THE BEHREND BEACON The Behrend Beacon published weekly by the students (4 Penn State Erie, The Behrend College News Editor Shannon IVeber Features Editor Deanna slmmks Wire Services Editor Angela Rush Advertising Managers Erin Edinger Carey Smith Photo Editor le'trey Miller Kevin Bruner ((motion) Office Manager Brad Wierrel 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 he reached by calling (814) 898-6488 or (814) 898-6019 (FAX). ISSN 1071-9288. UffiMMa A view from the lighthouse Out with the old and in with the new! There is no Homecoming this year. so what? There is something better, the Fall Festival/Parents and Fami lies Weekend. Even though Home coming has always been a high lighted event at University Park, it has never been that big of a deal here at Behrend. There are no highly at tended parades and dances, so now the focus is on families. Families have been the backbone of Behrend from the very beginning. and this year the homecoming activities have been dropped in fa vor of a full family event. Even though we are away from home and away from our parents, there is no reason not to celebrate with our fami lies. Try and take lull advantage or the events Behrend is hosting this week end. The time you spend with your parents can be valuable and reward- Bitchin' b Boy, it didn't take long for some thing else to upset me. Oh well, this time I am really pissed off, so here we go! As I sit here typing this, I am attempting to Nock out the tremen dous amount of sound that is emanat ing from the Backroom at this very moment, and I am contemplating call ing Police and Safety to get some peace and quiet. It is almost impos sible for any member of the Beacon staff to get anything productive done when some form of profanity is echo ing through the office. By now you must he wondering what is going on in the Backroom that could he creat ing such a distur- bance. It is "rush time, so that means some obnoxious "rush - party is go ing on in the Backroom. Now, just for the record. I personally have nothing against the Greek system, as long as they admit to what they are and what they do. I know that next week we will get some letter to the editor say ing that the Greek system is a great one, and all of the good things that Greeks do, blah, blah, blab. And that Greeks never do anything wrong, and how dare I comment on something that I am not a part of. News flash! I don't have to he a part of the Greek system to he affected by it (and I am really being affected right now, how many times does someone need to swear when they miss a shot at pool?), and because I am affected by it I am going to put my two cents in. Greeks drink and party. Simple enough for everyone to understand? No one joins a fraternity or a sorority (and I mean the social fraternities and sororities) because it will improve their grades, or because of the com munity service that they do. While Greeks may do community service, Editor-in-Chief iu‘on Snyder Managing Editor mi, heel hattley Advisors Robes Sped Jim 01.oughtin Let er Poll( encourages letters to the editor. Letters should include the address, phone number, semester standing and major of the writer. Writers can mail letters to behrcoll2Vaol.com. Letters must he received no later than spm Tuesday for inclusion in that week's issue. ing. Let them come and see what you do durim_ the week. Share a meal with them at Dobbins (maybe they'll feel had and take you grocery shop ping later). Go see 8.R.U.N.0.5. and it will let them in On what really goes on here. You know what your parents do day in and day out, let them in on your life here at Behrend. Mike they also drink and party. And please don't send me a angry letter saying that Greeks don't drink and party, ad mit it, they do. Now I don't care that they drink and party, hell, I drink and party all the time (if my Byer makes it until I graduate it will he a miracle). So why are people so drawn to join ing a fray? Is the need to belong so strong, that people are willing to he humiliated or worse to become a part of a fiat (and please don't tell me that hating doesn't happen, we all know that it does, it's just hidden better now). We all need to take a look at reality for a "I want to get a job based solely on what frat I belonged to, instead of my qualifications! Viva la education!" longed to, instead of my qualifica tions! Viva la education! I paid for four years of college, and because I didn't drink and party, I am going to end up working at Burger King? Uhhhh, let's think about that one for a minute? Please don't say that I feel jealous about not being a member of a Prat. Sorry, but I've never felt an over whelming urge to have to pay a fee to have friends. Just consider this a wake up call to the Greeks. If you are try ing to improve your image, you're not doing a very good job of it. As I sit here listening to another four letter word that I refuse to print echo through the Beacon offices, remem ber that things like this do not improve your image. Mike is the Managing Editor of the Beacon His column appears everytime he feels the Editorial Page Editor Kane Guyer' Sports Editors hLnr Wiertel Craig Hicelltood (assivhint) Calendar Page Editor Aim Zuck Business Manager Kristine Harakal Associate Editor Eli:abeth Hayes. Distribution Manager Heideckel The Beacon Mike Frawley moment. Do we really need the Greek system any more'? Does it re- ally serve a pur pose? Greeks say that the system provides them with valuable con tacts in the job market when they graduate. Boy, that's what I want! I want to get a job based solely on what irat I be- EDITORIAL Detours and Small Potatoes Is waiting the key to gun