THE BEHREND BEACON Friday, October 22, 2004 lamic fundamentalism rican Dream series continues By Tim Mak staff writer The third speaker in the American ream series presented Tuesday in the mith Chapel. Professor Baher hosheh spoke on Islamic fundamen lism. Ghosheh brought the audience 3t just into the world of Islam, but so the world of politics. Ghosheh explored whether Islam id fundamentalism is the answer or le problem and why fundamentalism on the rise in many Muslim societ “Although Muslims see themselves as victims of colonialists, neocolonialists and puppet regimes that do their bidding, for many Islam ists, Islamic Fundamentalism is the only solution after both the west and the east have failed Muslim societies,” said Ghosheh. One point Ghosheh frequently raised is the relationship between Is lam and politics. It is believed that there should be a balance between the government’s right to obedience from people and people’s right to justice from government on the reformism aspect of Islamic Fundamentalism. “There is no separation between mosque and state,” said Ghosheh. “Dictatorship means no freedom and government needs religion for power. Islamism represents a last ditch effort to better their situation after decades of living in impoverished states. Dr. Charles Brock raised an intrigu ing question on why President Bush verbally attacked Muslim countries since they also want freedom, success and equality, specifically referring to when Bush claimed terrorists hate freedom. Ghosheh’s critical answer applied his theory that religion and politics always intertwine. “President Bush does not quite un derstand the situation of Muslims. His presentation of why he started the war Inside Eminem criticism, STUDENT LIFE, Page 8 Jimmy Eat World review, STUDENT LIFE, Page 8 Dangerous liberals, OPINION. Page 6 CONTENTS News 1-5 Editorial 6 Student Life 8-11 Sports 11-14 CONTACT US Newsroom: 898-6488 Fax: 898-6019 E-maii: behrendbeacon@aol.com Our offices are located down stairs in the Reed Union Building. was problematic that they did not want freedom,” said Ghosheh. “However, reality does not coincide with what President Bush said. They want free dom as well, but they can’t achieve it." “The talk is a little bit like RL ST 107, introduction to Islam, for those who have not done much reading or thinking on Islamic ideas," said Bill Sesler, a Christian lawyer as well as a Behrend alumnus. “It is an appropri ate and well-organized lecture, but I think it needs to be more interactive.” He also believes that it is difficult for President Bush to withdraw from the US-Islamic issues in a way that will not lead to a political mess. Having taught at Edinboro Univer sity since 1989, Ghosheh developed courses in international relations, in ternational trade, economic develop ment and regional geography with his doctorate and masters degree in those fields. He is also interested in the in terplay between religion and politics, and culture and development with the focus on Middle Eastern Studies. Bom in Jerusalem, having lived in six countries and traveled to 48 coun tries including about 20 Muslim coun tries, Ghosheh gained much experi ence on cross-cultural and interna tional contacts. Those experiences allow him to be a professional guest speaker on cultural studies, politics of the Middle East, Islam: reality and misconceptions and US - Middle East Policies, etc. Being a frequent guest speaker on the Islamic and Middle East issues, he hoped we could learn more about the freedom, assimilation and liberty of countries and cultures. Tuesday, Dr. Dan Frankforter of Behrend will speak on the topic of Christian fundamentalism as the last part of the Institute on the American Dream Speaker Series. The lecture, which will be held in the Smith Chapel, starts at 7:30 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Erie party representatives battle at Behrend Moore , Porter meet in Reed 117 to debate campaign >ore,.. , represent .epu ican r,... ot jsl iy .in opposition to jmocratic Steven Porter, far right. Chris Hvizdak, center, mediated the debate that"took place in Reed 117. By Annie Sevin staff writer Behrend held a political forum on Tuesday. Members of the COMMU 405 class (organizers of the event) as well as other students, faculty, and community members welcomed Dr. Steven Porter and Brad Moore as they debated poli tics in the Reed building. Porter is running against Pennsylva nian Congressman Phil English (R-3) for Pennsylvania’s third congressional seat. Due to other obligations, English was not able to attend the debate this week. Moore, English’s campaign manager, came in his stead. A Penn State Erie Student Publication Former secretary of labor, Robert Reich, spoke on Wednesday as part of the Behrend Speaker Series. Reich broached topics including national economic recovery and economic policy. Reich speaks on economy On Wednesday evening, former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich spoke to Behrend students, staff, community members concerning the nation’s economy and political situation. In the McGarvey Commons, before an audience of more than 100 people, CEO and Dean Jack Burke introduced Reich as a counterpoint to Linda Chavez, the republican supporting speaker that out lined her views on national and interna tional policies and politics. Reich spent the majority of his speech shying away from any political bias. He presented his economic views in nonpar tisan, layman terms, allowing all audi ence members to easily comprehend his presentation. “It’s not George Bush’s fault,” said Reich. “It’s not Bill Clinton’s fault. There are other forces at work.” Reich felt the economic recession was no particular individual’s or administration’s fault. He explained the The COMMU 405 course, taught by Professor Davis took advantage of this year’s intense political atmosphere by in viting the two Congressional candidates to campus. "Being election year, I just had to do this,” said Davis. “It was just something too good to let go, especially the way the campaign is going. I figured this is really something; we should dedicate this to this class. I’m really happy with the students who are involved with the cam paign they learned and felt they accom plished something. I’m very happy to night.” The debate, like most political debates By Bradley Stewart news editor business-cycle to the McGarvey audi ence as well as what he believed to be the three driving forces, “vectors,” be hind the nation’s economy. Some of his views were notably demo cratic. “We need immigrants,” said Reich, while explaining the dire situa tion of social security. While other views could be considered closer to republican agendas, specifically when he spoke on outsourcing of jobs. "I thought he did an excellent job,” said Dr. James A. Kurre, associate pro fessor of economics. “There are some subjects most economists agree on, and then there are those that are subjective from a political standpoint. I give him credit for trying to separate the politics from the economics.” Kurre felt that Reich’s presentation was impressive, only disagreeing with him in relation to China and patent laws. “He kind of glossed over the topic of China and prescription drugs,” said Kerre. “He gave the impression that we’re rich enough and we can afford to this year, was both lively and boring. Porter gave some lengthy commentary and a few heated moments arose between the two gentlemen. Porter and Moore dealt with issues such as healthcare, social security, im porting of drugs, and, of course, the Iraq war. Each gentleman disagreed on al most every subject discussed. Porter stood and faced the audience every time he addressed a question. He kept raising his voice to get his point across. One of the more ardent moments came when he expressed his view of the future, “I am frightened for my country.. .1 am fearful of the country you Vol. LII No. 9 subsidize. But there are a lot of senior citizens who can’t pay for their drugs.” Ultimately Reich forsees economic growth in the near future as part of the business cycle; the economy fluctuates up and down. In one of his few partisan comments, he identified the Bush admin istration “as blowing it big time” in terms of speeding up economic recovery. He quelled fears of soon-to-be career searching graduates. “I’m not so wor ried about there being enough jobs,” said Reich. “You will have jobs but the na ture of the job contract is dramatically different. The key competitive advan tage is innovation. You graduates will be working very very hard.” After the forty-five minute speech and question-answer session, Reich received a standing ovation. “Overall, I thought he was a better speaker than Linda Chavez and reinforces my reasons for being a Democrat,” said Matt Leister, PLTSC 07. “Republicans just criticize and place blame.” will inherit,” said Porter. Throughout the debate, Porter kept pulling out fact sheets and e-mails to use as proof that the Republican Party is wrong on certain issues. “I wish both sides had been repre sented by the people running for con gress,” said Carry Daniel, MRKT 07, one of the students in attendance. “It would have been more balanced.” “It was a lot of fun to sit up there,” said Moore, “but I was at a little bit of a disadvantage.” He was still very posi tive about the future of this country in the hands of republicans and he was ex tremely optimistic about the Republi can Party’s position in the presidential election. The students involved with setting up the debate seemed very pleased with how the event turned out. Chris Hvizdak, COMBA 09, commentator for the de bate, said, “I think it went very well, they were both conversational, they were both willing to state their case. We didn’t have a time limit so they were able to fully elaborate on their arguments and they were able to convey their parties personal points of view.” Jared Clough, COMBA 07, another COMMU 405 student helped out with the debate as well. “It was extremely in teresting. I think Mr. Moore was at a dis advantage because he was not the can didate [English] and it was blatantly ob vious that he was not prepared to [counter] Dr. Porter’s stances. They both got their points in; I think overall it was pretty good. I wish more students were there because we.. .could’ve asked more questions.” issues
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