So they and their kids become the vic tims of shameful political rhetoric. 01996 by King Feature* Synd. culture, I have learned, faced some type of European invasion. How can a and name land already inhabited by a civilization? By coming to this land, we call America, Columbus truly did shape history. I guess I wouldn’t have decided to stay here. Now, Europeans had to figure out a way to build up a civilized society upon their new turf. But this didn’t come easy. See, the Native Americans weren’t having it. Trying to build a new society was a little rough, not to mention a daily "Pisaien HEKONOW \m 1W(K! When Agnew was governor, graft in Annapolis was a way of life. Not long after Agnew’s term, popular Maryland Gov. Marvin Mandel ac tually went to the penitentiary for Agnewlike crimes. Probably, if Agnew had stayed in Annapolis, no one would have bothered him, but as vice president, he came under close examination. Does this remind you of anyone? We now have a former small-state governor in the White House coming under the same kind of glare. Bill Clinton's apparent peculations in Arkansas make Agnew’s Maryland dealings look trivial by comparison. The clouds of official corruption surround Clinton, up to his ears. In the event that he wins a second term, his fate is likely not to be pretty. The people who knew Agnew at all in a friendly way called him “Ted.” The news media liked “Spiro," which sounded foreign and odd. In 1968, Richard Nixon chose him for three reasons: The famous Republicans, Nelson Rockefeller and Ronald Reagan, both angered opposite constituencies and lost votes for the ticket. Agnew came from a border state and also had been a Rockefeller backer. After the awful Baltimore black riots that year, Agnew had delivered a stem address to local black com munity leaders for failing to live up to their responsibilities. The first time I saw Agnew in ac tion, while I was still working as a lob. That’s when the African came along. Slaves were used to build on this new founded continent, but history doesn’t give credit for that either. 1 can’t believe we are still teaching our children that Columbus founded America. Columbus wasn’t a leader. He followed some direction from a domineering western European. I thought only great leaders got a day named after them, not fake heroes. Columbus didn’t discover anything. He came upon a mass of earth that was already inhabited by a civilization, therefor creating problems that we are fighting today. European domination IN,YOURtfOTtOO£MP... The Behrend College Collegian published weekly by the students of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College Editors in Chief Jennifer V. Colvin Danielle Murphy Business Manager Carfey Gwin News Editor Doreen Foutz Sports Editors Brian Gregory Matt Plizga Entertainment Editor Sheila Bickel Photography Editors Colleen Gritzen Joe Stiller Opinion Editor Chad Clouse Advertising Manger Tom Keefe Letter Policy: The Collegian encourages letters to the editor on news coverage, editorial content and University affairs. Letters should be typewritten, double spaced and signed. Letters should be no longer than 400 words. Letters should include the semester standing and major of the writer. All letters should provide the address and phone number of the writer for verification of the letter. The Collegian reserves the right to edit letters for length and to reject letters. Letters submitted to The Collegian become the property of the newspaper. The Collegian is published every Thursday during the academic year on recycled paper. ipetx nia, was at an early Agnew perfor mance in San Francisco, soon after Agnew had been nominated in Miami. He appeared at a Greek banquet complete with Greek folk dancing and Greek cuisine. The ethnic Greeks were delighted with Agnew on a national ticket. Ted Agnew cooled them off. Shockingly, he said that he was not running as a Greek but as an American. He appreciated the music and the food, but in effect said that America is not a costume party. He said that it was an American election and asked everyone there to vote as Americans. After a longish pause, he got a tremendous ovation. By the time I had shifted to the Nixon campaign in 1968, the media had decided to portray Agnew as a bigot and a fool. The famous “fat Jap” caper was typical. On the campaign plane there was a reporter affectionately known to everyone as “the fat Jap.” At one point, Agnew cheerily asked him, “Well, how’s the fat Jap?” The media piranhas waited until the plane landed in Hawaii, with its large Japanese population, before break ing the “Agnew the bigot” story. Well, another small-state governor now rides high, but to railing clouds of corruption much more putrid that any around Agnew. The vultures are circling. changed the world, and to think American laws require admittance with immigration papers. My ancestors were never asked if they wanted to come to America. I know no one asked the Native American if they could spend the night. Because Columbus sailed the ocean blue everyone is still fighting for the American dream. Children arc homeless, families are poor and immigration is out of control. And now that there arc no more land masses left to discover, Western Europeans have turned to space. I don’t think this fight will be easy. Aliens, if there are any, aren’t going to give up their space as easily. 7 \V' m,msm Collegian staff: Dave Anechstein, Edward Black, Dave Boulos, Brian Chamock, Mike Coursey, Louis D/Amicojdr, Adria Kovaly, Kristine Kannel, Jessica King, Eric Krouse, Mike Nies, Adam Levenstein, Ashley Newhouse. Bob Misulich, Josh Pie, Sara Prosser, Jenn Reisenweber, John * Rossomando, Joe Ryan, Kevin Schaaf, Wendy Schell, Jason Simmons, Kim Thurston, Jim Weaver, Brad Waldbaum, Kirsten Wright, Michael Yowell, Jonna Zizak. Office Manager Crystal Dehart Copy Editors Kevin Schoolcraft Rachel Franco Joy Papesch Academic Advisor Dr. Ursula Davis Activities Advisor Dr. Rob Speel Postal Information: The Collegian is published weekly by the students of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College; First Floor, The J. Elmer Reed Union Building, Station Road, Erie, PA 16563. The Collegian can be reached by calling (814) 898-6488 or (814) 898-6019 (fax). ISSN 1071-9288 ©1996 by King Feature* Synd. mmm*
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