Amy Wilczynski, editorial page editor
The Behrend Beacon
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Penn State Erie,
the Behrend College;
First Floor, The J. Elmer Reed Union Building,
Letter to the Editor
Who has more pride?
I am writing in response to the ar
ticle written about Homecoming Re
quirements. I agree with many of the
points in the article. I agree all the
members of court should be involved
on campus and I think that a GPA re
quirement is a fine idea. The one thing
that I completely disagree with, though,
is the opinion that everyone on court
should be of fifth semester standing or
higher.
Why can't first through fourth se
mester students handle the "responsi
bility of representing our school?"
Many sophomores are very involved on
campus and most freshmen are more
enthusiastic about Behrend (and col
lege, in general) than many juniors and
seniors. For instance, almost the en
tire Homecoming Committee is made
up of sophomores, who are involved
on campus. These committee members
are so passionate about Behrend they
Tattered flag
over tattered
I'm sure everyone gets teary-eyed
hearing the National Anthem at
sporting events and gets a little misty
as a group of aged veterans march
down the street during the Fourth of
July. I do, too. However patriotic
these sights are, in my eyes, America
has become a hypocrisy rather than
a democracy. Americans called for
military response after Sept. 1 1 th,
but when I asked my friends if they
had registered for Selective Service
(the draft) a majority had not. Ameri
cans are proud to have a democratic
system in place that supports and
protects our rights but on average,
only 30 percent of registered voters
actually voted in the last Presiden
tial election.
Let's talk about the Super Bowl.
Ah yes, the grand match up between
NFL powerhouses that reinvigorate
American sport. Before the kick-off,
American servicemen and women
carried out the American flag while
Beyonce sang the National Anthem.
But, unfortunately during the half
time show, the same capacity sta
dium and millions of television sets
that bore witness to the beautiful dis
play of pre-game patriotism had the
misfortune to view Kid Rock
trample on that blissful spirit by don
ning a poncho. The poncho was the
American flag with a slit cut into it.
Seem a bit ironic? What better way
to proudly support our servicemen
and women than to purposely de
stroy the flag? I'm sure that the
Editor in Chief
Lauren M. Packer
Managing Editor
Daniel J. Stasiewski
Assistant Managing Editor
Scott Soltis
•
Supplemental Editor
Lauren M. Packer
Station Road, Erie, PA 16563
Contact The Beacon at:
Telephone: (814) 898-6488
Fax: (814) 898-6019
ISSN 1071-9288.
took on the "responsibility" of planning
an event meant to unite the student
population. Name any junior or senior
who is involved on campus and an
equally involved freshman or sopho
more can be named. Not to be stereo
typical, but I believe most seniors are
excited about finally leaving Behrend
and most freshmen are excited just to
be here.
I am offended that, in the opinion of
Lauren Packer, over half this campus
is not able to represent this school! Not
allowing first through fourth semester
students to participate in court would
definitely be a "repeat of high school
homecoming." What good would it
serve to eliminate freshmen and sopho
mores, except to exclude them from
participating in the celebration?
grieving families of some 500 person
nel killed in Iraq thank you, Kid Rock
(note the sarcasm).
On my way out of campus, I pass by
the lower level parking lot of Erie Hall.
When I recently looked up at the flag
pole in the parking lot I saw yet an
other travesty of American "patrio
tism." The flag was in deplorable con
dition. The edges are so tattered that
the bottom red stripe has totally de
tached from the rest of the flag and
hangs separate. It resembles one of
those flags that is seen in a history book
that has been through battle and has
been riddled by bullet holes. There is
a difference between those flags and
the flag that flies over Behrend - ours
has not been in battle. Instead, it has
been dilapidated by weather and age.
I think it's time we put up a fight for
our beliefs. The Rally for Student Aid
in Harrisburg is a great place to start. I
hear people complaining about the
downward trend in Student Aid, but
how many people have registered to
take the trip? Let's get our opinion
heard and show the policy makers that
we actually do care. Let's go out and
vote in elections. The only way democ
racy works is for people to go get their
opinion heard through one of the only
rights we have over our government
voting. Let's take pride in our country.
If we don't, who will? The time for
complaining is over. The time for ac
tion has come.
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Advertising Manager
Ryan Russell
Calendar Page Editor
Rob Frank
A&E Editor
Daniel J. Stasiewski
Erika Jarvis
Kristen Comstock
COMBA 04
flies
nation
Sean Hannan
LA 02
Friday, February 13, 2004
What really becomes of the broken-hearted?
Can we really die of a broken heart?
During the month of February, many
lovers are dazzled with the spirit of
Valentine's Day. But what about those
who have lost a lover due to death?
Experts say people can, in fact, die of
a broken heart, or grief. A change in a
person's immune system can cause
the body to go into severe stress and
shock, according to experts
(www.msn.com). Some grievers are
in such a state of depression that they
tend to shy away from their own per
sonal needs such as health and hy
giene.
There have been many famous
people who are said to have died of a
broken heart. It's a sad reality, but
death happens every second, every
minute, every hour, every day. Even
more are affected by death, some to
the point of creating their own bro
ken-hearted death.
The famous country legend, Johnny
Cash, who died on Sept. 12, 2003, is
said to have died of a broken heart.
The "Man in Black" lost his beloved
wife, June Carter Cash, in May due
to heart surgery complications. Offi
cial reports say Johnny Cash died
from his fight with diabetes. Others
say he was broken hearted.
A heavy weight boxer from Ohio,
Bradley Rone, collapsed and died of
apparent cardiac arrest in the boxing
ring in July 2003. This was the same
day his mother, Thelma Rone, died
And the stupid award goes t 0...
by Tim Denial
staff writer
Well, we're all in full swing now
here at Penn State Erie the Behrend
College. The first tests have begun and
I think we all could use a little some
thing to lessen the tension. No, I'm not
talking about a trip to the new oxygen
bar in Erie, but rather a simple click
of the mouse on darwinawards.com.
We've all done some outrageously
dumb things that I'm sure we're not
proud of, but as long as you're still
alive to hope no one saw us do it, we
are safe from receiving any of these
awards.
Before I move on I should explain
what exactly a Darwin Award is.
Charles Darwin was a British natural
ist who lived during the 1800 s. It was
Darwin who coined the phrase "sur
vival of the fittest." Thus the Darwin
Awards are bestowed to those who
were not fit and did not survive.
If you haven't already checked this
out, it's always good for a laugh, with
Darwin Awards dating back to 1995
Support PSB basketball
I started working at Behrend in
October, 1977 and have always fol
lowed and supported the basketball
program. I watched Behrend play
Mercyhurst and nearly beat Gannon
on their home court. All said and
done, this is by far the best men's
basketball team that's ever hit the
hardwood at Behrend. I've been
amazed to look at empty seats in the
Junker Center. We have a world
class University facility, team and
coaches, yet few care to show sup
port. Our athletes receive no athletic
scholarship and handle the demand
ing academic workload that Penn
State Behrend requires of all its stu
dents. In addition, they aspire to be
IMsagrimiP disagreeP disagreo disagree? disagree? disagreeP
write your opinion to The Beacon
e-mail The Beacon at behrcoll2@aolcom
end make sure you include your name, major, and semester standing
IT]
e g-IN
Amy nski
of heart failure. Family and friends
say the 34 year-old, 259-pound boxer
from Cincinnati died of nothing more
than a broken heart, and nothing re
lated to boxing.
President James M. Buchanan is
said to have died of a broken heart
after a broken engagement with Anne
Coleman, the daughter of one of
Lancaster's wealthiest families.
Coleman called off the engagement
and her family forbade Buchanan to
have any contact with her. Shortly af
ter, Coleman died and Buchanan was
not allowed to attend his beloved's fu
neral. Legends say that Buchanan
never married and stayed a bachelor
for the rest of his life, until he died in
1868 of a broken heart.