control? Doesn't it seem like every season this year has been marked with trag edy? Spring; Littleton, Colorado. Summer; a daycare in California. Fall; the most recent, a youth assembly at a Baptist church in Texas. Every time another shooting happens there is talk for a month or so about gun control in this country. People get all enraged and start speaking out (for or against) the NRA and the laws in this country. The media (from local to interna tional) get to cover the sometimes heated debates, and the people of Amercia stop and think about "What could have prevented this terrible trag edy" for awhile. Soon though, the media finds some thing else to harp on, and Americans forget...be honest, how many of you had forgotten about the shooting in Texas all ready? Every time that shootings occur though, I personally get sick of hearing the same tired ar guments and I get tired of listening to the same Bill Clinton speech over and over, I pretty much have it Memorited by this point. "As we grieve for the lost in (fill in blank with city of your choice), we need to realite that stricter gun control in this country is what we need...'' Blah, blah, hlah, I've heard it all before...but wait, I think Clinton may actually have a point. It's just too bad that he can't actually act on his words and make it happen. Gun control is a very sensitive sub ject in Pennsylvania. Hunting is like the national past-time around here and in my family guns are practically is Join me in reali When a vote means too much We have all sat through the months and months of endless bickering, the weeks of impeachment hearings, the spur of the moment bombings, and the sex scandals that you don't even find on daytime television. We have witnessed what a horrible past year this has been tOrourpoot; poor presi dent and his family. And we have all come to somewhat of an acceptance that most Americans don't care what happens in the White House, because sometime in the past seven years, the actions of our president in the -tax payers- White House is no longer any of our business. So without dwelling too much on this scandalous past year, I will at tempt to shed some light on a rather dark subject. No, not the events go ing on in the Oval Office when the lights go out, but rather the events going on in the public's eye. Events that have perhaps been missed due to the regularity of controversy in the Clinton family. If there is one way to find a con nection between two subjects as dif ferent as elections and terrorism, leave it to the Clintons to find it. And if there is one man daring enough to use something as horrific as terror ism to benefit himself, leave it to Bill to take that chance. On Saturday, September I I , Presi dent Clinton did the unthinkable. send all letters to the editor to: behrcoll2@aol.corn SEPTEMBER 24, 1999 sued to the boy babies at birth. So to take away the freedom over their guns would he the biggest atrocity ever. But really, what is the big deal about gun control? Is it such a hardship to have to wait to buy a gun? In Pennsylvania there used to be a law commonly referred to as the 'Cooling Off Period'. This law stated that any person wanting to buy a gun had to wait 7 days after they went to purchase the gun before they could actually take it out of the store. That law, though no longer in effect, seems to me to he just the safety net that America needs. The point is not to argue whether or not this country needs gun control, but exactly how much is needed? In 39 of our stales there is no waiting period when purchasing a handgun. Pennsylvania is one of those states. That means that I could, in theory, go out right now and purchase a gun and take it home with me. That's great for me because I'm not going to go out and shoot anyone. Who it's not great for is the crazy man/woman intent on Our president freed 12 Puerto Rican nationalists that supported hundreds of terrorist acts on American soil in the early 1980 s. That same group of Puerto Rican terrorists that showed no remorse in defending their beliefs at the expense of hu man lives, are free. And they were freed by the man that is supposed to he giving us a sense of national se curity. Any sane American would quickly ask why. The prisoners must have been cleared of all charges, right? Or at least they showed some deep regret for their actions, right? No, neither. These terrorists were freed from American prisons for one reason, more votes for Hillary in her New York Senate seat hid. By releasing these prison ers, there is a good possibility that the first lady will gain popularity Who are you to judge? I was sitting in Bruno's this morn ing eating my breakfast when sud denly I noticed the people around me, I mean, I finally noticed them. There is a man on campus who slightly resembles a woman. I think he is a transgender, but I am not sure. Anyway, as I am sitting there eat ing, that man walks by. I think noth ing of it until I look around me and find that about four tables of students are staring at him. I look to my right and hear, "That guy/girl...it, thing is so disgusting." I turn to my left and see two girls roll their eyes and laugh. The other killing someone right then and there. A waiting, or 'cooling off' period should he in effect for all of our nation's states. Hundreds upon thou sands of civilians could he saved ev ery year if only we had a nationwide law like this. Sure, it is foolish to be lieve that terminating the second amendment is going to put an end to all the violence and crimes in this country. But the ineffectiveness of this state's background check system vers ing an actual waiting period should he considered intolerable. In the United States, after the Brady Bill expired this nation adopted some thing called the National Instant Check System, or NICS for short. In any store where weapons are sold, the seller must call into a 1-800 number to verify if the buyer can pass the in stant background check. However, this background check is not a thor ough review of a buyers history. Only past criminal records are checked. If a person has mental prob lems, they will not show up on the background check. So even though the store puts a background check through, not every aspect about that person is revealed. A person can he unstable and the background check will not bring that to the attention of the clerk. A mentally unbalanced per son can have a gun in their posses sion in a matter of minutes. Scary thought, huh? Right now in this country, there are ova• 20.000 individual gun control laws. so I can kinda understand why Iron the Hispanic voters in New Heaven forbid someone named Clinton make it through a campaign without some sort of scandal. If the term "Clinton scandal" hasen't been used enough already during the four year terms of our president, it sure hits an astounding high as Team Clinton scurries to win votes for upcoming elections. But is the safety of our country a lesser prior ity than putting a Clinton in some powerful position in our govern ment'? I don't think so, and I would hope that all of the Clinton worshippers wouldn't think so either. Because it is those same worshippers that ap plaud our president every time he makes an emotional statement about stopping terrorism in our country. And I am willing to believe that those people are now running around trying to find an excuse or justifica tion as to why this man freed the people he so strongly opposes. When are we, as Americans, go ing to at least show some signs of disagreement with the actions of our president? This is our country. If we don't feel terrorists should he free, why don't we show it. We con tinue to let the goings on in the White House remain a "private" issue of our president. Well, when a terrorist tables continue in the same inappropiate manner. As I keep look ing around, I really can see how hor rible you people are. You sit there in your stable, un changeable environment, never questioning or needing to alter your selves because everyone likes you. You fit it. Hell, you even like your self, but let's imagine for a second that you don't fit in. Let's say that you find that you aren't so "normal". What will happen to all of your "friends"? You know, the ones that you sit with and berate the 'strange, people'? Do you even know what it's pro gun activists are upset, hut this all goes hack to the "not if, hut how much - theory. If there are this many laws, why aren't they working and why are there still kids getting guns, and criminals getting guns? There are obviously loopholes in the system and people who should not have guns are getting their hands on them. Does all this really matter to you? It should. If you had forgotten about the Texas shooting already than per haps you also forgot about an incident that happened at Penn State in 1996. A student stood on the HUB lawn at University Park and opened fire and killed one girl and wounded 5 others. If it happened at UP, then it can hap pen here. Could better gun control have stopped the shooting? Not nec essarily, hut somewhere a waiting period could he saving someone right now, if only we had them. So what should he done'? The wait ing period seems the most obvious answer. However, the one law that may actually work, is the one that is not in effect. So to President Clinton and the government trying to 'help' the American population, please try to remember that a waiting period is the way to go. Cooling off is the hest bet, for impulse decisions are hardly ever the most wise. Check it out for yourself though, handguncontrol org act suddenly ends the life of a fam ily member, friend or even yourself, then maybe questions will he asked. It's no longer an issue of our poor. poor president being the target of the Republicans. It is an issue of our poor, poor president making us the target of a much more dangerous group. You can continue to fool your selves and believe that the welfare of our nation outranks our president's obsession for power, or you could join me back in reality and realize that the number one priority of Bill Clinton is Bill Clinton. We shouldn't struggle or even at tempt to struggle in justifying the acts of our president. If there is no justification, say so. There is noth ing wrong with admitting when a leader does something wrong. Do you think that Chicago Bulls' fans didn't criticize Michael Jordan when he took a bad shot? Do you think that Seinfeld fans never admitted to seeing a had show? Of course not. But the problem is, a bad shot by Jordan or a bad show by Seinfeld don't have nearly the significance of a bad choice by Clinton. Clinton's decisions can affect you directly. That makes it your job to speak out. If you don't hurt the Clinton family where it counts (the voting booths), they will continue to hurt you with out any remorse. like to hate yourself so much that you can't stand it? Do you know what it's like to look in the mirror everyday and think, do not like this body and I do not fit in this role"? The answer for me is no, I don't know what it's like - . The difference between you and me is that I will not sneer and berate another human be ing for being himself, unless of course that human being is you j'rks at Bruno's. Christian Darling 03, Education PAGE 4
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers