Friday, April 10, 2009 The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution: 0 Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. -I] Letter from the editors RESPONSE TO: NOVA OVER DUKE By. Rachel Reeves editor in chief rcrsos7 psu.edu Last week, the Behrend Beacon received a letter to the editor address ing an error we made in the NCAA brackets. In the bracket, we list Duke as defeating Villanova in the Sweet Sixteen. We would like to apologize for the misin formation and for any confusion that it may have caused. Mistakes are something that hap pens from time to time in newspa pers. When we print an error, we always try to assume responsibility and clarify the truth as soon as possi ble. However, for an error to be taken for blatant and intentional bias is a different matter. The Beacon always strives to tell the truth as we know it, and to avoid bias and misinformation. We would also like to remind the author of the letter of the difference between a typo and a purposeful lie. While we may have preferences and opinions on everything, we make certain that our newspaper is not where we make these personal ideas known. As for Duke itself, Coach Mike Krzyzewski does not need to worry about his team advancing in the postseason as he is already the win ningest coach in tournament history and became the all-time leader in NCAA games coached with 93. The Cameron Crazies are not big headed, they are extremely passion ate about their team and they are not afraid to express this passion. co Uy Connor Sattely managing editor cisso6o(a psu.edu Basically, every one said I was crazy for thinking about staying. I mean, it makes no sense for me, really. The Collegian, the paper at University Park, is considered to be among the top ten or twenty college newspapers in the nation. Why pass that up? Just be part of the two-year revolving door here, I was told, and head to University Park. In a way, the decision on whether to stay, for anyone making the choice, is largely academic. My for mer roommate and one of my better friends here, Matt Alto, is majoring in Meteorology; he has to go to University Park for an education in that field. For journalism, I could make it into There This letter is directed to Jeremy Korwek, 10th semester communica tions major. Jeremy was.so taken aback that a student (specifically Russ Becker) accused a road block of being unjust that he wrote an article criticizing the student's concerns of police rights and constitutional pro tections. To Mr. Korwek I must say...WHAT?! Mr. Korwek begins by suggesting that these police were in fact target ing us as students and young drivers While he contends that this is okay because insurance companies con sider us more apt to accidents, you Beacon Thumbs Up 3.14;40 • • • - 1 0. ,tlr Pageants for charity - English language - Hitting the printer with a bat - Raising money By Christine Newby sports editor .111 cen50560 psu.edu • .IZ4 • According to ESPN, the Duke's Cameron Crazies have earned a repu tation as the rowdi est, wittiest, best organized college bas ketball fans in the land. Yes, the best organized basketball fans in the land. Where else in college basketball will you see more than 1,200 fans outside the stadium in a tent city, also known as Krzyzewskiville, just to be able to get a good seat at a Duke game? "When some new group of fans achieves notoriety, they don't run around comparing themselves to the Oakland Zoo or Pitt or the Grateful Red at Wisconsin, their target is the Cameron Crazies," said Al Featherston, a local and long-time Duke writer, published on a Duke Basketball Report in January 2007. If your fans are even compared slighty to the Cameron Crazies, then congratulations. Seriously, I mean it. That is a hard task to accomplish. Even Sean May, a former North Carolina center, said in an article on the Duke University website that it is always tough to play at Duke and one reason is because of their fans. Not only players, but coaches in the competitive ACC have comment ed on the Cameron Crazies. Former Georgia Tech coach Bobby Cremins told the Atlanta Journal Constitution, "They're my favorite fans in the league. They do things so creative." Why I decided to stay at Behrend the career by going to either University Park or Behrend. Yes, University Park has a world renowned journalism program. But in the two years I've been here, I've found that Behrend has some of the best communications professors I've ever met. These are professors who are willing to sit down for an hour and discuss the field. No graduate students are teaching a class on jour nalistic ethics here either. But in Erie, it's the hands-on expe rience that makes this school stand out. I feel like Behrend should be marketed as one of the best places to get into journalism in the entire nation, much better than University Park. The way you can be quickly involved in a great newspaper with strong administration support is truly unique to this school. So far, Behrend has given me two years of the most hands-on experi ence that I could have gotten any where. I spent a year with my own brand new page, then a year manag- is nothing wrong with a road RESPONSE TO: cannot justify the police officers' bla tant discrimination in the situation at hand with policies of a private indus try. Insurance companies also con sider senior citizens at a high risk for accidents, but police don't roadblock the entrance to a retirement commu nity. While these "random stops" may nab a few people trying to cheat the law, it is this view of police restraint that leads us into what Mr. Korwek has a good laugh about: totalitarianism. While it is law to present identifi cation upon request, this is still in many states conflicting with their Submission Guidelines' Letters should be limited to 350 words and commentaries 700 words. The more ciiickse the submission, the less we will be forced to edit it for space concerns and the more likely we are to run it. The Beacon does not publish anonymous letters. Please include your major, faculty or administration position, and semester standing. Deadline for any submission is B . p.m. • Wednesday afternoon for inclusion in the Friday issue. The Bebrend Beacon reserves the right to edit any submissions prior to publication. Please keep complaints as specific as possible. Email submissions to jdjso6l@psu.edu or drop them off at the Beacon office. PERSPECTIVES I was By Jennifer Juncosa perspectives editor jdjso6 1 psu. edu 10( My suitemate approached me to participate in her sorority event a couple weeks ago and like the good suitemate I am, I