4 I The Behrend Beacon
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al. -AP
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---- t - Puppies
6
A ~...
t- Summertime
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THUMBS DOWN
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- Drivers that take 10 minutes to make a right turn
i
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of
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This week in politics
By Chris Brown
copy editor
Both the House of Representatives
and the Senate passed an Iraq funding
bill that had a non-binding demand to
withdraw all troops from Iraq by spring
2008, and set the beginning of that with
drawal starting as early as July this year.
This is the weaker of the proposals that
has come in congress; in effect the
spring 2008 deadline is only a 'sugges
tion' the way this bill is worded.
Nevertheless, President Bush has vowed
to veto the bill because of the withdraw
al date attached.
Unfortunately, Congress will not have
enough votes to overcome the veto, even
with public opinion on their side. Even
if Congress ends up passing a weaker
bill in the end after the veto, they still
scored a major victory in forcing
President Bush to deny money for the
troops he has sent to Iraq.
The passage of the bill has sent the
message to the Iraqi government that this
isn't an open ended commitment and
It's time for my opinions
By Janet Niedenberger
opinion page editor
I figured that since I've been editing
this page all semester, that I'd throw out
a few of my opinions.
First off, in general, I believe that
everyone should have their own opin
ions and beliefs, and that they should
not be judged for those beliefs. Unless,
that is, they try to push said beliefs on
everyone around them. Do you want
someone tearing you apart for what you
believe? Odds are, probably not.
Remember the Golden Rule, and let oth
ers think what they want. Don't shove
your opinions down my throat, and I'll
return the favor.
Next up is abortion. I am pro-choice.
I believe that women should have the
option to do what they wish with their
bodies. It is illegal for women to get
abortions after their second trimester of
pregnancy, unless the pregnancy has
Letter
In response to the April 13 article enti
tled, "Behrend student finds therapeutic
release in writing."
What is Poetry? Perhaps poetry is
words strategically placed on a blank
piece of paper? Or is it nonsensical,
rambling content "written" somewhere
for readers to see? Poetry, by definition,
is "writing that formulates a concentrat
ed imaginative awareness of experience
in language chosen and arranged to cre
ate a specific emotional response
through meaning, sound and rhythm"
(Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary).
With good poetry, content is important
but not nearly as important as are the
words that portray the content.
The moment a poet finishes writing a
poem, the poem has already taken some
sort of form. Contemporary poets recog
nize, appreciate, understand, and respect
the traditional form (punctuation is
included in form), yet they try to break
tradition while using the knowledge of
form. Oscar Wilde once said, "Literature
always anticipates life. It does not copy
it, but moulds it to its purpose." Form is
just a specific term under the generalized
word of literature. Contemporary
poets/writers try to come up with new
form, style, and content, which usually
just means bending, molding, and
that ultimately their future lies in their
own hands. Iraq has been slow to gov
ern itself and the rebuilding effort has
gone even slower. This bill sends the
message that once Bush is out of office,
there is a likelihood that the troops will
be leaving and for once, the United
States military will be able to focus its
attention on the more important area of
the war on terror.
Japan's Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, is
set to visit the United States this week
amidst growing controversy about
Japan's role in World War II and sex
slaves. A few weeks ago Abe said that
there was no evidence proving Japan's
military forced women into brothels for
troops during the war and he appeared
ready to recant an official apology made
This bill sends the
message that once Bush is
out of office, there is a
likelihood that the troops
will be leaving and for
once, the United States
military will be able to
focus its attention on the
more important area of
the war on terror.
in 1993 by then Prime Minister Kiichi
Miyazawa. After many governments
and people expressed their outrage at
Abe's statement he 'clarified' his stance
saying he has always expressed remorse
for Japan's actions during the war. For
some, this is not good enough or far
enough; Representatives in Congress are
become life-threatening. Many pro-lif
ers try to bring religion into abortion
policies, and say that fetuses are humans
and that abortion is equal to murder.
However, scientifically, fetuses cannot
live outside of the womb before the
third trimester. Therefore, it is not mur
der, and is the mother's choice. Women
who get abortions have to live with that
decision for the rest of their lives, but it
is their decision, not the government's
or someone who thinks that it's wrong.
Yet another issue that I feel strongly
about is gay marriage. I feel that one
cannot help who they fall in love with,
and should therefore be able to take part
in all of the legal and personal privi
leges that married couples have. Even if
it were to be called something other
than "marriage," I feel that people
shouldn't be restricted in that sense of
their lives, and that the choice should be
theirs.
The last and final issue I feel like dis
cussing is drivers who are elderly.
to the Editor
reusing forms, styles and contents from
the past. However important form is for
the overall look of the poem, it also helps
the content/idea of the poem. By using
certain poetic devices, enjambment,
alliteration, allusion, etc, phrases, words
and lines end up with multiple meanings,
which allow the poet to play with lan
guage in ways that others wouldn't
imagine. Overall this makes the content
of the poem stronger.
Robert Frost, who is a canonized poet,
was recently accused of not being "real"
supposedly because he didn't write about
"real" issues. What makes Robert Frost
a poetry genius is his ability to have his
poems interpreted in several ways.
Someone who likes to look at poetry sees
Frost as a nature poet. He makes these
readers feel warm and fuzzy about trees,
apples and roads less taken. However,
readers whole like to experience poetry
know that Frost isn't a warm and fuzzy
nature writer, but instead is a very dark,
deep poet. As for using "elaborate
metaphor and endless analogies" along
with "big words and phrases" all mis
conceptions of good poetry by people
who forget what poetry really is.
Remember that even the simple four let
ter words often times have several mean
ings, and without looking them up in an
Oxford English Dictionary. "Simple"
Friday, April 27, 2007
threatening to pass a resolution denounc
ing the actions and lack of atonement on
Japan's part.
While many will make it appear as a
cut & dry issue, there are deeper cultural
and political issues that motivate this
discussion over 60 years after the fact.
For many in Japan they see the actions of
the government during WWII as fascist
and that they were being manipulated, a
feeling the U.S. government encouraged
with the Tokyo War Crime Trial.
Also, there is a resurgence of national
ism within Japan and a lot of discussion
about amending Article 9 of their consti
tution to allow for them to build offen
sive military capability; currently Article
9 makes it against the law for Japan to
have a military for anything but defen-
sive purposes. This has caused renewed
worry in China and South Korea, moti
vating at least partially the controversy
surrounding Japan's past. They hope that
by focusing the world's attention on the
sex slaves they will be able to prevent
Japan from successfully asserting them
selves as a world leader, a strategy that
worked during Japan's bid for a pernia
nent seat on the United Nations Security
Council in 2005.
Abe's visit underscores the close rela
tionship Japan and the U.S. have shared
since the end of WWII. Over the past
few years this relationship has evolved
and Japan is beginning to assert itself not
just as a leader in East Asia and the
world. If Japan wants to become a world
leader, they need to act like one and take
responsibility for their past actions,
because sometimes leaders are forced to
do things that they don't feel is right and
this is one of those times.
Don't get me wrong, I plan on driving
`til the day I die, but I think there should
be laws put into place for those older
than 60 or so. In my six years of driv
ing, I have been rear-ended three times.
Once was by a friend who was joking
around. The other two'? They were both
older people. Now, of course this does
n't mean that everyone over 60 isn't a
good driver; my dad is 65 and the only
time he's wrecked in the past 20 years
or so has been when hitting deer; and
who in Pennsylvania hasn't done that
anymore'? I believe that those age 60
and over should be required to retake
their driving test every two years or so.
If they're good, responsible drivers,
then this shouldn't be a problem. If they
fail, then they can study and retake it,
just like a beginning driver does. I think
this would possibly eliminate not only
some amount of accidents on the road,
but also would possibly tone down
aggression that I know I personally feel
when I'm behind an older driver.
poems are often misread and simplified.
Also let's not forget that Robert Frost is
not a contemporary poet. He isn't even
alive anymore. What would be consid
ered "real" issues now, were probably
not "real" issues then. If you would like
an example of a contemporary writer
who dealt with, "drugs, alcohol, strip
pers, and hangovers" read something by
Jeffery McDaniel.
I encourage people to write, and if you
feel the need to self-publish your work,
go for it. This is not an argument for or
against self-publishing; rather it's show
ing that literature, more specifically
poetry, isn't as easy as it may look.
Anybody can pick up a pen and write a
sixteen-line sonnet, but can that person
make it a real piece of important litera
ture? Emily Dickinson said, "If I feel
physically as if the top of my head were
taken off, I know that is poetry." Poetry,
along with all literature, is work if you
truly want the full experience. fo start
rambling on about a subject matter that
you obviously have no idea about, not
only makes you sound ignorant, but also
makes you look like a fool. Poetry and
Literature are worth all the work that is
put into writing and reading it.
-Amanda Dziubkowski