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View From The Lighthouse
Save the babies
In one day, nearly 11,000
babies are bom in the United
States. Over 1,300 of those
births were to teenage mothers.
77 of those babies never live to
experience their first birthday;
17 die due to birth defects.
Imagine how these mothers,
after nine months of carrying a
fetus inside of their body, feel to
lose their creation. The only
word that fits is devastating.
All of us were babies once.
Yes, that’s a fairly stupid
comment and quite obvious, but
it sets a mood. All of those who
are reading this have been
fortunate enough to live as long
as they have—many babies
never breathe at all; some never
exit the womb alive. Imagine if
your child, sibling, niece/
nephew, or little cousin had
never been bom. Sure, they may
be a bit of a pain. But honestly,
can you imagine life without
them? Think of all the times you
had together watching Sesame
Street and playing Candyland.
Now pretend they didn’t survive.
They were bom after six months,
maybe nine if lucky, but were in
an incubator for a week until the
doctors decided nothing could be
done —the baby was considered
comatose. The mother has lost
everything she has dedicated her
life to for at least the last nine
months. Maybe it took years to
become pregnant in the first
place. Finally, the mother has
conceived, and even if it was
unexpected, a bond develops
between the mother and the
fetus. It is a part of her. It is part
of her soul. Without it, she is not
whole. And the tragic news
breaks —the baby isn’t going to
survive. Something has gone
seriously wrong with the
pregnancy, and now the nursery
decorated with ducks and
bunnies is vacant, and will
remain so for at least another
year. It brings tears to even think
of it.
These babies can be saved.
These babies can be made
healthier. These babies can live a
long and happy life.
Organizations such as the March
of Dimes hold numerous
fundraisers to donate funds for
research and equipment for pre
natal and infant care. They also
educate mothers-to-be on the
benefits of folic acid, a nutrient
necessary for a successful
pregnancy. On April 29, the
March of Dimes will be holding
their annual walk at Presque Isle
The Behrend Beacon
published weekly by the students of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Editor-in-Chief
Jason Snyder
Managing Editor
News Editors
Liz Hayes
Erin McCarty (assistant)
Editorial Page Editor
Katie Galley
Features Editors
Karl Benacci
Jermaine Hardy
Arts & Entertainment Editor
Deanna Symoski
Sports Editors
Abby Long
Jeanine Noce (assistant)
Wire Service Editor
Rob Wynne
Photo Editors
Becky Weindorf
Neil Makadia (assistant)
Associate Editors
Christine Kleck
Josh Hilewick
Copy Editor
Paige Miles
Postal Information: The Beacon is
published weekly by the students of
Penn State Erie, The Behrend
College; First Floor, The J. Elmer
Reed Union Building, Station Road,
Erie, PA 16563. The Beacon can be
reached by calling (814) 898-6488
or (814) 898-6019 (FAX). ISSN
1071-9288.
State Park. Participants can form
teams or walk independently; as
they can also raise funds and
donations as a team or by
themselves. The walkers are
urged to set a monetary goal to
raise; certain levels of money
receive prizes such as t-shirts,
sweatshirts, and K-Mart gift
certificates. Money is turned in
the morning before the race at
Rainbow Gardens. Also, before
and after the walk, participants
are allowed to have a tailgate
party in the parking lot of
Waldameer.
Usually by the end of April,
Erie is blessed with some decent
weather. The walk on Presque
Isle makes for a beautiful
afternoon outing, and even if it
rains, well heck, at least it isn’t
snow. Inspired? Are you ready to
become a hero to save babies?
Walk. It isn’t that far, and after a
winter inside, everyone can
probably used the breath of fresh
air along with the exercise. But
you don’t have to walk alone.
The Beacon staff will be walking
April 29, and are hoping to
present a large team of Penn
State students. We invite all
students, faculty, and staff of
Penn State to join our team.
Simply stop by the Beacon office
to pick up a form or call x 6488
for more information. And if you
can’t walk, donate. Again, stop
down or call the Beacon —we
will gladly transfer your donation
to the March of Dimes. Is
anybody really against healthier
babies? Aren’t they so dam cute?
And just think, maybe that friend
you eat lunch with every day or
say hi to on the walkway was
hanging on for dear life. Maybe
without the help of generous
people who truly care abut
humanity, that friend, cousin, or
little sibling may not be here
today to accompany you. Oh,
and as far off as it may seem,
many of us one day will have
beautiful children. It just may be
the March of Dimes that makes
them so beautiful.
Jeff Miller
Public Relations Manager
Ainslie Ulmer
letter Policy: The Beacon
encourages letters to the editor.
Letters should include the address,
phone number, semester standing
and major of the writer. Writers can
mail letters to behrcoll2@aol.com.
Letters must be received no later
than 5 p.m. Tuesday for inclusion
in that week’s issue.
Money Page Editor
Amortya Sinha
Health Page Editor
Sarah Orr
Advertising Manager
Ann Marie Havey
Business Manager
Kristine Harakal
Distribution Manager
Doug Smith
Secretary
Melissa Proba
Advisor
Robert Speel
Editorial
Defending the weight room characters
Dear Editor,
Warning: This letter contains high levels of
sarcasm (A taunting, sneering, cutting, or caustic
remark.) It is satire, (a literary work in which
stupidities are held up to ridicule and contempt)
and not meant to be taken seriously.
What can I say; I was inspired by Jared
Matola’s article on weight room characters.
Before, I was wandering around the weight room
blindly, unaware of my depraved condition. I
was ignorant to the fact that I was a “wife-beater
guy,” that is I was a non-muscular guy wearing a
tank top to display my non-existent muscles.
How could I have been so daft?
Initially I was in a denial stage; I spent
countless hours standing in front of my mirror
flexing. I would put all my clothes on, stand in
the shower, and then stand on the scale. Even
then I was only 170 pounds dripping wet! After
many hours and countless tears, I came to the
realization that I really was a pathetic, fragile.
Note: After Spring Break the Beacon will no longer run letters
to the editor that are not signed. Thank you.
Behrend phenomenon number 1013...
extreme hide and go seek
Isn’t hide and seek the greatest game?! You get
to squash your body into small places and then
people get to find you! I have loved this game
ever since I was a baby, you know when I was
six or seven.
Anyway, I have recently discovered that there
is a whole population of students here on campus
that like to play hide and seek, so I decided that I
needed to share their story about this game. But
it may not be how you picture traditional hide
and go seek though. This game is played by
students and professors.
The game starts when a student decides to skip
one (or all) of their classes for the day. The next
part of the game is when the student decides that
they must venture out of their dorm to Bruno’s
for some food or some other reason. After that
the game gets fun.
The student gets to run all over campus as
normal, only now they have to go out of their
way to hide from the professor of the class they
skipped. This means not only hiding, but
running, jumping, ducking, swerving, and
hurdling small squirrels to avoid being spotted
by said professor. And I have seen students go to
the extreme to avoid being sighted.
On a typical day, if you pay attention you can
see a handful of students partaking in this skillful
game of hide and go seek. Let’s call it Extreme
Seeking! Just take a look around on the way to
your next class and see all the Extreme Seeking
going on. You will notice these students in any
number of places.
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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
scrawny, weakling. I would just like to apologize
right now, to any one I may have offended by my
obviously arrogant, self centered, narcissistic
display in the weight room; I can hardly live with
myself. After I had moved on to acceptance, I sat
down and measured my “pipes.” Once again I tell
into a state of denial. Not only was I a “wife
beater guy,” but I was a below par wife-beater
guy. The average WBG has 13 inch pipes, and to
my horror I discovered that mine were only 12
inches in diameter. Why Me!
At that point I became angry with myself. How
could 1 have let myself fall into such a dilapidated
condition? First I did 150 push-ups in a drastic
effort to gain that essential inch, and then I caught
the next blue bus to the mall. Once I arrived. I
went straight to GNC. I proceeded to buy as
much Pro Performance Weight Gainer, Mega Man
vitamin supplements, Ripped Fuel, and Body
Fortress as I could afford. In fact 1 bought so
much that one of the employees had to help me
The first place I ever noticed these people was
when they were hiding behind the Beacon on the
benches in Academic. At first I was excited that
people were reading my editorials, but then just as
my hopes arose, the paper was tossed aside as the
professor went into their office. Score one lor the
students.
