Friday, September 30, 2005 Sex Column: Are we obsessed? College students ’ morals deminishing quickly By Jennifer Haight news editor What is our fascination with sex? When did it begin? Are we, college students, obsessed with sex? Have our parents’ worst nightmares come true? Are we oversexed, over boozed and demoralized? I can’t go a day without hearing some kind of sexual innuendo. I know that I can’t go a day without making some kind of reference to sex. But I am by no means “obsessed” with it. Or am I? I don’t do it everyday or every other day for that matter. In fact, I have virgin friends and they talk about the deed even more than some of my super sex ually active friends. So maybe it is an obses sion with the idea of sex. Who says sex is all that bad anyway? As long as it is consensual, sober and protected, it’s all good. Sex can teach some very important les sons that we can’t learn from any classes, par ents or other forms of media. It teaches us that there is a whole different level to love. Not to say that love isn’t love without sex, but it does put a relationship on a different plateau. Intercourse changes things. The first time a couple does “it,” it brings a completely new level of intimacyto the relationship. You have given a great gift to someone and it brings you that much closer. Then, there’s the other kind of sex, the kind people have when they are drunk, using poor judgment and ashamed to admit they have. This is the kind of sex we have to worry about. If you ever find yourself about to engage in this Fashion Column: Faulty Fall jeans By De’Adra Walker fashion columnist In the city of Erie, Pennsylvania, we fall vic tim to three seasons - extreme heat, sort of chilly and Arctic snowy insanity. The first days of Erie’s fall-like season have recently swept the city with a heavy hand. The sun has gone irtto its seasonal hibernation, shoved a little faster by the recent freezing winds. Obviously, with this change in weather comes a change in attire. The Pennsylvania State University is an institute of higher education. It’s students take classes in high level physics, advanced market ing strategies and various arts to name a few. The notion of what is acceptable in these uncomfortable weather conditions and what is not should be second nature. The apparent gar ments to combat this weather include hats, sweaters and jeans that have so many rips, tears, and holes that they bear a striking resem blance to Swiss cheese. When I speak of these jeans, I don’t mean the pair you have owned for the past seven years that have wom out over time. I am also not referring to the ones that fall victim to their wearer’s clumsy tendencies. I speak of the Holy Grail of jeans - the $6O American Eagle/Abercrombie/Hollister pre-ripped jeans. Tech Column: Protecting your computer By Jeremy Korwek technology columnist Malware is the bane of all computer users’ existence, the constant unexpected shutdowns and seemingly never ending Microsoft patches. Malware is a large classification for all things that harm your computer and information held within. There are many different examples of Malware that exist within the wide world of the Internet. The three main ones are spyware, adware and computer viruses. Computer virus es are the most widely talked about and most commonly miss-diagnosed. Usually when someone has a computer problem they will immediately call it a computer virus, yet some times it is not a virus at all but a different type of invasive program that is causing the havoc. These programs are either spyware or adware; they are both very similar but at the same time different in small ways. Both of them can be disguised as a legitimate down load. They can be disguised as a free mp 3 download, claiming to be the latest chart top per. You may still get the song but along with that download you may also receive a smaller piece of software that searches your browser’s files for the credit card number you used to buy that book you needed for Spanish class. The program that does this is commonly called Spyware, because its purpose is to “spy” on your computer and either collect credit card numbers, see what your favorite websites are, or just leave an opening for someone to come PUDENT LT O'" O kind, you need to stop yourself and just walk away. This kind has consequences far greater and worse than the kind where our hearts are involved. Granted that these consequences may at first seem temporary, but the shame that you have to live with can be so unbearable. The media glorifies sex. So why can’t we? Television shows allude to it all the time - so do magazines and music. Sex and the concept of it is nothing foreign to us. Is there a time and place for sex? Should it stay in the bedroom? I think so. I also think that it stayed behind bed room doors for so long that it was bound to emerge, much to our elders’ chagrin. So sex is out, everyone knows about it, everyone talks about it, will it ever go back into the bedroom? Maybe it’s just a phase. There’s always a chance that we will grow out of this sexually charged state that we’re in. We may grow up and look back on some of the values we hold now and shake our heads. Even though sex should be put back in the bedroom, it probably won’t. This is because our generation has already shown to be a little less conservative than the generations before us. As the generations grow up, it is very pos sible that the conservative inklings that we all have will start to dissipate and thus make a much more liberal generation, allowing for even more than an obsession with the idea of sex, but for an obsession with the act of it. I say, go ahead, have your fun but don’t go crazy. Use good judgment and try not to do anything you’ll regret the next morning. These jeans are allegedly something truly special, however. The various holes and tears are said to serve multiple purposes. In addition to