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- 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.