FRIDAY. NOVEMBER 3,2000
Better off
knowing?
Do you ever wonder how your life
would be different if you hadn’t made
certain decisions? Take the game of
love for example. What if you hadn’t
hooked up with your significant other?
You know the one you are so in love
with you just can’t imagine life without
them? Or what if you had never went
out with your jerk of an ex-boyfriend or
ex-girlfriend? And instead had chosen
to date someone else? Would your life
be significantly altered?
Wouldn’t it be great if we could
foretell the outcome of the messy game
of love before we even started playing?
Wouldn’t it be even better if we could
choose different outcomes of our love
lives and then pick the most desirable
one? Remember back in grade school
when the Choose Your Own Adventure
books were all the rage?
Remember how you could turn to
different pages for different endings?
Wouldn't it be nice if we could do that
with our own love lives? For instance,
one of your books might say turn to
page 100 if you want to stay with your
new boyfriend or to page 160 if you
want to start dating that cute guy from
your biology class. You eagerly flip to
page 160 because you just know that
you two are meant to be, but you are
surprised to find that he would start out
as a really nice and fun guy, but after a
month or so would turn into a lying,
cheating jerk.
So, then you decide you won’t even
waste your time. Feeling a little guilty,
you turn to page 100 and you discover
that your current sweetie really is the
one for you and that he really cares
about you and that you two will have a
long-lasting, fulfilling relationship. So,
then you decide to put your heart
completely into the relationship,
because you know it is worth it.
Now granted, if we could know the
outcome of our relationships before
they even began, we would lose the
anticipation and excitement of going out
with new people. We would also never
gain the experience and wisdom we get
from our bad relationships. But, we
would also be spared a lot of heartache,
pain, and confusion.
So, would our love lives be easier if
we were all the wiser beforehand?
Probably not, because even without our
own personal adventure books we still
go out with people that we know aren’t
good for us. Maybe they’re just not our
type or we have nothing in common
with them. We know all this before-
hand, but we still try anyhow. Things
may even string along for a few months,
but we know deep down it will never
last. Then a messy break up may
follow, and we wonder what if I had
never wasted my time in the first place?
So, what’s my point in all this? Well,
just to acknowledge that in the game of
love it’s impossible to answer the
inevitable “what if’ question. Al
though choosing the right person to be
with may not be as simple as turning to
another page in a book, we are all
responsible for completing our own
love adventure books. It will be diffi
cult at times, but joyous at others, and
all we can do is to keep searching for
the right page to turn to and hope for a
happy ending.
Zuck’s column appears every three weeks.
National Commentary
Know-It-All Vs. Mr. Consensus
Mr.
Knight-Ridder Tribune
Whether televised presidential debates are a
great idea remains an open question. But this
year’s trio of confrontations has furnished
some answers to questions often asked during
presidential campaigns.
What do Americans look for in their
candidates? If they seek someone who is well
versed in policy detail, and eager and able to
Point?
Zuck
n.
Tell us what you
Send a letter to
behrcoll2@aol.com
Crazy for the greens
Whoever said money makes the world go
round wasn’t kidding. When I see all this
money going (or in my case not going)
around it makes me really dizzy (not to
mention crazy). Money, Money, Money,
Money, Mapey...M.ONEY...can’t live with
it, can’t live without it. If I had: 4 nickel for
every time I said that...well, I’d be rich.
You can’t even think about doing some
thing or owning something until you have
the money to pay for it. Parents have been
noted to repeatedly say, “...and how
do you expect to pay for this..”, or, “...how
much is this going to set me back.” Again,
both phrases are money-related.
A college student is encouraged not to
work during the school year, so that they
can concentrate on their studies. On the
contrary, most students do work during their
college career to defray, if not completely
pay for their college tuition. You have to
figure that it’s kind of a half-a-horse apiece.
Student A works all through their college
years. He or she gets decent grades, gets a
Speak your mind!
Last week I decided to go to the library to
write an article about the fall concert, which
appeared in last week’s edition of the
Beacon. I quickly zoomed through the
library to find a table to work at, but I could
not find one that was open.
“Great,” I thought to myself, “now I am
going to have to squeeze myself into one of
those compact study cubicles.” But as luck
would have it, I passed by the small
conference rooms in the back of the library,
and found that many of them were empty.
