I The Behrend Beacon The Behrend Beacon. ,„,„ „ „ Si an I:rig fHI 131-11 REND Beacon 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 Letters to the editor A response to charges of treason Dear editor, I don't like being called a traitor. When Ann Coulter does it she at least makes up some sources to back up her claim, and so I can enjoy her complex falsehood. But Jason Della Sala, your staff writer, didn't even have the cour tesy of pretending to make sense when he insulted me last week. This "writer" claimed that liberals have been upset since the 2000 election over Mr. George W. Bush's thievery. Liberals have, in fact, been accommo dating. We have supported his actions in Afghanistan, and, in the beginning, his war in Iraq. Only when it became clear that his intent was imperial did we become belligerent in regards to Iraq. And his statement of the less wealthy in the Midwest supporting him as a repre sentation of Mr. Bush's equal treatment can be countered with one word. Homophobia. His statement about the oil prices can be countered by its own silly reasoning. Yes, gas prices have gone up, but high gas prices are good for oil companies, because they can take higher profits. And, really, if Mr. Bush is SO for the No diving, Dear editor, After reading the editorial 'Sex on the Beach leads to more,' I think it is absolutely necessary to respond. Comstock's article is vulgar and repul sive. It appears the article was supposed to be clever and funny, but do the words "popping-out breasts" sound funny in my editorial? They didn't in yours. I don't know the last time you lis tened to a friend tell a morning-after story. When I hear them, they are usu ally about regret and embarrassment, and the only desire involved is the desire for the hook-up to have never happened. Even with the "story," a hookup is usually meaningless and self-denigrating. I'm not sure what you had in mind when you set out to write this editorial, but I hope your goal wasn't to make girls sound easy. I am no stranger to 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 general public, then why is the unem ployment rate so high? Also, to finish up the idea that your writer had about the electoral college, he should know that, constitutionally, if one wins a greater number of votes within one State, the representatives of that State are duty-bound to vote for the candidate selected by the public. Instead, the national Supreme Court, with Antonin Scalia at its head, inter fered. So what's more constitutional? At this point, I'd like to quote Al Franken. We both love. America. It's just that liberals love America like adults. When America has a problem, we work to make it better. Republicans love America like children. Mommy is always right and anyone who disagrees with her is evil. I'm sick of you radical conservatives spouting off these ideas you've gotten from Rush Limbaugh, and interfering with real discourse. Get some real data and think about it before you put pen to paper. the bar, and I have yet to go home with the random guy staring at me from the corner of the bar. Those random strangers actually freak me out. You included a few statistics in your article, and while I added the one-night stand statistics to my growing useless knowledge, I wondered what the statis tics were for STDs and rape from bar hook-ups. This day and age it is irre sponsible to write an editorial that seems to be condoning one-night stands without mentioning some of the consequences. As I said, I am no stranger to the bar. Next time you see me at the bar, though, don't bother checking out my cleavage and comparing it to yours. I won't be your competition. Student Life Editor Lori DeFabio Copy Editors Lacy Buzard Jenn Haight Sarah Weber Beacon Assistant Carolyn M. Tellers Sincerely, Ben Haire no sex Sincerely, Siobhan Conway COMM 06 OPINION Let's talk about sex: a college student's guide to using the bars properly As many of you probably read, in last week's issue there was an editorial enti tled "Sex on the beach leads to more," in which the columnist provided insight into the world of bar going. She point ed out many reasons as to why one would go to a bar. All of which point ed to the fact that one does not go to the bars to have a drink, dance and have fun with friends but simply to "be 'in heat — and to find "horny rabbits" to buy us drinks. Though she included facts and num bers that provided accuracy to her claims, it still got me thinking: What if somewhere out there, there are people who don't know why one really goes to a bar? That could create chaos! So in spirit of "horny rabbits in heat" all over the world I've decided to create a College Student's Guide to Using the Bars Properly. I know that when I go to bars I never think to myself, "Man I can't wait to have a beer and dance." I'm always thinking, "I can not wait to find some horny rabbit that will take one look at my boobs and offer me 'sex on the beach — if you know what I mean. Now that I think about it, the last time I went to a bar they actually checked my amount of cleavage and asked me if I was 'in heat.' I guess they changed the rules being 21 just isn't enough any- Letter to the Dear editor, I'd like to disagree with the opinion of Mr. Della Sala, as published in the April I issue of the Beacon. As I understand it, he feels that the ideology known as "liberalism," which he por trays as opposition to Republican poli cies, promotes the betrayal of the United States and is without any redeeming value; for those familiar with Orwell's 1984, the term "Goldsteinism" seems to apply. I don't agree with this characterization. Treason, which the column's header equates with liberalism, is defined as "levying War against them, or in adher ing to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort" by the Constitution. Simple disagreement with one's gov ernment does not qualify—rather, it is specifically protected by the First Amendment, most clearly in the right of the people to peaceably assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. As for the column itself, several top ics are of concern. The 2000 presiden tial election was questioned due to the non-counting of votes throughout sev eral counties in Florida; a community denied its rightful expression may well feel robbed. Conversely, the Ohio issue in 2004, was questionable thanks to the comments of a Diebold—the voting machine producer—official who promised to help Ohio deliver its elec toral votes to Bush. Not exactly the sentiment one would wish from the machines' manufacturer, is it? Tyranny has nothing to do with one's status as a mass murderer. Mass murder is a fairly simple crime, as they go: kill three or more people in one "sitting." Frankly, if one has played any of the Grand Theft Auto games, chances are you've managed it—con gratulations! In any case, ridding the world of tyrants is infeasible at best, and likely impossible with current conditions— the planet is simply too big. As soon as you purge one and move on, others will move in and replace it—and who determines whether or not a liven iiieVOIV Was tat , Pan DEATH MKDe SOW! . raZas editor: Strayer's two cents Frizzell managing editor If you do make it past the strict new policy the first thing you gals must do is find a "horny rabbit" to buy you drinks. Never ever let someone see you buying your own drinks. That would be breaking rule number two and it would end all hopes of having a ran dom hookup. Imagine it. You're buying your own drink and a guy looks over and sees you. He immediately assumes that you a) can't make your boobs look big enough to get a guy to buy it for you; b) maybe you're into girls (not that there's anything wrong with that) and you're ITALIAN GUY IGNORE? --1 vs. tA I)3S f/ 1 /,//, ruler is tyrannical? Ask anyone incar cerated at Guantanamo Bay—or, better still, Abu Ghiraib—and chances are they'll indicate that they were the recip ient of "harsh, severe, or unmerciful action" which might well constitute an "arbitrary or oppressive exercise of power" or "unjustly severe use of one's authority." All of these are included in the Oxford English Dictionary's defini tion of tyranny. Regarding international law, the US has its own problems: the invasion and subsequent activity was—and is—out of conformity with the UN Charter, which is generally considered to be important international law. Kofi Annan noted that in an interview with the BBC on September 16, 2004. Furthermore, there are other places where things are going bad, such as Sudan or the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The genocide in Sudan is fairly well-documented, but is appar ently less important—as for the DRC, some six African states are engaged in "what would be World War 111 if it was taking place in Europe." In terms of human suffering, these are probably more worthy of interven tion—Hussein lacked any nuclear, bio logical, or chemical weapons at the time he was accused of so packing, largely thanks to UN restrictions. In Sudan, however, people are being Friday, April 8, 2005 getting one for a chick you just met which in that case he wouldn't have a shot anyway or c) (brace yourself this may be the worst of them all) that you are independent and don't mind buying drinks for yourself cause you're just there to have a good time with your friends in which case he should get you kicked out cause you clearly should not have been let in. To ensure a random hookup one should pick out a guy or gal early in the night, making sure to keep an eye on him or her. Can't let them buggers get away. Make sure you tell your friends so they know exactly which person you're going after. It could be like a game, whoever snags their person first... wins. Remember guys and gals one should never leave the bar without at least one story to tell in the morning. Because once again what would be the point of going to the bar if you don't come back with a random hookup story. Talking about how wasted you were when you decided it would be a good idea to cut your hair or try to take a test just isn't part of the college experience anymore. Hookups, so hot right now. Look for "A College Student's Guide to Using the Bars Properly" in the heavy sarcasm section of your local bookstore. Replace McNeil Please Please Please Replace IS Ilg 11IAT Become an Editor For more info djs39s@psu.edu slaughtered—now, not years ago, but NOW. War is raging in the DRC at the moment, and was so raging whilst Mr. Powell spoke to the UN...lraq was comparably stagnant before the US rolled in. Finally, I was unable to find any mention of a "faith-based prison pro gram" or "Christianity teaching, pris ons" in either the 109th Congress or the US Code. Taking Mr. Sala at his word, however, the possibility of individual prisoners opting out of the program is irrelevant; enabling government enti ties to teach one religion, while not so enabling other religions, is known as "fostering an establishment of reli gion"—in effect, creating a state-spon sored religion, similar to the Anglican church in England. The folks who fled England, eventually establishing the colonies which became the 13 original States, did so due to persecution for not being of that church. The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment, prohibiting any such state-sponsored religion, is the first protection in the Bill of Rights for that reason. and if you doubt the peaceful nature of Christianity, feel free to ask an Aztec, Cherokee, Inca, Lakota or— for that matter—a Muslim. Chris Strayer POLSC 06
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