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
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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.