4 I The Behrend Beacon
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech. or of the press; or
the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. - The First Ammendment to the U.S. Constitution
Winter driver weirdos
Okay people, this is Erie. Pennsylvania and we are well past the offi
cial winter point. Simply because Mother Nature seems to he a hit con
fused about how to act this season, we cannot play the "ignorance card"
attempting to avoid responsibility. And on that note, the overwhelming
majority of Behrend students arc from Pennsylvania (especially
Pittsburgh) so it's not like snow is some surprising new concept. If you
resided in Erie, as a student or an official Erie-ite, then you need to
know how to handle life with snow, more specifically, if you have a car:
learn to drive it. I can't make this much clearer: it snows here. you need
to know how to drive when it does happen. Over this past break I ended
up staying here in Erie to work. Our weather for Thanksgiving and Black
Friday, not so lovely. Personally. I was shocked to see how many people
could not handle a minor snowstorm. Traffic all over downtown was
nothing short of aggravating.
Let me just throw out some general advice to all drivers for proper
winter driving technique. Probably the most important thing to remem-
ber is to slow down. The harder you push down the gas pedal the more
your tires are going to spin. So when you are at a standstill, you can get
yourself stuck in place (if the snow is that deep) or if you are already
moving, giving the pedal an extra kick of speed can cause your vehicle
to lose traction and your forward momentum will take over resulting in
you spinning out of control or sliding in a direction that you didn't orig
inally intend to go in. Driving at a slower, yet still steady pace. will
void you of most of the problems of winter driving. And lets face it, a
fender-bender will only lower your budget available for buying gifts.
Along that note, slamming on your brakes will result in your tires
locking up and once again, momentum and inertia are not your friends.
If your tires stop moving in snowy and icy conditions your car doesn't
seem to pay any attention. When you know you are going to need to stop
you should start slowing down well before where you need to in case
you slide or skid. Also, if you do start to slide or skid remember to
remain calm if you have anti-lock breaks then they will do their job,
,just
continue to apply pressure to your brake pedal. If you do not have anti
lock breaks then pump the break pedal so that your tires won't lock up
so you have a better chance to stop safely, avoiding an accident. And
when you do stop for any reason, make sure you leave yourself some
space between you and the car in front of you. That way, if someone
does rear-end you, you will not hit the car in front of von, resulting in
more damage
The next point of advice to consider is that while you may he driving
safely, more than likely, all the other wackos on the road with you aren't.
So leave extra room between you and the other cars on the road and it
you see someone moving at a faster-than-reasonahly-safe speed try to
stay clear of them. The laws of science should allow you to guess where
they could end up if they do start to slide, so just make sure you are not
in that pathway. There are a lot of drivers in SUVs and cars with all-
wheel-drive who seem to think they are invincible, so just stay out of
their way and let them hit a tree instead of you. Also, when the light
turns green, wait a few extra seconds to make sure everyone is able to
stop at the intersection. If they can't stop, they could broadside. which
is considered to be one of the most dangerous impacts your car can take.
So come on everyone, I know you want to get the best spot at the mall.
or you want to get to wherever you think is so important that your going
to, but I'm sure you can handle the ten extra minutes that driving safely
costs you.
The Behrend Beacon
pubushedweck,„ by the students of Penn State Erie
I IL II hRIND
Beacon Opinion Editor
Chris Hviidak
Penn State Erie,
The Behrend College Contact the Beacon at:
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Union Building Fax: (814) 898-6019
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THON is extremely important Tor the Kids'
By Robert Frank
managing editor
I've been a part of Penn State since as far back
as I can remember. My father hated Pitt with a
passion, mainly because that's where he went to
school, and taught us all the glory of Old State.
Before my college years my older sister became
involved in something she called THON. I had
no idea what it meant, nor did I understand why
"For The Kids" was plastered all over her AIM
info. After becoming a student at Behrend, I
came to realize what THON is and how absolute
ly important it has become over the years.
THON actually is short for Penn State
IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, and it's the
largest student-run philanthropy in the world.
Thanks to the efforts of THON these students
have raised over $3O million to help fight pedi
atric cancer. I remember thinking "how can I
help out? I'm at Behrend and THON is at
University Park." What many students don't
realize is that there is a very active THON com
mittee right here at Behrend. This year they're
hosting a mini-THON to help raise more money
for the kids. This mini-THON will be a scaled
down version of the event thrown at University
Park annually. It will include 24 hours of non
stop dancing and music provided by the Lion
Entertainment Board. Another great way to get
involved in THON is to go "canning." Canning
involves students wearing signs describing
THON and its purpose and soliciting drivers of
Have a "Thumbs Up" or
"Thumbs Down" ?
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Quote of the Week
Beacon Thumbs Down
- Regular and prolonged
campus internet outages.
- Wild temperature fluctuations.
- Changing "Black Friday" to
"Cash Friday."
vehicles while they're stopped. Canning is one
of the most effective fundraising campaigns
within THON. If you're interested in helping
with canning, contact Meredith Straub to get
more details.
Let's say you don't want to be directly
involved with THON, but do you still want to
help out? The answer to that question is yes.
Meredith Straub and Ken Middlemiss directors
of the THON committee at Behrend wrote, "We
are actively trying to make this year the best
THON year ever. There are many activities that
you as a student can participate in to help raise
money."
Some of these activities are the norm for many
students. For example, next Tuesday is THON
bowling night at Eastland Bowl. If you go from
9:30 p.m. to midnight its $7 for unlimited bowl
ing, shoes are included. Just by paying the $7
you will have donated to a cause that is not only
worthwhile but one of the most successful caus
es in college history. There is also a Lift-A
THON scheduled for January, as well as bar
nights for those that are of the appropriate age.
These are activities that you participate in regu
larly anyway, so why not be a part of something
as big as THON? No other university system can
say they have the largest student-run philanthro
py. Not many universities can say they've raised
$3O million for kids and families with pediatric
cancer. I'm happy to donate my time and energy
to a worthy cause such as THON, and I'm sure
that many more of you would like to do the
same.
"If by a 'Liberal' they mean someone who
looks ahead and not behind, someone who
welcomes new ideas without rigid reactions,
someone who cares about the welfare of the
people their health, their housing, their
schools, their jobs, their civil rights, and
their civil liberties someone who believes
we can break through the stalemate and sus
picions that grip us in our policies abroad, if
that is what they mean by a "Liberal," then
I'm proud to say I'm a "Liberal."
Friday, December 02, 2005
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-John F. Kennedy