Catherine of Aragon, daughter of
King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella,
was the first wife of Henry VIII. Af
not to mention the vintage Darwin
Award winners
Here's a short example: In Febru
ary of 2003, in Australia, a home
owner was welding on the roof of his
house. He had a problem with the
oxygen tanks sliding on the house so
he had the ingenious idea of "tack
ing" the tank to the roofing iron on
the house. Needless to say that was
the last thing he ever did.
This site gives us all a chance to
marvel in the stupidity of some of the
world's biggest boneheads and rejoice
at the fact that they are no longer a
threat to the gene pool of the not-so
dumb.
Once you reach the site you'll no
tice that the designers of this site are
not worried about running out of
nominees. There have been 258
Darwins awarded since their creation,
but it doesn't stop there. There have
also been 107 mentions awarded over
the years. These are given to those
who avoided the ultimate sacrifice but
by some strange coincidence man
aged to avoid death.
the best they can be as a team.
They've invested a lot of time,
work and energy. It's paid off in
their performance. One would think
you would see the student body and
community support our team. Of
ten admission is free. Its amazing
to think a bleacher full of Bradford
fans in the 2003 AMCC champion
ship final out cheered the entire
Junker Center home fans. The
Junker Center has never reached
seating capacity at a P.S.B. varsity
basketball game. Feb. 21 at 8 p.m.
is your last chance to see the team
in action before we host the AMCC
tournament. The only thing our 20
game winning team might need to
The Behrend Beacon
ter many attempts of producing a male
heir to Henry's throne, Catherine only
gave birth to one child, a daughter,
Mary. Henry arranged an annulment
and later married his second wife, Anne
Boleyn. Catherine was separated from
her only daughter and died four years
later of a broken heart.
These are just a few stories of people
who have died of a broken heart. Ac
cording to experts, the bereaved do
have some control of their grief
stricken lives. Often people who have
lost a loved one fall into a black hole
and refuse to get on with their every
day life. It is difficult for grievers to
believe life exists outside of their pain
and anguish. This mentality eventually
puts them over the edge and they die
of what many people call a broken
heart. The natural defense system shuts
down due to lack of activity. Loss of
reality of everyday life acts as a bar
rier for any health problems and symp
toms. The griever often forgets about
his or her own pain and sorrow and
sinks deeper into depression.
This Valentine's Day, think about
those who do not have someone spe
cial to share this lover's holiday. Send
a card, make a phone call, send an e
mail. Who knows, you may be help
ing to heal a broken heart.
Amy Wilczynski column appears
every three weeks.
Larry Walters of Los Angeles
knows how these awards work first
hand. Since Walters had always
wanted to fly, he got the great idea to
tie helium balloons to a lawn chair
and sail away. Once he wanted to
come down he figured a pellet gun
would work. He'd just shoot a few
balloons and slowly descend. But
then again he never expected to get
higher than 30 feet off the ground,
not 1,600 feet where he eventually
leveled off. Larry did eventually re
turn to the ground, amazingly unhurt,
but it wasn't until he'd been in the air
for 14 hours and his beer and sand
wiches were all gone.
So anyway I hope you check this
Website out if you're in need of a little
confidence boost. No matter what it
is you've done, you're still part of the
fittest that survived.
Tim Denial's column appears
every three weeks.
win it all is the third man. I think that
means you if you're not on the team
and reading this. Our cheerleaders
and dance team provide exciting half
time entertainment. Bring your
friends and family. Join the Behrend
community while we rock the house.
Let's see some spirit. There's plenty
of it to go around our campus. Don't
forget our women. This relatively
young team doesn't hold a back seat
to anyone. 17-5 overall and tied for
Ist in the AMCC. Definitely worth a
second look. The action starts at 6.
Janitorial Foreman/
Recycling Coordinator
Page
Gordon H. Walk