FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2000
What the truck is going on?
Well* it s back to the grind...deadlines on
top of deadlines, instructors assigning paper:
already, dishing out money for books, dishing
out money for a parking permit.. .HEY, wai
a minute...did I say for a parking permit?
Sorry, my mistake. What I really meant
was that I bought a permit that allows me
to search for parking spaces. I'm still
waiting for a parking spot - do I have
to sign up for one of those as well?-
Maybe that’s later or something. Or,
maybe I have to pay another 70 bucks for a
spot in addition to the previous 70, which
was to cover the cost of the fancy paper
permit. I’m sure it works something like that.
I was going to say that it must be a blessing
to be able to live on campus, but I guess some
of you guys this year were refused housing.
Ouch.
So what the truck is going on here? First
oft, I would like to welcome the freshmen to
Behrend. Not that you’re a population surge
or anything. It’s not like you guys consume
half of the parking spots on campus or
anything like that. I’ll stop there.
Now before you come running down to the
Beacon office requesting that I die a slow
and merciless death, let me just say that it’s
really not your fault, directly anyway. You
chose to come to Behrend because it
impressed you in some way. Maybe you
Send us a question for our weekly ‘hot
topic’ debate! Mail us at
behrco!l2@aol
We are (all)
Penn State
Coffee Talk
Kristin Rodger
/ As most students here on
/ campus realize, attending
p Behrend
campus means
achieving a Penn State degree
with the advantage of smaller class si/.es and more inter
action among students and faculty. I would consider this
situation to be of benefit to students who seek lifelong
friendships and the opportunity to excel in academics and
on-campus organizational involvement.
I believe Behrend students have every right to be proud
that they have chosen a university where so much op
portunity surrounds them. In fact, I think it would be
fair to say that most students here are very excited to be
a Nittany Lion!
In lieu of past attempts, some students on campus are
devoting much time and energy to raise our school spirit
level. After all, Behrend has many athletic events in
which student and staff attendance is very low. With the
coming opening of the Athletic and Recreational Center
(the ARC), many students will soon be in attendance
among those athletes who need our support. At such
events, like many other campus-sponsored events, the
words “WE ARE PENN STATE” are often heard.
Has anyone really ever reflected on what saying this
means to him or her? For many it means that they are a
part of an entire whole. Student leaders on campus are
encouraged to never allude to the fact that University Park
is the MAIN campus, but is it the most important part of
this whole?
Recently an athlete ran an idea across our own Provost
and Dean, Dr. John Lilley, to increase our school spirit.
Her idea was to spruce up the recently renovated mil
lion-dollar staircase, located in what could be called the
center of campus between Perry Hall, the Suites and
Dobbins Dining Hall.
The vision she has in mind requires many energetic
and artistic students to paint the windows with our own
Penn State logos, which are many. While sitting through
their discussion, Dr. Lilley seemed to be impressed but
stated one drawback. University Park has the exclusive
rights to one logo, and it cannot be used in any other
branch campus. This logo, as most of us have seen be
fore, is an oval with the outline of the Lion Head. This
particular logo was also included in a draft she’d made
because most students seem to prefer logo the best.
Most who were in attendance of this discussion were
very appalled that such a right could exist between cam
puses of the same University. Simply stating that
BRANCH campuses have no rights to our school’s logo
is ridiculous. It assumes that University Park is the MAIN
campus and every other campus is just a branch of that
main trunk. It cannot possibly make sense tor us not to
call Happy Valley the main campus anymore.
It makes students wonder if they.should even wear this
logo on a T-shirt, jacket or other apparel for fear that
maybe someone will explain to them that they have no
right as a Behrend campus student to show University
Park pride. What is even more interesting is that our
bookstore on campus sells many items with this logo,
and I’m sure any local sports store sells hats and jerseys
with the same print. As a proud student of Penn State
Erie, the Behrend College, this entire situation makes me
want to ask myself a different question, “Are we Penn
State?”
Chew on This..
Rob Wynne
A play a sport or become
part of a renowned
college newspaper
staff'. Or maybe the
location suited your interest the most. That
was one of my main reasons for choosing
Behrend, the accessibility of places on
campus.
But now, accessibility has become a major
issue. Last year I didn’t have to make 3 trips
around the lower parking lots to find a spot
in the back of Hammermill when my class
w as in the Academic building. Get this, there
were actually parking spots left over. The
lower Reed lot was never over three-quarters
full, and there was usually a ton of parking
over by Hammermill.
So now we’ve reached a boiling point.
We’ve overpopulated Behrend and there’s
nothing we can do, right?
Well, the student population has been on a
very steady increase over the last few years.
The superior qualities of our engineering
programs attract a good number of students
What time is it?
Welcome hack, students of Pen
Behrend. It is the beginning of a new:
year and jirst about the end of the
2000. Yet, many of us are walking arc
as if ue hatin’t taken note of th
Whether you are a freshmen, sophi
more, junior or senior, knowing vvhai
point in time it is will be essential to
your daily purpose. So I suggest you
do yourselves a big favor and check the time, and I’m
not talking about the one on a Rolex or Geneva either.
.Many of us still haven’t learned to tell this sort of time,
so I'm here to help you.
So then, what time is it, you ask? It is time to for
change. It is time to make progress and excel. It is time
to put all the crap to the side and accomplish your goals.
Most ol us have just advanced our way up the academic
ladder and the climbing is only getting harder. Others of
us hav e just moved from the moderate pace level of high
Send a
Domination and
Four years of hard work in high school and what did I
get? Domination. That’s right, I was stuck living in an
on-campus residence hall. I got a decent grade here, sent
in an application there, and I was sentenced for a really
long time.
Living in a dorm took some adjustment my first year.
1 was able to survive, but some things were easier to get
used to than others. All dorm-dwellers were given no
tices that we couldn't have a pet unless it was named
"Bubbles" meaning an animal of the fishy persuasion.
But before I could get too bummed out about not getting
to take my No. 1 companion to school Andy the Super
Dog I noticed the other being living in my room. It
had a key; put its stuff in one of the closets where I could
have been stuffing more shoes; and slept on the other
bed, where I could have been displaying my “Pepsi-cans
through-time” collection.
So, it was my first encounter with a roommate. I de
cided I could live with it (until, of course, it started to
pawn my stuff, at which point, I decided it would be
moving out). We got along pretty well, partly because
we were so careful about keeping our stuff on our own
sides of the room. But then there was the trashcan di
lemma.
The trash-can was my responsibility because it was
on my side of the room. The roommate tended to the
recycling bin. I was jealous of that recycling-bin-empty
ing duty because it only needed to be executed when all
of the planets of the solar system aligned or we could no
longer balance an additional pizza box on top. It was a
wanted to
letter to the editor! We dare
you! Mail all letters to
behrcoll2@aol.com
by Terence Nowlin
James Madison University
every year (although most of them drop out
of it and take up Art History). So, as any
responsible administration would be able to
predict a parking shortage, I am pleased to
announce that we have room for 20 more cars
this year to accommodate the few hundred
new freshman commuters.
But what’s important is that the baseball
fields are being refurbished, and our new
athletic complex will be opening up soon.
Okay, so we had baseball fields and a gym
that didn’t even fill all of its
seats.. .hmmm.. .something fishy is going on
here...
In essence, if you came to Behrend to play
a sport, you’ve got it made. You’ll have new
facilities at your disposal. However, if you
came to Behrend for an education, you must
first find yourself a parking spot. Hell, I’ll
just pack my swim trunks and read about the
ancient Roman baths while I indulge the new
Olympic size pool. How’s that for active
learning? Oh by the way, that wasn’t a “No
parking on the grass” sign that was sticking
out of the trunk of my car the other day.*
*Note to Police and Safety -just kidding on
the last line, guys.. .you’re doing a great job
guiding traffic.
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""'''''
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lot like playing large-scale Jenga.
I, on the other hand, was required by the pure ethics of
sanitation to empty the trash somewhat more often. I
sometimes tested the roommate’s persistence in tolerat
ing the trashcan. I laughed to myself as he tossed fruit
cores and soggy old pizza in the bag. “What will that
smell like when it ferments?” I wondered. The point ?
Simply to get him to dump the garbage before I did.
After many days of gagging and waiting on the de
mise of his nostrils of steel, it was I who pulled the
trashcan away from the heat vety and dumped it, steam
ing garbage juice and all. I think it was the leftover Chi
nese food that had basically grown legs and was capable
school and into the
'ociety rapid paced world of
ainp HfirHv college ’ a place where
Uj time is like bullets dur-
ing war, you can never
have enough. Thus
i will have to use this time efficiently. How
er, you cannot do so if you don’t know whal
time it currently is
It’s time to build. The new millennium is here. You
and I are builders of that glorious future you’ve always
had in your head. So grab your tools and start construct
ing. It’s time to rewrite the script. Things will and must
be done differently. We can’t go on looking at things in
the same way. We will make the world different, thus
we have to already see it differently.
It’s time to separate your purpose from everyone else's.
Does everyone have the same goals and dreams you do?
I bet they don’t. So keep your goals in mind, concen-
the politics of the dorm room
...it was 1 who pulled the
trashcan away from the heat
vent and dumped it, steaming
garbage juice and all I think
it was the leftover Chinese
food that had basically
grown legs and was capable
of scoring 1200 on the SAT
that did me in. Talk about
your wild rice.
