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 A mmendment to the U.S. Constitution
The Behrend Beacon
Published Weekly by the students of Penn State Lirie
I 111 HI lIK I Ml
beacon
Penn State Erie,
The Behrend College
First Floor, The J. Elmer Reed Union Building
Have a “Thumbs Up” or “Thumbs Down” ?
Send Suggestions to klksoos@psu.edu
Submission Guidelines
The Beacon welcomes readers to share their views on this page. Letters
.and commentary pieces can be .submitted by email to
(directly to the Beacon office, located in the Reed Building.
„ Letters should be limited to 350 words and, eoitunentaries should he lim
ited to 700 words. The rrtorc 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 docs not publish anonymous letters. Deadline for any sub*
mission 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submissions are considered, but because of space limitations, some may not
be published.
The Behrend Beacon reserves the right to edit any submissions prior to
publication.
Turn signals are so last yea
An epidemic is spreading across America. There is a rapidly-growing number of
people who can't seem to properly operate a motor vehicle. In fact, it’s almost as if
everyone simply forgot about the other millions of people who use the same roads
they do. Where is the courtesy' 1
Let’s start with one of my greatest pet peeves: turn signals. I know that they are
incredibly difficult to use and all, hut as far as I know, every car has them as standard
equipment. Sure, if you're in the middle of nowhere, and it’s four in the morning,
they’re not that necessary. However, if you are turning left and there are any cars
behind you, it’s pretty much a no-brainer that you should put your turn signal on. It
drives me insane when a ear in front of me randomly begins braking. 1 look around
to see if maybe there's a cop or perhaps an animal about to cross the road. Then the
car begins turning. Thanks, buddy. It’s also really great when someone is turning,
and they put their signal on while they are turning. Yeah, I figured out what you were
doing, no need to warn me now.
Yet another type of driver that I'm quite fond of is the old person. Now, I know
we’re supposed to respect our elders, but sometimes it’s hard. I honestly believe that
anyone 60 and older should be forced to retest for their driver’s licenses. Many older
folks get upset when they hear this, but come on. If you’re a capable driver, then
what's the problem with retesting every couple of years? I have been driving for over
five years now. and I've been rear-ended twice. In both instances, the driver was an
older person. One of the incidents was on my high school’s property. When I got
out of the car to check for damage, a cop approached the old man, and asked him if
he was ok. Not me. the one who was hit. The man didn’t even ask if my car or I was
ok. Nice.
Another type of driver that I love to be on the road with is the “follows-so-close
behind-you-that-you-can't-see-their-headlights" driver. I will admit that I’m guilty
of this as well, but it drives me crazy. The driver seems to think that if they ride my
bumper, I’ll magically speed up. However, when this occurs, it just makes me slow
down.
“Sight-seers” are also fun to follow. These are usually tourists, or someone who is
trying to find where they’re going. These fine drivers can be found by following the
large line of traffic they build up behind them. They are the ones who are not look
ing at the road; they are far too busy looking around in wonder. And those who are
trying to find a specific address? They have this crazy new website: MapQuest.com.
Look up directions before you start searching, it’ll save everyone who follows you
much aggravation.
Answers for last week's crossword puzzle
were in the clues.
Good luck on this week's edition of the
Niedenberger and Kelecseny.
Jennifer Haight. Editor in Chief
Patrick Webster. Managing Editor
Lindsay Snyder, Advertising Manager
Michelle Vera Suroviec, Public Relations Manager
Kim Young. Adviser
News Editor
Chris LaEuria
Sports Editors
Daniel Mitchell
Nick Underhill
Opinion Editor
Kate Kelecsenv
Humor Editor
Ben Raymond
Station Road, Erie, PA 16563
Contact the Beacon at:
Telephone: (814)898-6488
Tax: (814)898-6019
$ 9
■
By Janet Niedenberger
CO|n Cell lor
OPINION
Student Life Editor
Sean Mihlo
Calendar Page Editor
Rachael Conway
Copy Editors
Rachael Conway
Jordan Gilmore
Miranda Krause
Janet Niedenberger
Photography Editor
Mike Sharkey
Beacon Thumbs Up Beacon Thumbs Down ;
- Any size coffee at Sheetz is $.89
- No Friday finals
- Golf team winning tournament
- SGA’s newsletter “The Spotlight”
••••••••••••••••••••••••• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
On-campus living leaves more to be desired
Deciding to live on campus for three years was one of the
best decisions I ever made for myself. This is, however, my
fourth year here at Behrend.
