page 4- The Behrend College Beacon. Thursday, January 14 , 1999
The Behrend College Beacon
published weekly by the students of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
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9288.
A view from the lighthouse
MLK celebration promotes diversity
Once a year students are afforded
tge opportunity to engage in a cel
ebration of life; the life of Dr. Martin
Luther King Jr. After a holiday sea
son of giving. King’s birthday pro
vides a chance for many to acknowl
edge his strides for not only African-
Americans but all Americans. Stu
dents should take advantage of the
Martin Luther King Jr. celebration at
Behrend. Although ninety-three per
cent of the students on campus are
white, this event will benefit all stu
dents . Our campus is not racially di
verse, by any means and unfortu
nately there are students who are still
very unaccepting of other races or
perhaps just have a limited knowl
edge of the Civil Rights Movement.
The MLK celebration definitely
promotes diversity on campus and
will hopefully cause people who are
attending to question the country and
the society we are living in today.
With such programs as the re-en
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NOW!!
m ? x
Are Wifebeaters more than just the name of shirts?
By Melissa Sperl
Orange Source
Syracuse University
I remember the first time I heard
the term “wifebeater” as it pertains to
clothing. At home in friendly Minne
sota, I was shopping with a friend,
whom I will refer to as “Brand Name
Boy.” He began a discussion detail
ing the points of his argument that
Abercrombie and Fitch’s wifebeater
although more expensive was
a much better deal than those offered
at other stores. “What are you talking
about?” I said with a furrowed brow.
“You know,” he retorted. “Muscle
shirts. Tank tops.”
Hey, I don’t want to stereotype
people who wear wifebeaters, but
when clothing crosses the line into
Editor in Chief
Will Jordan
Managing Editor
Axodele Jones
Features Editor
Jon Stubbs
Editorials Editor
Natalie Gagliano
Advertising Managers
Erin Edinger
Letter Policy: The Beacon
encourages letters to the editor.
Letters should include the address,
phone number, semester standing and
major of the writer. Writers can mail
their letters to behrcoll2@aol.com.
Letters must be received no later than
spm Tuesday for inclusion in that
week’s issue.
actment of the 1963 March on Wash
ington and featured speaker Bobby
Seale, the students will become more
aware of how far blacks have pro
gressed since the 1960 s and the ex
tent to which MLK was an influen
tial leader.
It is necessary to possess knowl
edge of the movement, because it is
a part of our history. What happened
then is vital to understanding why
things are the way they are currently.
It is what shapes us. today.
blatant dull-wittedness and scorching
harassment, I have to speak up. I am
willing and proud to make a broad
statement about the type of person
who walks into a store and, from be
low a baseball cap brim, asks the cash
ier: “Heymmm, do you sell those
wifebeater shirts?”
This exact scene happened the
other day as my friend and I awaited
a price check on a bathroom scale.
The cashier knew exactly what the
young shopper was talking about and
directed him to an area somewhere be
tween plastic “Mulan” jelly shoes and
sateen nightshirts. She turned to us
with bemusement and shrugged. We
get that question all the time, she said,
and I recalled the gobs of individuals
on campus and at house parties who
Sports Editor
Jason Snyder
Layout Editors
Mike Perkins
Rose Forrest
Carey Smith
■°^7
What You Talkin ’ bout Willis
Behrend Singing the Blizzard Blues
What is the deal with the snow
clean up here on campus as well as
on the main roads'.' I think that it is a
shame when people have to tread
through snow and risk slipping on ice
and slush just to get to class. I don’t
know if the maintenance people who
are supposed to lake care of these is
sues are undermanned or not skilled
in plowing the walkways or what. I
personally have worked on a highway
department crew and have never left
walkways unshoveled or slush and ice
on stairways for people to slip on and
fall.
I understand that the plow crews
have been plowing throughout the
The Behrend Review
The Ten Best films of
The criterian I used lor selecting my
choices for the Ten Best Films of 1998
were: What impact did the film have
upon me? Could I empati/e with the
characters of the film and understand
their pain and pleasure'.’ Was there any
thought provoking ideas or messages
within the film? And finally and per
haps most importantly, did 1 like the
film? However it should be noted that
this list is incomplete. For 1 have not
seen and probably will never have
time to see every film that was re
leased last year. Also several films
which I plan to see. such as
"Shakespeare In Love" or "AThin Red
Line" have not come to an Erie area
movie theater.
10. MEET JOE BLACK: When this
film was released in theaters about two
months ago it was unfairly rebuffed
by many critics for being "too long".
While 1 will admit the film could have
been shortened by about a half an
hour, it was never the less a fascinat
ing story about "Death." A media
mogul, played bv Anthony Hopkins,
is told by "Death," played by Brad Pitt,
that his time on Earth is up. However
before "Death" takes him. he wants
Hopkins character to show him the
world. Then as the film progresses
"Death" falls hopelessly m love with
Hopkins' daughter played by Claire
Foriani.
9. SOMETHING ABOUT MARY: Is
definitly the funniest film of the year,
if not one of the funniest films ever
made. Although this film is not for
some tastes, due mainly to the many
gross out gag's throughout it. which I
cannot describe in this column for risk
of offending some of its readers.
