Paige Miles, Editorial Page Editor nii
The Behrend Beacon
Id II I 111 ill t tNr I 1I < 11(111( II
News Editor
Erin McCarty
Assistant Sports Editor
Lauren Packer
Assistant News Editor
Jen Henderson
Sports Editor
Scott Sottis
Editorial Page Editor
B e E
Paige Miles acon
Features Editor
Karl Benacci
"A newspaper by the
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Jeff Hankey
Heather Myers
The Beacon is published
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Penn State Erie,
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ISSN 1071-9288.
The war is really
National Public Radio recently re
ported that many teens are getting their
information about the war with Iraq
from alternative news sources. In this
case, it's MTV News.
Sure, MTV News might not be as re
spected as, let's say, Jay Leno's mono
logue. But I think it's great that MTV
is bringing important issues to a place
where teens will more likely be exposed
to them.
I went to MTV.com to check out some
of their war coverage for myself. I
found the war stories right between "Get
Spring Break Party Tips" and "Chris
tina Aguilera Gets `Dirrty' at Mardi
Gras."
This raises an interesting question.
What do rock stars think about the war?
The Dixie Chicks have received the
most press for speaking out against
Bush. One of the Chicks, Natalie
Maines, recently told a London crowd.
"We're ashamed the President of the
United States is from Texas.-
In response, many Texas fans had
public Dixie Chicks CD smashing par
ties. The band's songs were pulled from
many radio stations, and sales of its al
bum "Home" fell by more than 42 per
cent.
Don't mess with Texas.
I totally agree that people should be
outraged at the Dixie Chicks. But not
Do you want to join the Beacon?
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The Beacon provides a great place, for all majors, to get
real world experience. Letters of application for the
editor•in-chief position are to be submitted to: Ken
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Editor-in-Chief
Kevin Fallon
Managing Editors
Rebecca Weindorf
Robert Wynne
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Dave Richards
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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
because of what they said about
Bush. Their butchering of "Land
slide" is enough reason for me.
But not all rock stars are against
this war. In fact, the always-poi
gnant Nickleback singer Chad
Kroeger supports ti
really love m
and I really love m!
and I really love e'
one who's in my lit -,
Kroeger told MT
News. "And if the
are some #%i
a@#%holesanywh(
with the ability
launch a weapon
mass destruction a..
hurt any of those Kevin Fallon
things that I love or
anybody anywhere,
then that's a problem
that has to be dealt with.'
Whoa, that's deep. Don't mess
with Nicklehack (or their girl
friends).
MTV also reports that the war in-
spired Jewel to make an electronic
album
"I knew we were headed to war,
and I wanted to make a record that
was fun, that made you ... want to
lose yourself in rhythm and feel pas-
Advertising Manager
Christine Kleck
Calendar Page Editor
Erinn Hansen
A&E Editor
Daniel J. Stasiewski
Associate Editor
Mike Butala
Healthy Living Editor
Courtney Straub
Distribution Manager
Scott Soltis
that week's issue
Friday, March 28, 2003
' ., 0
FoR SADDAM.*
FOrx ColgereSS:
rockin' now
sionate and young, - said Jewel to MTV.
Ahh yes, how could bombing a coun
try led by an insane dictator not make
you think of going to a dance club to get
your groove on? Nothing says, "party"
like weapons of mass destruc-
MTV also covers some more
serious aspects of the war such
as news updates. It also ex
plains the war to teens in a way
they can understand.
For example, the ar
ticle "When Congress
Doesn't Declare War, Is It
Still A War'?" tries to explain
to younger readers the dif
ference between a war and
a military operation of
"shock and awe." It may
be confusing to some of
the simple minded and
uneducated youth of this country how
President Bush can in all but name go
to war even though the Constitution
gives Congress alone the right to declare
war.
The article does a good job, but I
would like to explain it further to any
young readers out there.
See, these are trying times. And that
means sometimes you have to give up
some measly rights in the interest of na
tional security. The problem with the
Who the heck is Oscar anyhow?
by Paige Miles
Editorial Page Editor
I didn't watch the Oscars. Hell, I
didn't even know who was
nominated (coincidentally,
however, I went and saw
"Chicago" at Tinseltown while the
Oscars were on). And honestly, I
don't give a damn about these
awards shows. The only one that
ever remotely interests me is
MTV's Video Music Awards. At
least it's entertaining.
I have never felt the need to
praise all of Hollywood's well off
more than they already are. Don't
they already have the mansions, the
cars, the money, and the looks? Ok,
so let's praise them more by telling
them that out of five crappy
movies, their movie sucked the
least. And then, let's watch them
cry while they thank everyone from
their psychiatrist to their dog
walker. (I heard this year they could
only thank a minimum number of
people. It's about time.)
For the ii. .*0
For FRANCE
ilk i
Constitution is that it provides us too
mangy• rights. That makes this country
unsafe
The government needs to take all
copies of the Constitution and replace
it with Denny's menus. Although citi
zens will no longer have inalienable
rights, they will have the right to
Moons Over My Hammy. This will
make for a much safer and tasty coun
try.
But I digress. I shouldn't he so hard
on Bush on this topic because Con
gress most likely would have sup
ported Bush if it voted. Bush is just
trying to take a culture that has been
around for centuries and completely
change it in a matter of months. This
might seem like a difficult task. But
as soon as Iraqis see Christina Aguilera
get dirrty in Baghdad, they will em
brace democracy with open arms.
It's easy to make fun of MTV. But
the fact is that many teens would rather
tune in to MTV than Dan Rather. At
least now teens will be somewhat edu
cated on the issues. In these trying,
times it is important that everyone,
even teens, know what is going on.
The world is a difficult place to un
derstand right now. As one MTV
reader said, "I didn't realize how much
I liked 'N Sync until they were gone."
But the reason I choose to rant
about the Oscars this year is
because many actors think that
because they are all powerful and
know everything about the world,
they can preach about the war and
politics. As I recall, many of the
elite in Hollywood never even
made it through college, much
less ever took a political science
course. Hence, they really aren't
all that educated in the dealings
of the war. Therefore, they should
shut their mouths.
Sure, they can go ahead and
preach peace, but when the
United States is attacked again,
they'll be all for breaking out a
can of whoop-ass on Sadaam and
Osama.
And the whole not walking on
the red carpet out of respect for
the soldiers? Please. I don't think
the soldiers could care less if the
stars walk in the front of the back
entrance. In reality, they were all
scared of being attacked, so like
cowards, they went through the
Show your
parents
that you
actually
did
something
in college.
Send a letter to
the editor!
Behrcoll2
@aol.com
Include your
name, major, and
semester standing.
back way.
Maybe it's time they do what
they are good at—looking pretty
and making had movies.
Thus lies one of the major
problems in the United States right
now. People are uneducated. They
choose to whine and moan about
President Bush and the war, but
they know so little about what is
actually going on. Some of them
haven't yet turned on CNN or
opened the newspaper.
But of course, sitting on their
butts and watching MTV makes
them experts. In fact, it makes
them so smart, they want our
President impeached right in the
middle of the war. God forbid they
support our soldiers who are
risking their lives, and proud to do
it, to save our basic freedoms.
In essence, if you're going to
remain on the couch, turn off
HBO, the award shows, etc., and
watch CNN or MSNBC. Inform
yourself before you shoot your
mouth off. The country is better off
The Behrend Beacon
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