Page 4- The Behrend College Collegian Thursday, October 2,1997 The Behrend College Collegian published weekly by the students of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College News Editor Ina Ashen Features Editor John Amorose Business Manager Dana Greenhouse Photography Editor Layout Editor Jessica Trecaakowski Nathan Mitchell Copy Editor Associate Editor Mike DeSantis Brian Athbaugh Assistant Sports Editor Assistant Advertising Manager Dylan Steuart Shawn Gross Office Manager Advisors Gina Gasky Man Parker Robert Speel Postal Information: The Collegian Letter Policy: The Collegian encour is published weekly by the students ages letters to the editor on news coy of Penn State Erie, The Behrend Col- erage, editorial content and Univer lege; First Floor, The J. Elmer Reed sity affairs. Letters should be no Union Building, Station Road, Erie, longer than 400 words. Letters PA 16563. The Collegian can be should include the address, phone reached by calling (814) 898-6488 or number, semester standing and ma (814) 898-6019 (FAX). ISSN 1071- jor of the writer. 9288 Editorial The Penn State Behrend Another thing that could have Speaker Series is off to a great been handled more effectively start. Tuesday night's speech by was the audience participation George Stephanopoulos, Politics: portion of the speech. It could The Art of the Impossible, is an have been reiterated after the excellent example of how speech and possibly on the radio beneficial the program is, not broadcast, that those who have only to students, but to the entire questions of the speaker must Erie community. The Reed approach the microphones to Commons was filled with address the speaker. However, intrigued students, professors and under the circumstances, the general public interested in Stephanopoulos was very what George Stephanopoulos had accommodating to those too shy to say about working with the to come forward. Clinton administration. Overall this was a delightful There were however. a couple not only to Mr. Stephanopoulos of problems with the organization but to the Offices of Student of the presentation. The foliage Activities and Student Affairs. which was apparently meant to The fact that the Behrend add to the decor and to Speaker Series is free and open to camouflage the audio eqUipment the public gives the students of ended up being a distraction to Behrend and the Erie community the audience and surely to the a chance to see and hear speaker. prominent figures jg pur society and get a more personal look at today's issues. IR) IgEsE ' • o** ..V! - TELEPRoNE. \ ..I'N't FINE, , SoLiGITORS M. MM E I. A [AP ',LI_ 41 411) ycxl ,WA r tiall. IE N R, L - Y.u'RE. TAKING --'' A SOWER?. i • 11 " --." Pw , a3,, --f (i f ).., . r tj a . r • ___ - eVithWF Behrend Life... , HAMMERmILL 4 , 14 EX Fp( N,C3,g)42r7 II is. 1 19027%%?, a 1 0 0 lilt ser aft "rn ar\ _ v , o 2, / M a, , . do mi Mr lik N:D :'/771 //q//„/ Little does everyone know; Police and Safety actually did find a bomb last Monday...they just didn't know it. Editor in Chief Andrea M.Zaffino Managing Editor Anne M.Rajotte News Editor John Grolkr Sports Editor Matt Plizga Advertising Manager Mike Advertising occasion which can be credited 1 1 kt 9 , ./ ea, • f. Marijuana a hard drug By Joseph A. CaLifani*c) 1997. The Washington Post This fall citizens of some states will consider proposals to make marijuana available for a variety of ailments. Before following the Pied Pipers of medical marijuana, voters should take into account recent research that reveals some sharp edges of smoking pot that undermine its popular status as a "soft" drug and underscore the need for a major biomedical research program. This year the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University (CASA) for the first time established the statistical relationship between use of tobacco, alcohol and marijuana - in and of themselves - and use of harder drugs such as cocaine, heroin and acid. (Virtually all teens who smoke marijuana also smoke nicotine cigarettes and drink alcohol.) Examining data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control ad Prevention's 1995 Youth Risk Behavior Survey of 11,000 ninth through 12th-graders, CASA isolated teen use of these gateway drugs from other problem behaviors, such as fighting, drunk driving, truancy, promiscuous sexual activity, carrying a weapon and attempting suicide. The correlations are compelling: Among teens who report no other problem behaviors, those who drank and smoked cigarettes at least once in the past month are 30 times likelier to smoke marijuana than those who didn't. Among teens with no other problem behaviors, those who used cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana at least once in the past month are almost 17 times likelier to use another drug like cocaine, heroin or acid. Though only statistical, those relationships are powerful. For perspective, remember that in 1964 the first Surgeon General's Report on smoking and health found a nine to 10 times greater risk of lung cancer among smokers, and the early results of the Framingham heart study found that individuals with high cholesterol were two to four times likelier to suffer heart disease. Most who smoke marijuana do not move on to other drugs, just as most who smoke cigarettes do not get lung cancer, but both kinds of smokers enormously increase their risks. by Mike DeSantis Editorials And those risks rise with teen use: The earlier and more often an individual uses marijuana, the likelier that individual is to use cocaine. Recent biomedical research suggests the reasons why. Studies in Italy reveal that marijuana affects levels of dopamine (the substance that gives pleasure) in the brain in a manner similar to heroin. Gaetana DiChiara, who led this work at the University of Cagliari, indicates that marijuana may prime the brain to seek substances such as heroin and cocaine that act in a similar way. Studies in the United States have found that nicotine and cocaine also affect dopamine levels. While psychological dependence on marijuana has been widely recognized, the drug's potential far physical addiction is only recently becoming clear. A team at Scripps Research Institute in California at Cumplutense University in .Madrid found that rats subjected to immediate cannabis withdrawal exhibited changes in behavior similar to those seen after withdrawal of cocaine, alcohol and opiates. Science magazine called this "the first neurological basis for a marijuana withdrawal syndrome, and one with a strong emotional component that is shared by other drugs." Dr. Alan Leshner, the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, estimates that more than 100,000 individuals are in treatment because of marijuana use. Most are believed to be teen-agers. The statistical link between 'smoking pot and using heroin, cocaine and acid, the indications that marijuana acts on dopamine levels in the brain in a manner similar to harder drugs and nicotine, and mounting evidence of marijuana's addictive power present a convincing case for a billion dollar-a-year investment to move biomedical research on substance abuse and addiction into the big leagues at the National Institutes of Health, along with heart disease, cancer and AIDS. Such an investment is essential for more effective prevention and treatment and greater understanding of the risks and benefits of any medical potential marijuana might have. The writer is president of the National Center on Addiction aid Substance Abuse at Columbia University. He was secretary of Health, Education and Welfare from 1977 to 1979. For two political science majors, the chance to meet Gene Stephanopoulos was a peat experience and unforgettable opportunity. We were lucky enough to be invited to the dinner in the Logan House before the speech. At two huge tables, students sat with administrators and Beinend contributors, anxious about talking to the honorable guest. Mr. Stephanopoulos, who was suffering from a cold, was unable to eat due to his sickness and the fact that he is nervous about public speaking. However, we saw this as a little impolite considering that the dinner was in his honor. Despite being catered by Housing and Food service, the same people who serve us each night at Dobbins, the food was fairly gwd and even creative. The salad even had pistachios in it. Politics never looked so good by Anne Rajotte Managing Editor by Andrea Zaffino Editor in Chief by Andrea Zaffino Ediior in Chief The Erie Mill gave notification to forty-two employees Tuesday that as of December Ist they will no longer have jobs with the company. The mill, which is traditionally refund to as Hammermill Paper Company, was established by Moritz Behrend art his sons Ernst and Otto Behrerui, the family for whom Penn State Erie campus is named. Ernst, especially, was well known throughout the Erie community for his progressive views of the workplace. Thanks to Ernst and his brother Otto, Hammermill was one of the first companies in the United States to offer paid vacations and medical benefits to its employees. Even during the Depression, the Behrends tried to keep as many people employed as possible. Employees for whom there was no work at Hammermill, Ernst Behrend would employ as landscapers on the Behrend estate, which is now the Penn State Erie campus. The employees of the mill today do not enjoy the same job security. The layoffs announced Tuesday * were the result of a decision to shut down the mill's number one paper machine—ahead of schedule—because of the lack of demand for fine grade paper. Three of the mill's six machines are scheduled to cease production. The number one and number seven machines are now set to shut down on October 27th 1997. The third shut down has yet to be scheduled, but will definitely occur by the end of 1998. Management claims the third shut down will not result in further layoffs. These shutdowns are pan of an overall restructuring of the company. Hammermill has added two other farmer independent paper printers, Beckett and Strathmore. Although his stunning Though the serious side of appearance was apparent, his Stephanopoulos' visit was intelligence and ease of intriguing, his smashing good conversation merely added to his looks were like the cherry on top of charisma. We were very interested the political sundae. After the in his liberal views and traditional speech, when it was time for Democratic outlook. After days of pictu re s and handshakes, our giggly thinking of things to say to him, junior high personas emerged. To we pretty much clammed up when our delight he sumd in the middle the conversation turned to us. We of us, because as he put it, "It's did, however, establish ourselves as more fun for me this way." self proclaimed Hooters and On Tuesday night it seemed that devolution experts. we became unofficial members of a Though we were too . nervous to George Stephanopoulos fan club. get in our questions about Ln . Whitewater, James Carv ille and combin eid knowledge Tsh politics future plans of the Democratic " looks led to a night that was party, we felt that we had the pleasing to ill , : ears and easy on the chance to learn a lot more than we . would have merely listening to a - eyes speech. At dinner we both felt like we were in a class that we hadn't - pia for. Any knowle d ge we PENNSTATE believed we had about politics completely disappeared when he miiii7.. would his turn his knowing eyes upon us. e on The three companies now all work as divisions of the International Paper Company (IP). The three me known collectively as the Erie Mill which fits into the fine grade paper division of IP's printing paper sector. Anne Miller, spokesperson for the Erie Mill, said of the recent changes, "There is a lot of work to be done. However the Erie Mill can have a very bright future and is considered the cornerstone of the International Paper Company's fine paper division." Yet even with visions of a promising future, after a layoff like yesterday's, morale tends to break down, and workers become anxious, as they look for reassurances that no more layoffs will follow. To help with this uneasiness, both the managers of fine papers and mill management will meet with employees this Thursday and Friday, in order to discuss future operations, and job security. For those who have been laid off, the Erie mill has offered a three year time' frame for recall rights. As a result, if the Erie Mill does any hiring within the next three years, first priority will be given to those affected by Tuesday's layoffs. The Behrend family affiliation with the paper mill shows a certain irony to the mill's struggle to restructure when compared with the recent expansions and future plans for improvement of the Penn State Erie campus. Both the campus and the mill are a part of the Erie community thanks to the Behrend family. There is certainly no complaint concerning the improvements of the campus. However at the same time the recent setbacks of the mill, which started off as a symbol of security and beneficial employment to the Erie community, lends a sad note to the Behrend family's contributions. Erie cTl(l,fießgeehrend
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers