THE BEHREND BEACON The Behrend Beacon „„,bbsbtti,t„,,c, by the cnidentc of Penn State Erie. The Behrend College News Editor .S7Hlniroil U Per Features Editut Wire Services Editoi Rit,h Advertising Managers Lin Ednige Photo Editor ftro it‘ th (a\stshom Office Manager Bid,/ niero Uffff published weekly by the students of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College: First Floor. The J. Elmer Reed Union Building, Station Road, Erie, PA 16503. The Beacon can he reached by calling (8141 898-6488 or (814) 898-0(119 (FAX). ISSN 1071-9288. A view Stipends? no stinkin' stipends! Ehe l'rcident ol Si udent Governclni ~ , ociation no \,\ cr 53,3(10 in tipencl. pvt . ) car. That v,,aN decislcd in last \\ccks !•;(; \ meet in N the questikni that , -,1111 re inani 1, "Doc, Oh! oiSCIA Ili wct.l muLli \VILA! doc , , lIIC Prcs,idt.'itf do that tikike the postion so di:mailing that sheihe w, , uld need all that money? Last the SCA Ares !dent received NO stipends to do the same work as this That seems a little greedy. So what it the money was as ail able tut the office', to FCCCIVC sti pends. \\'lll, diLl all of it hase to vo the people holding offices in SGA7 Couldn't at least sonic of that 'none\ ha , e been loiirecicd tor student use! The SGA is supposed to he an orga filiation that serves the students and pros ide a central s )ice ror all of us. Unfortunately. hogging all the sti pends sh"ms LI lack 01 respect for the position the are holding. Also. the other thing that is both ersome about this is the amount id time that the SC,\ has spent decid ing how much in stipends each per son is to vet. So much time at each meeting has been spent arguing over how much each posistion will get and it they w ill they he allo ed to work at an outside job. it's a wonder that they have gotten anything aecom- at- . Or t i-3, "K . cm t i ~ ' llKS'oik 50111 / . H A' ::: ; 41:1 -4 1 11k .. 1.4 . • . I 11. 1 1 . 1 ':' iiimi l i l i l i e . . 7 . 5, '' „A, . . P i ' • . ........ L.. Editor-in-Chief c,0,/4/ Nianaging Editor Ali, hoe/ I,,ode‘ Advisors Robei I Spec/ Jim (11.olighlin 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 he received no later than spm Tuesday for inclusion in that week's issue. EffiNlM [he Beacon is roni the li plished this semester. Outside job'? Maybe for the less in \ jobs such as Secretary and Vice President. But the President should not he able to get all that money and not have to spend more than twenty hours per creek in oll'ice hours. How can we expect she/hc to get anything for the students accomplished while holding an outside joh? Not to sip that the students in SGA lon t deser\c some stipends. hut why inuch? 1.01 . example, the President c,2ts almost half of the cost of the tu ition here at Behrend. That seems like an awful lot of money for a previously unpaid postition. Whether stipends increase or decrease over time, let's just hope that the people in the SGA are in it for the students, not the sti pends. e r yii 1 , 1 , 4 TI4. AGM • .4 j i lt I , . . J " .4.1110- ... 7 'I." 11*-11v164:. .i. , Mel qi e id " .• J . 414 06 1 4.1 i W. • • Afirat e( 1: 011 •L ii. t . ! • 'er 41114 . ' Editorial Page Editor Katie Gulley Sports Editors matt viertei Crtitg Hazelt% (111(1 (assiAtnil Calendar Page Editor Kim Zurk Business Manager Kristine flartikal Associate Editor lk Haves Distribution Manager Matt HeidecAet hthouse don't need EDITORIAL Babies with babies What is up with today's society? It seems like every time I turn around I see another child "with child." I re alize all of us are technically adults here, but most of us are still very young. I am not one to he so judg mental about an issue like this, but come on, give me a break! Do young people realize how much pressure it can he to take on the responsibilities of a child? I mean, think about it, life for most of us has just started. How can a nine teen-year-old he sure of what they want to be doing everyday for the next eighteen years of their life? Most of the nineteen-year-olds I know can't even pick a major. Many disadvan tages come from becoming pregnant at a young age. Young mothers are more likely to drop out of high school or college. With her education cut short, the mother may lack job skills, making it hard for her to find and keep a job. More likely she will he depen dent upon her family or welfare. About 83% of teens that give birth are low income or poor, and inevita bly remain so. In 1993, 3.8 million mothers aged 15-44 received welfare Use it or lose it! Well, it's that time of year again. Politicians have started actively cam paigning for elections that won't he occurring for over a year. As if I wasn't sick of listening to these people as it is, now I get to listen to them constantly for the next year. But that's besides the point. I was reading in a political science journal (yes, people really do read political science journals, but only if they are majoring in political science) that college students, age 18-24, have one of the lowest voter turn Outs. Why don't college students vote? It doesn't really make sense. The poli ticians that are elected will he pass ing laws that will affect us for the rest of our lives (and most of us have a long life ahead of us, even though my life expectancy seems to have dimin ished lately). So why don't we go out and vote, and make sure that the people who get elected will do things that are good for us! Talking with people around cam pus, everyone thinks that our politi cal system is corrupt and the people who we elect are idiots, morons, or y? h • ng to sa ... t, 4 , ',f ,I somet :„J OE F 1 • to the Editor ! t , ' ' 1 rite a L etter .., ~` ...- ' :,,+ t 1 4 I AI ' ` behreoll2 @ aol.com z, ~,,... ~ 4 „...,,,,. ~- ~. , , , v , i. ,f 4 k 'ire s49Xlit . t .k f #,,'t fit, t, 2, OCTOBER 8, 1999 to Roc owe o 6.0-..