Page 4 The Behrend Beacon Assistant Managing Editor Paige Miles News Editor Liz Haves Sports Editor Alike Bello Asst. Sports Editors Kate Levdanskr Petrikis Editorial Page Editor Abby Long Features Editor Karl Benacei Asst. Features Editor Erin McCarty Arts & Entertainment Editor Jeanine Noce Health Page Editor Sarah Orr Photo Editors Kelly Walsh Kristin Rodgers Associate Editors Josh Hilevvick •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. A View From The Lighthouse Let's hear it for Penn State pride "I feel very heartsick about it, and I think it is really embarrassing," said State College Borough council member Elizabeth Goreham after she viewed footage of the recent not following Penn State's loss to Temple in the NCAA tournament. State College Mayor Bill Welch deemed the riot a "disappointment" to the town and the Penn State community. For those of you who do not know what happened after the Penn State basketball game, here's a recap. Police estimated 4, 000 people (by the way, that is about the size of our entire Behrend campus)- many of whom were intoxicated- rushed into "Beaver Canyon" following Penn State's loss. Shortly after midnight, large crowds gathered on Beaver Avenue and began banging street signs. Chants like "We are Penn State!" and "Temple Sucks!" were heard throughout the mob. Can you imagine, our ENTIRE campus being involved in a riot? Many students came to "Beaver Canyon" to gawk at what they expected to happen. People arrived with cell phones, still cameras, and video cameras to record the "planned disturbance" and to tell others about it. Notice we keep saying "planned." "I heard a lot of people around here talking about it," said Jen Millin, a freshman from Penn State Altoona. "Everyone thinks there will be a riot." The university did make extra attempts to advertise alternative activities for post game activities. We all know how popular those are. Now, our question to you is this: Is it an embarrassment to Behrend? We here at the Beacon are all for team spirit. "Yea Penn State!" However, a "planned riot" is totally unacceptable. We (Penn State) should be proud that we made it to the NCAA tourney That itself made history. Instead, a mob of intoxicated children ruined the moment for everyone. It is an embarrassment to all of us associated with Penn State. Did you know our little "planned riot " made the national news? Yep! Score one for us; the whole world now knows about the immaturity we have at Penn State, Editor-in-Chief Robert Wynne Managing Editor Jeffrey Miller Advertising Manager Ann Marie Havey Public Relations Manager Wire Service Editor Emilie Mague Technical Support Doug Butterworth Professional Publication Mgr. 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 courtesy of the USA Today. What about all the good things we do here at Penn State? Penn State students recently raised more than $3 million at a recent charity event. That is remarkable. But, we don't see that in the news. No, instead we are labeled, "The Riot Kids!" Nice Penn State. How many of us know the Penn State Alma Mater'? "May no act of ours bring shame to one heart that loves thy name. May our lives but swell thy fame Dear Old State, Dear Old State." The recent riot "brought shame to the hearts that love thy name." Once again. Nice PSU. Okay- so what is the solution to the problem? Well, for starters, The State College Borough Council recently passed an ordinance "prohibiting downtown businesses from keeping walk-up windows open past midnight." Members are hoping that the "Beaver Canyon" area will become less of an attraction for people looking for something to do. Some of the local apartment complexes are taking the initiative and starting to rewrite leases, making them include balcony violations. Some members feel that the balconies are contributing to a lot of the problems. We could blame all of this on the weather. After all, it is SUPPOSED to be spring. Students are anxious for summer and are fed up with classes. They are looking for a fun time; unfortunately that includes consuming large quantities of alcohol and doing stupid things. However, what's done is done. Appropriate actions have been taken. "Like the students involved in past riots, those charged on Saturday will face disciplinary proceedings within the university Judicial Affairs system," said Penn State President Graham Spanier. Katie Galley Copy Editor Becky Weindorf Website Editor Jon McLaughlin Mr. Dave Richards Advisor Mr. John Kerwin •Letter Policy• . < ‘, ‘,.',. . ~ ~ .. ' P4I 10 , . , ;iiiifiiiiiiiii4' ', p... •'' s,. Friday, August 24, 2001 Baseball team defends their right to the weight room Dear Editor, Being a four-year member of the Behrend baseball team, I believe I have the knowledge and the right to defend this program. I would like to bring up some points that you made in your recent editorial in the Beacon on February 16, 2001. First of all, this team works just as hard during the season and the off-season as any other team at Behrend. Now 1 would like to address some of your outrageous opinions you have observed in the weight room. You obviously have no idea what it takes to be a baseball player and therefore have no right to judge a program you have never been a part of. You stated that we should be working on our "forearms, rotator cuffs, and upper body strength." This is true, but a lot of these workouts take place in the off season to better prepare our arms for the spring. Our off season consisted of the months October, Maybe you should go back to college for another seven years and study a globe Let me start out with a little. disclaimer: I am in no way discouraging people from bashing our school. If I were to write that nothing was wrong with Behrend and the Penn State system, I would be the biggest hypocrite on campus. I whine about our university everyday. However, there have been some gripes I've heard lately that I think are really out there, and though it irks me a bit to be the school's defender, I just have to say something here. Yikes! Let's start with tuition. Yeah, five or six grand a year - or however much it costs now - is a lot of money. It is especially a princely sum when you are just out of high school, working at McDonalds and earning a grand total of $7,428.92 a year. However, if you take a look at the cost of going to other colleges in state, it ain't that bad. Of the four colleges in the Erie area, only Edinboro is cheaper than Behrend - and if you want to go to Edinboro, more power to you. You will always be working at McDonalds. You might move up to middle management though. Both Gannon and Mercyhurst cost well over a $lO,OOO. Now, my fellow nerds and I will retire to the nerdery with our calculators and figure this out, but I think that SIOK is a bit more than S6K. So don't keep whining about how much it costs to go here. You are getting a pretty good deal. While we may not be entirely sure why, Penn State seems to be a fairly respected school. If you want to go to college, I don't think you are going to be able to do so for much cheaper than Penn State and get the same quality of education. Of course, there are those great community colleges around that employers think so highly of. Ike- sMat SUNrifmsfrititYEAßS 19605' I CANT 13EUEVE WHAT 'THEY DoNY PUT IN HERE( Los MEM LETTERS TO THE EDITOR P ond the Cheap Okay, enough about that. Moving on .. . I think ' ored Lights many people are missing the point z Haves of a college education. Yes, it is - important that we get jobs after college. We have accumulated huge debts from going to this horribly expensive school and we need to pay them off. In other words, we need to make money. So I agree that it is important to get a degree that will enable you to get a job. However, from its conception, college was designed to do a bit more than just get you behind a desk pushing papers. General education has a purpose, believe it or not. We are now living in a society in which it is vital that people learn more than one skill. For those who think that they will graduate with one degree, get a job, and do that exact same job for the rest of their employed lives, check in with reality for a moment. Most people now have several jobs in their lives, and I'm not talking about moving to a higher position in the same department. I'm talking about completely different professions and job descriptions. If you only get training for one specific job, what are you going to do when that job becomes obsolete? The way technology is moving, it is a pretty good bet that your job will change or even cease to exist before you retire. That is where general education comes into play. You gain background in other areas and become that well-rounded individual. It sounds pretty sappy, but it's true. And employers do care what you know. I recently had an interview for an internship. I had to take a pretty intense spelling and grammar test - no spell check allowed. I also had to take a general knowledge test. Thanks to my electives and general education classes, I probably knew the answers to 30% more of the questions that I otherwise would not have known. I knew Ishmael was the central character in Moby Dick (thanks Dr. Morris), I knew that the Treaty of Versailles ended World War I (thanks Dr. Meyerhuber), and I knew that the boat Darwin sailed on was called the Beagle (thanks Dr. Hamilton). Sure, it seems like a waste of time taking music theory and the history of the non-Western world when you are planning on becoming a lINIIIIIIIIIIIIIII November, and December. Don't worry. I assure you that during this time the team worked very hard. You also addressed the MYTH that in order for a baseball player to hit harder and throw further he must have upper body strength. If you want to get a point across, you have to get rid of your ignorance. To use some of your words, if I may Jared, "I thought the misconception of getting a bigger upper body to hit harder and throw further went out in the 80's. You see Jared, our players go on the steppers, treadmills, and do crunches (Hugh Hefner's if you prefer) because to hit harder and throw further a ball player needs a strong lower body (legs and abdominals). But you knew this being the weight room guru that you are boasting to be. When it comes to some people leaning when they are on the stepper, that is because the team has already been practicing for about an hour to an hour and a half. The 20 minute workout each Abby Long, Editorial Page Editor 2Ct2l I CANT REEVE WHAT 'THEY PUT IN HERE! LErs PROIMI individual spends in the weight room is only a small portion of our normal 2 to 3 hour practice, 6 days a week. If you can do the math on that, I would say that is a little more than your 10-12 hours a week. Two days out of the week, there are two practices held during the day. Unless you're Superman, I think you will show some fatigue in certain areas of practice. What do you think Jared? Regardless of what you think of our workouts (whether they are right or wrong), this is what our coaches tell us to do during practice. I do believe that everyone has the right to his or her opinion, even you. I just felt that the team deserves credit for being a part of the Penn State Behrend athletic program and that we deserve credit for the hard time and work that we put in -Behrend Baseball Player mechanical engineer. And maybe you can't see the benefits of learning the names of the constellations or the major comedies of Shakespeare when all you want to do is immerse yourself in economics. But you don' know where you will be in ten years. It would really suck to lose a job in your desired field because you didn't know enough about the world around you to make intelligent conversation with your employer or prospective clients. It would be rather awkward sitting around the lunch table with your coworkers while they are comparing the situation in Eastern Europe to the start of WWII and all you can add is the funny comment Letterman made last night about George Bush's haircut. And how about when the boss asks you to take clients to the opera and you can't say one word to them the whole night because you know nothing about the opera, music, or even the directions to the theatre. A college education is designed to educate you - in as many areas as possible. If you wanted to only learn one thing and get a job doing only that one thing, that's what the gazillion two-year tech schools were for. I think most colleges are pretty clear on the fact that they still make students take general education courses. And while I am with the rest of you in boycotting gym classes - oh, no, excuse me - ESACT classes, that's about as fa as I go. I like the fact that I can converse intelligently with well-educated adults on a variety of subjects. I like being able to play Trivial Pursuit or to watch Jeopardy! and actually know one out of ten answers. I like when I understand the allusions to historical events that pop up in modern songs. Well, luckily for all of us, I think I've run out of positive things to say about Behrend. We can all take a sigh of relief. I hope that wasn't as painful for you as it was for me. Stay tuned for the next installment of my life and I'm sure I will be back in critical form. Thanks for listening! Hayes's column originally appeared March 16, 2001 behrcoll2@aol.com
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers