THE BEHREND BEACON
A View from the Lighthouse
I y the way, we're havin
GA election
Ah yes. Another year brings forth
more elections for some kind of
office. Whether it's for the
presidential primaries, some local
government seats, or an election here
on Behrend campus, one factor
seems to remain constant. Not a
whole lot of people vote. Naturally,
the next question that comes to mind
is "why?" Why are so many people
uninterested in politics today? Does
everyone have enough issues of his
or her own to worry about? Just
getting by from week to week is a
difficult enough task for some
people, especially college students.
Trust us, we at the Beacon realize the
value of one day. No one wants to
worry about more issues than they
have to. Is this the major problem,
or are you thinking to yourself, "I
didn't know about the elections!"
The staff of the Beacon believes
that lack of promotion was a major
problem with the recent SGA
elections, among other things. We
also believe that better decisions
could have been made had the
student body been more informed.
So now, the moment you have all
been waiting for, we would like to
give our take on the recent elections.
Let's start with the facts. SGA had
3 seats to fill. Now, usually SGA
itself fills any seats that it needs to
during the semester, but it so
happened that this was a large
number of seats to be filled.
Therefore, SGA made an attempt to
get more of the student body
involved in the selection process.
This resulted in a voter turnout of
about 200 people. And although the
SGA says that this is the average
number of voters, we think a lot more
people would have shown up if there
was better promotion. There weren' t
too many signs around campus, and
there was only one voting table
operating for just 3 hours. Is that
really enough to spark some interest
in our happy campusers?
So, where does bad promotion
come from? Bad organization.
Granted, there was a situation that
arose. The Public Relations
chairperson had a death in the family,
and therefore she couldn't put forth
as much effort as she might have
otherwise. Now, while this sounds
like a reasonable argument on the
outside, should a governing body
cease to function due to the absence
of one member? The remaining
officers could have bonded to fill the
gap during such an important time.
Picking up a few additional PR tasks
THE BEHREND BEACON
published weekly by the students of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
-'--- Editor-in-Chief
Jason Snyder
Managing Editor
Michael Frawley
News Editors
Liz Haves
Karl Benacci
Editorial Page Editor
Katie Galley
Features Editors
KatiePrzepyszny
Doug Smith
Sports Editor
Matt Wiertel
Advertising Managers Calendar Page Editor
Carey Smith Nicole Greene
Kim Zuck
Photo Editors
Business Manager Jeff Miller
Kristine Harakal Kevin Bruner (assistant)
Office Manager Associate Editors
Brad Wiertel Shannon Weber
Becky Weindorf
Distribution Manager Rob Wvnne
Jeff Miller
Advisors
Robert Speel
Jim O'Laughlin
Postal I n formation: The Beacon is Letter Policy: The Beacon
published weekly by the students of encourages letters to the editor.
Penn State Erie, The Behrend Letters should include the address,
College; First Floor, The J. Elmer phone number, semester standing and
Reed Union Building, Station Road, major of the writer. Writers can mail
Erie, PA 16563. The Beacon can be letters to behrcoll2@aol.com. Letters
reached by calling (814) 898-6488 must be received no later than 5 p.m.
or (814) 898-6019 (FAX). ISSN Tuesday for inclusion in that week's
1071-9288. issue.
could have resulted in a better
turnout of voters.
What tasks? SGA had that one in
the bag. As the SGA president
explained, there were a number of
things that could have been done but
weren't. These ideas included a mass
e-mail, papers in club mailboxes, and
notifications to teachers. Is this all
that had to be done? The voter
turnout might have been better had
these simple tasks been
implemented. SGA president
Andrea DiPlacido agrees. She says,
"even though the elections this year
had the same turnout as previous
ones, it probably would have been
better if it was more publicized."
Also, the president said that there
was a lack of manpower to run the
elections. She agrees that 3 hours in
front of Bruno's may not be enough,
but it was the best they could do.
Essentially, there were no volunteers.
We believe that increased voting
locations would encourage more
students to vote. True, Bruno's
during lunch hour is a high traffic
area, but come on guys, there were 4
members running one table. What
about the large number of students
involved in an engineering or science
program? We're willing to bet that
some of those students don't know
there's more to campus beyond the
Hammermill
Another interesting point to
ponder what if SGA had given
something out for free? Many
students showed up for free pizza last
semester, should they be bothered for
another 2 minutes to he asked to
vote? Come on students, where arc
you when the SGA needs a little
help?
Here's the bottom line. You
probably didn't vote. Why? SGA
didn't tell you. Why? There were a
few situations that arose that could
have been taken care of, but weren't.
So, if you're not getting involved
with your student government, your
student government has a hard time
helping you. A couple of big signs
would have been really nice though
guys.
EDITORIAL
Smoke 'em if you got 'em!
So what interesting things have
been happening around here lately?
Oh yeah, a big drug bust out in
Edinboro. So while we all get a good
laugh about how stupid those people
were to get caught, I thought I would
take some time and put this whole
thing into perspective.
Now I'm not naive, I know that
there are drugs on campus, hell, you
can show up for any class and play
"pick out the pothead," but does any
one ever really think ahout the con
sequences of what they are doing. I
doubt that those students at Edinboro
did, or maybe they would have re
thought things a little. Then again
they were Edinboro students, but hey
that's another story...
Is a quick high really worth ruin
ing the rest of your life. Who really
wants to go to jail for having one joint
on you? And if you happen to give
one to a friend, you get 'distribution'
added on to your possession charge.
That's a great two for one special.
That's what I want to have on my
This is Earth have we met?
I see your lips moving, but...
"You are an absolute idiot I can't
believe you wrote what you did last
week in your column!" "This school
sucks. Don't they listen to the
students?" "No one ever writes about
what students really care about." If
you are one of the people who have
said one of the above phrases before,
I have one little word for you:
boohoo.
Yes, that's correct, I don't give a
rat's ass what your particular
complaint is. Why? Not because I
am an insensitive, self-centered
person (though I can be). Not
because you are a blithering idiot
(though you often are). But because
you never say what it is you want to
say!
I can't begin to count the number
of times people have come down to
the Beacon office when myself or
some other poor, cornered editor is
sitting down here, full of righteous
indignation over the latest editorial in
the paper. We sit here, watching your
lips flap endlessly about the most
recent way we have offended you.
The
Living the
All right, so I'm that girl you see
in the halls with car keys jingling in
her purse and with luggage for books,
pens, pencils, a calculator, change of
clothes for work, money for food, and
a snowbrush for my parents' red van
that I drive to school every day. I'm
telling you, the commuter life isn't
as smooth as it gets sure, I get home
cooked meals every night, and my job
doesn't involve preparing food in
Bruno's, and I have a car at my fin
gertips whenever I say, but the com
muter life is much more than that.
Allow me to present the commuter
day, typical of the Weindorf house
hold:
I have a 9:30 class today, but I set
my alarm for 7:15 a.m. because my
dad needs the hot water by 8 a.m.,
and supposedly use all the hot water
in the twenty minutes it takes me to
shower (I don't, really!). So after I
grumble a few injustices about hav
ing to share the shower (hey, there's
little sisters all over the place I have
to grumble everything now), I walk
in the bathroom and find that the toi
let, is, well, backed up (I am not kid
ding.)
So I grumble a few more curses
FEBRUARY 11, 2000
01 0
resume when I try to get a job. Boy I
can hear that conversation now:
"I graduated from Behrend with a
degree in Engineering and a convic
tion for possession."
"Uhh....ok. Don't call us, we'll call
"Hey, at least I didn't get nailed for
distribution too!"
"I'm going to have to ask you to
leave now
"It was just one joint, it didn't hurt
anybody!"
"SECURITY!"
"Did I mention I was a member of
You then proceed to tell us how you
will be sending in your letter to the
editor for the next week's paper, and
that we had better watch out because
we will look like morons once you
are through with us.
And we wait. And we wait. And
we wait. And somehow, those letters
never seem to get past the tip of your
tongue
Now, I am pretty sure that some of
the things written in the editorial
section of our paper have upset some
people. I can list about a half-dozen
campus organizations that have
accosted one of the columnists over
From
Behrend life, Commuter style
about how my 12—year—old sister
can't take one second in unclogging
it, but luckily, I don't have to because
it soon clears. I then remember my
dog, who needs to be thrown in the
snow (she's a big baby when it comes
to going out) before I can jump in the
shower, shivering. It is now 7:25 a,m.,
another five minutes of hot water
shaved off my dad's shower.
So I kick the dog back in the house,
run upstairs, and jump in the shower,
and to my dismay the stupid drain in
the shower is clogged, too, and I
grumble more injustices.
Then I'm done with my shower,
jump out, smear some lotion on my
legs, and walk over to the sink in the
the Chinese checkers club?"
"God damn it! Where are those
damn security guys?"
These conversations normally end
up with you being thrown out on your
ass, with everyone in the office laugh
ing at you. Isn't that an encouraging
view for the future?
You might not even be able to get a
job ever with a drug conviction.
