> i >i . U i i FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 16,2001 It’s the little things J What’s My Point? Kim Zuck Well, I hope everyone had a “love”ly Valentine’s Day and that everyone got everything their hearts desired. Maybe some of you had a romantic evening with your boyfriend or girlfriend, and you two exchanged tokens of love with one another. Maybe some of you let it pass by as just another day because you really don’t have time or any interest in all that romantic mumbo jumbo. But, for those of you who enjoy the holiday, girls, I hope your Valentine got you all the chocolate covered strawberries, stuffed animals, flowers, candy and anything else that you were hoping for. Guys, I hope your Valentine got you everything that you wanted, whatever that may be. 1 know that some of you guys and maybe some girls may despise Valentine’s Day and think of it as just another holiday for marketers to get rich by selling expen sive cards and overpriced chocolate and flowers to unsuspecting suckers. 1 will admit Valentine’s Day is certainly a time in our society when guys are almost forced to buy gifts for their significant others because if they don’t, they will certainly hear about it until next February 14th. Now, some guys may wonder, why is Valentine’s Day such a big deal? I think because it is the one time of the year that we girls can make you be romantic. However, it doesn’t have to be like that because I’m going to let you in on two things that women really love, which you can do all year long. Please don’t turn the page yet! I promise these tips are painless and cost effective. Tip #l-Women love flowers! I cannot stress this enough, even though I know you may think they are a waste of money and that they’re just going to die in a couple of days, anyhow. Well, this is far different from the way that girls see flowers. We see them as a symbol of your love, which make your love concrete. I know this sounds cheesy, but it’s true, just read one of John Gray’s books, the author of “Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus”, and he’ll tell you the same. I’m telling you that one bouquet of flowers can go a long, long way and will make your girlfriend happy and she’ll appreciate your thoughtfulness. But, remember that you don’t have to buy flowers just on Valentine’s Day or on special occasions because sometimes for “no reason at all” given on a normal day is even sweeter (and a heck of a lot cheaper!) Tip #2-Women love surprises! This is such an easy tip to follow and will make your girlfriend feel special and appreciated. There are so many little things that you can do to make your girlfriend turn to mush. For example, when you two are hanging out in her room and she leaves the room for a minute, grab a piece of paper and a pen and write a short, sweet note about how you feel about her. Remember, it doesn’t have to be very creative or even original, it’s the gesture that counts. Then, hide it some where, so she can find it later after you’ve left. I guarantee your phone will be ringing shortly thereafter with your girlfriend gushing about how sweet you are. Girls also love to receive cards that express your love for her. Pick one out at the store that you feel is appropriate and rather than just handing it to her, you coufd mail it. A sweet card would really brighten her day while she is sorting through the usual heaps of junk mail and bills. You could also call your girlfriend just to say, “1 love you” or leave a sweet message on her answering machine. These gestures are more simple ways to let your girlfriend know that you are thinking about her. So, what’s my point in all this? Well, just to let guys know that girls are not that hard to please, and it’s the little things that count. Please don’t get too comfortable in your relationship and assume that your girlfriend knows how much you love her. Take a few minutes out of your week to do something that your girlfriend will appreciate. How ever, if you are a jerk ninety nine percent of the time, then these tips probably will not be very effective. But, if you are a nice guy, they are almost guaranteed to make your girlfriend not so obsessive about Valentine s Day because she will be certain that you love and appreciate her all year long. Then, you might not feel obligated to run up your charge card by having to drop $5O bucks on a dozen roses, $l5 on chocolate covered strawberries, $5O on dinner, and $5 on a card all in one evening. So, I would bet $l2O that it’s in your best interest to be a sweetie all year long! Zuck’s column appears every three weeks jaetfTiSTS W THeY'u Move fXoM ANIMAL. To Human* O-CMiMG- ( SAY /)| rAKfc\ . / \A/AsM^^^ n I yW CLON&P, I jvsr zkactly \ wHAt c? 0 Yo<y T @[f Tell us what_you think! Send a letter to the Editor! Send all letters to: behrcoll2@aol.com At one with your inner child With the red paper cupids packed away, and your last few conversation hearts stuck to the bottom of the box, you come to the sad realization that Valentine’s Day is over. Not that it really makes that much of a difference, I mean we’re in college here. There aren’t any more classroom parties, days off of school, semi-formal mixers, and little cardboard cut outs of your favorite cartoon characters saying things like, “BEEE mine, Valentine.” This is the “real adult world” here, and what does the “real Some common weight