Starry-eyed
America
Undressed from
the neck up
Becky Weindorf
Welcome back to those who are already
used to the college scene and welcome to
the freshmen who are now once again the
"newer material" to the campus instead the
Hot Stuff Seniors at high school (believe
me, I know that feeling).
This week, I have encountered two huge
stories in the music industry that have
supposedly impacted millions of fans
across the world. This past Sunday night,
Madonna went live on her Drowned World
Tour in her hometown of Detroit, MI. HBO
viewers were praising the cable gods in
order to see this legend of pop music
perform on stage in impressive costumes
and sing brand-new music. About every
15 minutes, Madonna would make a
dramatic exit by a lowering platform on
stage or walking offstage with the word
"F "in silver glitter on the back of her
black tank top. In other words, you've
never seen a concert like Madonna's and
live performances will most likely remain
one of her specialties.
Another incident that has rocked the
music industry is the death of hip-hop
singer Aaliyah. The singer-actress and
eight other passengers died Saturday night
in a plane crash in the Bahamas, and
officials are blaming the death on engine
failure and overloaded luggage in the
Cessna plane. Again, millions of fans are
now mourning her death. Another voice
of music has been silenced by a tragic
accident or incident that, quite possibly,
could have been prevented.
These performers have affected lives
around the world, most likely yours as well.
Fanatics of singers or musicians worship the
ground that these stars walk on by imitating
their styles, owning and listening to their
music, and pinning up photos and pictures
of them wherever they can fit in empty wall
space. One of Madonna's diehard fans
showed off his "Material Boy" tattoo to the
entire HBO world Sunday; women glowed
in blonde hair and glittery shirts, ripped
plaid and glistening lipstick.
This obsession towards musical
performers is out of hand. Many of these
artists deserve their recognition because
they have a talent that most of us aren't
blessed with, and they have a love for
making something that sounds really, really
good. But on the other hand, we center
our lives around who has the most CDs,
who has the best tunes on Napster, and who
can burn and mix CDs with their favorite
music to listen to in the car, at home, and
in their dorm room.
Music dominates everything that we do,
and frankly, idolizing someone with a talent
is just plain wrong. It's not wrong to have
a favorite artist and enjoy their music, yet
to dress like they do, act like they do, talk
like they d 0... I thought we were all born
with our own identities, not born to imitate
someone else's.
Music is a part of our culture it's a part
of several other cultures in this world.
Unfortunately, idolizing the people who
create this music is also a part of our culture
now; look how the deaths of Tupac, Kurt
Cobain, The Notorious 8.1. G., Janis Joplin,
Jimi Hendrix (just to name a few) have
affected America. These people went down
in history because they died of shootings,
drug overdoses, and suicide... how about
that. I really couldn't care less if someone
tried to convince me that these people are
legends. They had a talent for music, that's
it. But how did they use their talent? For
fame, for money, for drugs? Not many
people know the real story of these
musicians; ignorance is not becoming to the
imitator.
In Aaliyah's case, there is still too much
to be investigated about the plane crash.
Did the overloaded plane cause the engine
failure? Would the plane have crashed if
it was only carrying the pilot? Who knows?
That's something that will be left to an
investigation. But as America continues
on in the tradition of musical performers,
we need to keep our feet on the ground and
our starry eyes toward the more realistic
things in life.
Weindorf's column appears every
three weeks.
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fdiforiatis+s from the
students' point of view
My grievances with
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Ever since 10th grade, until just a few
months ago, I worked for a family-owned
grocery store. In the search of more cash,
however, I had to seek out another job to
help with my debts. I always heard servers
made pretty good cash, so I applied at
Perkins and got a job as a third shift server.
I will admit, the money is much better than
I was being paid at the food mart. But, as I
quickly learned, there are lots of different
issues at hand when you work for a
corporation. At my place of employment,
it's a franchise as well.
While talking with friends who work for
One person's junk is another person's treasure
Oh, you
didn't know?
Karl Benacci
lea i,Y piggy'
Hi everyone, I hope that all of you had a
great summer. I sure did. I turned 21...
enough said. But before I begin my editorial,
I just want to welcome all the freshmen and
advise them to enjoy the nice weather, for
winter will be here soon, and our winters are
so cold that we have polar bears trotting
around campus.
Anyway, over the summer, I routinely
washed my car in my parent's "storage
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Friday, August 31, 2001
—vve'Re
MoviNG
iT TO
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witpLiFe
ReFUGE!
other major retail and restaurant
companies (i.e. Staples, Chi Chi's,
Sears), I noticed we had a lot of the
same grievances. I realize most
anyone is going to have some kind
of issue with his or her employer, but
sometimes younger people get hit
just a little bit harder by the fists of big
business
First, we get screwed over because we
go to school. Each of us students have very
particular schedules that employers just
love dealing with, I'm sure. We need to
work endless hours during the summer
because heaven forbid we take a
lighter load of work so that we can study
for a few hours here and there during the
school year. That routine keeps us locked
into the "part-time" status. The company
views us basically as temporary help,
because they know we will be moving on
and that the only reason we work for them
is because we have to pay off debts.
Availability decreases, and in the end, so
does the cash flow, which brings me to my
next point.
I thought by going to college I would
building," which was filled with cars, my
parent's tractor, my brother's old
furniture, and a number of other things.
' While searching through the
building one day, I found two
huge boxes that were filled with
my old toys. I was born in the
1980 s so I had the typical toys
Transformers, G.I. Joe vehicles and
many others. What surprised me about
my find was that the toys were still packed
in their original boxes, so I decided to bring
the two huge boxes to my house to decide
what to do with the contents.
I enjoy selling sports cards on Internet
auctions, so I decided to sell the old toys on
an Internet auction, and see how much
money I would make. I took pictures of the
toys with my brother's digital camera, wrote
up a snazzy little summary about each
individual toy, and posted the auctions on
eßay. After posting 24 auctions on a
The Hot Debate of The Week'
Persecuting the panty raiders?
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According to a memo sent to student
organization presidents, "hazing is, but not
limited to ...any forced physical activity...
any activity subjects the individual to extreme
mental stress...or any other forced activity."
This defines anything as hazing.
Why is it that we only hear of Greek
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organizati b„ , g t' Y lii cable? Lion
Ambassad. ~ re gir t
ad, to wear their
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organization hi g yrating days; this is
forced activi • y 'ttitiVeMity's definition
of hazing. The RA class must assist with
organizing the Junker Center blowout, this
too would be hazing. However, if Alpha
Sigma Alpha would require a pledge class to
organize a community service event, they risk
hazing accusations. The best advice is to
"strongly encourage" instead of require.
Many organizations have requirements that
must be met to earn membership and to keep
membership. The Greek organizations seem
to be criticized for it all the time. Meanwhile,
it is these organizations that tend to do the
most outstanding work. Wednesday night at
"Take Back the Night," Alpha Sigma Alpha,
Alpha Sigma Tau, Theta Phi Alpha and the
Resident Assistant class were all participants.
Sigma Kappa Nu sponsors one of the most
popular and successful events on campus,
Cider Rock, and several Greeks participate
in the Adopt a Highway program.
It is so easy to cry wolf at Greek
organizations. The policy on hazing applies
to all campus organizations; therefore, why
aren't all organizations reviewed as carefully')
Every week, two editors from the staff will debate a topic
email suggestions for the hot topic. Send ideas to behrco.
Fighting over something with your friends?
Want to see it debated in the newspaper? Send
us your idea and we will debate it in our
'Hot Debate of the Week' discussion!
behrcoll2@aol.com
corporate business
open myself up for more job opportunities,
perhaps a job with better pay. Wrong!
Companies do not care whether you are a
high-school dropout or have a bachelor's
degree; they don't worry about
compensating you for your level of
learnedness. So now, not only are we
forced to work for the same slave wages,
we usually end up having to take orders
from other people who dropped out of the
ninth grade. The difference? Usually, it is
because "they have been there longer."
Another thing that irks me about
corporate business is the personality of
management. It is not so much a problem
with anyone I work with, but apparently
there is this whole hierarchy of bosses
above our restaurant, most of which are still
mythical to me because I have never seen
any in person. Regional managers, district
managers, director of this, director of that,
Grand Poombah, the list goes on. Actually,
I have seen a few, but I do not think they
see me, because they do not say "Hi."
Maybe there is a rule that says employees
with five figures or more in their yearly
salary are not allowed to talk to the
Saturday afternoon, I decided to go out for
the night with some friends.
I woke up the next afternoon and decided
to check my e-mail. I was quite surprised to
see the volume of e-mails that I had. Many
of them were from eßay bidders, asking me
questions about the toys.
For the next week, I watched the auctions
carefully. Here is how a few of them ended:
• A World Wrestling Federation figure
named "Warlord" sold for $Bl.
• A set of Transformers that make "The
Devastator" sold for $127.50.
• A G.I. Joe toy named the "Cobra Stun"
sold for $46.
Many of you are most likely as shocked
as I was. Who would have ever thought there
would be grown-ups willing to pay good
money for toys? Surely not I! However, I
am glad that they did, for n'ow the world is a
better place. I have made more money and
have made someone's day, for I am fairly
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112@wtcom.
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Being a big name group on campus auto
matically leaves you open to criticism and
pot shots, and it also leaves you open to the
public eye. So, if the Greeks think that they
are being targeted simply because they are
Greek, then they are probably right.
However, there is no reason to think that
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the police or . ~I , r ~,, - ..,j ement are out
f>;• wi• • •
'to get them. . -••• • !;,.
,• ; ;j ity is noticed
by the paparr !.:::, C,,,,: ,. ,..„: , re going to be
noticed by thelwo• - in' " ' rge.
The Greeks should stop whining and real
ize that if they are going to carry the title
"Greek organization," then they have to face
the fact that all eyes are on them. That goes
for the good things that they do, along with
the questionable.
Being part of the Greek community
shouldn't make people exempt from rules
and basic laws. If you beat someone up in
your front yard, then expect them to press
charges. If you serve underage students al
cohol and you get caught, expect some hefty
fines. Don't expect people to turn a blind eye
because you wear letters.
Although it is fair to state that all groups
should be treated equally when it comes to
hazing policies, it is also realistic to know
that low profile groups with no reputation
for hazing are going to be overlooked.
In a perfect world, everyone would be
treated the same. But just like athletes in col
lege receive special treatment, so do Greeks.
So a little heat on them now and then
shouldn't get their panties in a bunch!
A.M. Havey
that is hot. Students, faculty and staff are encouraged to
, 112@aol.com
employees with four figures or less.
"Cutbacks" are personally my favorite
thing about businesses. I just love it when
managers complain about the size of
styrofoam cups that I am using for my break
when there are larger problems to deal with.
Just as long as they save 10 cents, they do
not care that customers are walking out
dissatisfied with their service and/or food.
I read an article in the "Erie Times" about
a lady at Texas Instruments who works by
flashlight because she is wasting "company
electricity" by being the only employee in
the building at a certain time. Isn't that just
a little overboard? A job should allow you
the flexibility you need, which many places
do with schedules now. But the little things,
such as the fringe benefits, are becoming a
thing of the past. No more snacks in the
break area, and no more Christmas bonus
means more in the pocket of that mythical
figure called the CEO. At least, that is my
theory, but what do I know? I am just a
dumb college kid.
Wynne's column appears every
three weeks.
certain that they are playing with their new
toys even as we speak.
Auction sites such as eßay, Inc. expose a
seller's items to millions of people, so
chances are, at least one potential bidder will
be interested in what a seller is selling, and
if the seller did a proper job of making the
item look pleasant, it will most likely
generate interest.
Hopefully, this editorial has inspired many
readers, and perhaps some will clean out the
contents of their attics or closets to see if
they can find any wonderful items to sell.
Give it a try. What is there to lose? Getting
money for unwanted items is a great
concept!
Still hesitant? Well, keep that old saying
in mind: "One person's junk is another
person's treasure."
Benacci's column appears every
three weeks.
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The Behrend Beacon
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