Friday, January 26, 2007 Behrend students voice their thoughts on Obama and Clinton as presidential candidates By Scott Muska staff writer America is currently undergoing a time of political change, which started when the Democratic party overtook the Republicans nd the majority in the Senate and the House of Representatives. This period of change was given the potential to be further escalated when liberal Barak Obama, Senator of Illinois, took the next necessary step towards adding his name into the running for the presidential hid in 2008 by filing for an Exploratory Council last Tuesday. His announcement was followed by New York Senator Hilary Rodham-Clinton's on Saturday that she would be entering the race. Though Obama has not technically entered the race, the filing for Exploratory Council is the last step made before officially declaring people are speculating that Obama will very likely end up staying in the presidential race. Both Obama and Clinton are very popular, and the possibility of either one becoming the next president of the United States is very fea sible. The extreme significance of these One World Tribe, the featured band for Martin Luther King lll's speech, brought a variety of ethnic music to McGarvey Commons on January 18th. Between September 2005 and June 2006 Academic Freedom hearings were held by a committee of the Pennsylvania legislature the first in the history of the Commonwealth. The hearings revealed that all existing academic freedom provisions at Pennsylvania's public universities were written to protect profes sors. not students. As a result of the hearings. however, the Faculty Senate at Penn State adopted a new policy that grants students at Penn State academic freedom rights for the first time. The Penn State academic freedom policy states h the function at a ai a democracy to indoctrinate his/her students with ready-made coticlosious on cnoiroversial wtnet,i; the Vacuity menther is eiinected to Will students to think for themselves, and to provide them access to those materials which they afteli limey are to think it Hence in giving instruction upon controversial matters the faculty member is mected to ht rata lair and Judicial timid, and to set forth mstly, without supersession or Innuendo, the divergent opinions at other investigators In other words. the function of an education in a democratic society is to teach students how to think, not what to think. Penn State students have a right not to he force-fed "ready made conclusions" on controversial subjects. Students should be provided with required readings from more than one ideological perspective the Penn State academic freedom policy continues No facility member may claim as a right the privilege of discussing in the classroom controversial topics outside hisdher own Held ot study, The faculty member is normally bound not to take advantage of his/her position by introducing into the classroom provocative discussions of irrelevant subjects not within the field of his/her study. In other words no speeches on the Iraq War in English classes or Women's Studies courses or in any class where the subject matter is not about Iraq or Ameri can foreign policy. No attempts to promote in class a political candidate during elections, or at any time in between. No wasting of students' valuable time with personal agendas that have nothing to do with the academic subject they signed up for. If you arc a student at Penn State, you pay good money for professional expertise, not off-the-cuff political advocacy. You can get opinions for free on talk radio or in the student cultural center. You have a right to form your own conclusions on controversial matters, without worrying about how this might affect your grade: and you have a right to be presented by your professor with readings on more than one side of a controversial issue. It's your education. See that you get one Information on how to tile a grievance can be found at: http://www.psuseduideptioue/aappm/R-Chtml This ad has been placed by Students for Academic Freedom as a public service. For more information contact Sara Dogan at sarao studentsforacademicfreedomorg or visit our website at www.studentstoracademicfreedom.org. Senators and their choices to run for the Presidency will lie in their political face values of race and gender. Senator Ohama could become the first African-American President, while Clinton could become the first female to hold the position. The United States remains divided on their potential choices for the next president, even though the election will not take place for nearly two years. Liberal Penn State Behrend student Spencer Millis said, "It's still early, but at this point I would vote for Obama." Millis also said he thought it would be positive if either an African-American or female presi dent was elected in 2008. "I think it would make a good statement to the rest of the world if we elected someone of a minority or of the female sex, especially [the] countries that still don't give minorities anything close to equal rights," Millis said. Millis' statement seemed to go along with the current opinion of the Democratic Party and its members who are looking for a drastic change to shift the way in which the country is ultimately headed. Some Republicans, however, are less ready KNOW YOUR RIGHTS 'wry /\/ to adapt to such a change, and are so set against the Democratic Party's ideals that race and gender do not matter when selecting the next president. When asked who he would like to see elected to the presidency in 'OB Behrend student and devout conservative, Evan Shaffer, said, "Any Republican. I wouldn't vote for either Obama or Clinton." With the country so divided, the so-called "Golden Vote" may very well decide who wins our country's next election. Self-proclaimed member of the Independent party and Behrend student Zac Maas said he feels that Obama would be the better choice for the country. "It's better than a female president, because I feel like a male could better take charge in our current situation, which is war," said Maas. Though it is extremely early in the political race, it appears as if there will be no landslide in the 2008 presidential election. The country is so divided and at odds between parties that it is too difficult to determine which direction our country will turn in the next two years, and who will be the next man or woman to lead the United States of America. The Behrend Beacon would like to say a special thank you to the COMM 260 W contributing writers who worked with the "Classes are cancelled as Behrend is buried in snow" article on page one. Jeff Barber Heidi Brackbill Danielle Brown Steve Fenton )1111 Casey 1 4 4eTiernan : Tommy Phillips 144 Whitney Tarwater Lenny Smith Mandy Stwarly Samantha Yong FREEDOM CENTER Obama (left) and Clinton (right) join other members of congress for President Bush's State of the Union address on Tuesday night. The Behrend Beacon I
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