MARCH 24 2000 THE BEHREND BEACON PAGE 7 EDITORIAL Being ridiculous about profanity Dear Editor, After reading the "School spon sored profanity letter" in the March 17th edition of the Beacon, I felt a let ter to the editor was necessary. It is hard to believe that Daniel Barnard felt that it was of importance to write a letter to the Beacon about a stupid mistake. I totally agree that having a basketball warm up tape with any type of vulgarity is inappropriate, but to bring it to that type of exposure was nothing less than being ridiculous. The basketball player responsible for the tape recognized his mistake and wasn't going to use the tape again re gardless of any complaints or letters, so there was no reason to blow some thing out of proportion like Mr. Barnard chose to do. My biggest com plaint about his letter was when he sent it to the basketball player. It was after the AMCC tournament and right be fore the NCAA game that was played at Behrend. If Mr. Barnard is so into making a good impression like he said in his letter, then maybe he should have used more common sense than to bring something with such a nega tive impact into one of the most memorable times at Behrend. So in stead of one of the players worrying about the biggest game of his life, he's faced with a letter threatening to ex pose his mistake for everyone to read in the Beacon. Nothing like causing tension between a coach, the athletic director, the dean, and a basketball player the week of the school's big gest game ever, huh Mr. Barnard? Well, things luckily were taken care of properly because that is the type of person the basketball player is. He Thanks for the memories Behrend Dear Editor, On March 11th I stood in a locker room at Cortland State trying to con sole a group of young men who had just completed an incredible basket ball season. Like most teams our sea son ended with a defeat and it was a difficult moment. Emphasis was put on the journey not so much the end result. Looking outside the group was something that was also discussed. We had much help along the way and many people to thank who made this year one to remember. So that is what I am going to try to attempt here. I would like to thank Brian Streeter whose tireless work in organizing every detail helped create an exciting atmosphere each night for the games. People would be amazed at the amount of work it takes, Brian and his staff (set up crew, ticket takers, time keeper- Joe Henderson, SID- Paul Benim and his scat crew, conces- sions, entertainment and mainte nance) make it look easy from the be ginning of the season to the very end. The Cheerleaders, Dance team and Band helped bring a fun environment that made Erie Hall a great home court advantage. I can't think of a place we play that has the same feel. It was the people inside Erie Hall that made it Campus should be safe place for pedestrians The Echo University of Central Arkansas Be careful the next time you drive on campus. UAPD may be watching. This month, UAPD started a cam paign to crack down on speeding, seat-belt violations, cr9sswalk viola tions and other traffic offenses on campus. In four hours, they made more than 50 stops and issued 17 ci tations. This effort comes after two recent incidents in which people were hit by cars in crosswalks and a recent inci dent in Fayetteville in which a woman died when she was hit by a car while running. This kind of effort is good for the messed up, took responsibility, and moved on. Reading Mr. Barnard's article made me laugh when I noticed that there was a much larger article right next to it telling how the entire Behrend Men's Basketball team had showed tremendous pride and repre sented our school so well. Not to men tion another article saying the same thing on the page right next to these articles. Oh yeah, I forgot about the front page and back pages of the very same Beacon that was telling how the team represented Behrend so well while making school history. That makes four articles going on and on about how the team had brought spirit, en thusiasm, and a sense of pride to all the students and community. Right in the middle of these was Mr. Barnard's article about a hit song by Limp Bizkit that was inappropriate, and how one player should be penalized. The same player that helped the basketball pro gram gain the respect, positive expo sure, and bring something to Behrend that has never been here before to such a degree. As Mr. Barnard said, "it cer tainly does not project a standard of excellence for our institution." No, it didn't but neither did Mr. Barnard when he rained on the players' and school's parade on their march to mak ing school history. Next time if you chose to deal with an issue by expos ing it like you did, you may want to go about doing it a different way or risk sounding ridiculous