I The Behrend Beacon The Behrend Beacon lot M'l l) IN 1948 Penn State Erie. The Behrend College Reed Union Building 4701 College Drive. Erie PA RoomloH Telephone: (814) 898-6488 Fax: (814)898-6019 Executive Board Christopher LaFuria. Editor-in-Chief Andy McLachlan. Co-Editor-m-Chief Scott Muska. Managing Editor Tiffany Flynn. Advertising Manager Michelle Quail, Advertising Editor Kim Young, Faculty Adviser Editorial Staff Lenny Smith. News Editor M. Schwabenbauer. asst News Editor Rachel Reeves Opinion Editor Jess Carlson. Sports Editor Scott Muska. Student Life Editor Ryan P. Gallagher. Music Editor Chris Brown. Copy Editor Jennifer Juncosa. Copy Editor Evan Koser. Copy Editor Jeremy K.. Humor/Photography Editor Connor Sattely. Entertainment Editor Keegan McGregor, Photo Editor Submission Guidelines: Letters should be limited to 350 words and commentaries should be limited to 700 words. The more concise the submis sion, the less we will be forced to edit it for space concerns and the more likely we are to run the submission. The Beacon does not publish anonymous letters. Please include your major, faculty, or administration position and semester standing. Deadline for any submission is 5 p.m. Thursday afternoon for inclu sion in the Friday issue. The Behrend Beacon reserves the right to edit any submissions prior to publication. Please keep complaints as spe cific as possible. Email submissions to rcrsos7@psu.edu or drop them off at the Beacon office. i t' The Fir,! Anita ■; in mail to !!)' - IJ.S Coir-fCG r, r i i it make Congre religion ct pAoh-bitinq (tie Fee exercise then-;-)/- . ~r abtidcjing the :oeech or nt the freedom c-t press' cr ih‘- rgiil o> trie- people peaceably G asserrdjle and to petition the Gi ivem’-iiofi' Fir a i redress of grievances Beacon Thumbs Up iz’/ >"'/ - Caddyshack - Greg - Fedoras - The Pulitzer Prize Beacon Thumbs Down - Final projects looming - Spreading illnesses - PMS - Running out of staples DWT could mean more than a fine By Jennifer Juncosa copy editor |Jp(l(i I psll.cilll Thi'. past June, five cheerleaders from up'-talc New York piled into a ear and dime to a lake house five days after graduation. Hannah Congdon. Bailey Goodman. Meredith MeC'lure. Sara Monnat and Katherine Shirley went to Goodman's parent's lake house to cele brate the past school year which includ ed a graduation, a cheerleading champi onship. college acceptances and their last summer together before going off to school. Half an hour into the trip. Goodman passed a van on the right, completely legally, but the ear veered into oncoming traffic and the five girls were in a head on collision with a semi truck. The Goodman family Trailbla/er was crushed under the truck and imme diately caught fire. The girls died on impact. Hannah. Bailey. Meredith. Sara and Katherine were all members of ntv senior class. While most officials accused the driv er and passengers to be under the influ ence. after further investigation alcohol and dings were ruled out. According to records. Bailee's phone sent out a text Bv Brvce Alexander Savers \lnfl writer hasMIIHX" [isii.edu I have caught myself thinking about the lour remaining presidential candi dates and inusine over whom in the entertainment industry they most resemble. these comparisons likely have no relevancy, or even accuracy, but it's my opinion that it's tun to think about regardless. Sen. Hillary Clinton (I)-NY): Milev Cyrus. Both are American sweethearts in their own regards, both have family ties to accomplished people in their respective careers: Hillary is married to a former president. Miley is the daughter of a famous country singer. Both can claim connections to the .American South and arc proud of it. yet their appeal has transcended legions of the continental United States. Urban or rural, they hold a place in the heart of America. Runner-up - Beth Ditto. An outspo ken feminist and controversial punk rocker with ties to Arkansas. Hillary's comparison to Ditto falls short mostly due to Beth's uncompromising radical ism and pride of being overw eight. Sen. John McCain (R-AZI: Rolling Slones. In this day and age both seem like they should he losing steam. While Obama is criticized for being inexperienced. McCain and "the Stones" have received no end of jeers lot their age. It doesn't help McCain that lie's the Republican candidate in an age when the party is associated with elitism and set to run against no 'aw ibiphment of OPINION The Houdini Torch: Now you see it Now you don't! I (Itrloon in Kiichd Kccun An ode to the election e-mail rcrsos7@psu.edu message seconds before the first 911 phone call. While it may have been the person in the passenger’s seat who had the sent the text, texting was declared the reason for the accident. According to iii.org. 19 percent of drivers admit to text-messaging while driving. The state of Washington, as of January of this year, is the only state who has successfully banned texting while driving. If caught DWT, you will be charged with a $lOl fine. New York, along with at least nine other states, is trying to pass a law banning DWT. There are many ways a teen driver can be distracted while driving. The music is up and a good song comes on the radio, the ear holds four but so-and-so can sit on your lap. or the party you planned on going to was busted and your friend is calling you to give a heads up. It could even be worse: the party you were at is a dud. you had four beers but you feel you can still drive. It is almost impossible to change the minds of stubborn teens who are about to get behind the wheel. As a passenger, a friend or an innocent bystander, it is your responsibility to stop them. As terrible as the story of the Fairport tragedy sounds, it gets worse. Four of either a woman or African-American But McCain is dedicated to his fans So long as someone is grooving to "Sympathy for the Devil." you can bet lie'll be trying to get his satisfaction. Runner-up -- Duke Ellington Orchestra. McCain's the new frontman for a band that lost its star ages ago. but they can still hold a note... "1...ra...q!" Ron Paul (R-TX): Soulja Boy. The internet's decentralization opened up fantastic new social avenues: virtual worlds, blogs of all flavors, grassroots political movements and cheap video production. As the haven and mouth piece for an assortment of oddities and misfits, it became the springboard for Governor and Medical Dr. Ron Paul. As Soulja Boy's single "Crank That" became a hip-hop sensation. Paul's "State's Rights" caught a fever among Libertarians and other voters disillu sioned by mainstream politics. Coincidentally. explaining both "superman dat ho" and "reverting to the gold standard" are almost pavlov ian triggers for head-shaking. Runner-up - Gary Brolsma. Another internet sensation who quickly found fame in the online community but was little more than a cute act to those in the real world. Gary attempted to revive his fame years later with "New Numa" which had lukewarm reception. We have yet to see what Paul will attempt four years from now. Barack Obama (D-1L): Johnny Cash. What intrigues me most about Obama is his ability to evoke both uni versal controversy and appeal. My sentiments about Johnny Cash are no Marco. the cheerleaders’ friends were in a car behind them and saw their friends lose their lives in a matter of seconds. I was not one of them but the thought of see ing the crash must haunt them continu ously As part of the community it was obvious that the tragedy had a huge affect. Magnets were made in the honor of the girls, at least two candle vigils were held at the high school that had thousand of attendees, and a memorial on the high school football field, specif ically for friends, family, and the 2007 senior class, was broadcasted due to the high interest the community had to attend. The tragedy brought the commu nity together and was made aware of a serious problem that could cost lives. It’s an experience I will never forget. All I can do is pray that my friends, fam ily and previous and present classmates are remembering to drive safe. I hate to have a tragedy like this one repeat itself, so please, just put the phone down, turn the radio off, and just get from point A to point B as safely as you can. For more information about the five girls, the accident, and memorial funds go to angelsalways.wordpress.com. different. Obama won over my neocon servative grandparents and is the offi cial candidate for Behrend's College Democrats. Cash was a country singer, but was - and still is - beloved by a broad spectrum of music fans. These include hip-hop artist Snoop Dogg and college atheists who may or may not be aware of his devout Christian beliefs. Both radiated personalities with an everyman aura, yet are so unique they are characters unto themselves. No matter the outcome of the presidential race we can bet Hollywood will pro duce a biopic on the life and career of Obama. Hopefully his Walk the Line won't have to detail a seedy lifestyle of drug use and womanizing. Perhaps it would behoove Obama's campaign to cover a Nine Inch Nails song? Runner-up - Wesley Willis. Both came from the state of Illinois, so it wouldn't be out of character for Barack to end his speeches with "Rock over London, rock on Chicago.” followed by a random slogan. Obama may not wrestle with demonic voices spawned by schizophrenia, but he has had to overcome vicious counter-campaigns claiming he “wasn’t black enough” one day then associating him with a highly controversial African-American preacher the next. There may be controversy over the ideal of separation of Church and State, but the intertwining of Music and State is undeniable. This election we have the potential to make the race into the show of the century. I think the world needs... Wheely chair races. Remeber when you were a kid and you had to spend a few hours at your mom or dad’s work during the summer? The answer to the impending boredom usually was a nice wheely chair and a momentarily empty hallway. Bring those days back with a chair, a friend, and maybe a helmet. Friday, April 11, 2008 Because life just isn’t stressful enough... By Rachel Reeves opinion editor rcrsos7@psu.edu Scheduling at Penn State Behrend is a nightmare. Now, I understand that it has improved intensely in the past 20-30 years, due to my parents' walk-uphill both-ways stories about hundreds of students scheduling on one computer. But although the actual process of sign ing up for classes has much improved, figuring out which classes to take when is still agony. Once you figure out which classes to take in order to gradu ate on time, nail down a major and a concentration, leave the door open for a minor, and consider prerequisites, fall/spring schedules, and time slots, all you have to do is wait until the clock strikes midnight on your determined scheduling day. One useful tip I have recently discov ered is Ratemyprofessors.com. This website lists every professor at Behrend and ranks them by easiness, helpfulness and clarity. You can even evaluate their sexiness, although this doesn’t factor into the avergae quality rating. This is a particularly useful tool when schedul ing for your gen-ed credits. Since you aren't going to be interested in the sub ject matter anyways, a good teacher can make the class a worthwhile experi- Fifteen minutes to midnight the other night, I was logged into my student account, with my class registration numbers typed in, waiting to click "sub mit." Out of curiosity, I clicked submit right away to see what would happen, and it was accepted. See, the scheduling dates were slotted by how many credits you have taken. At college I've only taken 30, which put me in the second to-last slot. But evidently, Behrend counted my high school AP credits, which would have allowed me to sched ule three days earlier. I would have been upset, but I got my classes in before all of the 30-credit students could access them, which meant that I got all of my choice classes. It also meant that I could sit back and watch the much-anticipated event unfold. From an hour up to 10 minutes before scheduling, everyone in the dorm is running around in sweats, frantically clutching the spring 2008 catalog and asking whether we click "Student Schedule." or "Drop/Add," or "Registration." When it starts getting close to midnight., the building falls silent. No music, no talking, no phones, no laughter. Just steady clicking, typ ing. and the occasional desperate prayer. When witching hour finally strikes, over 200 people in one building breathlessly click "SUBMIT." There is a three-second lull, and the results come back. I begin to hear yells from neigh boring rooms. "It's full? It had 74 seats open!" "8 a.m.? Are you kidding me?" "No, no. I will not take fitness walking! It just won't happen!" "I got the last seat in US History!" "That was YOU?” It's reminiscent of a vicious shoe sale. The whole ordeal is over in five min utes, and afterwards people walk around for days with either a tri umphant, gloating air, or a dark, slight ly homicidal expression. I admit I am one of the triumphant ones. It probably didn't help that while my neighbors were engaged in a short yet intense bloodbath, I was writing my schedule out on my pastel-colored index cards and cutting and pasting them into a cheerful yellow, green and pink arrangement. Then asking around if anyone had a thumbtack. 1 suppose I could have been more sensitive.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers