MY VOICE
The warning signs of being a geek
It’s no secret among my
friends that I’m an avid reader
of comic books. They also are
well aware that I play video
games, my favorite movie is
Equilibrium and that I love
steam punk. All those things
help shape who I am and make
for great hobbies. However, at
what point do we pass from the
realm of “occasional hobbyist”
into “full-blown geek”?
The metamorphosis may be
slow and unn. iceable to the
untrained eye, but to a veteran
geek, it’s as easy as spotting a
noob on Call of Duty 4. Here
are some of the warning signs
that may allow non-nerds to tell
if their loved ones are infected:
• Planning your routine to
accommodate for superpowers:
Nothing sucks more then over
sleeping a morning class, espe
cially when you live on the
fourth floor of Ohio Hall. How
ever, it takes a special kind of
person to sprint past a window
that’s five stories in the air and
think, “If I was Spider-man, I
could just bail out this window,
web-swing through the trees
and sprint the last hundred
yards to class. I’d be there in
like, 30 seconds!”
• Thinking that a nuclear
holocaust would be kinda cool:
After devoting the last month of
CWLICWTOONS.COM
MY VOICE
More rowdiness
CARA DALLENBACH
staff writer
We all have those fond mem
ories of our long lost teachers
from early grade school who
taught us our ABCs and gently
nurtured our growing minds.
Ah yes, how we loved the soft
smell of fresh juice boxes in the
morning, combined with the il
luminating sight of Mrs.
Peabody’s apple-printed
sweater, as it’s apple-shaped
buttons glimmered in the
morning sun.
What was it about her? Why
did she seem so awesome all
the time? Was it the buttons?
Maybe. Or could it have been
because she genuinely cared
for our tiny well-beings and
was so comforting and perky
that our child-like instincts
caused us to raise our hands
and mistakenly call her Mom
on occasions. (Guilty!) With all
jokes aside, Mrs. Peabody may
have something going here -
Teachers should have an inter-
4701 CMIe C”o E H ie PA ,6563 The Behrend Beacon
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summer to playing Fallout 3, I
began to think how much bet
ter my life would be if the only
thing I had to worry about was
killing Radroaches and collect-
ing bobblehead dolls. Also, de
ciding on a answer for
multiple-choice questions
began to look and sound a lot
like “V.A.T.S.”
• WWS-MD: What would
Spider-Man do? If when
caught in a
dilemma of moral-
ity, your
thought is, “With
great power,
comes great re-
sponsibility,” it
may be a sign that
you need the lay
off the comic
books a bit.
• Zombie proof
ing your dorm
room: After spending an hour
discussing how we could fortify
Ohio Hall against a zombie at
tack, it became abundantly
clear that my suitemates and I
were in dire need of more fem
inine contact. Yes, with only
one accessible stairwell and
locking doors every 10 feet, it
makes a perfect base camp.
However, what’s the point of
surviving a zombie apocalypse
if no woman will come within
THE HOffffOf?...
TH£ HfflfMff...
active relationship with the stu
dents that shows they care, no
matter what level of schooling.
I have had my fair share of
wonderful, average, and not-so
grand teachers. In particular,
high school was a time in which
I developed the ability to differ
entiate between a teacher who
was actually there to share and
interact with me, as opposed to
one who was just going
through the motions. Back
then, if students had a disliking
for a teacher, they were able to
act out their frustrations by the
cliche, yet satisfying, playing of
pranks and passing of notes.
During lunch, everyone could
collectively giggle about their
triumphant revenges and skip
off to next period with re
freshed and satisfied minds.
Now, we are mature; this tom
foolery is no longer acceptable.
Thus, the problem arises: We
are stuck with “that” professor,
who monotones their way
through the day in 50-75
minute intervals.
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30 feet of your dorm room be
cause they don’t understand
why you have a three year sup
ply of water and Ramen noo
dles.
