I The Behrend Beacon
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The Behrend Beacon
Published weekly by the students of Penn State Behrend
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beacon
Assistant News Editor
Lcom Smith
Opinion Editor
Janet Niedenhervet
Penn State Erie,
The Behrend College
First Floor, The ,J. Elmer Reed Union Building
Where's the security?
By Jessica Samol
staff writer
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Officials (FBI) revealed this past week
that I".S. forces found documents indi
cating another attack on U.S. soil by Al
Qaeda. Intelligence officials said the
documents revealed that members of Al
Qaeda were planning to use student visas
as a way to get potential terrorists into
the ( 1 .5.. the same method of entry used
on WI I. Officials also revealed that
when the documents were found, imme
diate advisories were sent to state and
local partners about the student visas.
With President Bush's idea of height
ened U.S. security. one would certainly
think that intelligence officials would
have already traced the footsteps of how
the 9/11 terrorists entered the U.S.
However, now FBI officials said they are
prompting universities to keep tabs on
visiting students. This conies as a great
relief to the American people. consider
ing it is something that should have been
taken care of five years ago!
It seems unbelievable that five years
after the 9/11 attacks. the security of the
American people appears to he nowhere
near secure. The war in Iraq continues to
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show• no signs of progress, and no relief
for the future of the United States.
Innocent lives continue to be lost daily,
yet President Bush announced his plans
to send more than an additional 20,000
troops to Iraq to counteract the sectarian
violence there.
The war in Iraq is spiraling out of con
trol, support continues to be lost for both
the president and the war. Bush needs to
take advice wherever he can get it. He
needs to stop trying to control the securi
ty of the Iraqi people and start opening
his eyes to realize how he is risking the
security of the United States.
The war is becoming a war lost in
translation; many Americans no longer
understand what the United States is
fighting for. Bush continues to say that
he is trying to ensure the security of the
American people, yet instances such as
the current FBI report prove that he has
made no progress in doing so.
With no end predicted for the war in
Iraq, there will continue to be no sense of
security for the American people. The
idea of security being a shared destiny
makes sense, but when it comes from Al-
Zawahiri (Al Qaeda's N 0.2 man) and not
President Bush, it questions what the
U.S. is really trying to win.
Student Life Editors
Sean Mihlo
Joshua Lane
Head Copy Editor
Rachael Conway
Copy Editors
Chris Brown
Janet Niectenherur
Photography Editor
Mike Sharkey
%ssistant Humor Editor
Jern, Pohl
This Week in Politics
By Chris Brown
copy editor
On Dec. 19, while we were taking
finals, Erie County Council decided to
pass a smoking ban that goes into effect
Feb. 17. The ban applies to all enclosed
public areas, including bars. While I
think it's a noble task to try and protect
public health, this is not the way to go
about it. If people felt so threatened by
second hand smoke then non-smoking
bars would be all the rage, except they
don't exist and for good reason because,
no one wants them. Also, I don't think
the Council realizes the number of prob
lems they just brought upon themselves.
The ambiguous nature of the resolution
ensures that almost no "Private Clubs"
will he exempt from the ban and this
will almost certainly not hold up in
court. How is this going to he enforced
anyway? Authorities can't even stop
beer distributors and bars from serving
minors something many would consider
a far greater threat to public health.
President Bush announced his solu
tion to the civil war in Iraq; an increase
in the number of troops on the ground
by over 20,000. But, the problem was
never U.S. resolve in the fight to win,
but Iraqi cooperation and their desire to
be free and united. U.S. presence is the
problem, not the answer. As long as
U.S. forces stay on the ground "...the
more it fuels Sunni hostility toward
Shiite collaborators. Were America not
in Iraq, Sunni leaders could negotiate
Attention:
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page. You, have opinions. We
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the editor or opinion articles
to jan2l9@psu.edu.
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- It's actually snowing!
- Student loan interest rate decrease
- After-Christmas sales
- Smoking the hookah
- Open mic night at Bruno's
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J .: , Have a Thumbs Up or
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and participate without fear that they
themselves would he branded traitors
and collaborators by their constituents,"
writes Nir Rgsen, a Fellow at the New
America Foundation.
Despite press statements saying oth
erwise I fail to see how this is not an
extension of our current open-ended
commitment. President Bush still has
n't placed a time-table on withdrawal
which leaves us at the current predica
ment; the Iraqi military's reliance on
American Forces as a crutch. Even if
the troop increase solves the security
issue, the Iraqi constitution leaves a
majority Shiite population in control
that will inevitably leave other groups
on the fringes of political participation
guaranteeing internal conflict for years
to come. A democratic and pro-western
Iraq is an unattainable goal at this point
in the war. We've hurt our credibility
enough already, the best thing we can
do is leave Iraq, admit our mistakes, and
start negotiating with its neighbors and
the world for help in reducing conflict
there.
This past week the Democrat con-
trolled 110th Congress finished its first
100 hours in session. They succeeded
in showing that Democrats would not
repeat the same "do-nothing" attitude of
last year's Republican controlled con
gress. The House of Representatives
passed much of the Democrats' agenda
including a bill to increase the minimum
wage, a bill to decrease oil subsidies,
and another bill that reduces the interest
gbumbs up-Thumbs Down" box at the RUB desk. I
Beacon Thumbs Down
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- Maybe it's snowing too much
- Back-to-school time
- Trying to find a job
- Bad plowing in parking lots
- CDs too scratched to play
(check a box )
Friday, January 26, 2007
rate on federally subsidized tuition
loans for college students. While these
bills still need to be reviewed in the
Senate, this trend gives me hope for the
future of congress as long as it is in the
Democrats' hands.
On Tuesday, Jan. 23, President Bush
gave the sixth State of the Union
Address of his presidency. Each year it
surprises me how few of my fellow
classmates actually watched the speech
despite their supposed strong feelings
towards our current administration. The
fact that you disagree with someone
means they deserve your attention
more, not less, because a better under
standing of his position will ultimately
result in a better understanding of your
own personal views. This year's speech
was especially unique and historic. It
was the first time that Bush had to speak
in front of a Congress with a majority of
Democrats, one of the few times he
actually has to speak in front of a hostile
crowd, and the first time a woman
Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi (D
-CA) presided over the speech. While
the policy goals in State of the Union
Addresses are often more fantasy than
anything else, I was shocked to hear
Bush talk about domestic issues that he
normally strays from; reduction of
gasoline consumption and elimination
of the federal budget deficit, a problem
he helped create nevertheless. Only
time will tell if any of these policy ini
tiatives will come to fruition, but I'm
not holding my breath.
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