Pennsylvania will not give teaching
licenses to people who have a drug
conviction on their record. There goes
four years of education out the win
dow fora one-hour buzz. Sounds like
a great trade off to me! (can everyone
hear the sarcasm in my voice, if not
try putting down the bong for a sec
ond)
If you are going to throw your fu
ture away, I'm sure that you can find
a more creative way than that, but for
those of you who are a little slower
than the rest of us, here are some easy
instructions on how to throw your life
away for under $5.00:
Step 1 Get a hammer, a claw ham-
something they've expressed over the
course of the year. And I know that
there arc a lot of people out there who
have an opinion on just about
everything under the sun.
I also know there are a lot of people
in this school who are not only
capable of expressing those opinions,
but they can also do so loudly!
So why the silence'? We have had
a sparse amount of responses this
semester, and not that many more
back in the fall. Is anybody awake
out there? Is this thing on?! You have
the perfect opportunity to spout off
on just about anything, but you
haven't seized the day.
Maybe some people think if they
write a letter that disagrees with what
an editor has written that it won't get
published. If that is the case, let me
reassure you that we love letters to
the editor they prove that someone
reads these twelve or so pages that
we slave over every week. Although
we won't absolutely guarantee that
something will get printed, we almost
always do print letters . . . especially
next half of the bathroom to dry my
hair, and my six-yea old sister walks
in with a purple sweatsuit, and asks
me how I am doing. I say I'm doing
good, and she goes downstairs to wait
for mom to make her breakfast. I walk
back to my room to change and feel
perturbed at the sight of my room,
since I just cleaned the damn thing
two days ago and now it looks messy
again. More injustices mumbled.
I make my way downstairs, decid
ing to toast a bagel and peel a tanger
ine to eat on the way to school, and
my mom asks if I can take some vid
eos back to Wegman's since they
would be overdue today. I say fine
and fill up a bottle of water, carefully
avoiding my dog, my little sister, and
my dad, who just got up and turned
on the cold shower upstairs. (No in
justices mumbled from him, he's al
lowed to shout them 'in his house'!)
So I leave ten minutes early and
find that I have this to carry out to the
car: my bagel, tangerine, bottle of
water, keys, parking permit, coat,
gloves, purse, bookbag, and three
rental videos plus boots that I haven't
attempted to put on yet. Time: 8:37
am, an hour before my first class. I
mer if you have one.
Step 2 Set up a video camera to
tape yourself (trust me, this is impor
tant later).
Stand in front of camera
Step 3
with hammer.
Step 4 Hit self in head with ham
mer (claw side is optional).
Step 5 Repeat step 4 until you feel
brain damage set in.
Step 6 Send videotape to me so I
can have a good laugh
Step 7 Get job as frycook at
McDoanlds for rest of life.
See. now that wasn't so hard now
was it? (I was going to do a 12 step
program, but if your a stoner you'll
be lucky to make it past step 1, "Ham
mer? What's a hammer?")
I know that my instructions might
seem a little drastic, but it serves the
same purpose as smoking up, and it
gets the job done faster and cheaper.
There's always one more option that
seems to have worked well; try tell
ing the cops that you didn't inhale. It
worked once, maybe it will again.
when they disagree with us.
Please also keep in mind that a
letter to the editor doesn't have to he
a response to something that has
already been written. Prove that you
can think up an original thought and
send it in.
Another popular excuse for not
writing is that you don't have time.
You have the time to hitch us out for
30 minutes in the office, you have
time to complain to your friends 24/
7. But you don't have time to type
up a page? Come on. We both know
you can whip out a page in no time
flat we do it for class just about
every other day.
So, come on, I dare you Behrend.
Send something into us next week.
Imagine the hassle it will he for us
when we have so many letters to the
editor that we have to go to five pages
just for the editorial section. Hey, if
I can write an editorial about
editorials, anyone can come up with
something!
Hey, are you talking?
sigh and dump my luggage in the red
van and start to head out of the subdi
vision, sliding off the road and spin
ning my wheels to Wegman's. (Not
that I have anything against
Wegman's , since I work there, but
come on.)
I drop off the videos and slip and
slide my way to Behrend, avoiding
huge trucks and snowdrifts that de
cided to form in the middle of the
highway, spit out the seeds from my
tangerine while driving with one
hand, manage to find tracks on Exit 9
to get off the cursed highway, and I
mumble more injustices over the
blasting radio.
As soon as I make it to a parking
spot on the ice rink we call a parking
lot, I pull in the spot and belt out some
tunes by Celine Dion on the radio. I
get out of the car with my luggage and
you see me, wondering why I carry
so much crap to school instead of
leaving it in my room.
And I grumble more injustices,
ones you cannot hear, since my six
year old sister would repeat them if
I got out of my routine.
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