4 I The Behrend Beacon
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The average guy's guide to battling depression
By Neil James Peters
trts editor
njpsoB3(apsu.edu
Anyone who has survived the hor
monally driven snake pit that was mid
dle school knows that depression sucks.
Whether induced clinically, chemically,
or by the perpetual ridicule of your
peers, depression can do serious damage
to every aspect of your life. The worst
part is that once you get stuck in the
vicious circle that is depression, it's
almost impossible to break away from.
So how can anyone be expected to over
come such a terrible task? The only way
is to understand depression and how it
affects the world around us. This guide
will follow a route designed for a quick
fix that will only act as a temporary
band-aid. I encourage any person with
depression to see a specialist as soon as
possible; but until then, this guide
should get the job clone.
First thing we need to establish is that
humans, by nature, are socially selfish
beings. What I mean by this is, when
interacting with others, we want be
around people who make us feel good
and are positive because we feed off of
that positive energy. So if a person is
not emitting that positive aura, then
Why I don't like Scale Up
By Neil James Peters
arts editor
njpsoB3@psu.edu
It is a relatively well-known fact that
Engineering is a pretty difficult major.
From the asinine amount of math that
students have to trudge through to the
cavalcade of generic science classes that
never seem to stop, engineering is obvi
ously no walk in the park. This was the
understanding of what to expect• that .
Bach engineering student accepted"Whel
we filled out the application. However,
little did any of us know that we would
he expected to teach ourselves an i►npos
sibly difficult subject with little to no
help from faculty and battle the most
vile curriculum ever designed. Such is
the tragic reality that is Scale Up
Physics.
For those blessed students who are not
familiar with the abysmal hell that is
Scale Up, allow me to enlighten you
through the magic of metaphor.
Imagine walking into a classroom on
the first day of the semester. Upon enter
Behrend Roundtable Society wants you
The Behrend Roundtable Society is
the equivalent of the English Club here
at Behrend. It is a laid-back organization,
and membership is not demanding at all.
We are a group of students and instruc
tors that all share a common interest:
English in all of its forms. Whether you
enjoy writing, reading, or criticizing,
there are members of the Roundtable
society who more than likely have much
in common with you. We hold a variety
of events every semester, and while
attendance is encouraged, membership
does not require it. We understand that
students have very full schedules, so we
make it a primary goal to ensure that
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people are going to run away from that
negative person. Though this may seem
like a very obvious observation, people
with depression, have a very difficult
time in these situations because they
can't help that they feel awful. When
you have depression you obviously feel
like crap, and on some strange, primal
level you want everyone to know
because you would kill for just a little
sympathy. However, if you continue to
project the negativity vibe, then people
(even longtime friends) are going to start
to run away. The situation then worsens
for the depressed because now their
friends are leaving and there is no hope
in sight. They now feel even crappier
and the cycle continues until a crash
course with rock bottom is imminent.
So what happens now? How can a
person be liberated form this perpetual
purgatory of self-destruction? Well, like
most cliché coming-of-age stories, our
intrepid and depressed hero must look
inward to the light within. The power to
be free of depression lies within us and
us alone. It cannot be found in a lover,
friend, or drug. Those things all make
for great handrails along the journey to
happiness, but only you can do the
walking. Below are some guidelines that
should be followed when embarking on
ing, you are immediately hog-tied,
gagged and tossed into a pool of boiling
water, only to find that the pool has
been fully stocked with an assortment of
vicious sharks and a very large squid
Bear in mind that the only weapon
you have to fight your way out with is
the very basic crap that you teamed back
in high school. This horrific daydream is
essentially what happens to a Scale Up
student's self-esteem on a daily basis.
There are no lectures, class discus
..sions, or anything that is remotely help
ful to a student's education. Instead, the
bewildered students are given impossible
busywork that is poorly worded, hardly
proof-read and about as enjoyable as
being lathered in bacon grease and
heaved into a cage of severely pissed off
wolverines. Sound good yet? But wait,
there is more. In addition to having to
teach yourself from a text book that is
longwinded, overcomplicated, and as
poorly written as the busy work, stu
dents must complete online homework
which is also packed full of ambiguous
ly phrased questions that require a perfect
membership in our club does not add
any further burden. All of our events are
geared toward fun themes. Most of the
events also provide attendees with free
refreshments.
We have a weekly, email-based
newsletter which is easy to subscribe to.
Simply email the president, Lee Kinney,
at rlk222@psu.edu and ask to be added.
Joining this list (Ices not commit you to
anything; it simply puts you in line to
receive weekly updates on Roundtable
and English-related happenings at
Behrend. We also have a newly-formed
Angel group. To join this, simply
search on Angel using the keyword
35 Ors 011 Wing
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concise the submission,*
The Beaoial'
PERSPECTIVES
Email
The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution
your quest for peace (with the help of a
trained professional).
1. Fake it 'til you make it.
Depression sucks. Believe me, I know
from personal experience, but the only
way to get your friends and confidence
back is to be happy, or at least pretend
to be. When making decisions, ask
yourself what you would do if you were
confident. If you want to ad on it,
swing away. If not, that is okay too.
Just try to appear as if everything is fine
and dandy. This will make you appear as
if you are content and that is all that
matters. If you pretend long enough,
then people begin to think that it is how
your really are and will start to gravitate
to you.
2. Smile. Smile a lot. Even if you
don't feel like it, smile; maybe after a
few minutes of smiling, you will actu
ally want to smile for real. A genuine
smile can be all it takes to generate the
appearance of confidence and happiness.
3. Exercise. Exercising releases sero
tonin and endorphins into your brain.
Those are your body's natural 'happy
drugs.' It's a great way to boost your
confidence and you can get in shape,
too!
4. Give yourself a break: One of my
biggest problems was I was always too
answer which isn't even accepted half
the time anyway. Did you just do three
hours of excellent work only to have
your answer be one thousandth of a per
cent off and be thrown out? Yes? Then
too bad! Enjoy your clinical depression
with a side order of insecurity, because
this happens every day.
An outside observer may wonder:
"Why don't you just correct your answer
and enter it again?" The problem is that
it will not tell you what is wrong and
just leaves you hanging at the front door
like a bad date. Confounded students also
have the option of posting questions on
the problems forum. However, this is
only about as helpful as Dell Tech
Support staff, because how helpful can
they be if the only other people who
post things are other students who don't
understand it either?
Some readers may think I am being
slightly over dramatic, however, please
understand that with the course load an
engineering student has to take, it is
tough to balance time that you don't
have. If any reader doubts my claim,
"roundtable."
We have been granted full SGA fund
ing for all of our scheduled events for the
Spring 2009 semester. To summarize
them briefly: we will be holding two
student/faculty readings, geared toward
specific fun themes and provided with
food and drinks. Also, we will be pub
lishing a student journal at the end of the
semester containing the poetry and prose
of Elehrend students from all fields of
study. A workshop and final editing ses
sion slash pizza-party for the student
publication will be held later in the
semester also. Whether affiliated with us
or not, any student at Behrend is wel-
hard on myself. I would tear myself
apart for every little mistake. If you are
anything like that, stop it right now!
No one is perfect, and everyone makes
mistakes. Even that special someone
who you idolized has flaws just like the
rest of humanity. Learn from your mis
takes and try again. You only lose when
you give up.
5. Pick up a new hobby. Nothing can
boost confidence like being really good
at something. So find a productive new
thing to do that you can develop a talent
for. It is good if you can do something
that is kind of unique, but that really
doesn't matter in the end. What is most
important is that you enjoy thing it.
6. Don't ever, ever, EVER give up.
It's not easy to get over depression, but
it's not impossible. Just keep your chin
up and keep pushing forward. Things
will get better eventually. The results
may not appear as soon as you might
want, but they will come none-the-less.
So don't throw in the towel, and live on.
Don't do it for a girlfriend,
boyfriend, school or anything else but
yourself. You deserve to be happy. So
strive on my friend and be joyous. Just
remember, it's like I always say: every
thing will be okay in the end. If it's not
okay, then it's 'not the end.
then I challenge you to ask any engi
neering student about Scale Up and they
will spin a similar tale of misery and
Second semester engineer Emily
Harrington said, "Scale Up is really a
great idea. It asks students to use a dis
covery method to learn about basic
physics concepts. However, this great
idea is only great on paper. In reality,
everyone can't learn this way, which is
what 'makes the clais-more difficult than
it should be. -It wouldhelp If the profes
sors would at least introduce some of the
material at first, then turn us loose in
the labs. Otherwise, we are a herd of
lost sheep wanderings aimlessly about
the physics realm, unsure of the magni
tude of our direction."
Scale Up has a lot of potential to
good system, however, as of right
it is loose, misguided and a flimsy
to run a science class. I know that I
eventually learn something in Physics
211, but right now I'd much rather wres
tle a rabid badger than take that class.
come to submit material for the journal
For detailed information about these
events or how to go about seeking pub
lication in our journal, simply email
rlk222@psu.edu and ask away! The best
way to get information about these
events along with future events is to
join our mailing list. We hope to see
many new faces at our events this
semester!
R. Lee Kinney
President, Behrend Roundtable Society
Junior English Lit option
Friday, January 30, 2009
We're all in
this together
By Jennifer Juncosa
perspectives editor
jdjso6l@psu.edu
The way my schedule works on
Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, I have
three classes from 11 in the morning
to a quarter after two. The last two
classes of the day are back-to-back and
in the same mom. In the 15-minute
break, I will either check my email, go
to the restroom, or get a drink of
water.
Last Monday, when I was on my
break, I went to the restroom for five
minutes. In those five minutes, some
one took my school bag that was
lying innocently against my chair.
At first I was scared and nervous,
not sure what to do when all that was
left at my seat was my notebook,
planner, and jacket. I asked my profes
sor if she saw anything and went to
ask the School of Humanities office if
they could look out for the bag in case
someone thought I had left it and
turned it in.
I had to get to my next class and I
sat through it patiently while the 50
minutes lasted hours. After class, I
rushed to Police and Safety to reassure
myself it wasn't a lost cause and that
they will look into surveillance and
see what they can do.
It's been a couple days since it was
taken. At first I was scared and upset
about the theft. I was concerned that
someone had my ID card and room
key. Then I went to being furiously
mad that someone would be so incon
siderate. Now, I am ashamed.
I knew better than to leave my bag
in a classroom with a professor still in
it while I left the room for five min
utes. But the student who took my bag
knew even better.
I'm ashamed that a student Who;
goes to this sehix* who is Wilily'
class, who wears navy and white and
chants with me on game days would
deliberately win my thy. The time the
person had to take my bag suggests
that they were in my class and that
makes it worse.
That student, whoever they may be,
saw that I had gotten up and had left
my bag. With feelings of selfishness
and inconsiderateness, they took the
bag that didn't belong to them. They
didn't think twice about how wrong it
might be to take another student's
school bag.
What makes this all worse is that a
student did it to another. Some student
took my bag that had almost nothing
valuable in it. However, what was in
the bag were notes to my Biology
class, notes I need to study to get an
A. They also took the textbook for the
class we were both in, a book I needed
to read for a quiz. Not only did they
take three birthday presents from my
20th, but also they took my grades
away from me.
We are all in this together. The fact
that a peer and classmate would do this
to someone just like themselves is
inconceivable. Why purposefully
bring down someone you don't know?
We're in college, let's help each other,
and not hurt one another.
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- Poorly made omelettes
- Theft
- Having to borrow textbooks
- Expensive clocks
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