said I would. It was the Mr. and Ms. Penn State Behrend Pageant. So I filled out my application as comically as I could and handed it in with my picture like I was told. Because I was unsure about the pageant, I didn't really tell anyone I was going to be in it. The way it worked was that your name was put on a bag and if after a week, the five The Beacon is always looking for more wnters. Have an opinion? Want to write about spore Want to get a front row seat to an event? Want to write about movies or music? Like to take pictures? All you have to do is email any of the editors, stop by the Beacon office in the basement of Reedpor submit articles online at thebehrendbeacmcom ing the newsroom with a staff of friends. I got to deal with organizing staff, content, web design, investiga tive reporting, legal issues, and organizing brand new events. I got to cover Barack Obama's visit to cam pus. I sat next to Jerome Bettis at dinner. I talked with Soledad O'Brien about the future of journalism, but I forgot to mention that if she needed any children fathered, she needs to call me. Here, you simply reach out and try something, love it, and you're in. Whether it's being pulled into Student Government Association, taking a trip to Mississippi for hurri cane relief, or being cajoled into starting a jazz trio, there are oppor tunities that simply would not exist anywhere else. More than anything, I simply love this place.. Whether it's seeing eight people I know walking to the REDC from Reed, or grabbing coffee with a teacher, or having a director of a interpretations of right to privacy and just treatment by the law. The principle behind these road blocks are in violation of the often quoted and misquoted, "innocent until proven guilty." You're right Mr. Korwek, we aren't in a totalitarian society, and I'd personally like to keep it that way. When you willingly waive your rights in the bettering of security, you will have neither (need I quote Ben Franklin? I really don't want to do it). Please don't try to associate unli censed drivers with accident rates. There is no correlation or causation in the Ms. PSB Pageant LOOK, AND THINK STOP, girls and five guys with the most change were in the pageant. I figured if I didn't tell anyone then I could have supported my suitemate but didn't have to risk possible humilia tion. Somehow, without any publicity, one of my friends found out and filled my bag with change. That led to me being a finalist. I had my three outfits picked out and I had my three songs per outfit picked out. I did the pageant, smiled, and twirled. At the end of the day, I lost. But, in my defense I raised almost 40 dollars and came in first if it was strictly based on how much money was raised. People always tell me that when you are in college you should get involved in as many things as possi ble. I am not the kind of girl that does pageants and it was personally Beitrend office stag tc check qn d bow an article's coming, this campus shows a personal element that's hard to find. It's the pace, I think - relaxed enough to enjoy yourself, but not slow enough to stagnate. Big enough to blend in, small enough to stand out. Here, I have professors that I can waste hours with discussing politics, journalism, or an NCAA March Madness bracket. Here, I have found a problem saying "no" to things because around every corner is a life-changing opportunity. Out of fear of falling, I run. Here, I have found myself. Part of me, for sure, wants to go to University Park. The parties, the big city atmosphere, the ability to lie low. And don't get me wrong; I know that I would still have fun and be involved at University Park. But there, there's not a cookie cake waiting in the LEB office the day after I have a bad day. There's not an April Fool's edition where we can sin- Saying that someone who doesn't get their car regularly inspected doesn't care for the well being of others is a hasty generalization that makes every Ohio citizen a sociopath. His last point mocks Mr. Becker's suggestion that police are just trying to generate revenue by saying that if police really wanted to increase rev enue they'd make more speed traps on the Bayfront. Really, if they want ed to increase revenue, they'd have road blocks so they wouldn't need any primary traffic violation to check your stats and get a quick peak in the cabin. The Behrend Beacon I 7 humiliating and completely nerve wracking. But a part of me had fun. I was in my own clothes and hearing my own music so I was pretty com fortable, so comfortable that at one point I twirled, winked, and pointed to the crowd to please a friend's request. I had one friend in the pageant to keep me company and I had no idea who the guy I was paired with was. Neither my friend nor I won the pag eant and we just laughed throughout the entire thing. A blonde-haired woman came up to me and said, "Just so you know, you were really close to winning." It made me feel good but I wasn't heartbroken after losing. It would have been fun to win the pageaht being the only non-Greek girl in the pageant. It would have been cool to beat a Greek. gle out faculty because we know they have a sense Of huMdr. There, there's not a professor who can accurately learn how to tell a Mom joke, or a janitorial crew who will stop to check on my sanity when I'm stuck working on the paper until three in the morn ing. There's not Bradley Kovalcik, or Ken Miller, or the Wintergreen Gorge to hear me rant. Most importantly, there's not the Beacon. There's not my jazz trio, or weekly trips to Dabrowski's At Behrend, I have the opportunity to make a difference. To change this campus for the better. I hope that I can, with your help. I hope that my staff and I can provide a consistently high-quality newspaper. I hope that we get plenty of angry letters, opin ion-page banter, and occasionally a compliment or two. And, above all, I hope that I can make other students love this campus as much as I do. block All in all, Mr. Becker never wanted to be pulled over, and might not have given the cops any good reason to do so. But he was unconstitutionally put in detainment with no rhyme or reason other than age discrimination and a chance to make a quick buck for the glorious state of Pennsylvania. If you are not upset at the oppression of our authorities, then it's really time to stop, look, and think. Josh Wittmershaus 4th semester Political Science Major jkwso62@ psu.edu Beacon Thumbs Down - Snow in April - Accent marks - Printer pulling an Office Space - Keegan missing
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers