The Behrend Beacon
The Behrend Beacon
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News Editor
Erin McCarty
Asst. News Editor
Kevin Fallon
Sports Editor
Mike Bello
Asst. Sports Editor
Kate Levdansky Petrikis
Editorial Page Editor
Ben Kundman
Features Editor
Karl Benacci
A&E Editor
Jeanine Noce
Wire Service Editor
Guy Reschenthaler
Staff Photographer
Jeff Hankey
Office Manager
Jason Alward
£ Beacon
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.
to the same land
How much longer will the violence continue? What does Israel hope
to accomplish with this latest military offensive? This is a conflict that
has raged for too long, and it seems no end is near.
The reason that no solution is plausible for the two nations is not
because there is not a solution, but because neither of the nations is
willing to make a compromise.
It is obvious that the current set up will not work. Why? It won’t
work because it hasn’t worked for the past 30 years. It is time to
acknowledge that the way the current territories are set up is not the
best way.
Something needs to change here. What is the worst that could happen,
years of war and strife ? It’s a little too late for that.
Here is what needs to happen:
First, Israel needs to withdrawal from its latest military offensive.
Peace talks will not happen if Israel continues to attack. At the same
hand Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat needs to condemn all suicide
bombings and other violence. This will at least open the communication
lines for peace.
Second, both nations need to realize that they can not both get
everything they want. They need to see that this attitude only leads to
violence and is hurting the very people each side says it is fighting for.
Next, all nations need to become actively involved in this situation.
For too long the world has sat back and hoped Israel and Palestine will
settle this themselves. It is clear this is not going to happen. Nations
need to not only urge but pressure both nations to compromise. Also
the world needs to offer both nations social and economic benefits if
they choose to opt for a peaceful compromise.
The United States needs to step up its role and cooperate with the
Arab nations. It needs to lead an unbiased campaign for change and
peace in the Middle East.
Finally, a solution proposed by Arab leaders should be seriously
considered. It calls for Israel to withdraw to the borders it held before
1967. In exchange, Arab countries will seriously recognize Israel as a
nation and maintain normal relations with the country.
This proposal, although not perfect, is at least a place to start
discussions. There needs to be a fair solution that involves having
both Israeli and Palestinian states where both countries give up
something in return for a peaceful situation everyone can live with.
Editor-In-Chief
Robert Wynne
Managing Editor
Rebecca Weindorf
Public Relations Manager
Professional Publication Mgr.
Dave Richards
Advisor
Mr. John Kerwin
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. Monday for inclusion in
Business Manager
Paige Miles
Advertising Managers
Libbie Johnson
Melissa Powell
Angela Rush
kelly Walsh
Distribution Manager
Eric Kiser
Calendar Page Editor
Erinn Hansen
Health Page Editor
Sarah Orr
Humor Page Editor
Ben Kundman
Associate Editor
Jennie Ellison
Technical Support
Doug Butterworth
“Professionalism
with a Personality"
that week’s issue
To advertise or not to advertise.
Dear Editors
I’d like to comment on the pro
life advertising insert that ap
peared in The Beacon several
weeks ago, as well as the letter
from Nicole Johns and Jaimi
Bonczar objecting to it, and the re
sponse by Beacon staff member
Ryan Anthony (whose work I en
joy) about ad revenues. I under
stand that newspapers need adver
Public Service Announcement against stupid people
Attitude problem stu P id g' rls - but aM 1
r would get back is a "You
Paige Miles don’t know me. Whatever. I’ll do
what I want.” So instead. I opt to
smack them. (OK, not really, but
that would be so cool.)
Recently, a friend of mine was
upset over the breakup with her
boyfriend. As I consoled her and
plotted ways to seek revenge, she
told me of all the things he had stolen
from her—her Billabong sweatshirt,
her multiple MXPX tees, and her
birth control. Yeah, her pills. OK, so
maybe this kid is a bit confused and
felt the need to experience estrogen.
Sadly, this was not the case. He
instead sold the birth control to high
school girls (probably the ones at the
Millcreek Mall) and bought weed.
I used to have a sticker on my 1985
Cadillac in high school that read
“Stupid People Shouldn’t Breed.”
Eventually the Cadillac called it
quits and the sticker went with it.
However, 1 still believe in this
philosophy wholeheartedly.
Whenever I go to the shabby
Millcreek Mall, there is always at
least one 14-year-old in a halter top.
Of course, this is completely
ignoring the fact that it has been
below freezing temperatures for the
past five months. This is also
ignoring the fact that it’s the
Millcreek Mall, not a night at the
Roxy. I would love to lecture these
The hair cut: the long and short of
JChit chat for change 1 would walk P ast
a mirror and didn’t even
Kleck realize that it was me.
■ From the back - no one
t okwrunsl: knows it is me yet.
From the front people think that 1 have
my hair pulled up in a ponytail.
Running a brush through it is just
plain strange - it stops. The first time
that I brushed my hair after it was cut.
I actually dropped the brush out of my
hand and on to the floor, because I
have gotten so used to having some
length to comb out.
Maintenance is a snap, or in my
case a yank, pull, spray and go. No
curlers or blow dryers needed here,
which has been pretty depressing after
1 spent a small fortune on styling
products and gadgets to keep up the
other four or five “short ‘dos” I have
had over the last three years.
But all-in-all I like it - it’s only hair
- it will grow back, and if it doesn’t 1
think I’ll cry for a really long time.
Or I’ll realize that 1 sort of liked it
better when it was short, anyway, and
just go on with my life.
Well, I did it. It is all gone. See that
picture that is near the byline of this
article?
Not even close
My new driver’s license picture -
taken last June - is a little bit similar
to the lack of hair length I have right
now, but my Penn State ID is the total
opposite of what I look like currently.
My hair is all gone. It got chopped
last Saturday, and the process of
getting used to it has been just that -
a process.
I began my college career sporting
the long, straight Malibu Barbie/
Marcia Brady sun-kissed blonde
locks. Now, almost three years and
five different haircuts later, I am now
more of a Meg Ryan “You’ve Got
Mail” pixie-style blondie - and the
shock/impact has been pretty crazy.
Initially it was really weird.
Friday, April 5, 2002
tisers, and that a pro-choice group
would be equally free to place an
ad in The Beacon.
Certainly you have to raise
money for your paper. What both
ers me about the full-color insert
is that it’s smarmy. Its journalistic
integrity was nil, and it employed
misleading headlines and blatant
scare tactics. I’d hope that a col
lege newspaper, where people are
apprenticing for careers that may
Smack
A few weeks back, I was pulling
out of a Sheetz in Slippery Rock to
pick up a friend. I was halfway out
Letters to the Editor x
j Ben Kundman, Editorial Page Editor
include journalism, would insist
that an advertiser meet minimal
standards of journalistic integrity.
This is, after all, a college cam
pus, where ads whose purpose is
to argue against the legal rights of
women should be vetted carefully.
The presence of such an ad cheap
ened your own product from a
journalistic standpoint, bringing it
down to the level of The National
Enquirer. It was insulting to many
on the sidewalk when a man jumped
in front of my car shouting
something. I couldn’t exactly pull
forward, nor could I back up because
of the cars behind me. The man was
yelling and waving his arms. I had
my cell phone on my shoulder,
talking to my friend, telling her about
the psycho that won’t move from the
hood of my car. I rolled down the
window to ask him what he wanted.
He replied, “Drive with both hands
on the wheel. It's not safe to drive
with one hand.” Maybe I shouldn’t
have been on my cell phone, but for
heaven’s sake, 1 drive a standard. I’m
sure the man didn't realize this, but
first of all, never ever jump in front
of my car, and second, how the hell
would you like me to drive? That
whole shifting gears thing...it just
doesn’t work like that. Smack.
A month ago 1 was waiting on a
table. A man asked what we had on
This whole process of moving into
the world of short hair has really
gotten me thinking. Why does
everyone have such a draw and
attachment to long hair? Is length a
good thing? And if so, why? I know
for me when I was younger, it was a
culture thing. Girls have long hair and
boys have short - no ifs, ands, or buts
about it. Feminine, pretty girls had
long hair. They were the cheerleaders
and the prom queens and the
“popular” ones. Four years later in
college, the rules have changed.
Quick, easy and cheap are the key
words and they apply to life - and in
many cases - hair as well, now.
And what is with guys and long
hair? They love it. Don’t even tell me
it is that whole “drag your woman by
the hair” caveman thing - because
then you are making us keep it long
for the wrong reasons. Hair is just an
exterior option. Who cares what it
looks like. Isn’t it what’s on the inside
that counts, anyways?
I really think that I hid behind my
long hair for quite some time. I was
behrcoll2 @aol. com
students both women and men, but
it was just as unfortunate for your
own aspirations to professional-
Sincerely,
Dr. Diana Hume George
Professor of English and Women’s
Studies
draft. I responded with the usual,
Labatt and Mich Light. The man
inquired as to what Labatt is; he had
never heard of it. Smack.
My best friend recently had a baby.
The father of the baby, who moved
300 miles away on Monday, was
supposed to visit the baby over
Easter. It’s his daughter; it’s only
right. That baby is half of him.
Instead of visiting as promised, he
went to Kalamazoo to party for the
weekend. Hence, he won’t see his
daughter until next October. Smack.
1 could probably think of a
thousand more situations if I really
cared that much, but in reality, it just
hurts my brain. So, if you are
intelligence challenged, please do
society a favor and get sterilized.
You’ll appreciate it in the future.
Miles ’ column appears
every three weeks.
afraid to get it cut, because it was
almost like if I got it cut a protective
curtain would come down and I
would be naked to the world - Oh
yeah, that’s another thing. My neck
is bare now and when it gets windy
outside my neck freezes, which is a
whole other story.
Anyway, 1 am not afraid anymore.
The hair is gone and with it went my
timidness and shyness. I figure that if
1 have enough guts to chop my hair,
I have enough guts to do anything,
right?!
So that is about it. Yes it’s still me
under that new ’do, I have not
changed on the inside in the least, but
I can say that 1 have obviously
changed on the outside in that my new
chopped style has helped me to let my
guard down to be the outgoing and
fearless person that I have always
wanted to be!
Kleck's column appears
every three weeks.