Page 6 The Behrend Beacon THE BEHREND BEACON pub/is/kW weekly by the .stuilentN of Penn State Erie, the Belornd College News Editor Asst. News Editor Lrin Ah•Cortv Sports Editor Mike Asst. Sports Editor Ktite Le rdwisk Editorial Page Editor lien kumbliwi Features Editor Au,/ Rena( ri Arts & Entertainment Editor ./C(1/11/11' Wire Service Editor Re sch,taidier Health Page Editor Sal till OH• Ir , i it BEACON •Postal Information• The Beacon is published weekly by the students ui Penn State Erie, the Behrend College; First Floor, The J. Elmer Reed Union Building, Station Road, Erie, PA 16563. The Beacon can he reached by calling (814) 898-6488 or (814) 898-6019 (FAX). ISSN 1071-9288. The View From the Lighthouse Good Morning, Vietnam? The Vietnam War was one of the most politically unpopular wars in history. We had no clear enemy. We were fighting idealism rather than a clear enemy. The conflict we are involved in now is similar to Vietnam. We have targeted a lone man, the symbolic leader of a group of religious ex tremists. We are punishing a coun try that supports his cause with a barrage of bombs and missiles, and will inevitably be sending ground troops. More than 90 percent of Ameri cans support these attacks on ter ror. Unfortunately, there is also a small, vocal minority in this coun try which vehemently opposes the use of force in response to force. Recently across college campuses there have been small but well cov ered anti-war protests. Holding the opinion that America should not be involved in a war is a right each and every American has. Unfortunately, Americans gather ing in groups burning flags to de nounce our involvement in the war on terror only helps power the pro paganda machines in many Middle Eastern countries. Many of the or ganizers of anti-war protests aren't so much pro-peace as they are anti- American. A pro-peace march takes on an entirely new face when its organizers are sympathizers with the enemy. This not only further divides our people hut also poses a potential security threat, such as the case with Barbara Lee. Barbara Lee is the lone dissenting member Show love for Rickey Henderson is getting no props for some pretty freaking sick ca reer numbers. If you aren't In The Know, Rickey just broke the career runs record set by Ty Cobb back when they played baseball with tree branches and rocks, became one of fewer than 30 players to smack 3,(X)0 hits, already holds the all-time walks record, and was crowned the stolen base king more than Editor-in-Chief Robert wVlllle Interim Managing Editor Poitx Professional Publication Nip- Aire Ri( hanh Advisor .wr Jilin Kcr The BCUCOII encourages letters to the editor. Letters should include the address. phone number, semester standing, and major of the \\ niter. Writers can mail letters to behivoll2o`aol.com. Letters must he received no later than 5 p.m. Monday for inclusion in of Congress, and an organizer of a re cent rally in Berkeley. Calif. Barbara Lee also had ties to Communist Grenada berore U.S. forces liberated America's involvement in Vietnam was brought to an end due to how po litically unpopular the war was. We had forced the Vietcong out of South Vietnam by 1968, but Generals in the North Vietnamese army realized that although they could not win the war using conventional weapons, Ameri cans would eventually abandon it since our nation was divided. Leav ing South Vietnam under Communist rule put that nation at the forefront of humans' rights abusers. A similar situation exists today. Right now, this war is politically popular. With the addition of ground troops to the region and the inevitable resulting casualties, the popularity of the war could quickly wane. We must he supportive of our nation's fight on terror, and see it through until a reso lution is found. teriously a decade ago. When • / he broke that stolen ga title.. • bases record, way Walsh hack in the 'Bos, he was already, self-de- Something like: "The High Minis- ter of All-Time" or "Lord of The Ev erything." If you think I'm exaggerating or being facetious, then you are either un familiar with Rickey Henderson The Man or - like many - guilty of giving my boy Rickey no love. The first thing you need to know about Rickey is that he is 42 years old, and faster than you. Rickey is the fastest. Another thing you need to know about Rickey is that he refers to himself in the third per- Associate Edito► Ken\ihh Photo Editors Jet/ lionkeN Kristin Rokers Advertising Manager Am! Math lldrry Public Relations Manager Ka/ Office Manager ./,/ %on /It an/ Copy Editor tti'indm NN'ebsite Editor I)ate KuNi,?4,v technical Support Ni irenvf,,th 'Professionalism CHEM •Letter that week's issue dared. "The Greatest." It's time to think up some new superlative for Rickey. :;::::' 1(42 44: . ". . 5:4.4' i Si r"JI WE KNOW WHO WON A DATE WITH A BEACONIAN! Meredith Lynch will be accompany Michael Butala to the liquor store or maybe the beer store. Thank you for helping us raise more than ASA Date Auction Mix-Up! Mr Bocian:s view I must say I was concerned when several students approached me today inquiring to me about the article in the Beacon which bore my name (well, somewhat). Upon grabbing a copy of the Beacon and reading the article, I'm sorry to say my concern turned to sheer disappointment. The article did mention my name, might I add with two misspellings, and I was shocked to also learn that the portion pertaining to myself was riddled with inaccuracies. The article mentions that I received the grand prize at the auction, a limousine ride, dinner at Outback, and tickets to the Erie Philharmonic. Also mentioned was that my bid was placed at $lBO. The article also goes on to say the DJ convinced my girlfriend to throw in an extra $2O to make it 2(X). Now, Mt: Hobi's view Once again, I am dumblOunded by this schools' professional publication. I typi cally do not make it a habit to mad this professional display of journalism, but this week I made an exception due to an ar ticle about a good friend of mine. To be more specific, it was the article about the ASA date auction fix• charity. Not one iota of information printed had any rel iance to what actually occun - ed. I think I will entitle my little spiel to the Jitor When good intents go bad, and the Neanderthals that report". This little t will include something novel. They are commonly referred to as facts by us Mr. Coleridge's view You do not know me, but I am writ ing in regard to the article in the Behrend Beacon about the ASA date auction. I understand that the auction's intent is to raise money for charity and that is commendable. I do, however, have a complaint on the behalf of Mat Bocian. Aside from the fact that his name was spelled wrong (that is understandable) it is simply not true that he was awarded the grand prize (limo, Philharmonic, etc.). I attended the auction and the bid he went for was $190.00 (that is what the announcer called out as the final Rickey Henderson He does this because once you ac complish such unprecedented and spec tacular things as Rickey has accom plished, it is absolutely vital to reflect on these things from a safe distance, for if you are too close to the brilliance, it will blind you. Rickey Henderson once stole 130 bases in a year. No one can sum up this revolutionary speed any better than The Man Himself, who re marks: "Nobody throw out Rickey." But you would be making a grave mistake by overlooking Rickey's other qualities. He is a staggeringly complete ball player. In a sport dominated by numbers, Rickey has sustained health and productivity for 22 seasons and played for eight different teams while capturing some records that will never be relinquished. The stolen base record forget about it. He locked that one up and threw away the key. The run record? Friday, October 26, 2001 The Twin Towers Orphans Fund! Sorry we were so obnoxious when we solicited in Reed. all of these facts are wrong. First off, I did not receive any limo ride, or dinner at Outback or tickets to the philharmonic. All of that is a shame, considering I'd love to have ridden in a limo, and I adore Outback steakhouse. Where this mystery prize of limo rides and steaks the size of toilet seats came from, I surely will never know. Secondly I was bought for a price of $l9O. Also no DJ convinced anyone to add extra money for me, so again where this mysterious persuading DJ part came from, I don't know. I am a humble man who usually doesn't complain. I got involved in this auction to raise money for charity, which is what this is truly about. But to see a professional established school paper publish articles that are blatantly false in nature, as well as horribly amateur writers Mr. Bocian was number #lB of 18 par ticipants of this charitable auction. Due to the tenacity of Mr. Bocian's girlfriend, he went for the handsome sum of $l9O. This princely sum was exactly $lO more then the next highest bidder. Oddly enough, he received second prize. This fact did not seem to bother Mr. Bocian at the time, as his girlfriends' caring gesture smote him. I, however, was reminded why I refuse to partake in such activities. Even if they are for a noble cause. Writing is not my forte, but 1 am quite proficient at math. Hum, let me think about this for a second. According to my bid). He was bought by his girlfriend, but she did not place any more money down at the table as the article sug gested. In fact, as Ragan (Mat's girl friend) approached the table she and Mat were informed that they did not receive the highest bid. They were told that the previous bidder placed an ad ditional $20.00 on her bid making it a total of $200.00. As a result, Mat did not receive the first prize. That in itself I do not agree with, but Mat did not seem to mind at the time. Upon reading the article I was unpleasantly surprised to have read that he received the highest bid. The article Well, he just set that one, and it stood for 73 years beforehand. So maybe it will be approachable some time in the 22nd century. The walks record is very impres sive from a baseball and a metaphysical view; it represents the Body V. Mind du ality that has plagued the brightest phi losophers for centuries. It instead fell like a frail sapling against the giant chainsaw that is Rickey. You might be thinking to yourself: "If Rickey was so incredible, how come he played on 8 different teams?" There are two reasons for this. One, Rickey was sometimes just too good and teammates were notoriously jealous of his excel lence. Two, The Man Himself was such a great baseball player that it would be unfair and cruel to bestow him on one team alone. Rickey moved around as fre quently as possible to allow different home fans the opportunity to cheer for LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Ben Kundman, Editorial Page Editor Jeanine Noce will accompany Jason Karas to somewhere nicer than Taco Bell. slaughter my name frankly makes me sick. Doesn't the Beacon or its writers confirm these types of facts before they run a story? Not only am I expressing disappointment in the author of the article, Kelly Walsh, but also any editors/and or those responsible for those who allowed false or misleading information to be printed, allowing many students to be misinformed. Furthermore, I wonder where these mysterious prizes came from and went to. A rumor told to me from an ASA sister was that the grand prize went to a member of TKE (by an unidentified sorority sister), who was up for bid that night that sold for $lBO. After seeing that I had sold for more, more money was added to her already announced bid so that this mysterious grand prize could be claimed for them. As the pressures very own eyes and ears, the highest an nounced bid was $l9O. The second high est bid was $lBO. When the prizes were awarded, $l9O = second prize. Hum, very interesting. First prize was awarded to the person that received the S2(X) bid. Ap parently $lBO = $2OO, but only after a $l9O bid. Hum, apparently my math skills are not as sharp as I thought, or, I will not expand anymore on this subject. Regard less, I am thrilled that the Special Olym pics received $1,700. Or, should that have been $1,680? Hey, it's for charity, I was willing to let the subject die along with my faith in school functions. But, I find the article in depicted Mat as setting this auction up in order to win the Ist prize. This is simply just false. Mat and Ragan's intention was to donate this amount of money regard less of who won the prize. In the pro cess, they had a lot of fun bidding on him. If the facts were portrayed correctly I would not be writing this letter. I sup pose what I am asking for some sort of explanation or maybe even corrections in the next Beacon regarding this ar ticle. Regardless of all this I know Mat had a fun time and I am very happy to hear Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of Rickey Henderson is his honesty. He is a man of high morals and uncompromised ideals. When he re ceived flak way back in the '9os after holding out for the most lucrative con tract in league history, he justified his actions as thus: "All I'm asking for is what I want!" It's this simple profundity which is lost on most of today's big league ball players. In another scenario, Henderson once lined a rocket shot into left field which looked for all intents and purposes to be a home run. In an uncanny turn of events, it bounced off the wall and stayed in play while Rickey was jogging up the first base line in his look-at-me homerun trot. For this, he was criticized. The Man's reply? "I shouldn't have been running no harder than I ran. I thought the ball behrcoll2@aol.com ASA Date Auction Mix-Up! of truth, I might ask the Beacon why they aren't attempting to weed out the facts from the fiction, and find out what exactly is going on here. This sounds to me like a bunch of nonsense, turning a fundraiser for the Special Olympics into a stage for conspiracy and personal gain. I feel the Beacon owes it to the readers of the paper to find out exactly what is going on, getting all the facts, and printing them con•ectly. It is what I, as well as I am sure many other readers, expect from the paper as a professional reporting agency for the Behrend campus. Thank you for your time. Deeply concerned, Mr. Mathew Boeian the Beacon inexcusable. Was there any attempt at actual reporting? I know for a fact that nobody contacted Mr. Bocian or his friends that attended the auction. I would like to know the sources of this in formation. Let me deviate from my facts and speculate for a moment. If these are the type of articles your writers are produc ing now, who's to say this behavior will not continue when they enter their careers? I apologize for this overly sarcastic let ter and Neanderthal comment to those who take their job seriously. so much money was donated to the Special Olympics and the S. June Smith Center. Once again I would like to stress that this is not about money or prizes, just the facts Thank you for your time, Brian M. Coleridge Thanks for bringing the problem to our attention in a civil manner. All in formation for the date auction article was obtained from ASA sisters. -Ed. was out of the ballpark. I hit a ball like that, I think the ball is going out of the ballpark." Makes sense to me. Fact of the matter is there really is no viable criticism you can throw Rickey Henderson's way. It will be unfounded and painfully incorrect to begin with, and besides nobody throw out Rickey. No body. It's best just to give in and show Rickey some love. It is very strange in deed that more people aren't interested in Rickey's recent assault on history. Home-run record? That thing was bro ken three years ago. It's fully played out. What Rickey is doing now is fresh, and what he's always done is fresh. Embrace Rickey. Take him into your hearts. He's the greatest baseball player ever, and at 42, he may only be playing for another dozen years or so. Walsh's column appears every three weeks. 200 for www.ttof.org/ Beinard J. Hobi
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