The Behrend Beacon
The Behrend Beacon
published weekly by the students of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
News Editor
Shannon Weber
Calendar Page Editor
Kim Zttck
Editorial Page Editor
Katie Galley
Wire Services Editor
Angela Rush
Features Editor
Deanna Symoski
Sports Editors
Matt Wiertel
Craix Hazelwood
Business Manager
Kristine Harakul
Postal Information: The Beacon 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 Beacon can be
reached by calling (814) 898-6488
or (814) 898-6019 (FAX). ISSN
1071-9288.
A view
Do we really need to pay?
With student enrollment up to an
all time high, does Penn State really
need to be charging us extra for things
and not making improvements to ex
isting facilites? And no. we are not
talking about the improvements to the
dorms.
The computer fee went up along
with basic tuition costs. We have not
seen the effects of the extra money
that came into the computer labs. New
equipment? Nope, none that we have
seen yet. Where did it go? Computer
costs go up every year, or so we were
told. However, when planning fi
nances for the upcoming year, not all
of us take into account for inflation.
Sneaking costs up on us is not the way
to go. And posting notices in the
Bursar's office is not “letting us
know”.
Tuition up 4 percent, why, besides
inflation? With all the extra students
that came in, does the school really
need that much money from us? We
were under the impression that all the
dorms they were building were paid
Bitchin ’ by Mike
Welcome back everybody! I hope
that you all had a grrrrreat summer
(don't you just love the pointless
Frosted Flakes references). But now
it’s time to get settled into a new school
year. And we all know what that
means, it’s time for the bitchin’ to be
As most of the upperclassmen will
remember, there were a lew ot these
columns last semester. Anytime some
thing really pissed me off, I would feel
an overwhelming urge to bitch to the
world about it, and because I am an
editor for the Beacon, I have a perfect
outlet for my ravings. What amazes
me though, is the fact that this is only
the second week of school, and some
thing has already pissed me off enough
to write my first “Bitchin’ by Mike"
column. But, oh well, let the bitchin’
begin!
Over this past summer, the school
underwent a very expensive renovation
to deal with the influx of new students
and the growth that the school has been
undergoing lately. In this renovation,
the Beacon had its offices moved to a
new section of office space built in the
area next to the back room. And while
we did end up in an office that was
slightly smaller than our previous ac
commodations, there was an upside,
our new office would have four
ethernet jacks! Now we would be able
to get more of our computers on the
Internet, so we would get the paper
done faster, and we could make im
provements to bring you a better pa
per. But the reality has fallen well short
of the dream.
As you might have been able to de
duce by now, the target of my wrath
this week is the Computer Center. All
we needed was to have one computer
hooked up to the Internet so that we
could get the first issue to print with a
minimum of problems. But even that
seemingly simple task has proven to
be too much for our Computer Center.
When these new offices were built,
didn’t the thought ever cross someone’s
mind to check and see if the new con-
Editor-in-Chief
Jason Snyder
Managing Editor
Michael Fratvley
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 letters to behrcoll2@aol.com.
Letters must be received no later
than spm Tuesday for inclusion in
that week’s issue.
rom the lighthouse
for all ready. And why should we have
to pay for them to build a new dorm
for incoming students?
To bring it home, all we are saying
is that despite what Penn Stale may
think, we really are just college kids,
and not an endless source of funds for
future projects for the school. For
things that probably won’t happen
until we have graduated and moved
Cut us a break, we may be paying
to attend classes here, but we are not
paying to raise your enrollment.
nections even worked before the
school year started. Apparently not,
because our jacks weren't even hooked
up properly.
I understand that the start of a new
school year is always a busy time lor
the Computer Center. The hundreds
of new students that want their Internet
accounts and ethernet connections
must be almost overwhelming for
them to try to sort out. But our prob
lem is something that could have, and
should have, been taken care of before
the year started. The administration
knew that this office was going to be
used, so they could have set up the
ethernet connection in here as soon as
the office was finished.
And if I have to hear one more per
son from the Computer Center sigh at
me because we are still using
Macintosh computers, I'm going to
cram an apple up their....uhh,
nevermind, you really don’t want to
know. We have no choice about the
iuters that we have to use. My
TI-85 is more powerful than most of
the computers that we have in this of
fice, but they are all that we have to
use (hint, hint, new computers would
be a great help).
Now we at the Beacon don’t ask for
much. All we want to do is put out a
newspaper that the entire school can
be proud of, but it seems like we are
frustrated at every turn. All we are ask
ing for is for one lousy ethernet con
nection, so we can get the paper to
press. I know of plenty of other stu
dents who have had their share of prob
lems with the Computer Center, so
please don’t think this is only about
us. The Computer Center must catch
up with the needs of the school. Stu
dents need to be able to have their
Internet access with a minimum of
trouble, and the computer fee that we
have to pay should be able to supply
this.
Frawley is managing editor of the Beacon.
His column will appear every time lie feels
the urge to bitch
Advertising Managers
Erin Edinner
Carey Smith
Associate Editor
Elizabeth Hayes
Photo Editors
Jeffrey Miller
Kerin Bruner
Office Manager
Brad Wiertel
Distribution Manager
Mall Heidecker
Advisors
Robert Speel
Jim O'Loughlin
Mike Frawle
By the way, are we Y2K ready?
Editorial
Detours and Small Potatoes
Procrastination, bad habit or life
technique?
So another semester at Behrend, eh?
Or perhaps your first. I’m pretty sure
that everyone is giving you advice,
"Don’t do this, take this class, NEVER
eat there!” Well I have some advice
for you too. So why should my ad
vice (i.e. my opinion) mean anything
to you? Because it applies to every
one (calm down this isn’t the sun
screen song).
Procrastination is a word that 1 am
sure is in most of our vocabularies.
Some people do it, but only a little bit.
Some people never do it. Then there
are some people, like myself that
RELISH in it! I may be the queen of
procrastination. As a matter of fact, as
I am writing this I am two and a half
hours past my self-imposed deadline.
How’s that for waiting until the last
minute?
The point is that some people think
that procrastination is bad, but it’s
NOT, here’s why. Last semester (my
first at Behrend, my first with a room
mate) 1 discovered the importance of
moderation, not with what you may
be thinking though. If I was on the
Join Me In Reality
It’s fake, it’s chaotic, it’s violent...
It’s entertainment
Just over one week ago, the World
Wrestling Federation embarked on its
toughest challenge yet in the business
of professional wrestling. The top
wrestling company in the business
took their popularity to the next level,
airing their new hit television show.
Smack Down, on network television.
It appears as though WWF owner
Vince McMahon, is looking beyond
his battle with Ted Turner's World
Championship Wrestling, and is star
ing right in the face of some of net
work television's top shows.
In its first showing, Smack Down
reached over 5 million homes. Al
though it didn’t top shows such as
"Frasier”, "Friends” and “Who Wants
to be a Millionaire,” it did double
UPN’s ratings for that Thursday night
lime-slot from previous weeks.
But how ? How can a business that
is dubbed by its critics as being fake,
chaotic and violent rank up with
shows that the more "sophisticated”
America view every week ?
Because it's entertainment.
You can deny it all you want. You
can criticize and say how detrimental
it is to American society. But no mat
ter how you look at it, it is entertain
ment for millions and millions of
Americans.
Let's quit fooling ourselves and face
the facts. We no longer live in a soci
ety that welcomes happy endings all
the time. The “good guy" doesn’t al
ways beat the “bad guy” (and neither
do we want them to sometimes).
Morals don’t always prevail. That’s
life.
So why is it so wrong for people of
all classes, races, age and nationality
to sit down every Monday and Thurs-
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high end of the procrastination spec
trum then my roommate was on the
complete other side. She never waited
to do anything.
Homework was done as soon as your
classes were done for the day. Study
ing for a big test was never put off for
the last minute. If she had three weeks
to do a project she would do it ASAR
usually with two weeks to spare...you
get the picture. There was only one
problem, the TV should NOT be on,
for any reason while she was study
ing, period. Understand that this was
most of the day, everyday.
After 1 finished picking my heart up
off the floor, I agreed. I was eager not
day night lor a little hit of "Raw En
tertainment?''
It's not! Lispccialiy if you think of
other opportunities open to young
adults in this day and age. For two
hours on two nights every week, ev
eryone has the opportunity to get to
gether with friends, ask lor violence,
cheer for chaos and enjoy the fury.
Better to experience those things
through the television screen in a con
trolled environment, than to stand
dead center in the middle of it.
Sure wrestling is no longer "say
your prayers, lake your vitamins, ’ like
it was in the 1980 s. And even then, it
had its critics. So I guess it doesn’t
help that the vitamin in the 90's ver
sion of wrestling is beer, and the only
religious relerence is 3:16 which
translates to wrestling jargon as, "I just
whooped your ass."
The leader of this change in attitude
over the past couple years has been
the WWF's "Stone Cold” Steve Aus
tin. The trend of using bad language
and having a no fear attitude has
spread throughout the WWF, which
has no regrets of introducing this bad
attitude to the business. It is what the
fans want and what they now demand
every week. There is no turning back
To AW'T
yorefc {town..
to make waves in the room unneces
sarily. So, 1 tried to adopt her study
habits, to allow for peaceful cohabi
tation. This went on for about a
month.
After a while though I started hav
ing severe television withdrawl. I was
really missing my favorite shows. I
missed laying on my bed and watch
ing FRIENDS for an hour and then
studying for my Spanish quiz. The TV
in the lounge was not always tree lor
my viewing pleasure. And the almost
constant library-like atmosphere was
killing me slowly. I NEEDED to pro
crastinate and I needed to do it
nightly.
So the very next day, while she was
studying some seemingly non-infu
riating biology I made my move. I
quietly asked it would be okay it I
watched The X-Files every night
from 8 until 9 o’clock, with the sound
turned up so I could hear what they
were saying. As you can imagine this
was met with quite an incredulous
look. But 1 quickly explained that my
head would explode if I had to spend
now, and I don’t think you could find
more than a handful of current fans
that would want to turn back.
In the past year, I have had the plea
sure to experience two World Wres
tling Federation pay-per-view events
live and in person. The atmosphere
around you is one that matches the
volume and excitement of a football* *
game and still maintains the control
despite the happenings in ring.
Fans bring in their signs and ex
press their views through ink on
poster boards. I would think that ex
pression through material things
would beat expressing yourself
through anger, fists, and now even
guns. Think of how much worse it
could get. Wrestling isn’t the foun
dation for violence in today’s society.
It goes much deeper than that. Wres
tling is just an outlet for the govern
ment and the more ‘'sophisticated”
America to push the problems of
today's youth upon.
There is too much money involved
and too high of ratings to try to elimi
nate wrestling from the market. You
would be foolish to think that there is
some way to ban wrestling. It is their
first amendment right to act and say
what they please in their controlled
environment. It is the parents’ role
to censor what their children are
viewing, and it is to the discretion of
young adults, as to whether or not
they want to follow the plots from
week to week.
The money aspect of professional
wrestling has become much more
important as evident with all the
“Austin 3:16" t-shirts being worn
around. The salaries of the wrestlers
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saving
one more night with silence from din
ner ‘till bedtime. Surprisingly she
agreed and I was in sci-fi land for an
hour nightly.
At first she would leave the room,
unable to stop studying. But after
awhile she would just put her books
down and join me in my television
reverie. And it was nice. We were talk
ing more and more and we found out
that we had more in common than we
originally thought. We ended up be
ing really great friends.
Don’t get me wrong, academics is
very important, after all that is why
we are all at Penn State. But if all you
do is study, then you are missing good
times with friends and most likely
missing out on life. So take it from
the queen of procrastination, waiting
until the last minute all the time is bad,
but so is having your head explode
from stress. So my advice to every
one is to put down your books and take
some time to savor laziness, or tear
the consequence of the type ‘A’ per
sonality.
have also skyrocketed due to the teud
between the WWF and WCW. Both
companies scurry to pick up the best
athletes. But these days, wrestlers
are measured not just by athletic abil
ity, but their ability to come up with
catch phrases and gimmicks. The
■'most interesting gimmick usually
' gets the most fans, therefore the most
success in the ring. If they’re enter
taining, they’re successful.
Wrestling is not only big in the
wallet and the area of sports enter
tainment, but it is slowly becoming
a platform for some future politi
cians. Jesse "The Body” Ventura was
the pioneer for this, winning election
as the governor of Minnesota last
year. WCW’s Hulk Hogan, the wres
tling hero of the 1980 s, was rumored
to be running for president in the year
2000. Hogan hasn’t made any defi
nite plans. Jerry “The King” Lawler,
a WWF commentator, will be run
ning for mayor in the near future.
The role that professional wres
tling should play in today’s society
can be disputed. You can hope that
fans follow the “ethical” path away
from the fury of the ring or you could
join me back in reality and realize
that wrestling is here, it’s still grow
ing and it doesn’t plan on stopping
soon.
So all you more “sophisticated”
people can stop your complaining
and follow a simple little phrase that
is becoming used more and more,
with channels airing 90’s television...
“If you don’t like it, flip the station."
Because there is likely to be a little
more real 90’s entertainment grazing
the TV screen.
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