‘The Hot Topic of The Week ’
Those boots were
made for walking...
So Hillary is still with Billy boy, eh? Well
good for her, she’s showing something her
husband obviously doesn't have. Integrity.
And the American public should be glad
that at least someone in the White House
has some morals and ethics. The First Lady
makes up the better half of a horribly Hawed
presidency. In all honesty, it would have
been easy for Hillary to leave her two
timing husband, but she stuck around more
for him than herself. And isn’t that a woman
all over? Instead of taking the easy way out
or whining about it, she knew what she had
to do and she accepted it with what little
pride Billy had left her with. It’s also easy
for some people to claim that she stuck
around purely due to the fact that ‘Hillary
needed her husband to make it where she is
today’. However, did everyone forget about
the fact that it is the new millennium, and
women can make it on their own without
the ‘help’ of a man? She didn’t need Bill in
the beginning, and she didn’t need him in
the end. She stayed because she was being
supportive of her husband. Remember how
he went on national television and spouted
off about how he “never had sexual rela
tions with that woman”? So if he can lie to
billions of Americans, he can certainly lie
and charm his way past his wife. So kudos
to Hill, New York would be lucky to have
her in the Senate.
V)'V Si: <•!
Let’s pose this simple question. “Where
would Hillary Clinton be today if she left
her husband 20 y ears ago?" I say 20 years
as opposed to two years ago, because it’s
obvious Bill didn't suddenly start his
unfaithfulness when he got his keys to the
Oval Office. I know it would be hard for
most to imagine Hillary as a sly, scheming
woman considering everything she has
supposedly done for women the last seven
years. So let's compromise and call her
intelligent. Intelligent enough to realize
that a political career for herself lie solely
in the political success of her husband. A
divorce would mean a middle class life in
the city of Little Rock. A publicly strong
marriage would mean an eight year stay in
the White House, and a lifetime of political
power in whatever state she so chooses.
So, why is Hillary still around? For her
political career. Not to be a strong, forgiv
ing wife that will stand by our president
with pride. But to grab Bill's hand when
the cameras are on, so we can all see her
continue to be dragged to the top of the
political world. It’s always been the motto
of Team Clinton...win at all costs and find
the closest camera to show the world your
strength. Even when your strength relies
solely on how far your husband can drag
you and how much the public believes you
irate on them and pursue them. Who else will? Cer
tainly, not your homeboy or homegirl, who wants to
skip classes and do nothing but “lollygag” all day.
Its time to shut-up-and-do. Too many of us have too
much to say and to little to do. I can’t emphasize this
enough. We have two ears, two eyes, tw'o legs and two
arms but only one mouth. There’s a reason for this. It
we aren’t listening or learning we should be doing more
building and constructing. Once you have finished your
job, then you’ll really have something to talk about.
It’s time to put things into perspective. Remember
how fast those high school years went by. These col
lege years may go by even faster. You want to make
the time go by as fast as you can. But, Penn State won’t
tell you this, for the longer you stay, the longer you pay.
Thus, as I have said before, use your time efficiently.
Your minutes are your bullets. Your college experi
ence is war. Don’t waste one shot.
of scoring 1200 on the SAT that did me in. Talk about
your wild rice.
Another adjustment to living away from home was the
type of foods I ate. Some days, I just didn't feel like waltz
ing across campus to pick up a snack. That's why I stocked
up on cookies, Little Debbie cakes, Moon Pies (there is
a difference), chips and beef jerky to fill out the basic
food groups.
Regardless of what my mama says, I truly believe this
to be a healthy diet. I tried to make it to Wal-Mart at least
once every two weeks to replenish my rations, but some
times it wasn't enough. After the last Orange Dream cake
was gone, 1 found myself licking Tang dust from the
countertop in my room in a desperate attempt to prove to
the world that 1 did not have to walk across campus to
survive
Because Mama wasn’t around to remind me of the state
of my room, that, too, got a little out of hand. Both the
roommate and 1 proudly announced to our visitors that
we never vacuumed. So, what advantage did not vacu
uming give us? Well, many individuals on campus accu
mulated Huffy little dust bunnies under their beds, but
we had fuzz-goats. That was good for me because 1 fi
nally got the pet I’d wanted all along. And it was espe
cially good because pets of the fuzz variety eat a lot less.
The bottom line: I ate well enough to maintain life,
the roommate never pawned any of my stuff, and I wasn’t
harmed by any fuzz-goats. Every once in a while, I even
got a chance to see Andy the Super Dog. The experience
helped me to decide that spending another year in
domination w'ould be all right. After all, emptying the
trash can’t be nearly as fun when you’re living in an apart
ment.