providing apparent ventilation, these tears and holes also serve as windows. It seems that it is a necessity for all to know exactly what one’s undergarments look like. Even though these garments appear fashion friendly, I feel they should come bearing warn ing labels. Wearing these jeans can be harmful to one’s health, especially in this Erie tundra. With the abundance of holes and tears, the point of wearing pants in the first place is defeated. When one wears pants that appear to have lost a fight with a weed wacker, the results appears to be thin shreds that will only dance in the Erie wind as opposed to provide protection from it. In the coming months, I foresee head lines claiming various cases of pneumonia and frostbite linked to these particular garments. My advice on this matter is simple. Save yourself some money because no article of clothing is worth spending your first bom child- and if there is, at least find yourself an entire garment and not its remnants. In addi tion, sick-leave and time off of school are not worth jeans that look like they were stomped upon during the major battles of every world war. in and look through your hard drive just for kicks. There’s another type of Malware that’s just as bad. Adware can bypass your favorite popup blocker by running on your computer directly. It can also monitor your browsing habits like Spyware and redirect you to a web site that’s tailored to you preferences while at the same time passing your credit card number to a stranger in Taiwan. Fortunately, all three types of “Malware” can be defeated by simple methods and free pro grams. Two programs that should be on every one’s computer are “Spybot-Search and Destroy” from http://www.safer networking.org/. It is my favorite to find Spyware, but this is not the only part of my arsena., Also included is “Ad-Aware” which helps eliminate any Adware programs you can find it at http://www.lavasoftusa.com/soft ware/adaware/. An extra bonus to all Penn State Students is the fact that you can get Anti- Virus software from the computer center. A suggested program for students is to down load a browser called Mozilla Firefox. This browser is one of the most highly revered free browsers you can find. If you want it you can download a version that can run from a USB drive. There are many different programs created by malicious people that are just sitting and waiting for you to accidentally stumble upon them to unleash their computer ravishing pow ers. ASA Date Auction a success By Tanya Doggwiler staff writer Have you ever paid for a date? Have you ever paid for the actual per son? Well, this past Tuesday, September, 27, you had plenty of opportunities as 20 Behrend students allowed themselves to be auctioned for Alpha Sigma Alpha’s tenth annual date auction. The proceeds are going to the S. June Smith Center and the Special Olympics. About 70 ener getic students turned out for the beach theme auction, which raised more money than the ASA sisters had expected. The S. June Smith Center is a private non-profit agency in Lancaster County PA that gives infants with developmental disabili ties education, training and therapy at their most crucial age. The Special Olympics is an international organiza tion created to help mentally chal lenged individuals find the strength to become physically able and fit to do activities that they otherwise could not do. The 20 students, ranging from ages 17 to 22, were being auctioned to their friends and fellow students, as host Justin Curry gave descriptions of each candidate. Mark Klingman, an audi ence member, when asked said, “I think it was a fun time for a good cause, and I really enjoyed the bathing suits.” Some of the participating stu dents took the liberty to dress festive ly in bathing suites, cowboy outfits and a life guard uniform. The animation on the runway stage was entertaining to say the least. The youngest student auctioned, Kapeka Galazia, said, “It was really fun getting up there and danc ing.” Her performance became even more impres sive when she did a split on the stage. Each candi date, duo or even trio enjoyed their time on the walk way by dancing, strutting or even doing a little pose. The highest priced auction was when Leacy Sauer and Brett Folga teamed up to bring in $l3O. Their ambition to raise money was evident when Folga ended his time on the stage in mini red shorts with a personal dance for an audience member, causing the crowd to go wild with cat calls and insistent bidding. Another high bid was for Theta Phi Alpha's CAMPUS SPECIALS MEDIUM 1 TOPPING & 2 20oz COKES LARGE 1 TOPPING & 2 LITER COKE ADD ON: Breadstix $1.99 Cheesestix $3.99 Chickenstrips $4.99 Wings $5.99 ASK FOR LARGE ORDER DISCOUNTS! NO NEED FOR COUPONS WHEN USING YOUR CAMPUS CARD Prices do not include taxes or delivery fee Sunday - Thursday 11:00 am -11:30 Friday & Saturday 11:00 am -12:30 am n r; pi Leacy Sauer and Brett Folga strut their stuff on the catwalk lor a good cause Better Ingredients. Better Pizza. MEDIUM 1 TOPPING $5.00 $7.50 CALL 824-8282 Sweetheart KJ Margraff, at $lOO. while he had a solo strut down the walkway. Bidding ranged from $25-$ 130. mainly staying in the higher range of $5O-$75. which is commendable for college students. Support not only came from the students in McGarvey commons, but also from some students in an Upper Reed office that attentively watched from the windows and showed signs of enthusiasm. Donations were also made by local busi nesses such as Serafini's, Quizno's. Hat n' Park. Fox and Hound and a few others. The auction became such a hit that some of the audience members ended up being auctioned off towards the end. The ASA sisters had hoped to raise $l,OOO and this was exceeded. They ended their night pleased with the outcome of the auction-and the job they had done to raise money. $6.50 The Behrend Beacon I
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers