Fantasy gaming
by Jason Simmons
Collegian Staff
Twinkle, twinkle. Rays of
sunlight gleam upon the rustling
leaves of a forest. Your view is
diverted below the bright green
canopy to view elves, fairies,
centaurs, sprites, and humans
dancing in merry reverie. The
Fantasy Garners' Club has been
born. Not all was merry, however,
for events in the near past have
threatened the gamer who plays
games requiring creativity and
imagination.
Last week's SGA meeting
recognized the Fantasy Garners'
Club as an official campus
organization. However, at the
previous week's meeting,
questions were brought up in regard
to the nature of fantasy gaming.
The ignorance concerning
fantasy gaming became apparent
when one Senator, to my surprise,
acquired and passed out a series of
articles that were taken from the
Internet giving a negative bias to
fantasy gaming. The articles,
which frightened the gaming club
members, claimed that fantasy
gaming can lead those who play
them to commit suicide and murder.
Fantasy Garners' Club president
EM(NM(NM'2 I MtMUNG/
'lite Term State 'Educational
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Reed Commons
7:30 p.m.
Come early for a seat!
AMNESTY
INTERNATIONAL
Penn State Erie's chapter of
Amnesty International will
meet on Thursday, Feb. 20 at
12:15 p.m. in Reed 3.
Now in its 36th year, Amnesty
provides anyone the
opportunity to become
involved in protecting and
defending human rights
throughout the world.
Stop by or call Mane-Jeanne
Goodenow at 898-6151.
Mark Kunselman replied, "as far as
I'm concerned, those articles are
fictitious. They have no reliable
sources; anyone could have written
them."
Upon my inspection of the
articles, I found they were stories
that had no source to verify the
truth of the allegations stated in the
articles. There was no copyright
date or any name which identified
the source of the stories. The
Senator did not present aiky articles
from established news sources to
back up these allegations.
The articles' main points were
read aloud and passed around the
table so SGA members could
inspect them. As a result of the
fear these articles induced, the
Fantasy Gainers' Club was put in
jeopardy regarding recognition as a
legitimate student organization.
Eight members of the Club
appeared at the next SGA meeting
to answer any questions the SGA
members might have regarding the
allegations. Chris Rizzo, in a
response to this exhausting epic
crisis, explained that since the
pending club is in line with
university policy, personal bias
should not interfere with voting
procedure. In the resulting vote,
only one Senator dissented to the
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formation of the Club
One must realize that fantasy
garners are not demonic Satan
worshippers who sacrifice goats and
kittens to honor their evil masters.
I have yet to see how creative
adventure and science fiction are
equivelant to dancing around
flaming pits. Ignorance was
responsible for the threat to the
possibility of creating a fantasy
gameplayers' club. When
questioned, the objecting Senator
claimed to have no experience in
role playing or card gaming. I
spoke with the Senator for one half
hour after the SGA meeting
previous to the vote and the Senator
is now reading a book on fantasy
gaming to become more educated
about the subject. It was too tad
the Senator's initial judgment was
negative. It would have been a
shame if 20 garners, who are all
good people, were denied the
opportunity to form a club due to
ignorance and misinformation.
One point to make is that we
have been taught to accept
diversity; we turn a blind eye to
skin color, ethnic background, and
sexuality, but to prejudge a gamer
is to deny this diversity to people
whose interests are different from
ours.
tAMRS...
Nt-VCRs.
\NV%.S"‘" \t'cv:)'‘---‘.
9 - Sunday
8:00 pm Ree , Commons
Protestant Campus
0 • inion
Catho& Mass
in honor o
Herb tau,
Fantasy gaming is based upon
science and history. Star Wars, The
Hobbitt, Star Trek, and even Disney
movies like Snow White are all
fantasies. Games such as
Dungeons and Dragons and Star
Wars roleplaying have been
developed in order to let people use
their imaginations and create their
own ideas. Creativity and intellect
are the greatest assets a gamer can
possess, not evilness or
destructiveness. Too much of that
is done by people who are not
fantasy game players. Kittens are
meant to be adorable, not to
become sacrifices. Think catnip
instead of poison ivy. (Trust a Bio
major who is studying to become a
Veterinarian.)
If this article has not convinced
you that your negative opinion is
based on misinformation then
attend a Fantasy Garners' Club
meeting and see what it is like.
Join a Dungeons and Dragons
adventure in order to form an
educated opinion about fantasy
gaming. The Club and the
meetings are open to everyone.
Oh, and congratulations to the
Fantasy Gaming Club.
6- Thursdau 7 - Friday 8 - Saturday
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10 - Monday
Thursday, February 6, 1997 The Behrend College Collegian - Page 3
Letters to the Editor
_V kits adout i
To the Editor
I was appalled by the article
"Please let us Smoke!" on page 5
of the January 30, 1997 Collegian.
For those people who are still
living in the smoker's dream world,
I suggest you wake up and smell
something other than your cloud of
cigarette smoke.
Why are you in college? It
would be nice to say that you're
here for the education, but in truth,
most people attend college because
it improves their chances of finding
better-paying, growth-oriented jobs.
When an employer considers a new
hire, he or she also considers a
number of factors along with their
education and experience. What is
their personal demeanor; are they
clean, neat, pleasant? How will
they spend their time at work;
concentrating on the job at hand or
watching the clock for their next
break? And most important,
because it may cost the employer
money in the long run, how is their
health?
People who smoke can be the
cleanest people in the world, but for
a non-smoker, they will always
seem unclean because they smell of
cigarette smoke. People who
smoke are addicted to nicotine, so
they must find some time in the
course of their day to get another
"hit," which takes 5-7 minutes. If
an employee takes two cigarette
breaks in the morning and two in
the afternoon, that is 20-28 minutes
of the employers' time that is
wasted. (Sorry, very few jobs come
with the traditional morning and
afternoon "coffee break" any more.)
11- Tuesday
Personal growth Group
for Women
6:00 pm
Counseling Center
And if an employee smokes, he/she
and his/her family will be more
susceptible to respiratory illnesses
resulting in time lost from work
Many employers consider hiring .
middle-aged smoker a real risk
because that is the age whe
emphysema, heart disease, and lun:
cancer are likely to occur. Whe
employees are chronically ill, i
raises an employer's medic.
insurance costs and drains th.
vacation and sick time budgets.
I'm not going to say tha
smoking is bad for your health
although science has proven that i
is. We were all born with the
will to do as we please, so i
smokers choose to smoke in place •
that do not directly effect me, that' •
fine. But non-smoking employers
and they are the majority-also hay:
the free will not to hire a smoker
no matter how many years o
education and experience they have
They know that in the end they wil
pay more to employ than smoke
than a non-smoker. The court•
may even say that employe •
cannot ask if a person smokes, bu
the telltale odor is always there.
Penn State-Behrend works hard to
make sure that its graduates fins
good jobs. You wonder why th;
college would like you not t.
smoke? One likely reason i
because you are much harder to
employ if you smoke. But it'
your life, it's your career, and it'
your future. Please give up you
addiction now.
Loretta Brandon
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