However once you get past the gross
out gag’s, the film is a clever roman
tic comedy about a woman (Cameron
Diaz) who is the object of every man
affection.
8. THE PARENT TRAP: Is a sur
prisingly delightful remake of the
1961 original film. This time with
newcomer Lindsay Lohan giving a
flawless performance as 11 year old
identical twin sisters Hallie and Annie
who were separated shortly after birth
when their parents divorced. While
the plot of this film is somewhat in
conceivable and off the wall, it is a
were clad in these garments.
It was at a house party, actually,
that I most recently encountered a
wifebeater shirt. I was waiting in a par
ticularly obnoxious keg line when a
wifebeater-wearing individual shoved
his way up to the source of the beer
with an authority that can only be
demonstrated by a person showing off
his muscles. He placed his cup directly
under the tap and erased M! rules of
keg etiquette with one little shrug of
his exposed shoulder. What I thought
was, “Hey, asshole!" But what I said
was. Do you want me to pump?” The
wifebeater guy left with his beer, and
I was left waiting—again.
About 10 minutes later, outside
with a cup ot beer that was not worth
the $3 admission I paid for it, I com
plained about the individual, whom I
Editorial
persistent snow that had been falling
the past few days. By Tuesday after
noon however, the precipitation was
basically wet and would not stick.
When I worked for the highway de
partment, on days like this, we would
shovel up the slush and put down
sand instead of salt so there would
be more traction. The sand w'ould
also absorb some of the water and
prevent all of the puddles that are
occurring in all of the buildings.
And what about the snow clean up
on all of the main roads in
Wesleyville and the ramps on and off
route 90? I truly am surprised that
there haven't been more accidents.
real treat to watch the very talented
Lohan in dual-roles conniving and
scheming to get her parents back to
gether. I think in about ten years, with
a little luck, Lindsay Lohan will be
one of the most sought after actors in
Hollywood films.
7. BUL.WORTH: In my opinion this
was perhaps the finest film ever made
by aetor/director/producer/writer
Warren Beatty. In the film Beatty, in
a Osear euliber performance, plays a
United States Senator who has a ner
vous breakdown just prior to the Cali
fornia Democratic Primary. A very
distraught Beatty then has contract
taken out on his own life and then,
no longer fearing for his political fu
ture, begins to say and do what ever
he feels like. However Beatty later
tries to cancel the contract when he
falls in love with a 26 year old Afri
can American women played by
Halle Berry. The thing that makes
this film standout above many other
political satires is its brutal honesty
and the statement it makes about race
relations in this country.
6. SLIDING DOORS: Have you
ever wondered if your life would have
been changed if you had made a split
second decision differently? That is
what this very clever British comedy
attempts to answer. The film stars
American actress Gwyneth Paltrow
who. with her perfect British accent,
is IOOG completely'convincing in the
role of Helen, a London public rela
tions executive who is fired at the be
ing of the film. The story then takes
off in two different directions as
Helen is in a London subway station
trying to catch a train home. While
in one reality she catches the train
only to arrive home early to find her
boyfriend in bed with another
women. While in another reality she
misses the train only to arrive home
late to just miss boyfriend in bed with
another w omen. The remainder of the
film follows and compares the two
very different realities of the same
women all the up to a climatic con
clusion.
5. THE PRINCE OF EGYPT: Is an
animated musical remake of the 1956
film "The Ten Commandments".
However unlike the 1956 film, "The
referred to as “Wifebeater Guy” (and
whom everybody knew immediately
by that title). Then I forgot about him.
Until, as I walked down the bustling
street toward campus with my
friends, he came out of nowhere and
gave me a pick-up line only a
wifebeater guy could muster. Here’s
how the scene played out:
Wifebeater Guy: “Hey there, ladies.
Where arc you guys headed?”
Me, appalled: “You’re the rude char
acter who cut in front of me at the
keg.”
Wifebeater Guy: "What? No way, I
would never do that. Especially not
to a pretty lookin’ lady like yourself.”
Me, secure in my obvious moral su
periority: “I’m afraid you’re wrong.
You definitely cut, and it was defi
nitely rude. 1 recognize your
Monday night someone's car slid off
the road and into a ditch on Station
Road. Cooper Road was even worse
than Station Road. When I was driv
ing a friend home on Cooper Road,
the really bad turn and hill down by
the gorge was covered in snow. On
the way back, one car was stuck try
ing to get up the hill. I had to drive
around that car, avoid getting hit by
a car coming down the hill, while
speeding away from a plow truck that
was coming up behind me. When 1
was coming back from Christmas
break, route 90 was fine until 1 had
to get onto the ramp for Wesleyville.
The ramp was completely covered in
Prince of Egypt" is about two hours
shorter and has a more condensed and
focused story line. The major focal
point of this film is the relationship
between two brothers, Moses (Val
Kilmer) and Raineses (Ralph Fiennes)
and their two different destinies that
drove them apart. Perhaps this film
should have been called the "Princes
of Egypt".