The next place I noticed the phenomenon was in
Bruno’s, more specifically, in the drink coolers. It
never fails that the rare times that I see a professor
in Bruno’s there is some kid ducking their head
(and sometimes their whole bodies) into the
coolers to seem inconspicuous. Word to the
students: you look weirder sticking your head into
a cooler than you do bumping into the professor.
Another great way to avoid the professor is to
wait until you are walking down the hallway
towards another class and the INSTANT that you
see them is to turn the other way and start
shuffling away. The professor never sees this! I’m
not sure how, but it works every time (please note
the sarcasm).
There are many more ways out there to play
Extreme Seeking, some of my favorites include;
hiding under desks and even grabbing a friend the
minute you make eye contact with the professor
and pulling them in front of you and demanding
they stay put until the danger passes. And of
course the all time favorite, you are in the
computer labs and when you see the professor
entering the room a friend dives in between you
and the enemy, using their button down shirt as a
shield.
I have even seen students skip another class in
the same building to avoid the one they just
skipped, so conceivably students are skipping an
entire day just to avoid one professor. We should
be allowed to take this as an ESACT credit! Yeah,
the freshmen can get their three credits of them
over in a semester and a half! Now those are some
serious skills, instead of ballroom dancing
(because honestly think about it, how often are
you going to use that skill in life), we can learn
how to avoid people. That will always come in
handy. At work to steer clear of the boss, and even
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carry it back to the blue bus. Those bags
weighed at least 15 pounds each, and how could
a sniveling weakling like myself be expected to
carry such a load; you have to work up to that.
I would just like to say that I am on the way to
becoming a better person. Last night I burned all
of my wife-beaters and sleeveless shirts. I’ve
upgraded my diet from 2500 calories a day to
4000, and I’ve started weight training in my
room because I wouldn’t want to offend anyone
else by visiting the weight room in my horrible
state of flimsiness. Maybe I will, one day, be
able to attain the level of greatness that the
venerable Mr. Matola exemplifies in his article.
On the day that the blessed day arrives I hope he
will join me, and we can stand side by side
taunting all the little girly men that walk through
the doors of our weight room.
Keenan Hansen
in later life whenever we get married (you know
how people are always talking about avoiding
the in-laws). This might be the best idea ever.
Now, I'm sorry if I segregated some of the
students here at Behrend by not including any
examples from the ‘other side’ of campus, but I
am a Communications major, so I miss out on all
the fun over there on the ‘science side.’ You guys
are more than welcome to write in and tell me
your techniques, because I think that with all the
fancy labs you have over there, there are
probably some really great places to hide.
But the question remains, are the professors
aware of the intricate game they are playing with
us? Do they really see us when we duck behind
that Beech tree next to the library? My guess is
yes, and they are either a.) humoring us or b.)
they simply don’t care. I suppose that all falls
under the “we pay for the classes, so why should
we have to go and why should we feel that we
have to hide when we don’t go” philosophy that
I wrote about last semester.
In either case though, I am interested in the
answer. So if there are any professors out there
that are willing to write to me and give me the
low down on this, please do so. Do you actually
care that we don’t come to class but then you see
us hanging in Bruno’s later that day? Or do our
games simply amuse you during the long day
here at Behrend? Were you even aware that you
were participating in the game? Or are you an
active seeker, making us earn our one ESACT
credit?
That brings up a really good thought
though.. .maybe there are professors out there
that have perfected the ‘hiding’ skill and that’s
why you can never find them when you want to
discuss your transcripts. Interesting, yes
provocative.
By the way, this is completely off of the
subject, but if you find yourself up here over the
weekend of spring break, come to the ARC and
check out the women’s water polo team, cheer us
on!
Galley’s column appears every three weeks.
FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23,2001