room characters At first I thought it was going to be necessary to write another response to the WWT, but their comeback was fair to me and showed their real talent for writing (I hope this one is grammatically correct too!!). Anyway, this frees up my hands for another topic. So if a member comes up to you, asking if you would read the article to them, just reply that it is on another topic irrelevant to the WWT. I currently spend about 10-12 hours in the weight room during a typical week, which means I see a lot of what goes on in there and who is doing it. I have compiled a list (sorry Ben) that describes the common types of people that you will most likely notice during your workout. These people can be found in the Behrend weight room along with most other gyms and fitness centers. Fighting over something with your friends? Want to see it debated in the newspaper? Send us your idea 9 and we wilt debate it in our EDITORIAL A \kU} adult world” tell us...that love isn’t f (JflClt exactly the only thing in the air around Valentine’s Day. Let’s b e gi n by looking at this istine ck Wednesday night; your date came down with the “flu” at the last minute; you’ve had a nagging cough for the last week; and you failed a killer exam that day, probably didn’t help matters out. Instead, this year’s Valentine’s Day was full of stress, ever-changing weather patterns, and over-priced and over-played jewelry commercials. So what does this all mean, besides the fact that we’re all adults now? Did you ever stop and think about it? It really makes you wonder. At what point did we go from the carefree, giggling, toothless innocent “little” people of yesterday, to the stressed, over worked “big” people of today. I mean yeah there’s that whole puberty/ adolescent period of endless tragedy time in a person’s life that science has regarded as Sloth - This guy really believes he is a large muscular body builder, despite a bodyfat of Mean Gravy J waist. He will commonly ed Matola grunt and groan during his " ~ ' lifts, totally unaware of how ■ < :i i su< u ! iis * f 1 stupid he looks and sounds. His form is as sloppy as possible, with momentum and a spotter doing most of the work. He will then proceed to throw down the weight after a set and walk around with his arms flared out at his sides (guys often do this to look big; it’s called invisible lat syndrome). Old Man Woody - Common to most gyms worldwide. During the workout he is a typical old man that works out with no problems, no fuss, so what’s the big deal? Well behind the scenes (in the locker room) he is totally set and determined to carry on a full-blown conversation in the total nude with anyone that happens to be within talking range. He loves to stand around naked the entire time, and will even come right in front of you, with his hand on your shoulder as he is talking and toweling off his genitals. The Bench Crew - These guys know one exercise. Flat bench press. This is common at the YMCA and other places where high school boys go to train. The group of three or four will gather around a bench and 'd Potatoes *Hot Debate 99 of the t veeU discussion! behrcoU2@aoi.com situation from your personal adult point of view. The fact that this so called day of “love” was on a ‘The Hot Debate of The Week’ Knock knock h n ■ \ i- Is it so bad that people here on campus are concerned with our safety? Kudos to Residence Life for taking the initiative to keep us protected. Obviously if some of us are getting ‘Gotcha’ tags on our doors, then we need some supervision. People seem to get a false sense of securi; his campu been a mean university’s dcm -p and the name of Behrend clean. You can pick your favorite scenario out of the following two. Would you rather have Residence Life reminding you every now and then to lock your door, or would you rather have some drunken guy/girl stumbling into your room in the middle of the night and taking advantage of you (and yes, that has happened here on campus)? I know that I wouldn’t mind the ‘jiggling doorknobs’ over Breaking and Entering or Attempted Rape. It’s not that hard to lock your door, and it’s just the plain old smart thing to do, especially if you are in the shower or you are alone in your room. You don’t know everyone that lives on campus, you don’t know how people are, and let’s face it, people let strangers into dorms here on campus all the time! We should be praising whoever takes the time to make sure that we are ‘all tucked in for the night,’ not getting angry with them. Every week, two editors from the staff will debate a topic that is hot. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to email suggestions for the hot topic. Send ideas to behrcoll2@aol.com the youth’s official entrance to adulthood...but who’s to say that before the actual time of puberty, adulthood hadn't began settling in, or that after our own adolescent era, we still didn’t possess some of the elements of a child? I’ll never forget the famous last words of one of my high school teachers; “It’s OK to be child like, just as long as you don’t confuse it with being childish.” It’s hard to believe that only yesterday, we were all wishing that we were grown ups.. .’’because they have all the fun.” Don’t you remember thinking that having the option to not eat your vegetables, and not having a specified bedtime, was like the greatest thing in the world? You and I certainly aren’t the only ones. Did you ever see that poster... ’’Every thing that I ever needed to know, I learned in Kindergarten.” Whoever said that knew what they were talking about. I mean of course both the period of childhood and the period of adulthood have their ups and downs, and everyone must go through one to get to the other, but there are certain elements of both that are really important occupy it for the next 45 minutes. You want to work in? Forget that, their common response is “We just gotta few more sets yo.” As with sloth, the spotters end up getting a good back workout constantly picking the weight off their friends. Wifebeater guys - This can be a single guy, or a group of friends. They know that if they wore an actual loose fitting T-shirt, they would look like they never touched a weight in their life (which is true, regard less of what they wear). The wifebeater (Hanes A-shirt) enables them to display their 13-inch pipes, which often make the arms of a 115-pound girl look like Schwarzenegger’s. Regardless, this is the only way they can let the women know that they do in fact workout. Since they have no results to show for it, it’s necessary to show as much skin as possible. “Try it this way” experts - This guy is often only avoided by wearing headphones so he can’t talk to you. In the middle or right after one of your sets, he feels the need to come over and dispense some free advice that he picked up from the latest issue of Men’s Fitness. Never mind the fact that I’ve got 70 pounds of muscle on him, or that I honestly know what I’m doing, he will walk over to tell me how it should be done. “You want to lower it for an eight count, hold for three seconds, raise it halfway, pause for five seconds, blah blah -V'lr* !Jj e i/c !. 'li : | never in’t in the all safe Who’s there? £ ; V Ofi’ liH Here on campus we have an elite group of doorknob checkers that insist on stopping at each dorm room in the middle of the night just to see whether or not students are locking their doors. Apparently they then leave a note on the door saying “gotcha, you left your door unlocked.” Now you’re probably thii||ing»£U4jis&Si’s so bad about that, they’re ggkon everyone, but I was un VH|V es p n that we were all adults her® guess we are all just eight-year-olds and need our mommies to make sure we are all tucked in at night. If you are stupid enough to leave your door unlocked, then you’re just asking to get mugged, beaten, and raped. Can’t they leave some level of responsibility for us to manage? Should we have the state troopers check all the doors of the commuters because they may not be getting tucked in at night? Is that where Police and Safety is instead of stopping those car vandals on campus? Are they checking everyone’s doors? Not even to mention privacy... what if some guy is checking doors and happens to open the door on a woman that just got out of the shower? Nobody wants to have their doorknob jiggled in the middle of a dark and foggy Erie night like some kind of second rate horror movie. That’s just creepy. People need the keep their grubby hands off of other people’s doorknobs. to keep in mind throughout your entire life. I honestly think that if more people remembered and applied what they learned as children to their adult life, holidays like Valentine’s Day could be just as fun as they were when you were a child. 1 don’t think that people should necessarily give up all adult habits and responsibilities, but that they should combine those child-like elements with their adult habits and responsibilities, to achieve a better sense of themselves and the people and world around them. How refreshing would it be to look at the world through the eyes of a child, once again, but know that as an adult you are what makes that world what it is today? Maybe the adults of your childhood knew what they were talking about, when they told you to eat your vegetables, and go to bed on time. So next year, don’t forget to pass out those cardboard character valen tines, because after all, we are all just a bunch of “big” kids. Kleck’s column appears every three weeks. blah...” At this point I’m done listening, and smile politely and walk away. Unless someone asks you for help, please keep your mouth shut. Baseball Players - When these guys come in, I almost lose it every time. First of all, what is the necessary degree of fitness to get on the team? To me it seems a gut along with a spare tire will get you a starting position with no problem. I figured that they would be working forearms, or rotator cuffs, trying to improve their upper body strength so they can hit harder and throw farther? Well the common workout is to immediately jump onto the stair stepper, completely hunched over with your butt sticking out going at a speed slightly less then Mach 1. The second part of the exercise experience involves sit-ups and crunches in positions that Hugh Hefner never would have thought of. Do they believe that sit-ups burn fat off the midsec tion? I thought the misconception of spot reducing was eliminated in the 80’s? If the goal is to strengthen abdominals, let me inform you guys that 100 reps does NOTH ING to promote strength in any lift, weighted crunches and sit-ups in a single plane of motion DO. Matola’s column appears every three weeks.
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