4. THETRUMANSHOW: The first
time I saw this film I didn't much care
for it and couldn't understand w hat all
the hype was about. However when
I saw it a second time several months
later I was completely blown aw ay by
it. "The Truman Show" is the story of
a man. played by Jim Carrey, who
finds out that his whole life has been
a 24 hour television show and that
every person in his life is merely just
an actor. Besides from Carrey's stu
pendous acting, which I feel was the
best male performance of the year, the
film really makes .you think and ques
tion your own life. Is your life reallv
the subject of a 24 hour television
show? Who knows!
3. SAVING PRIVATE RYAN: Is one
of director Steven Spielberg's great
est film to dale, second only to his pre
vious cinematic masterpiece
"Scindler's List". From its opening
scenes on Omaha Beach, the film
quickly dispels any myths of war as a
noble human enterprise. It instead
portrays war as man's stupidest anil
costliest endeavor. The film stars Tom
Hanks who. shortly after D-Day, must
lead a squad of American soldiers into
German territory, in a mission he truly
doesn't believe in. to rescue one
American soldier whose threebrothers
w'crc recently killed in combat. The
film truly takes you into the heart and
soul of the American fighting man and
makes the audience members under
stand what these men went through
and the sacrifices they made to free
the world from slavery.
2. PLEASANTVILLE: Is the story
of two teenage siblings who are trans
ported from the color world of real
ity, to the 1950’s sitcom world of
"Pleasantville", which is in black and
white. Once there, the siblings slowly
but surely introduce their own values
and ideas into the culture of
wifebeater shirt.”
Wifebeater Guy: “Oh. Well, maybe I
did. But I’m sorry, and I wouldn’t
have done it if I had known I was go
ing to see you again later. So, where
are you staying tonight?”
Me, nauseated: “My house. My home.
By myself, thank you.”
Wifebeater Guy: “Well, hey. I think
you should come back to (the dorm)
with me.”
After I laughed and turned directly
around, Wifebeater Guy began shout
ing things at me that I just can’t re
peat about what 1 need done to me and
how he would be the perfect person
to do it. When that didn’t work,
Wifebeater
got mad. “What’s up with these
bitches, man? You know you all just
want to get laid, man. These bitches
WILL. JORDAN
ice and slush
I undeistand that we don't
get as much snow where 1 live in
lower New York State as they do in
Eric, but I would think that the high
way departments in this area would
be better prepared for these condi
tions. Despite the snow and slush, I
hope that all of you gel to class safely
and. if you have to drive anywhere,
take your time and arrive alive instead
of not at all.
Will Jordan i\ dr edu<>i-i’i < hut :■< du llca
(cii. Hi\ < , •litinn a;>/u a>'s , i < / ' //, /> ■< ut< A. \
CHARLES TESTRAKE
1998
Pleasantvi Ile and the people of
the town begins to change by
tuning from black and white into
color. As is the case in iihsl
societies, change leads to con
flict and conflict leads to vio
lence. And that is w hat happens
in Pleas,intv ille as the tow n soon
divides into two factions, the
"black and while's" and the
"colored's". Those who fear
change, the "black and w hite's"
begin to violently persecute
those who have changed, the
"colored's". The town's Mayor
and leadei of the "black and
white's" is played by the late
actor .1. T. Welsh in his final
scieen appearance. Welsh’s
great performance, perhaps the
most overlooked ol the vear. is
reminiscent of Orson Wells in
"Citi/en Kane" and definitely
deserves (Near a'lention.
I. WHAT DREAMS MAY
C( )ME: Is in mv opinion the
Best Edm o! 1008. It has lie
most siunnnndv beautiful cm
ematography ever put on she big
screen, which creates indelible
images of boili he,wen and hell
that will stick with you long af
ter you leave the ihcater, The
film also has an incredibly pow -
crlul slots line. In the Inst ten
minutes of the film Chris
(Robin Williams) and Annie
(Annahella Sccoriu) meet, fall in
lose, get married, and base two
kills who are killed in a tragic
car accident.. The film then
jumps ahead lour sears where
Chris is hiinscll killed in another
tragic car accident, leasing
Annie all alone. The remainder
of the film uses many consistent
flashbacks to explain the love
that Chris and Annie feel for
each other as well as for there
two children. This leads up to
the film's climax where Chris
must risk his immortal soul to
save Annie from an eternity of
pain and misery.
Charles iestroke is a junior politic at science
major. His column appears even three weeks
in the Beacon
at this school, man!’
Would I be wrong to link this
gentleman's attire with his attitude
about life and, indeed, "bitches"?
Maybe. Probably not. I mean, it takes
a certain type of individual to wear a
wifebeater on a brisk autumn night.
It also takes a certain type of indi
vidual to get angry about a girl’s per
fectly reasonable refusal of his come
on. If these types happen to be one of
the same, it’s not my fault.
If you can prove me wrong, please
do. But until that day, I maintain my
opinion that there is a reason people
who wear wifebeaters aren’t affected
by the fact that the very name of the
shirt they're wearing is a form of
abuse: They think it's funny. You
know what I think is funny?
Wifebeater Guv went home alone.