Friday, August 31, 2007
Congress shall make no law resi.>ectirß, , an gstill4shment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; oral ridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the
right of, the people peaceably to ossemOie:and tO'Oltkin the Government for a redress of grievances. the First Amrnendment to the U.S. Constitution
The Behrend Beacon
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beacon
News Editor
Lenny Smith
Student Life Editors
Scott Muska
Ryan Gallagher
Penn State Erie,
The Behrend College
First Floor, The J. Elmer Reed Union Building
Station Road, Erie, PA 16563
Contact the Beacon at:
Telephone: (814) 898-6488
Fax: (814) 898-6019
Letter from the Director
of Student Affairs
Dr. Ken Miller
director of student affairs
kenmiller@`psu.edu
When this year's Opinion Editor
Chris Brown invited me to author a wel-
come message to students, my only
question was "What's your deadline?"
The start of a new academic year is
always incredibly busy but it is also the
most exciting time of year. In my opin
ion, there's been no better time to be a
Penn State Behrend student than now.
This fall we welcome nearly 1,250
first-year students to Behrend, the
largest class in Behrend history, break
ing the previous record that dates way
back to 2006. That's over 1,300 new
faces when you add in students who
have transferred from non-Penn State
schools. We've also set a new all-time
enrollment record this fall with nearly
4,500 students. Why do we have so
many students despite Erie winters? I
could cite many factors including facul
ty who are national (and in some cases
international) authorities in their field,
first-rate classroom facilities for stu
dents in all four of our schools, and a
staff dedicated to helping young adults
(and returning adults) fulfill their hopes
and dreams. But there's more to it than
that.
The truth is we have a very talented
group of students who attract other tal
ented students who want a Penn State
degree in a personalized environment.
We have students who want to get the
most out of their college experience
both in and out of the classroom.
Students like Danielle Brown, this
year's Senior Sophister, who has a per
fect gpa at the start of her senior year
(congratulations on your recent engage
ment by the way), or Annemarie Priester
and Brad Kovalcik, the co-directors of
this year's New Student Orientation pro
gram. Or SGA President Ben Gilson
who was in a serious car accident three
weeks before classes started and was
determined not to miss this semester
(give him a hand when you see him, it's
uphill both ways to class around here). I
could go on, but you get the point. Penn
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Christopher LaFuria, Editor in Chief
Mike Sharkey, Co-Editor in Chief
Patrick Webster, Managing Editor
Yvonne Folmer, Advertising Manager
Tiffany Flynn, Assistant Advertising Manager
Kim Young, Adviser
Sports Editors
Andrew McLachlan
Matt Waronker
Show Your Pride Wear the Blue and
White. Every student should have at
least one piece of clothing with either
Penn State or, better yet, Penn State
Behrend written on it. Whether it's a
SWE t-shirt (my vote for the best t-shirt
last year), a Behrend sweatshirt, or Penn
State gloves (you'll need them soon
enough), show your pride in one of the
world's best institutions of higher learn
ing.
Show Your Face Come to a Speaker
Series event (Jeff Corwin on 11/1 should
be fun)'or a comedian (remember Lewis
Black anyone?) or Club Rush (9/6 on
the Reed lawn—yes, a shameless plug).
Better yet, show your face at a meeting
of one of the 112 clubs and organiza
tions that plan events for you or report
on them. Did you know The Behrend
Beacon is the only weekly student news
paper at a Penn State campus?
And remember to show your face at
class. Woody Allen said, "eighty percent
of success is showing up."
Have a great year!
actrilueune:
Opinion Editor
Chris Brown
Head Copy Editor
Janet Niedenberger
Photography Editor
Mike Sharkey
Calendar Page Editor
Mike Sharkey
State Behrend is special because of its
students and this year's record enroll
ment means there's more depth to the
talent pool. More students means a
greater diversity of thought, new ideas
for improving life on campus, and the
possibility of more friends on Facebook.
If you asked Chancellor Burke how
Behrend got to where it is now (and I
encourage you to ask him when you
seen him in Bruno's), he'd tell you that
we strive to be better today than we
were yesterday, and better tomorrow
than we are today. With this thought in
mind I'd like to encourage you to do
three things this year:
Show Your Spirit Attend an athletic
event in the Junker Center or on the
Behrend Fields. Cheer on the volleyball
teams or the soccer teams or the basket
ball teams or any of our 21 varsity
sports. The players are students and ath
letes who work hard to represent us
well. Show them your support.
[l\ll ON
Editor's note: On taking risks
Chris LaFuria
editor-in-chief
cslsoos@ isu.edu
I've never been skydiving before.
Chances are I never will. On my first
trip to Darien Lake in New York, it
took an hour-long stare-down with
"The Superman," one of the tallest,
fastest rides at the amusement park,
which included many prayers and curs
es, before I mustered up the courage to
take the plunge. And, even though it
was out of my comfort zone, I did it. I
looked the ride straight in its mechani
cal eyes and said, "Look, you bastard.
It's go time."
Taking risks was never part of my
repertoire. I was a safety-first, hyper
cautious momma's boy that looked
both ways (and looked again) before I
crossed the street. Granted, when I
was younger I never was faced with
anything of great danger, but I was a
play-it-safer nonetheless. However,
after graduation from high school and
acceptance to college, I knew I had to
take off the helmet and kneepads and
jump into new, challenging endeavors.
The moment I knew it was time to
make a change was when I was sitting
in my freshman English class, inno
cently eavesdropping on two students'
This Week in Politics
By Chris Brown
opinion editor
cmbs3l3@psu.edu
Senator Larry E. Craig (R-Idaho) is
facing some tough questions. He plead
ed guilty to a misdemeanor charge of
soliciting sex in a Minneapolis airport
restroom after being caught in the act
by an undercover police officer in June.
This is disturbing on a few levels.
During a press conference he said
that the plea was a mistake. As a
Senator he should not only be fully
aware of the laws on the books, but be
aware of what exactly a guilty plea
means. Even a passive viewer of the
television show Law and Order can
explain exactly what a guilty plea
implies...guilt. If anyone should know
that I think it would be a Senator,
whose job it is to inspect laws and
make them. Maybe America's educa
tion crisis runs deeper than previously
thought?
Later in the press conference, Craig
also vehemently denied being gay. Is he
implying that only homosexuals solicit
sex in public restrooms? That being a
homosexual somehow affects his abili
ty to legislate? This is not only irrele
vant to his problems with the law, but
also offensive. The issue of his sexual
preference is a private matter, or at least
it was until he decided to make it pub
lic.
Alberto Gonzales resigned from the
position of Attorney General after
months of prodding by Congress and
the media. No immediate explanation
was offered for the resignation, though
one can assume that it has a lot to do
with the continuing investigations into
the circumstances surroundin the fir-
conversation. It was only the first day
of classes and people were already
talking about the previous weekend's
events filled with partying and stan
dard college merriment. As the two
talked on, my mind drifted into
thought with many questions still
unanswered. Why don't I have friends
already? Am I ever going to fit in?
Will people at Behrend like me? And
so on; just like a scene out of a Lindsey
Lohan tween-flick.
Weeks went on and I still didn't
notice a change. I witnessed new
friendships form, new relationships
blossom, new gossip, new parties, and
I wasn't part of any of it. In an English
class of roughly 30 students, I think
only two people knew my name. One
was a person with whom I attended
high school and the second was a per
son who knew my name solely because
I gave him a ride during Erie's first
monsoon of the fall.
In high school I never approached
people. I waited until a girl proved
interest in me before making any sort
of small talk. I had a lot of friends, but
that was courtesy of knowing people
since Little League and Boy Scouts.
Maybe I was too nervous or maybe I
ings of U.S. attorneys and recent testi
mony by FBI Director Robert Mueller
that contradicted sworn testimony by
Gonzales.
Gonzales has been with President
Bush since the early days of Bush's
tenure as Governor of Texas and even
served as White House counsel before
being nominated to Attorney General
after the beginning of Bush's second
term. His resignation could not have
come a moment too soon. He support
ed illegal spying on American citizens,
the torture and indefinite detainment of
terrorist suspects in Guantanamo,
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RIS BROWN
The Behrend Beacon I
was unsure of myself. Whatever the
case may be, I missed out on valuable
and irreplaceable relationships due to
my own reluctance to take risks.
During the spring of my freshman
year, I unexpectedly received an email
from a classmate. In the email, he told
me that we shared the same music
tastes and would probably get along.
Throughout the last three years, we
have demonstrably proven that he was
correct. Knowing that someone took
notice of me was just the boost I need
ed to shake off any preconceived inac
curate notion of myself and start doing
things for me. Later that year I began
greeting people, starting small talk and
even going out on the weekends.
I consider this my own skydiving.
There were no major physical conse
quences to doing so. But, for me, it
was reaching beyond my own concep
tual "safety" and entering into the real
world. Freshman year at any universi
ty is about establishing a firm founda
tion and building a structure of friend
ships and relationships upon that
ground. Don't let your first year at
Behrend become ruins. Take a risk.
Maybe even jump out of a plane.
defied Congressional subpoenas, war
rantless wiretaps, and helped destroy
America's moral high ground in the
War on Terror. Time and again
Gonzales demonstrated his willingness
to sacrifice precedent and justice in the
name of furthering the Republican
Party or Bush's Agenda. Hopefully
President Bush has learned his lesson
and will nominate an Attorney General
that upholds the Constitution and has
the interests of the American people at
heart and not the President.
This week a military jury acquitted
Lt. Col. Steven Jordan of wrongdoing
in the Abu Ghraib
prisoner abuse scan
dal. He was found
guilty of a lesser
charge, discussing
the scandal when
ordered not to do so.
This is a sad end to
a terrible tragedy
and certainly leaves
Iraqis without jus
tice being served. It
is hard to believe
that almost no one
in charge is being
held responsible for
the torture and mis
treatment of prison
ers at Abu Ghraib.
Not only does this
look poorly on the
military in here, but
one can only imag
ine what foreign
news agencies like
Al-Jazeera are mak
ing of the verdict.