again. K. Ebner Behrend Student so special. My hope is that we can carry the excitement to the ARC next year. The Behrend Beacon covered our athletes with great energy. The expo sure was a big help in creating inter est on campus. Matt Buser was always working hard to get game stories and results to print. Behrend pride was everywhere during the year. We owe much thanks to the paper. Finally I would like to thank the fans. We won't forget the moments with administrators, faculty, staff, par ents and friends. Last but not least our students the crowd energized the team all year, particularly in the post season. I don't know if we would have made it past Alvernia if it was not for the terrific support. It is an honor and a privilege to wear a Behrend uniform our players un derstand that from day one. The stu dents and all of the groups mentioned above deserve our best, be assured that we will continue to try and do that. Sincerely, Dave Niland Head Basketball Coach National Commentar university, because this is a largely pe destrian campus and students need to be able tb get where they need to go without being run over. 'Knowing the police are watching people and giving citations to people who don't stop for people crossing the street gives us all a little more feeling of security. It's often hard to trust people to stop at crosswalks, especially at night, but maybe if people know that the police are cracking down, they will be more careful and more conscientious of walkers. A lot of the stops made by the po lice during this operation seem minor. A few people speeding, not wearing seat belts, not stopping at crosswalks iustice for the lobby-goers Dear Editor, I am very disturbed about an event that took place on campus this week. It all began when a group of minori ties were in the lobby of Niagara watching a Christian tape. We were all there enjoying the video, when someone interrupted us. The person was not even in their home; she was coming in off the street! As soon as she looked around, she just told us to turn the TV down. It wasn't even quiet hours and the TV is about 51 inches, so of course it's not going to sound like a 13 inch TV, and she told us to turn it down. Out of respect we did it, but I don't feel that just because you want to put your baby to sleep early one night, the whole building should have to suffer! This is a college campus, and yes there are quiet hours, but certain lev els of noise should be expected! So a funny part came in the video, and we all laughed. Then she came out with an attitude holding her baby in her arms calling us high school students, as well as cursing, saying that we have no respect. Then one of the students that were there brought up a good point. They said how are you going to tell us that we have no respect for people when you don't even have re- So much unprofessionalism at the Beacon Dear Editor, Being a former staff writer last se mester for the Beacon and after read ing the majority of the issues this spring, I can no longer refrain from voicing my opinion about the qual ity of your weekly publication. In high school, I spent four years working on our award-winning newspaper and through that experience, I found a passion and talent for journalism that I will always have and miss being part of today. However, I decided not to rejoin the Beacon staff for this spring semester because I did not want to be responsible for producing such an un professional, immoral and unpolished student newspaper. I completely believe in the First Amendment's right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press, but in my opinion, the Beacon lacks their own set of professional standards for their articles. It was Mike Frawley's editorial "Another Election Down the Tubes" in the March 17th issue that put me over the edge. (Now, I know in the past, Mr. Frawley has been highly criticized for his negative opin ions about campus organazations and other matters, but I couldn't care less what opinion he chooses to take. As long as one can solidly support an opinion, there is no reason to fuss. After all, it is just one person's view point.) However, it is not the topic of Mr. Frawley's article that disturbs me, it is the constant use of profanity throughout his writing. There was ab solutely no need to use eight "swear" words and numerous insults to further emphasize his point. Even though the Beacon is a col lege newspaper, I would think that the and not using their turn signals may not seem like a very big deal, but these are laws that people should know they can be stopped for violating. Some times it's the stops for minor traffic violations that scare people straight and make them start obeying those laws a little more. It's a reality that most people speed, and a lot of people don't stop a cross walks every single time there is