Friday, January 20, 2006
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Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of reliok n. or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press: -0711
the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government fora redress of grievances. - The First Ammendment to the U.S. Constitution
The Behrend Beacon
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1 BEHREND
Beacon
Assistant Managing Editor Calendar Page Editor
Patrick Webster Siobhan Conway
Penn State Erie,
The Behrend College
First Floor, The J. Elmer Reed Union Building
Station Road, Erie, PA 16563
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Beacon Thumbs Up
. 011,
(4067:
- Return of the Reed printer
- Keeping your New Year's resolutions
- Ramen Noodles being so cheap
- Winter on again
Annie Sevin, Editor in Chief
Rob Frank, Managing Editor
Courtney Kaplin, Advertising Manager
Randy Martell, Public Relations Manager
Kim Young, Adviser
News Editor
Jennifer Haight
Sports Editor
Chris LaFuria
Humor Editor
Jerry Pohl
Photography Editor
Michelle Vera Suroviec
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1 NIP
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Student Life Editor
KJ Margraff Jr.
Copy Editors
Kate Kelecseny
Kachael Conway
Justin Plansinis
- Paying $1.75 to do a load of laundry
- Salt lines on pants
- Over crowded fitness rooms
- Winter off again
Stop punching me, padiddles aren't funny
By Annie Sevin
editor in chief
editorinchiet Ca' pstLedu
My sister called me last Wednesday
to ask if I had spoken to my mother
that day. When I said that I hadn't,
she told me I had better call her.
Immediately I knew something was
wrong, so I pressed my sister to tell
me. I was expecting to hear bad news
about my father because he's always
in and out of the hospital for heart
problems. However, she told me that
our grandma had found a lump in her
breast.
My grandmother is 83 years old;
she's always been the sane constant in
my life. She and I are very much
alike; we're both very stubborn, and
we both have a natural tendency to
want to feed those who come into our
homes. I love my grandmother very,
very much, and news of the malignan
cy is just too overwhelming to think
about.
However, there is something that I
cannot stop thinking about: an event
that happened just the day after I heard
that my grandma was dying. A close
friend of mine made a mini-website
for me (or maybe it was about me, I'm
not really sure; I didn't bother to ask).
This friend knew that over winter
break I had had a breast reduction (if
you want to know why, read Michelle
Vera Suroveic's article featured on
page 8 of last week's Beacon).
Anyway, some other friends had
nicknamed me "One Headlight" prior
to the surgery in case the doctor
screwed up. I thought the name was
mildly amusing, but my friend with
Beacon Thumbs Down
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the mini-website thought it was really
funny because "one headlight" was
the theme he fashioned the site after.
He used The Wallflowers song
`One Headlight," as background
music for a still image of a naked
woman with one breast. At first I was
taken aback by the image. Then I
realized the photo was of an elderly
woman (shown from the waist to the
neck) that appeared to be a victim of
cancer.
The style of the photo looked like it
had been taken for insurance purposes.
I had similar photos taken before and
after my surgery; having pictures of
that nature taken is traumatic in and of
itself. Seeing the exploitation of that
cancer patient's photo was so unbear
able I had to leave the room. I was so
upset that I couldn't even think of
what to say or shout at this friend who
was under the impression that he had
made an amusing site for people to
gawk at.
And gawk they did. He didn't show
the site to just me almost everyone
who saw it thought it was just hilari
ous. I didn't tell them about my
grandmother; I shouldn't have had to.
Penn State implemented a civility
program last year that was meant to
teach us more about being civilized
people. I can clearly see that time and
money has been wasted on that proj
ect. Some people can be inhumane
monsters and not give a damn about
who they hurt or offend as long as
they get their jollies off in the process.
That is not civility. And civility was
n't what my friend was practicing.
Behrend preaches peace between
different cultures and understanding or
American Idle
It may seem rather ambiguous, but fast food "Drive-Thru"
menus and remote controls have a world of similarities. In a
world full of Internet shopping malls and overnight video
rental deliveries, it seems as if the world has developed a pan
demic of laziness that is rewinding evolution and sending the
human race back about a 1000 years physically and mentally
(obviously excluding technologically).
If one traces back the history of scientific evolution,
humankind has adapted fully capable legs and a straight back
to make the act of walking much easier. Thousands of years
ago, the first humans would have traded anything to have the
physical capabilities of modern-day humans. However, thanks
to such devices as the Internet and delivery, our contemporary
society fails to utilize such natural benefits.
Whether it is a lack of motivation or simple laziness, many
Americans are less active than suggested by doctors and psy
chologists. The famous Lebanese author Kahlil Gibran once
said, "The lust for comfort, that stealthy thing that enters the
house a guest and then becomes a host, and then a master."
Gibran talks about how laziness starts with getting a ride up to
Ohio Hall from Reed Union Building, turns into calling the cell
phone of your friend who lives down the hall and ultimately
turns into Instant Messaging your roommate. And anybody
who claims to have not done any of the aforementioned actions
is lying to himself or herself.
Being lazy and inactive has many effects on daily life. How
many times have you put off studying for an exam or finishing
a lab because you "just don't feel like doing it"! By letting
laziness obstruct the completion of their goals, people can find
themselves struggling to stay ahead of the game and in control
of their personal destinys. Also, there is a health factor dealing
with such indolence and immobility. The absence of exercising
and staying active can take a toll on people's heart and physical
state of being.
Another aspect of eliminating laziness that most people are
incognizant to is that many ideas and significant events can
occur when a person is doing something. As former president
Thomas Jefferson said, "Determine never to be idle... It is won
derful how much may be done if we are always doing."
Electricity wasn't discovered when Benjamin Franklin was sit
ting on his couch. Gravity wasn't discovered when Newton
was lying in his bed. Most of the famous and significant
events in our country and throughout the world occurred when
people put forth the effort and weren't struck by lethargy and
laziness.
The only way to overcome laziness is to start on a small
scale. I'm almost positive that hitching a ride from Reed to
Ohio is not necessary. Every time I see someone standing and
waiting at the base of the elevator behind Perry Hall, I just
want to point out the fact that placed next to the elevator is a
set of stairs that gets one from place to place. Implementing
physical exertion in place of mechanical methods will make
people ultimately healthier and more disciplined. Keep this in
mind the next time you go to send a text message to someone
The Behrend Beacon I
tolerating those who are different from
you. It's hard to stomach the notion
that disgusting acts like the one my
friend committed are going unnoticed
as acts of incivility. What he did was
n't peaceful. It wasn't a tool of under
standing or tolerance. It was meant to
be a "friendly" joke. It was meant to
get a few laughs.
It turned out to be an abhorrent dis
figurement of our friendship. This so
called funny gag was nothing if not
cruel and unwarranted. Yes, this was
an isolated incident, and it involved
very few people, but things of this
nature happen all the time - every
where. The most unpleasant thing
about that incident was that it hap
pened between friends, not enemies.
How are we, as young Americans,
supposed to learn how to fix the prob
lems in this world if we can't even
learn to be civil and respectful to our
friends?
I'm not one to tell people to tiptoe
around others because they might get
upset I'm a journalist, it's my job to
push buttons and make people uncom
fortable. However, there are some sit
uations that should be handled with a
little more couth and class than was
presented last Thursday. In short, all
of us need to grow up, get cultured, be
civilized and learn sensitivity!
When I was a senior in high school,
my mother's best friend told me,
"Sometimes in life, my dear, you must
learn to suffer fools." There are
enough fools and suffering in mine
and my grandmother's world - don't
make us suffer you, my friend.
By Chris LaFuria
sports editor
csls(X)s(wpsu.edu