Page 6 The Behrend Beacon The Behrend Beacon , In 1/ I / /I h /II I <I( /I News Editor Erin McCarty Sports Editors Scott Soltis Zoe Rose Editorial Page Editor Paige Miles Features Editor Karl Benacci Staff Photographers Jeff Hankey Heather Myers 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. All you have to I turned on the news to see an older man handing a baby girl to a younger man, down the side of an old red boat. Their faces looked tired, drained, spent, but satisfied. They had finally reached their long sought destination: America. The individuals on TV were three of the 2(X) Haitians who landed in Miami two weeks past. All 200 made landfall and therefore qualified for "dry foot" status. This status allows them the ability to seek politcal asylum if they can prove theyvilt be prosecuted for their political beliefs if sent back to Haiti. Some were lucky and able to hitch rides into Miami and start a new life; others were caught and are now being detained, waiting for their cases to he heard. These men, women, and children risked their lives to make the voyage from Haiti to the US in the rugged old boat, Shu Shu Bay. They left behind homes, families, and friends, to come to the United States. Yet some of these men and women may be sent back to Haiti after all their hardships. Sadly, under U.S. law, if the Haitian immigrants cannot prove that they are seeking politi cal asylum. not economic, they will be turned back to the poor island from which they came, an island where men and women eek out a living every day. So what is the point? Who cares if a few Haitians will be sent back to home? Well, there are a few reasons why we should care and a few why the want-to-be Americans should be allowed to natural- For starters, Haitians are treated differ ently from Cubans. If a Cuban lands on U.S. soil, if their "wet feet" meet dry American land, then they automatically are Letters to the Editor I am writing this letter is in re sponse to Mike Frawley's article, "Put Down the Gun, Heston." His article, for those who did not read it, was about guns and how they should not be a part of our society. He feels that we should give up our right to bear arms, because we do not use guns as the founders of our constitu tion originally intended. I suppose this means our freedom of speech, religion, etc. should be revised or banned as well, because our founders did not realize these rights would be interpreted in so many ways. How ever, I doubt any debate will ever occur over these rights because they are enjoyed by so many people. Yet, a lot of people also enjoy the right to bear arms. Frawley's opinions about gun con trol were probably concocted after listening to Hilary Clinton babble about some new radical idea that should be made a law. Yet, most do not realize hard factual evidence that states if our guns are taken away, as Editor-in-Chief Kevin Fallon Managing Editors Rebecca Weindorf Robert Wynne ----' vii Beacon "A newspaper by the Technical Support students for the students" Doug Butterworth Professional Publication Mgr Dave Richards Advisor Cathy Roan 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 do is want it: The Haitian immigrants now wait behind bars considered political refuges and given citi zenship within a year, due to the 1966 Cuban Adjust ment Act. This is because they are coming from a Communist state and are considered political refu gees. But Haiti is demo cratic (at least in form). Their president, Roger Noriega, took the presi den°, iiiN2olChanct has be gur4ptssiVe campaign against his political rivals. The 2000 election was shady at best; utterly cor rupt at worst. But we still consider the nation "demo cratic." Regardless, Hai tians are seen as economic refugees who are just com ing to the US to earn more money. I say, "What's the difference? - Cubans, Haitians, Mexicans, people from Mars, whatever, if they are coming to the United States, they are coming to be Americans. We have a better political system, a better economy, and a better future, than their na tive lands. Who cares for what reasons they are seeking asylum in the United States as long as they are coming to the United States'? Can we deprive others the right to seek a better life? No one person in the United States de scends from someone who did not immi grate to the U.S. Even the Native Ameri cans immigrated to the United States across the Bering Strait. No human life ever "origi nated" in the Western Hemisphere. If a U.S. citizen is denying the right of another to im migrate, than that citizen is a hypocrite. they were in England or Australia. our crime rate will sky rocket. In Australia armed robberies rose 73% AFTER guns were taken away and stricter gun laws were imposed. In some places, crime rose 300% after guns were taken away. Thus this col umnist has decided to jump on the gun control wagon and try to get im pressionable college students to sway his way. I take the avid role of the person to inform you with FACTS not opin ions. Frawley said he was more wor ried about normal people obtaining guns, not criminals. His example was the Arizona shootings, but I will give you one better: the Columbine shootings or recent sniper attacks. Contrary to popular belief more people die from intentional crimes than accidental shootings with registered guns. Yet he would rather take guns away and increase our society's crime. APso, most gun crime today occurs from those guns received on the black market, rather 3 ~,,.., t .,„,„ ~.4,„,„„.. ~,:,, ~.,,„.,,,, :,....:. Advertising Managers Melissa Powell Christine Kleck Calendar Page Editor Ennn Hansen Humor Page Editor Ross Lockwood Associate Editor Jen Henderson Distribution Manager Scott Soltis that week's issue Guy Reschenthaler • 97" , . . Friday, November 15, 2002 The eighties just called; they want Mr. T and Alf back Alf and Mr. T are not cool anymore, and Carrot Top is just company had the best deal? How much was it per minute after really annoying. Major long-distance telephone providers the first 20? I remember the one with Alyssa Milano the best, haven't quite grasped this fact. Rather, communication though, no further comment. providers such as 1-800-COLLECT, AT&T, and 10-10-220 It all makes perfect sense. Obviously, since the media has have decided to have an all-out eighties war with each other such a profound impact on Americans, companies like AT&T in which they pull icons and characters from the past and its competitors use that impact to their advantage. So two decades and make them perform 30-second maybe they can't afford (or are not willing to spend the - " skits about why their company allows the viewer money) on Vin Diesel or J-Lo to make a 30-second clip to "save a buck or two."praising their cheap long-distance services. I guess they're Individually, I think, these companies have a ' . ,--- , content with searching the "eighties actors unemployment --..4, good game plan. Dig up an icon of the eighties 4... or, line" for help. , that the 18 to 23-year-old crowd (the group Personally, I don't trust any of them. Any of people that are college students living ' company that can afford to have 20 prime-time away from home or that have movedads has to pay for those slots somehow. I out completely) will remember from I . their childhood something that t. * went towards the cost of the commercial? ''',ls,,, . already has a place in our brain; and 4,,,,, -'" ( 4? / Don't get me wrong, I realize that any major then lay an advertisement on top of 4 . : ' 4 ! . 4 ~1 ) brand name is going to sink money into ads it. In essence, these phone company AA I ;it, to promote their product. Phone services, commercials are a parasite on the t '''' however, compete about pennies, and don't human brain; you know, like how Rob Wynne really have a tangible product to offer. dogs have fleas. Those ads placed Also to their disadvantage, there is during prime-time on cable and local no "quality of product" to argue over. channels reach the target audience, and then someone decides Regardless of whether you're using Sprint, out of the blue that their new favorite long-distance carrier is AT&T, or 1-800-COLLECT, you'll still be using the same phone Sprint or AT&T. At least, that's what those companies hope. talking to the same person who won't sound any different just Even during the small amount of time that Ido watch TV because you "dialed down the center." In such a competitive each week, lam subjected to an overwhelming number of communications market, I guess major companies are willing these ads. The problem is, even though the commercials are to pay the big bucks. Ido not know, however, which long unique, so many of them make my head spin. If at some time distance carrier the eighties used when they called for Hulk I needed to dial long-distance, I'm sure I would remember Hogan and Alf. the advertisements, but not necessarily which number went with what ad. "Hmm...l remember an ad with Alf, one with Alf and Hulk Hogan, and one with Alyssa Milano." But which With every wave of immigration, there ders should be wide open and no questions should be asked, that we just let everyone become a citizen. We still need to screen immigrants and make sure they are not violent crimi nals, terrorists, or pose a threat to the citi zenry: But at the same time, we cannot ban immigration or hinder it. We cannot continue to be a free nation, without free borders. Think of Berlin. I bet you thought of a big concrete wall. Now think of Ellis Island. I bet you thought of lines of immi grants entering New York. Oppressive bor ders are for oppressive regimes; free bor ders are for free states. I feel that, one reason why America is such a great nation, why our technology is cutting-edge, and why our economy is ro bust, is in part due to our immigration. Ev ery year, immigrants pour into our coun try. We are refreshed with new ideas, new than with registered guns. If guns are banned, this does not mean they will no longer be available. Take drugs for example, qiey are illegal, yet somehow I could get pretty much what ever I wanted with no hassle and for a cheaper price than if they were legalized. So next time you read someone's run away wet dream about control issues of the American people, whether it be guns, speech or even clothes, remember to get facts and not base your concluding ideas on someone else's opinion: f Ryan Joseph Hess, 03, I picked up a Bdlcon today jtt like I always do•evy Monday, ex cept this time there was no humor page in it. Looks like the onl,l thing the Bet con is good for now is Pizza Hut coupons Kevin Kearney customs, and new ways of thinking. We are constantly being renewed. We are be ing reinvented with every wave of immi gration. In a market. which thrives on en trepreneurial spirit, immigration boosts our production and innovation. is resistance There was resis- tance to the Irish, the Ger- mans, Southern Germany is tough on immigration, like many European nations. Their economy and their culture stagnate. Because of im migration, the U.S. is less likely to suffer from such stagnation. We are always grow ing and expanding. We are taking all the good ideas, concepts, and ideals of other cultures and making them are own. America is constantly forging herself into a stronger state. Europeans, Asians, and et- cetera. Every group success fully assimi lated, despite native reluc- tance. We have a perfect track record in this Some argue that immigrants drain our economy because sonic live on government handouts and take advantage of our social welfare programs, such as healthcare. This is especially the argument used in Califor nia. Arizona, and New Mexico. But maybe these states should reform their healthcare and welfare systems rather than seal the US border. It is easy to blame immigrants for failing government programs. They are easy targets for politicians trying to twist public opinion. But the truth is most immi grants come to the U.S. to work, not to be come parasites, not to live off welfare pro grams. area, so why stop now'? I'm not say- Perhaps many Americans are losing sight of what it means to be an American. A lot of us go around putting labels on our na tionality. How many people do you hear say they are Italian-American, Irish-Ameri can, African-American, etc? I hear it all the time. I bet if we ask one of the Haitians in detention what it means to be an Ameri can they would not say, "Being a Haitian- American means...." They would say, "Be- Paige Miles, Editorial Page Editor Wynne's column appears every three weeks ing an American means being free, being ones own man, being able to make a de cent living, living under a stable democratic government...." The immigrants are trying to he Americans, not X-Americans. All it takes to be an American is to want to be an American. That is what we are all about. We are a nation built not on ethnicity, or national heritage, but rather we are a na tion built on ideals. We are forged together with principles and ideas. Anyone who be lieves in our ideology is an American. Be lieving and wanting to live like an Amer,- can is all it takes to be an American: TM is a great thing. Ronald Reagan once said what makes America great is that "we all come from somewhere else. We all have roots that reach somewhere far away." Not a common skin color, not a set of customs, not even a common language ties us to gether. We all bond as Americans under one vision, the American dream. Look, here's how it is: it's about time that we open the doors to all who want to im migrate to the United States (given they do not pose any sort of threat). It is time to join together as Americans. If we shut down our borders because of terrorism, then the terrorists have won. If we do not ac cept foreigners as our own, then we have lost our ideals. It is time to stop labeling ourselves as "X -Americans." Let's drop the X and just be Americans. Let's think about those who want to become Ameri can, those not lucky enough to be born in the United States. Let's think about the Haitians sitting in jail. Reschenthaler's column appears every three weeks.
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