„.. • -...1:-.4.,...0...) a... 13) Angela Rush Molt r,t the Wire Se rs ice Editor 411 the Beacim. Her' uhunrr appearc es , ers three necks.. or aid for families with dependent children, and of these 3.t million, 55c7 had became mothers when they were teenagers. It is not just the moth ers who are affected, the child inevi tably pays for the parents actions. The younger a woman becomes pregnant the note at risk they are to have problems, such as premature labor. Many pregnant teens, as well as young adults, ha \e poor eating habits, and niav smoke, drink alco hol or take drugs which will increase the chances that their child be horn with health problems. One in three pregnancies receiN. es inadequate pre natal care. thus babies horn to young mothers are more likely to he low Rea Mike Frawley ti.r.-nripeara6., mentally Unbalanced. So w by do we elect them? Go out and vote for the guy you think would be hest. I know that the selection of candidates is not the greatest this year, but at least make your juice heard. It is really , annoying to listen to people hitch about people in politics, then saying that they don't vote. II you don't ote. on have no right to bitch about who gets elected. If ) ou can make a difference in a situation and you don't, why should you go around and complain about it? Behrend potentially has a very powerful voting bloc in local elec tions. The people who are elected I C r • ,- 1...11. Road birth weight, and have childhood health problems. They are also more likely to he hospitalized than those children horn to older mothers. A young woman may not he able to emotionally support a child. It is rare that a young woman can develop good parenting skills or have social support systems to deal with the stress ()I' raising a child. I am sure we all know that raising a child is not a cakewalk, but does everyone really realize the amount of stress and re sponsibility that comes with having a child'? There are a lot of sacrifices that a young mother has to make for a child. 1 for one can not imagine being pregnant at this moment. 1 am only a sophomore in college. I have the rest of my life to start a family. Frankly, I can't understand what the rush is to have a child, when it takes up so much time and responsibility. I mean, 1 hardly have time for a social life with my current college workload. I can't imagine throwing on top of that feedings, diaper changes, 4:00 a.m. wake-ups. and constant check-ups with the doctor. Not to mention the to office in this area have a great af fect on the students who are living at Behrend for eight or nine months out of the year. The people elected to the various local offices in this area decide on numerous things that af fect all Behrend students, such as : 114110e\ II .11011 Ldur , r 101 III(' ( (1,1111 lII\ (011(1)111 ,1111,c,11 (IC111111(1 tt eek zoning regulations to let new busi ness come into the area, grants for improvements at Behrend, and judges for speeding tickets. So shouldn't we he trying to get people elected who are sympathetic to us'? If you live on campus, you can reg ister to vote in this area. In an area as small as Harborcreek, the one thou sand votes or so that Behrend can muster would be a force to reckon with. This could potentially bring more money on campus, as politicians would have to campaign actively at Behrend. And wouldn't it he inter esting just to see politicians trying to campaign at Behrend? Trying to an swer questions about issues that we care about. Like why we can't get some hind of fast food restaurant across from Behrend'? Gin" itho - Avi j ' l o # l l am_ t r . ...A . ";- 4 vev.kr. - 7 Trioll` S ritLq. V Ye r > ' l' . i AI P " 0.1 Sritarih 6 - AWAM.:6-14 ei• " r UraCt.___E:oll hi. _ .1 -4-10:›;uiryt aini Lofter financial burden of buying baby clothes, formula and expensive medi cines (and that's when the baby is per fectly healthy). What kind of example are we set ting for women both our age and younger? A lot of children and young women. look up to younger and older adults. and if they see that more young women are becoming pregnant the general perception will he that it is all right to get pregnant. I have no problems if a woman is both emotion ally and financially ready for a child, then it's her decision, but just keep in mind that when you decide to have a child you are making a commitment to that child. You cannot have a child and then neglect it. Your child's needs have to come before your own. One thing I firmly believe is that, at this age, you should not even he thinking about whether or not to have a child. This is time to enjoy your freedom. At this point in your life you should he focusing on discovering who you are, not finding out what kind of parent you might make. And I understand that this presi dential election is not shaping up to he one of the better ones in recent history. Like we really need another Bush in the White House, or some one with the personality of a tree like Gore. What a choice, a hush or a tree! But seriously, you still need to go out and vote. If you don't like ei ther candidate. then write one in. At least let the government know that you are alive and kicking. We do have a voice in our government. All we have to do is vote. I don't want to go off on some pa triotic, "Your an American so go and vote - kick. But what is the point of living in a country that gives the op portunity to vote, and then not tak ing it. People in countries around the world have fought and died to gain a right that we are all horn with. Yet, we have become so blase about hav ing this right that we don't use it. And things that arc used for a long period of time tend to disappear, don't they? 1 G . ..1 rg i The Ari _ . .l e iaTy. Is, "„ r .,..L., ii R•... ...‘.. t• . ...... r j . ---• .1 1 'AZ -TEr fivr' ir PAGE 6
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers