Opinion MY VOICE I would like to take this time to introduce you to my friend, who I know well. His name is Mr. Procrastination. Wait, you mean you know him, too? I.et me ask him. Ah, yes. You two are the best of pals. Who isn't the best of pals with Mr. Procrastination? You met him the day before your test. You met him a few hours before your project. In my case, I met him at midnight the day before my article was due. He knew I had classes all of Wednesday, so the article had to get done Tuesday night. He didn't care. He provided me with a few games on my XBOX 360, a few web sites and a rough draft that had to get fin ished, which, of course, he helped me put off. Some friend he is. We need to face a harsh real ity. You and I both know that we need to boot him out of our MY VOICE Facebook friends vs. real friends ERIC PEIRCE start writer The other day, as I was sitting in my dorm room doing, ahem, research, I happened to log onto Facebook. I looked at the updated profiles of my friends and then looked at my profile to make up some witty status up date. As I started to look at my whole profile, including my friends list, I started to wonder who my "friends" were. Nothing in today's college life is as official as Facebook. This is true for relationships, clubs, groups and, most impor tant, friends. It seems odd to be YOUR VOICE I would like to thank you and congratulate you on your out standing coverage of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Commemora tion. Your edition featuring his picture on the front page and the events taking place on campus was captivating and inviting. Your post-events coverage was interesting and well-written. In the many years that I have been at this institution, never have I seen such first-rate coverage of this occasion by the Beacon. I truly admire and appreciate your conscious effort in promoting and covering these events. I have always found that MLK week provides a great opportunity to not only learn about an important time in our nation's history (the civil rights movement), but also a time to pause and ponder on Dr. King's ideals of equality, love, and community. How far has our society come in terms of equal op portunity for all? Have we reached the "promised land" or is there still a long way to go? This is an argument that can perhaps help each individual on this campus to focus on the important role they play in making our campus community (and beyond) a great place to be. Your outreach and diligence supporting these events facil- 4701 College Drive, Erie PA 16563 Room 10H THE BEHREND BEACON • : • Editor-In-Chief: Connor Sattely editor@psu.edu Managing Editor: Shawn Annarelh smaslB9@psu.edu Web Editor: Jeremy Korwek jdksoo9@psu.edu Meet Mr. Procrastination lives, or at least ease up on how often he sees us. Step one: Admit that there's a problem. Hey, we procrasti nators are like alcoholics. We're not addicted, right? Bull. We love to wait until the last moment each and every time and scramble to get things done. Admitting that there is too much procrastinating is a step towards breaking the habit. Step two: Make a list. For a college student, a list of things that don't include eating pizza or calling Mom can be im posing, but seeing things slowly get accomplished is a satisfying feeling. Starting early on the list is also key. Eventually, each time a list is made, it gets done faster and faster. IMEI friends with someone just be cause you met them once in your high school or encoun tered them by accident, and you hit it off. But are they still your friend? As I looked further into my friends list, completely ignoring my homework by this point, I was astonished to find early childhood friends, a girl I had met only for a few brief mo ments in Florida and even a few people I grew to resent over the years. Yet, I also found other `friends' that I just lost touch with once I ran through my high school doors with a diploma in hand and on toward A Successful MLK Day News Editors: Mike 0. Wehrer mrwso94@psu.edu Ally Orlando acososl@psu.edu Rachelle Thompson rftso6s@psu.edu Opinion Editor: Business Manager: Bethany Long bjlso37@psu.edu Faculty Advisor: Kim Young kjylo@psu.edu Marketing Manager Katie Cook klcs293@psu.edu Neil James opinion@psu.edu Step three: Don't be lazy. It's the hardest part of the process. It's practically in our DNA. In fact, there are now five bases to DNA: adenine, cy tosine, guanine, thymine, and lazy. There's no getting around it: if you want to stop being lazy, a heaping help of will power and self-discipline is needed. While it can't be found at the nearest Wal- Mart, it can be found inside of yourself. If you're really dedicated, step up to the plate and take responsi bility. BRANDON BOYD senior writer Step four: Ac complish everything. On your