a per son waiting. But incidents like these, where people have been injured or killed, should make us all think a little more about how we drive on campus, and how we walk, as well. It's also a reality that not everyone stops to see if the cars are going to stop before they step into the street. spect for yourself or daughter, curs ing in front her. She didn't even say a word. All she did was get even more upset, and she went to the television and yanked out the VCR cord. She is lucky that the VCR is working be cause if it was not she would be pay- ing for it. People shouldn't touch what doesn't belong to them and just be cause you are the wife of a RA coor dinator, that does not give you the right to do what you please by touch ing other's property. We all know that there is a bias in this situation, seeing that she is an authority figure's spouse. We know that there will be no justice in this situation, so the only thing we could do is let the whole campus become aware of what is go ing on. I have witnessed many other culture groups in the lobby late at night. Past quiet hours doing their thing, and no one says a word. Why all of a sudden do you want to start speaking out? Can "we - get together on a positive note without people try ing to bring us down? S.Brown Behrend Student staff would like to illustrate a bit of professionalism in their work. Frankly, I was embarassed to be part of this publication for that exact rea son. I could not believe that a column appeared called "Bitchin' By Mike." What exactly are you trying to accom plish with such immature, unneces sary words? Is it the intention of the Beacon to continuously remind its readers that it is just a student news paper? That is exactly what it does when articles are printed of such poor quality. I know the Beacon has vastly im proved from last year, but it obviously has a long way to go to reach techni cal perfection. Yet, in order for the Beacon to achieve a respectable sta tus among Behrend students and its faculty, I highly suggest you start from square one and contemplate the rea sons your staff and editors spend long hours producing a weekly newspaper. After that, I sincerely hope that your work will reflect that motivation. As of now, the Beacon portrays careless efforts to achieve a top quality news paper. Jennifer Primerano COMM 02 P.S. Isn't it ironic how a box appeared in the March 17th issue under the Letters to the Editor section encour aging writers to refrain from profan ity in their letters? Well, Mr. Editor, I think it is time the writing in the Bea con obeys their own message! Some of the injuries to people in crosswalks occur because the pedes trian walked out from between parked cars and may not have been easy to see. These stories provide lessons for everyone. We all have to share this campus, and because most of us are at times a pedestrian and a driver, we need to remember to think about other people and that they might not always be paying attention to what we are doing. People often get distracted while driving, but they shouldn't al low themselves to forget they are driv ing a potentially deadly machine. National Commentary Journey of a Lifetime: The Peace Corps by Alberto Ibarguen Knight-Ridder Tribune It was the middle 19605, and most of us still had John F. Kennedy's call to service freshly ringing in our ears, pulling us into the Peace Corps. Many of the male volunteers felt, too, the push of the military draft and Viet nam War. Some just wanted some thing different. My group gathered in Tucson, Ariz., at the university for our first brush with bureaucracy. A dentist, re tired from the Bureau of Indian Af fairs, was our training director. He had never been to Venezuela, believed dentistry south of the border was risky business and insisted on pulling all tour of my wisdom teeth. We were poked and prodded, vac cinated against virtually everything (except malaria, which I managed to contract after a year in the Amazon), met weekly with a psychologist and in small groups with a psychiatrist. We studied Spanish, talked with returned Peace Corps volunteers who had served in Venezuela and trained to help start savings-and-loan coop eratives under the guidance of the Arizona Credit Union League, none of whose teachers had ever been to Venezuela, either. My wonderment at how large bu reaucracies worked only increased when we got to Caracas. I had been told to bring extra suits because, since I spoke Spanish, my assignment was to be the liason between the Ministry of Development and the Peace Corps' head office in the capital. Just days after arrival, I saw my name on a list that said Puerto Ayacucho. It was the capital, all right. The capital of the Amazon Territory. "Amazonas? But, that's jungle; they can't send me there!" said this boy raised in South Orange, N.J., with the