• Losing a friend over a de
bate on whether or not Sauron
was cooler then Voldemort:
Who was more badass? It’s a
question that will be asked by
geeks until the sun burns out.
Just don’t get to the point
where you are
ready to shank your
ex-bff with a wand
you make from an
old wooden serving
NEIL JAMES
opinion editor
mat that involves
inking and outlines? No?
Good, then you’re not a raging
geek. The best dream I ever
had involved me being re
cruited into the X-Men and
fighting my high school biology
teacher as he destroyed New
York City with his Stromboli
monster. Insanity aside, being
in the X-men was pretty cool,
even if it never really hap
pened.
• Knowing “Star Wars” his-
\ •' *
in the classroom
Now, before any professors
go 300 on me and a sky of fiery
chalkboard erasers that
shadow the sun is launched in
my general direction, allow me
to further explain my frustra
tions.
For the classes that require
mostly lectures of strictly facts
and data, I understand that
being monotone is only natural.
But can we get a fluctuation of
a word now and then, and per
haps after that amazing fluctu
ation, can we get a smile for a
promising finish? How about a
wave or even a slight nod at the
end of class for some closure?
Throw us a bone already! I, for
one, need a sign that the ring
ing in my ears is not the sound
of someone flat lining.
I can’t speak for everyone
else, but when a professor
shows true passion for their
field, it inspires me to delve into
the work. When I notice that a
professor is not excited to be
there, it dulls down the life of
the classroom, thus making the
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spoon.
• Dreaming in car
toons: Ever watch
enough anime or
1990’s vintage X-
Men cartoons that
you dream in a for-
OH, SURE. NOW
WARREN IS
CONCERNED ABOUT
THE HINI VIRUS...
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tory better than American his
tory: If you don’t know who
our fifteenth president was but
know that Boba Fett is still alive
in the “Expanded Universe,”
then I would encourage you to
leave your room and visit your
local library. You could even
quest for a non-local library.
The longer you are outside, the
better.
• If you place playing new
video games over hanging out
with friends: With Gamestop
giving you special Download
able content for pre-ordering,
it’s easy to get excited over a
new game that’s on the way.
Just make sure that you keep
things in perspective, or you’ll
soon end up like Gollum: pale,
atrophied, crazed and annoy
ing.
Hopefully this has been help
ful With these warning signs,
you should be able to drag your
loved one from the depths of
his basement/gaming cave/de
humidified comic book storage
facility. Just be careful. If you
spend too much time in the in
sanely fun world of the geek,
you may find yourself infected
with a little bit of interest in our
tiny slice of counter culture;
then it’s just a matter of time
before you are one of us.
learning process not as enjoy
able. I mean, if all else fails,
perhaps try to rap the last half
hour of data and give student
participation for whoever can
free-style the chapter’s main
points to your student-friendly
beat.
I’m just saying, as students,
we are constantly urged to
think outside the box, while
some professors barely step
outside of their podium quar
ters. We are all in this together,
but the teacher is in the driver’s
seat. Don’t make me pass out
pom-poms at the next faculty
meeting! I will do it. And they
will be flashy.
So, students, when you come
across a professor who is en
thused about being in class for
their students and it is obvious
they are there to inspire you,
give them a big round of ap
plause and let out a sigh of re
lief... Mrs. Peabody is alive and
well.
Photographer*:
Jon Klein
jßkso34@psu.edu i Ikhed, they must Include their name. The Behrend Beacon intends for its Opinion page to be a forum for discussion,
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MY VOICE
Foreign language
As an International Business
major, I chose to come to Penn
State Behrend because this is
one of the only campuses that
offer it as a major.
Soon after my arrival, I dis
covered that the Foreign Lan
guage Department was
seriously lacking. With my ul
timate career goal of becoming
an interpreter/translator, I was
seriously upset. Penn State
Behrend only offers Spanish,
French, and German language
courses ranging from 001-003.
Since only introductory courses
are offered in these languages,
Penn State Behrend students
are limited on the foreign lan
guage courses they are able to
take.