list, list everything from hardest to easiest. Do the hard stuff first, and make your way down to the easiest of assignments. Don't skip something on the ECM STEVE 1085 it , I OIP 4 i v .4 • Behrend. Who wouldn't? With my spare time, I sent messages to a few of my old buds from the past. Most of them gave no reply, but the few who did respond gave me great stories and updates since meet ing them from neighborhood football games or being intro duced by other friends. One of them is engaged, another is working as a full-time car me chanic, while yet another has moved out of state to study to become a doctor (a career that I would never have pictured them studying for). However, during these ex changes, I realized one thing: itated that opportunity. Thank you, once again, from the bottom of my heart. Best wishes for the remainder of the semester and keep up the good work! Culture Editor: Evan Koser emksllo@psu.edu Ast. Culture Editor: Shannon Ehrin sbesol7@psu.edu Photo Editor: Daniel J. Smith djss223@psu.edu ANDY A. HERRERA Director of Educational Equity X Diversity Programs t • ri ; I B • ard Sports Editors: Nick Blake npbso4l@psu.edu Copy Editors: Jeff Kramer oks l 6l@psu.edu Marcus Yeagley mjysol2@psu.edu Engineering Editors Kristin Sliwinski kass79o@psu.edu Alec Italiano ajiso37@psu.edu Videographer: Mike Fultz mjls2o4@psu.edu list, because it's too difficult or too easy. That's the key mis take of procrastinators! There's only so much time in the day, and getting everything done, no matter the challenge, will help to end procrastination. Step five: Celebrate! Con gratulations, you have success fully been cured of procrastination. Mr. Procrasti nation will no longer harass you at all hours of the night, forcing you to stay up until one or two (or three or four) in the morning to study for your test, complete your project, and fin ish your article. It will take a lot of sweat, tears and eraser marks to get to this point, but when you do, it's certainly a great accomplishment. Of course, no one has ever reached Step Five before. Ever. See you tomorrow, Mr. Pro crastination. % • ilk * You're only friends with some one if you actually try to be a friend. I could call anyone my friend, but there's a huge differ ence between meeting some one and getting to know them as a person. So if you have the time to get on Facebook (which I know you do) maybe look up a couple of long-lost friends from your past and give them a quick message. Say "Hi" and ask them what's new. You might find a small spark of friendship, and from there, who knows what could happen? Telephone: (814) 898-6488 Fax: (814) 898-6019 Single copies of the Beacon are free and available at newsstands around campus. Additional copies can be pur chased with permission of the editor-in-chief for $1.50 each. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of all students, faculty or University administration. Opin ions expressed in columns, cartoons, and letters are not necessarily those of The Behrend Beacon unless otherwise Business Editors: indicated. Garrett Carson Any letters intended for publication must be addressed to the editor, be no more than 250 words, and include the writer's name and phone number. Letters may be edited for content or length at the editor in chief's discretion. gmcso2l@psu.edu The Behrend Beacon does not publish anonymous letters to the editor. If students want their letters to be Humanities Editor: published, they must include their name. The Behrend Beacon intends for its Opinion page to be a forum for Adam Spinelli discussion, not a screen to hide behind. Occasionally, The Behrend Beacon may request responses to online alsssB9@psu.edu queries in which responders will be identified by their username. The Behrend Beacon is editorially independent from the Penn State system. The Behrend Beacon operates par- Ryan Gula tially on Student Activity Fee, and partially on ads ertising revenue. It is published every Friday during the school rggso29@psu.edu year except for before and during scheduled vacations, with exceptions for special issues. Science Editor: The editor-in-chief has the final authority on editorial decisions, including, but not limited to, all columns, edito- Brian Carlson rials, and letters to the editor. Complaints regarding Beacon coverage of school events should be directed to the edi• bmcso62@psu.edu for at editor , ' psu.edu. MY VOICE Housing choices After making the decision after the fall of my sophomore year to transfer home to Behrend, the next big decision I had to make was where I wanted to live. I remember friends and family telling me that it would be much smarter to save the money and just live at home. I wouldn't be missing anything, and, of course, I could always visit my friends that already had their own places. So, taking their advice, I spent the next year living at home. I saved money, still vis ited friends that lived on their own and probably got more my work done since I had consid erably less distractions at home. However, my friends and family were wrong. I was miss ing something. I was missing out on an essential college ex perience; one that I didn't real ize I would miss so much until it was over. Moving away from home and living with roommates, al though I've had my share of crazy ones, has resulted in MARISSA LANICH MY VOICE Parallel tragedies Before I write this, I'd like to mention that I do not have a problem with the United States helping Haiti in their time of need. Nor do I believe that Haiti should be left to fix their own country without the sup port of a nation that is capable of helping anyone. Bashing Haiti is not my intent in writing this. Rather, I would like to get others to maybe think about the question that has been on my mind since Haiti has endured this traumatic event, "Why has n't New Orleans received the same treatment after Hurricane Katrina?" Every day on the news we see our American soldiers helping Haiti and its people by estab lishing order and protecting its streets. We see our president on television making promises to the people of Haiti. Let's not forget about the abundance of charities that have been set up to help Haiti and its people in their time of need. But where were all of these people during Hurricane Katrina? Drds. .en. Where was the help? Where was the worry? Where was the money that they needed to re build their city and start over? And where were the people that are so willing to get the women and children out of Haiti during Hurricane Katrina? Instead, these people were left to sleep on the streets, in stadiums that were run down, because they were not equipped to hold that BEHREND BEACON January 29, 2010 www.thebehrendbeacon.com ~ tall 11 rth i KAMILLE WATSON slat nWet the greatest experiences and best friendships I've ever made. My roommates and I certainly had our issues, espe cially my freshman year when four of us were crammed into a small, supplemental dorm room that was the size of my current bedroom. However, when I look back on those times, I know that those are memories I will never forget Although I see the benefits in living at home, specifically the financial ones, I wish that stu dents would take this opportu nity to learn more about themselves and about what the real world is like. Although dorm life, and even U-Gates life, doesn't exactly mimic the real world, it can help ease us into it. Living on my own with other people has taught me a lot about responsibility and compromise, and it has • pre pared me for getting my own place once I leave school. There is more to moving away from home than the prac ticality, though. Living among your peers is an essential col lege experience. Although it is still possible to have fun going kends and visiting Is' apartments, it tme as living with shout the semester, ig the little things . hat happen day to tke college life fun Besides, do you took back on your years and remem iending them with • friends and your )mmates, or mom id dad? This semester, knew I needed that lerience again. So an opportunity round, I moved out d moved in with a roommates. Al ;till new, it's already at experience and :he money it took to 'm excited to make pries, some of which )er, and some that rtes will have to fill me in on later. many people. The people of New Orleans needed the sup port from a country that they were apart of, but instead we turned the other cheek. But now we are so willing to help Haiti. Is it the difference in our country? Because, let's be hon est, our country does have a new face since President Obama is in office. Who's to blame? Do we blame George Bush for not helping the people of New Or leans when he had the power to do so? Or do we blame our selves and our entire country for not taking the initiative to help in our own backyard? We are so quick to run to an other country hundreds of miles away to help them in their time of need. We, as a country, are so eager to help other people so we can uphold the image of being a powerful nation, but when we do not ac knowledge our mishaps and misfortunes in our own coun try, how can we possibly help another country? As I stated in the beginning, I am not against the help that the people of Haiti are getting, nor do I believe that the help should be stopped. I just feel that we, as a country, should help our own with the same eagerness and ability to help another country in their times of need. While Haiti and other countries like it will flourish, ours will di minish and collapse if we do not recognize our own troubles at home.
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