I casually entered one of the rooms,
unpacked my book bag, and began to write
my article. While writing the article, I
noticed that a number of people were
walking by the room, looking in as they
passed. This didn’t bother me at first, but
after the same people kept walking back and
forth, I wondered what they were looking
Then I started hearing voices. The people
wouldn’t shut up! I angrily tapped my
pencil against the table and dismissed the
point out his opponent's deficiencies in debate,
they respond well to A 1 Gore. The vice
president is clearly conversant with policies
and statistics, and effortlessly rattles off the
virtues of, say, the Dingell-Norwood bill. If
voters prefer a candidate who expresses broad
philosophical principles, and extols consensus
instead of confrontation, they will probably
find George W. Bush appealing.
Of course, Ralph Nader’s and Patrick
Send all letters
think!
Editor!
decent job upon graduation, and is left with
little or no college loans to pay off. Student
B doesn't work at all during his or her
college career. He or she gets good grades,
gets a good job upon graduation, but the
salary from that “good job” will be just
enough to pay back his or her college loans
in like 5 years or so. I guess it’s just a
matter of how long you want to be stuck
paying for the education that got you that
job (not to mention that income), in the first
place.
Anyone that drives and is between the
Oh, You
a Didn’t Know?
JB! Karl Benacci
urge to scream “SHUTUP!” All of a sudden,
I heard a wliiny female voice screech, “he
stole our room.”
What did she say? ‘Take a deep breath
Karl, she didn’t mean that, she must be
slow.” How did I steal “their” room? Was
there anyone in the room when I got there?
No! Were there other uninhabited confer
ence rooms that they could have used? Yes!
Did they own the room? No!
Did they reserve the room? I don’t know,
I don’t even know if those rooms can be
Buchanan’s comments notwithstanding, there
are major differences between the two
candidates: on taxes, the role of government,
federal-state relations, affirmative action,
foreign policy and other issues.
But if history is any guide, the public uses
debates not so much to research differences of
opinion, most voters have at least a fuzzy idea
where candidates stand, but to illuminate
character and leadership qualities.
On that basis, these three debates have not
been helpful to A 1 Gore. In the first meeting,
his condescension and seeming bad manners
played poorly with voters. In the second
the
to:
Every week, two editors from the staff will debase a topic that is hot. Students, faculty and
staff are encouraged to email suggestions for the hot topic. Send ideas to
behrcoll2@aol.com
t Chat a § es anc * can re * ate t 0 t * l ' s stor y ;
1 Just the other day I got my monthly car
insurance rate that I have to pay to
•istine Kleck dnvemycar 1 d . on ' l r wlin ’ lo
give any nauseating figures out,
but my insurance per year is almost
1/JOth of what I pay (or will end up paying)
for my brand new car. So I questioned it.
I got this lady on the phone and ques
tioned my increase (last month my
yearly insurance rate was about 1/13 of
what my new car is worth). After a lot of
figuring and reading she finally came to the
conclusion that my accident-free discount
was removed from my yearly rate because
of an accident that I was in almost 14
months ago. Now keep in mind that the
accident was not my fault, and my old car
was totaled, and the other guy’s car wasn’t.
I proceeded to ask why it had taken over
14 months for this removal to go into effect.
Thinking that I was questioning her
intelligence, she rudely responded with
“ well, 1 could send you the bill for the
reserved. But let’s pretend that they did
reserve the room, and I, unknowingly, was
using it during their “time.” Watching
me through the window in the door
will not get the point across. I
, had no idea what the people
were doing. For all I know, they
liked my haircut and wanted to peek in
the window to get a closer look.
1 would have gladly left the room (if they
had reserved it) if one of the members of the
“pissy gang” had calmly explained to me
that they had the room reserved.
This incident teaches a valuable lesson,
which is, we need to communicate with one
another. Human beings are not (for the most
part) mind readers. I believe that the
importance of communication goes far
beyond my example.
Communicating is not only a good thing
to do, but it is essential! Every time some
one retains their feelings (whether they are
feelings of love, anger, sadness, etc.), they
are being untrue to themselves and are
debate, he was extravagantly subdued, as if
coached by his advisers to disguise his
personality. On Tuesday night, in St. Louis,
the old A 1 Gore was back: focused, argumen
tative, in command of his material, and also
determined to polish a deskload of apples for
various voting groups.
George W. Bush offered a contrast. The vice
president sought repeatedly to goad the
governor into argument, but Mr. Bush was
determined to avoid rhetorical traps. He
preferred, instead, to emphasize his record as a
bipartisan leader of a huge state, and the
importance of restoring common purpose in
‘The Hot Debate of The Week’
My guy rules! Yeah he does!
Who should you vote for in this election?
It’s a matter of trust. It’s what we fought
for hundreds of years ago. It's an American
tradition since the beginning of our time
George W. Bush is finally reinforcing it
This election isn’t so much about who will
spend more on certain things. It’s not about
who is more up to par on the issues. It’s
Jprusia'nct uisy ,
ftl’eii* then
don’t vote for Bush. Bush is for something a
little different. He’s for trusting the
American people to take our own money and
budget it in a way that benefits us now and in
our future. It’s time that the American
people take back our right to make a living
for ourselves, and to secure our future the
way we see fit. I don’t want A 1 Gore taking
my money, taxing me more than I am now,
and spending my money on his trillion-dollar
“lockbox” that holds my hard-earned money.
Bush will unlock that lockbox, and unlock
that lost idea of trust in American politics.
A person who knows all the answers and
knows what every situation calls for lacks
one important quality. Open-mindedness.
People say Bush is dumb? If dumb means a
flubbed up syllable, then we are all dumb
I guess everyone except A 1 Gore who is too
smart for our good. We need someone who
doesn’t have all the answers...who won’t
dose his eyes to other people’s ideas. Bush
wants to unify Americans politics and bring
together Democrats and Republicans to make
decisions for the betterment of this country.
Gore might think he has all the answers,
but Bush and American history have shown
us that it takes more than one overeducated
politician to save our country.
To put it quite simply, do we really think
that Bush is the best man for the job? Does lie
seem like the type of person that we the people
should entrust with control of the United
States of America, arguably the most powerful
nation in the world? Remember what
happened when we made Jackson president? I
don’t eitheiv.but I’m told it wasn’t pretty.
That’s not saying that Gore is the best man
in thaU.S. either, but if the only feasible
choices we have arc Gore or Bush (and be
honest, they are), then Gore should get your
vote hands down. He is obviously more
knowledgeable than Bush. Forget the whole
Bush is stupid thing. Even if we give Dubya
the benefit of the doubt and assume his brain
isn’t clogged with malted hops and bong resin,
can we realistically assume that his general
knowledge on a wide variety of subjects can
even begin to compare with Gore’s? 1 dare
you to say otherwise.
Then let’s look at the issues. There are
some basic ideals that Gore believes in that
should get any college student's vote in a
second. One issue that should be on the
forefront is the environment. Environmental
problems are going to greatly affect our
generation, and Bush's record speaks very
poorly on this stance. Another issue is
education. Something about Bush's idea of a
voucher program really bothers me. Yeah,
he’d give parents a choice, but how would
public schools ever recover funding to
improve once their money was gone? And
finally, I don’t know if the lock box idea will
really work, but 1 sure don’t want to have the
responsibility of investing the money myself!
That’s one area 1 will gladly let the
government handle.
So, read my lips: “NO NEW TEXANS!
difference from the last 14 months
At that point I had to hit the mute button
on the phone so that she wouldn't hear me
say, “...you shouldn’t make insurance
customers mad, especially ones like me...we
are the best business that you could ever
have...l’m the reason behind your Christmas
bonus...l’m a nineteen year-old driver with
a record of 3 non-fault accidents in the past
three years and I drive a NEW car." At that
point, I almost gave her the "Geico” speech,
(you know, “I’m going to call to see if I
could get a better rate", but I figured that I
was too mature to stoop to her level.)
Yes, folks, this is what it all boils down
to. This is what we all strive for, but never
have enough of. This is what people spend
so much of to hopefully make more of, this
is MONEY. Dead presidents, green paper,
shiny circles, we just can’t get enough, even
if we have to go crazy in the process.
Kleck’s column appears every three
denying their individuality.
If you have warm feelings for someone
let them know; if someone is being an
unfair jerk, let them know what's up!
Holding your feelings in will not get your
point across, and if you don’t get your point
across, how do you expect for people to
know what you are feeling?
Now don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying
that an individual should say EVERY-
THING that’s on their mind, but I am
saying that an individual should voice
things that they feel strongly about.
Voicing what you feel is not only healthy,
but it also makes you feel a heck of a lot
better. I’m sure that many of you have told
somebody off. Isn’t it great? It feels good
for a reason; you’re letting your feelings be
heard. So the next time you feel strongly
about something, let it out, and remember,
always be yourself.
Benacci’s column appears every three
weeks
Washington. Where the vice president was
disdainful, the governor was conciliatory;
when A 1 Gore addressed his opponent directly.
George W. Bush answered to his audience.
Both candidates “did what they had to do,"
as they say; but Governor Bush probably did
himself more good. Vice President Gore did
an excellent job of comparing and contrasting
himself with Governor Bush. But by empha
sizing tone, temperament, character and
general philosophy, George W. Bush probably
came across as the more attractive figure of
these two very able men. Of course, we will
have to wait for Nov. 7 to know for sure.