B.A. in modern European history from Wesleyan University. Of course, they did, and I am forever grateful. Eloy Avendano was the governor, and he decided to send me up-river with a guide to evaluate the program developed by the ministry in Caracas. We traveled by speedboats and dug out canoes, and 1 returned 1 1/2 months later to agree that the minis try plan just wouldn't work. Chiquichique is a fiber that grows on certain palm trees. It is strong and durable in water and used for brooms, brushes and snow-cleaning equip ment in Europe. Venezuela was los ing market to Brazil because Venezu elan fiber, shipped in 30 to 50 kilo gram conical bundles, arrived full of stones and wet, rotted fiber, heavy and unusable. The Caracas ministry wanted to organize the river merchants into a cooperative to improve the quality. But what Avendano and his develop ment director, Manuel Henriquez, knew ... and I would find out ... was that the river merchants were the problem. When they weighed the bundles, they'd cheat the worker; if a bundle weighed 40 kilos, they'd jot down 30, and when adding up the list skip a few. The workers, who couldn't read but were not stupid, would cheat right back, stuffing their bundles full of stones and heavy, wet fiber. Every one lost because Europe turned to a better source of quality fiber. With the governor's blessing, Henriquez and I went throughout the Km ) :. i,, an • • 4 SPXlnelt i llingp on about • ~.L.,..., • .., us! aim Tell send ii to the • ....;ts 1:,—,4?..,,,,...0:5 ...../.. •:„.. ' '., -' %‘' ' s t ' , 1 , t ecrdorio ..,1,., ..., ~ so x ....„....s , , „fi t.' x. 4,..,, , w • 21 , iY","4141S ‘i , : % -, 3':: rsqt b ....,,„„....., i „ 1 14,c0. m territory, village to village, accessible only by water. In that magical place with names such as Orinoco, Atabaixi, Caciquiare, Rio Negro, our groups were normally weeks away from Puerto Ayacucho, itself accessible only by Aeropostal's DC-3, which re liably flew in three times per week. I was a "co-op extentionist," an or ganizer. I went from village to village figuring out that the co-op first had to make the workers believe that they would be fairly paid and had an inter est in the enterprise. We stopped ac cepting bundles; loose fiber couldn't be stuffed. Quality, therefore, was guaranteed. We introduced cash instead of bar ter, and folks started walking away from their deliveries with armfuls of goods ... radios, batteries and shirts to coffee, salt and sugar ... bought in the co-op store with their newly earned 700 bolivares per ton. Within nine months, we had more demand than we could supply, and the groups were beginning to run themselves. There were times when I spent weeks at the bow of my 13-meter dug out, exchanging only a few words with the motorman/guide at the end of a hot day of counting the number of gnat bites on the hack of my hands as we slowly traveled the jungle riv ers. I ate all manner of game, some insects and learned to feel nature's power. My friend Humbert() Carreno, a schoolteacher, would kid me about growing one of the world's biggest mustaches, just so I would look old enough to work with people such as Manuel Henriquez, 20 years my se nior. I was proud to be godfather to Manuel and Ligia's 13th child, Jairo. It was a man's responsibility, and I grew into it. When the URD left the government coalition, the governor was immediately replaced. The new governor from a different party took over the co-op, distributed its assets to political friends and in months dis assembled what we had spent 1 1/2 years building. It was another part of the extraordinary lesson. Nothing in my background pre pared me to go to the jungle to orga nize a successful business or for the sudden, politically motivated failure of the enterprise. But I learned to be lieve there. I learned to believe that with good, common-sense plans, things that others can't even see are possible. I learned the power of treat ing people fairly and with respect. I learned the negative power of greed and partisan politics. I also learned to love Venezuela and Venezuelans. I learned about the Lib erator, Simon Bolivar, and his living influence to this day. I was taken in by Venezuela as if I were one with it, and I have never stopped feeling a special warmth for it. Tens of thousands of other young Americans had experiences like mine. We now are businesspeople, teachers, senators, newspaper publishers. We are in positions to tell others about the wonderful places and wonderful -- and not so wonderful -- people we met when we lived modestly overseas. And we are in positions to apply those lessons The Peace Corps was an inspired concept. It has ennobled participants and enriched our country. Thank you, Mr. Kennedy. And thank you, Venezu ela, yet one more time.
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