If a student took four years of
a high school foreign language
course they have the choice to
be placed in the highest level of
that foreign language taught
here at Behrend. If Penn State
Behrend were to offer other
common foreign language
courses, such as Chinese, Ara
bic, Italian, or Latin, they would
not only give their students a
broader range of classes, they
would also allow students to
leave Penn State more pre
pared for their intended field of
study.
Although the French class
that I am currently in is diffi
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thebehrendbeacon.com
MY VOICE
Expand junker
It is 11:00 o’clock on a Mon
day morning, and you have
been psyching yourself up all
summer to deny the freshman
fifteen from claiming you as its
next victim.
You have a pair of new run
ning shoes, your iPod and a
Gatorade to motivate you dur
ing your workout in the weight
room. The pride you take in lac
ing up those shoes, strapping
your iPod to your arm and sip
ping on that Gatorade is un
matched
Finally, you ar
rive at the Junker
Center. You are
more than ready to
get into the weight
room, take a well
paced run on a
treadmill
pump iron until
your arms fall off.
Opening the
door for the first
time and seeing all of the state
of-the-art equipment gives you
a rush that your face can’t hide,
but there is someone sitting at
the desk that is going to ask
you leave.
What gives?
Monday through Friday
strength training classes take
over the Junker Center’s
weight room for nearly three
hours each day. On Tuesdays
and Thursdays it is closed to
other students from 9:30 to
12:15, and on Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays it
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Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the students, faculty or University administration. Opinions ex
pressed in columns, cartoons, and letters are not necessarily those of The Behrend Beacon unless otherwise indicated.
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writer’s name and phone number. Letters may be edited for content or length at the editor in chief’s discretion.
The Behrend Beacon does not publish anonymous letters to the editor. If students want their letters to be pub*
Behrend Beacon
September 25, 2009
www.thebehrendbeacon.com
AARON MORELLI
ftUU'l writer
SHAWN
ANNARELLI
sports editor
Editori
ll Poll
cult, it is only harder because of
the usual high school to college
transition of difficulty.
Along with the seemingly ex
cessive workload, the tests and
exams are much harder than
that of a high school french
class. Along with the lower
level of French being taught,
the general classroom under
standing of French is almost
the same as my high school
class, if not lower. It seems as
if Penn State Behrend barely
puts any focus on its Foreign
Language Department. With
the limited class selection,
smaller staff, and almost non
existent study abroad pro
grams, Behrend’s Foreign
Language Department itself is
virtually non-existent.
Penn State University Park
offers courses in Arabic, Chi
nese, French, German, Greek,
Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Ko
rean, Latin, Portuguese, Russ
ian, Slavic, Spanish, Swahili,
and Ukrainian. Thirteen more
classes are offered at UP then
compared to Behrend. For
being the only campus that of
fers the International Business
Major, you would think that
more foreign language courses
would be offered. Ultimately, I
hope by my junior year here at
Behrend, or another college,
foreign language courses are at
least offered in Chinese, Ara
bic, Russian, Latin, Italian, and
many others.
closed from 9:15 to 12:05
1 had to learn the hard way
last year that I couldn’t get into
the weight room during the
best time of the day to work
out.
The second semester I made
the logical move and took the
weight lifting class and got it to
myself along with dozens of
other students. While that was
good for me, I witnessed other
students on a weekly basis
being turned away.
The real issue
with making the
weight room ex
clusive to only 36
students over a
given period of
time is that there is
only a portion of
students who are
actually there to
better themselves.
A small group
of us in that class
were there to improve physi
cally and mentally, but the ma
jority of the class half-heartedly
drug themselves around as if
they were being punished. It’s
a waste of their time and many
more who would just like an
honest work out.
It’s simply not right to have
this class turn away others if it
is being taken up by mostly
nonchalant individuals who
show up for an “A” and miss the
purpose of being there alto
gether.