I can remember back, many moons ago, when 1 moved into
my first room on the ground floor of Niagara Hall. Coming in
as a freshman I didn’t know anyone on campus, not even my
roommate. When I left my high school, I was in a graduating
class of 68 people. We all knew each other there, and it was a
comforting feeling. We had all grown up together and shared
the same experiences. All of that was gone.
As it turns out lots of people were having those same feel
ings. Within the first week our entire floor would go to eat din
ner at Dobbin’s together. The friendships I made there have
stuck with me all these years.
Going into sophomore year was great. I got to move into
Porcupine Hall with a bunch of the guys from the previous
year. From there it was on to the apartments. The group was
split down into four people.
Having on-campus apartments was a great idea on the part of
housing. They are a step above traditional housing, and a good
training model for living off campus after graduation. The way
it is set up is where I think there needs to be a change.
After the first two years of living on campus I had gotten to
know the people I lived with very well. My roommate gradu
ated in the fall of 2005. For the spring semester there was a
stranger moving into my apartment. It was awkward for both
of us. If the apartments are supposed to be a model for living
The Niedenberger and Kelecseny: Literature Edition
DOWN
1. A formal speech delivered in a formal manner
2. An analogy; identifying one object with another
3. The central idea of a literary work
4. The study of beauty in nature or in art
5. A saying made familiar by common and long use
6. A figure of speech comparing two unlike things that are
often introduced with like and as
7. Poet.
, cunrently is Donald Hall
9. A lyrical poem expressing emotion
10. The “Father of English”
11. An illustrative story teaching a lesson
13. Form of Japanese poetry consisting of three lines with
five, seven, and five syllables, respectively
15. George ; author of 1984
16. The point of highest interest that evokes the greatest emo
tional response
18. Where the action of a story takes place
ft. A
Ow i lk ....
.....,
,::::i
By Ben Raymond
humor page editor
Friday, September 29, 2006
- Rainy weather
- Final exams at 8 a.m. or 8 p.m.
- Terrell Owens drama
- Ohio State beating Penn State
after graduation there needs to be a change.
I feel that the apartments should be removed from the regu
lar housing contract system. They should still be part of the
University, the living arrangements should just be different. I
suggest having a lease system. The students would have to pay
rent and be more responsible for their apartments. If they have
to do that, it may cause them to be more mindful about dam
ages to the property and make them more responsible.
I also feel that the apartments should have mixed living
arrangements. This is to say, that men and women could live
in the same apartment. Not necessarily in the same room, but
just share an apartment. I feel that this would encourage more
students to stay on campus.
The reason I am not on campus this year is because of exact
ly that. Many of my friends moved off campus this year. If
men and women were allowed to live in the same apartments,
it would allow for more options for people to stay on campus.
When you have limited space to share with three other people,
you want to make sure you can trust them.
If a couple got engaged or was married and wanted to live on
campus they would not have an option to live together. They
could not even share an apartment. This would create awk
ward situations with roommates and potentially cause conflict.
I just feel that when people ask me why I was not living on
campus this year, I say that I was pretty much forced off cam
pus. I have plenty of friends, and a good number of them are
female. The place I am staying at now is great, but I still feel
like less of a part of the Behrend community and that I am
slightly disconnected from the campus. After four years here
that’s just not where I hoped to be.
ACROSS
I. A word that suggests its meaning by the sound of the
word; e.g. buzz
8. To present material in a way that prepares the reader for
actions that will occur later in the plot
11. A statement at the beginning of a book or article
12. de plume; pen name
14. Figurative language usually associated with pictures
17. A group of three periods signifying an omission in a
piece of literature
19. Another word for poet
20. A relatively simple narrative
22. A section or division of a long poem
23. The divisions of a poem; a recurring grouping of lines in
a poem
24. The conversation of two or more people
25. A puzzling question