Friday, March 25, 2005 The Behrend Beacon I'III)I „ h, the „,„, ffeleOri Penn State Erie, The Behrend College First Floor, The J• Elmer Reed Union Building Station Road, Erie, PA 16563 Contact the Beacon at: Telephone: (814) 898-6488 Fax: (814) 898-6019 Student drivers beware Picture it. You're hours away from home and your gorgeous little used car loses the spunk that made it yours. You fight to get it into the nearest parking spot (possibly miles away on this campus) and leave it. What are you to do? If you're lucky, you'll have wonder ful friends who can give you advice on where to go, tell you what might be wrong or even lend you their AAA card. Fortunately friends like these aren't hard to find, even if you haven't spoken to them in what seems like a long time. But beware, after calling to cancel the tow truck that you ordered pre- AAA friend (and having the guy thank you for wasting his day), be ready for mechanics to start salivating over a $65 an hour labor fee. You're not in a familiar environment; mechanics will try to rip you off. Have no fear, however, the friendly tow truck guy (who finally shows up two hours later) will accidentally make a wrong turn on Buffalo Road thinking he was going to his shop. You'll be nonchalant about it and casually joke that he's more than wel come to take your car to his shop if he can beat the other guy. Don't be scared to ride with him to a closed shop where your AAA friend doesn't know you're going (after all, he's picking you up). He has a cell phone and, once he gets to his car, he'll be able to plug it in and turn it on. It's worth the few minutes of uncer tainty to save $2O an hour. You won't be uncertain for long; i "•;' .?.. I. -AND YOUR OLD MAN, TOO. Daniel J• Stasiewski, Editor in Chief Amy Frizzell, Managing Editor Courtney Kaplin, Advertising Manager Alyssa Peconi, Public Relations Manager Dr. Cathy Roan, Adviser News Editor Brad Stewart Assistant News Editor Calendar Page Editor Dan Snedden Rob Frank Sports Editors Sam Cibula Sara Kamber Opinion Editor Andy McNeil Photography Editor Danielle Faulkner he'll call his girlfriend and end the conversation by saying, "Love you, sweets." How could a guy like, that possibly be untrustworthy? After he drops off your car at his garage, unties the seatbelt from the steering wheel and tries, unsuccessful ly to get into the shop, you'll be com pletely comfortable riding back to the evil other guy with him. Don't worry about the bill; he won't give you one right away. He'll just take your name and cell phone num ber, give you his card and worry about whether or not your friend will find the super-expensive other guy to take you back to campus. Once you're safely back in your friend's 1989 Chevy Celebrity, you'll realize just how lucky you are to be just where you're at in life. Don't worry about your poor car at the moment; the bill won't inflict its pain on your checkbook until tomorrow. Student Life Editor Lori DeFabio Copy Editors Lacy Buzard Jenn Haight Sarah Weber Beacon Assistant Carolyn M. Tellers Lacy Buzard copy editor i . ~ 0. p i I N,, ..1, ,cil, N Seniors clueless on graduation issues With graduation about seven weeks away, this spring's graduating class has mostly been left in the dark about what exactly is going on? Besides an infor mational pamphlet, which gives you no email addresses or phone numbers to contact with questions or problems, students have no guidance. You would think you could go the faculty within your department to answer your questions, but so far, most of us have had no such luck. Most pro fessors "have no idea," what is going on, "think you can," do this or that, or tell you to "wait until they give you the information." Seniors biggest problem seems to be what to do when in need for more tick ets? It's definitely my major problem as the allotted 5 tickets do not even cover the amount of siblings I have. I have heard a rumor that students that don't need their extra tickets can go to some place and drop them off so those of us that need them can pick them up! Seems like a logical process, except there is no speak of this in our handy guide to spring commencement. So this leads me to believe there is no such process and students will be left to beg for tickets from their friends, friends of friends, and friends of those friends. Good luck, considering I can think of at least four students off the top of my head who between them need an addi tional 23 tickets. Another question that has been asked 'George Bush' is a brand name for evil 'All presidents are mass murderers. Is mass murder required to maintain a nation such as the United States? Although a potential point of con tention, most signs point to yes. Debating the ethics of state sponsored mass murder is irrelevant as it will go on no matter the result of a such an evaluation, so given the fact that mass murder will be carried out on behalf of 'we the people' of the United States the real evaluation is to be made on the rea soning behind said murders. If the mur ders are carried out selflessly, are beyond a shadow of a doubt required for 'national security' and remit no gain to the mass murderer who initiates them (ex: George Bush) then we as Americans can look the other way with a legitimately clean conscious. The conflict between opposing fac tions of 'we the people' arises when mass murders like George Bush receive disgustingly lucrative kickbacks from their murdering, as is the case with the occupation of Iraq. If you vote for George Bush, you'll probably look the other way. If you vote against George Bush, you may have reservations against George Bush's murder for prof it. At any rate, it doesn't matter whom you vote for. All major presidential candidates are clearly little more than corporate puppets, serving their bot tom-line masters by enacting the will of the dollar on 'we the people' in a man ner which most of 'we the people' accept. When we vote for one presiden tial candidate over another, we are sim ply selecting the man we would prefer to murder for profit with our tax dollars and clear the way for 'we the people' to be exploited by the true governance of planet Earth: tyrannical corporations. It is reasonable to term anyone who murders as evil. That being so, it is cer tainly reasonable to term anyone who murders for their own personal gain as Letter to the Editor Student offended by letter to the editor Dear Behrend Beacon Editors, Four weeks ago you published an editorial by Chris Hvizdak which made some extreme claims about the current President. In the next issue, a letter to the editor was pub lished in retaliation to that article. The letter made some very severe charges against the Beacon, saying that the editors had no taste or integrity. I have to say that I was offended by that letter. The Beacon has the right, as an American publication, to print whatever it chooses. As Mr. Hvizdak is an editor of the Beacon (note from editor: Chris is not an editor, he is mere ly a columnist), he is more than capable of including his own editorials. For a reader to claim that it is a tasteless or mediocre bit of writing is also their right, but why should the rest of us have to read their complaints? People read the Beacon for news about activities and the Sara Kamber co-sports editor is who exactly needs a ticket? Does a child or baby that can sit on someone's lap need a ticket? What about some one's grandparent that is in a wheel chair? They won't be taking up an actual seat at the Junker Center and will there be special accommodations? More questions with no one to ask. Some people believe students will get the opportunity to ask questions at the upcoming Senior Salute Day's on April 4 and 5. During these days, stu dents will be able to order their caps and gowns and pick up their five tick ets, but it is unclear whether the staff on hand will be able to answer questions. Even if information is given out on Senior Salute Day, it's still kind of annoying that we're only getting this information about a month before grad- Chris Hvizdak editorial columnist evil, whether or not said murder sup posedly strengthens national security. It is also quite reasonable to identify world leaders, even George Bush, as evil mass murders that exceed the depravity of Hitler because that is truly what they are. When any individual accepts a leadership role that gives them the powers of profit, death and sometimes life on such a grand scale, they forfeit their humanity. Such immense responsibility cancels out the luxury of being considered in a human context for people like Adolph Hitler, Genghis Khan and George Bush. None person, world leader or not, is immedi ately deserving of any variety of respect. If respect is not earned it can be abused. Clearly all three of the afore mentioned murderers have abused their responsibility and the respect they have been given to a disgustingly absurd degree. We could pretend that America is a land of freedom, liberty and happiness with a strong, legitimate democracy which is leading the world into a new era of peace and prosperity, however such a worldview would be naive and irresponsible. Any American who fails to recognize the truly depraved state of clubs and organizations that are on the go on campus. Sometimes people read Jerry Pohl's articles, which 1 still can't understand, but you guys keep publishing the Humor Page. My point is that nobody is expecting sophisticated journalism about the State of the Union in the Beacon. audience is likely to read articles with a grain of salt. For someone to get so offended by that article is as ridic lous as my letter complaining about theirs. But hey, at le; I didn't complain about that article on gun rights, where writer clearly hadn't read the Second Amendment. down, readers of the Beacon, and just enjoy the tact that campus has a funny staff to keep us amused and invol every week. The Behrend Beacon I For next semester's (201)1111cm:einem. it would be nice if the students could interact a little more with faculty and staff about what is going on. I am sure faculty and staff don't really want to he bothered with a couple of hundred stu dents asking the same iluestions 0\ er affairs to which the United States lids sunken is a poor citizen and likely undeserving of the illusions of lihcrtv they pretend to treasure. We the people' can toss on our blind ers and ignore the atrocities being coin - mitted in our names for their profit around the globe however it's tougher for those blinders to obscure the ram pant unemployment, cost of living inflation and health care deficit we enjoy here in the land of the lire. These domestic issues will eventually be what breaks the hack of the cadre 01 tyranny which has enslaved our nation and the world as a whole. Democracy is not working in America today, hut it can work. The vast majority of elected officials in this country must obviously be replaced if America ever to become a nation that is beneficial to both it's own citizens and the world as a whole. The first step in this process is to rccog nize that we are currently subjugated by mass murderers who reap massive financial gain by slaughtei ing abroad in the name of 'we the people' while exploiting our pocket hooks and very lives at home. A long and slow acclimatio❑ process of is already underway where 'we the people' refuse to pull punches and speak of world leaders as they truly are. We should not he ashamed to identify world leaders as mass murderers and speak about these realities of how that impacts 'we the people' in open and honest language. By making the effort to speak accurately and succinctly on these topics in our day to day lives 'we the people' can give momentum to legitimate, democratic reformation of our wildly corrupt yet deeply promis ing system of government. "We the people" can identify evil by its brand name and turn the tide. however we must do so before the market of our minds is saturated beyond hope. Sincerely, Ben Haire uation. While most students are twin the area, there are still enough out-01 [owners like myself that could have used the information a week or two ago. It would he nice to have this fig ured out before finals, projects and job interviews start piling tip. After spending four or 11101 e wonder ful years at this school leaving thousands of dollars in debts lAinlents loans), why shouldn't each student get to have their family there to cheer them on during that special day when c kiss Behrend goodbye? Yes. the Janke' . Center can only hold so many p c( )ple, but something can he worked out. Different times for the different schools to graduate or different locations I an> sure students would rather find mawr kind resolution besides telling ( to stay at home. Anyone that has spent mole !him a month in Erie knows how av lul ,gid unpredictable the weather is, hut isn't anyone sad about not graduating out side if it's a nice day out. ' That would definitely solve the ticket piohlem and there is just something nieera.l )out the outdoors than the basketball courts. But let's take one gripe at a time here.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers