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
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2006 Olympics Games
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Halo:
By Chris Hvizdak
staff writer
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Video games are perhaps the most hal
lo \Acti past time of recent generations.
There i. certainly no shame in enjoying
video games as a lighthearted form of
entertainment. a therapeutic escape or
even a vk av of life. It's a free country.
Howe \ cr. I take issue with people who
devote themselves to recent, widely
ailable. simple minded games and
thusly pound their chests in total igno
rance of what exists outside their realm
of awareness. The Chief Offender? Halo.
Milo is. "first person shooter.... - on a
console system. No. I don't mean to
indulge in a "this system is better
because' . name calling contest: I mean to
speak the truth. First person shooters
were originated on personal computers.
By their very nature, they require the
accuracy inherent in the mouse/keyboard
control combination. This simply cannot
be paralleled with a console controller.
This narrowed spectrum of control
Letter to the editor
Behrend Beacon Stall
We, Muslim students of Penn State Erie, note with surprise
and consternation that you published an extremely offensive
drawing associated with an article titled: "Cartoons Cause
Controversy" on the front page of your paper's last issue dated
Friday. February 10, 2006.
While we recognize your right to free speech, we feel that it
shows insensitivity towards the Muslim community that is also
a part of America's demographics. In fact many reputable
organizations in the U.S. media, including the CNN, have
retrained from showing the cartoons.
To live harmonious' in a Jobalized world we hole ou
I thought he
was one of those
animal-human hybrids
the president was
Just for Kids
inherent to console first person shooters
eliminates much of the actual skill
required to play the game and makes
success unevenly dependent upon luck
and memorization.
And that's cool. Halo can he a tine
game for parties and other large gather
ings. It's light and entertaining. So is
Mario Party another game which
requires less skill than button pushing.
This is all well and good - if you don't
take it seriously. But some people do.
There's a lot of chest pounding these
days related to Halo. Do a Google
search; you'll see.
Candy Land is another game that
relies mostly on luck. You don't see a
whole lot of people taking that seriously.
Of course, you do have your competitive
board game players who do take Candy
Land seriously, but they do so in a light
hearted spirit, not a deadly serious one
as the Halo folk do. To the Halo folk I
say Keep your shame to yourself or find
a real game. Unreal Tournament 2007
should ship in a few months.
Then there's World of Warcraft.
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-Garbage in the smoke fountains
-Macintosh computers
-Roommates who don't wash their
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will show greater maturity and understanding towards others
and refrain from publishing anything that offends people's cul
tural and religious beliefs and sensitivities.
Muslims of Penn State Erie
Ashraf Khalifa, Engineering freshman, second semester.
This letter has been also signed by:
Arta Latili Heidi Silbaugh
Lul Nur
Naima Abukar
Anula Alomeranic
Ze ne I Ez .1 Muderriso:lu
Again, if someone wants to burn away
their life leveling up at the cost of $l2 a
month, that's fine. Just keep it to your
self. Yes, I've played my share of digital
and paper Role Playing Games. I appre
ciate their value. However, I do not
appreciate the flood of crappy humor
that is flooding the internet related to
World of Warcraft. No one cares if you
and five of your friends can get your
wizards to dance in sync with the Village
People. Please do not post it on "You're
The Man Now Dog" or any other web
site.
There are plenty of great current and
classic games out there. As a generation
that has grown up with these "murder
simulators," as elected members of both
political parties are quick to call them,
we owe it to our detractors to raise up
games that require a little skill and a lit
tle class as the touchstones of the era.
The Grand Theft Auto series is a fine
example of balance between skill and
violent gratification. Let's champion that
one over Halo so we can at least main
tain some sense of dignity.
Tanya Doggwiler
Njomza Latifi
Ahmed Yansaneh
Submission Guidelines
The Beacon welcomes readers to share their views on this page.
Letters and commentary pieces can be submitted by email to opin
ion@psu.edu or directly to the Beacon office, located in the Reed
Building.
Letters should be limited to 350 words and commentaries should be
limited to 700 words. The more concise the submission, the less we
will be forced to edit it for space concerns and the more likely we are
to run the submission.
All submissions must include the writer's year in school, major and
name as The Beacon does not publish anonymous letters. Deadline
for any submission is 5 p.m. Tuesday afternoon for inclusion in the
Friday issue. All submissions are considered, but because of space
limitations, some may not be published.
All submissions must include consent to be edited before they can
be edited for publication.
Apathy epidemic
By Jennifer Haight
news editor
jah I 005(a psu.edu
I know you've probably seen about a
dozen or so articles claiming there is
widespread student apathy. However, I
do not foresee an end to these types of
editorials until students begin to stop
complaining and start doing. To those of
you who are active on campus and who
do strive to make it a better place despite
the complaints and lack of concern, I
thank you. I think you're doing a won
derful job.
To those of you who complain, stop;
there are plenty of things to do on this
campus. Do you not look at the walls as
you climb the stairwells and wander the
halls in Reed, Kochel and Hammermill
each and every day? Do you not have
friends in the clubs and organizations
which sponsor such events?
The Diversity Committee just had an
entire week of events put together
specifically for you, the students. There
were performers from a chalk painter,
which most of you probably would have
found to be really interesting had you
gone, an African drum band, which a lot
of people wouldn't have attended if it
were not made mandatory by some
instructors. There were other performers
including a singer/activist who had some
really fascinating things to say and
Yellow Rage who also were pretty
remarkable.
Excuse my scathing tongue, but I am
sick of hearing people say that there is
nothing to do here. If you just take the
Have a "Thumbs Up" or "Thumbs Down" ?
Send Suggestions to opinion • psu.edu
The Behrend Beacon
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B T e iE d i e REND
Assistant Managing Editor Calendar Page Editor
Patrick Webster Siobhan Conway
Penn State Erie,
The Behrend College
First Floor, The J. Elmer Reed Union Building
Friday, Feburary 17, 2006
time to look around, you will find that
there is plenty. There is either a comedi
an or magician or something at Bruno's
nearly every Saturday night, and there is
also a movie showing every weekend in
Reed.
If none of these things strike your
fancy, then take it up with someone who
can do something about it. Complaining
about it to your friends at lunch isn't
going to bring some fabulous rock star
here. Better yet, why don't you try to
hook an event and publicize it and get
people to attend. Put yourselves in the
sponsor's shoes. Not only do they have
to book the event, which in and of itself
is tough as nails, but they also have to
get people to attend.
I am thankful to the people who do go
to the events and who can appreciate it
when the people in clubs and organiza
tions put their hearts and souls into sev
eral events, or even just one event. I wish
there could be more students like you.
The goal of this editorial is not to make
you feel bad...on second thought, yes it
is. It is about time to start looking around
and opening up your eyes to new envi
ronments and events; experience some
thing new; challenge yourself.
There is so much more than drinking
on the weekends. Beer pong gets boring
after a while, as does going to the same
apartments weekend after weekend and
saying and doing the same drunken
things you said and did last weekend.
Don't waste all your money on booze;
you can watch a movie in Reed for a dol
lar and go to most, if not all of the other
events free of charge.
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
Opinion Editor
Daniel Mitchell
Humor Editor
Jerry Pohl
Station Road, Erie, PA 16563
Contact the Beacon at:
Telephone: (814) 898-6488
Fax: (814) 898-6019
Student Life Editor
Sean Mihlo
Copy Editors
Kate Kelecseny
Rachael Conway
Justin Plansinis
Photography Editor
Michelle Vera Suroviec