61 Behrend Beacon OtII 111 DTI February 19, 2010 V/ L-/ XXXI. V-f X X I www.thebehrendbeacon.com X POINT COUNTER-POINT Snowboarding vs. skiing: All about boarding ALEC ITALIANO s > '<///< 1/ It kills me to badmouth skiers. Once upon a time, skiers ruled over the mountain. Snowboarders were kicked out of resorts simply for pur- suing a n that event' country in< Gradual! started pic one piece < stead of t' heading oi slopes. An< these kidf slowly i tionized . can cultun Boarder; been the many an local slop' badmouthk in the midd taking an into their spontaneo five feet you on slope the obviousl; shouldn’ be on. 1 hatt these little twerps as much as the next guy, but because of these in competent few, it does not give skiers the right to un dermine a sport where they can only dream about half the tricks boarders do. Don’t just take my word for it. Look at the Olympics and the popularity sparked THE EDITOR’S BLURB Stop retconing Nothing irritates a comic book geek more then a crappy retcon. To see a beloved char acter have his or her story dras tically change simply for the sake of asinine drama is ex tremely heartbreaking. For those who don't read comic books and are not famil iar with the term, "retcon” is an abbreviation for "retroactive continuity.” It is a strange con cept to explain to non-comic readers. Basically, it means that the official storyline has been changed. Here is an example. Imagine that you did something to upset your significant other. Maybe she caught you kissing some one else. However, it was later revealed that it wasn’t actually you who kissed somebody else. It was actually a robot sent from the future. This is very common comic books, because it allows the writer to do less work get NEIL JAMES opinion editor in boarding within games Just about every boarder and skier has heard of Shaun White and the ab solutely ridiculous things he can do on snow. Skiers have their stars with names like Bode Miller and Lindsey Skiers and boarders may attempt to get along on the outside, especially when traveling to other parts of the country. I have seen the two groups perfectly co exist. Riding up the gondolas in Killington, Vt. there was no grudge between the two holes. Instead of having to think of a clever way to resolve a story, they can just change the past and the events that got the character to that point. It's completely asinine for a couple reasons. One problem with it is that it completely wastes the reader’s time and money. I started read ing comic books when I was 12 years old. My favorite was Spi der-Man, and each week I would drop over 20 bucks on comics to follow his awesome stories. I loved watching his character grow and change from a dorky photographer to a respectable and matured sci ence teacher. However, in 2008, Marvel Comics massively retconed Spi der-Man, essentially erasing 30 years of comic book history. Peter Parker never married Mary Jane, Harry Osborn never died and a whole bunch of character development never happened. And according to Marvel, this new universe is “officially canon." With this thought it mind, I believe that I just wasted hun dreds of dollars buying comic books that do not matter at all. What is the point? I might as well bum all of them, consider ing how they are now entirely irrelevant. I feel like it is the written equivalent of having the Marvel editorial board strap on a pair of cleats and stomp on the nuts of their readers. The other reason that I can’t stand retconing is because it completely disrespects the pre vious writers. The things they did helped shape Spider-Man into the iconic character that he is. To completely disregard the work of past writers is basically the comic book way to take a huge dump on top of their face. Retconning is the vice of the lazy writer. Instead of actually putting time and effort into a story, a writer can just throw Scrabble tiles against a wall and whatever doesn’t fit into the continuity will be rewritten like they are the hand of God rebuilding creation. It’s a cheap trick whose only success is in irritating loyal fans. unique sports. Almost everyone had enough respect for the other to prohibit the use of the “stink eye” and merely go on their way enjoying the beautiful terrain. A major difference be tween here (Erie) and there hat the •oarders datively parties wn rep aining to teenagers are taking over the slopes and leaving the old sport of skiing to the old men. Snowboarding is taking over this country’s snow re sorts, and this revolution is not slowing down for any one, especially not skiers. Have Your Say: Which is the better sport: skiing or snowboarding? Justina Solties senior science education “I think that snowboarding is better than skiing because it looks more hardcore when you fall.” Which Winter sports are few and far between Yes, if you are currently watching the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, you'll see lots of eve However, most of these aren’t very appeal ing and don’t offer much to someone in the market for a new winter activity. So, unless you want to take ’ up curling or speedskating (and get freakishly monstrous quadriceps in the process), you're only viable options are to pick either skiing or snow boarding. not the ;ill levels barely t down ping off This creates an even bigger dilemma: Which one should a person choose? Which one is cooler? Which is more expen sive? Can summer just come sooner so I can get back to beach volleyball? B e - :ause of this, an under ground war be we e n Sadly, summer is out of the picture so you might as well buckle into some ski boots and make the most of it iers and oarders t on the N’ Peak, d Seven I’ve skied since I was 4 years old. So trust me, it is a good choice Skiing might not have the glitz, glamour and shattered collarbones of the half-pipe tricks that snowboarders can attempt, but it has its perks. matter is o a local nthused First off, I’d like to direct my readers to the number one Man Rule: “Guns make everything cooler." With this in biathlon. It’s an Olympic event comprised entirely of skiing and shooting. The only thing that could make it cooler is if the Olympic Committee made zombies the targets. Abby Dudzic freshman psychology “I think snowboarding is cooler. It looks more fun, so if I had to choose between the two, I’d choose snowboarding.” i is the better sport? All about skiing NEIL JAMES opinion ('dilot LOOK/ YOU CAN 5E£ NASA'S BLEAK RJTUPE FffOM ee. All profile photos taken by Daniel Smith / Behrend Beacon Cross-country skiing also has a rich history. The sport was first used by prehistoric Nordic people as a form of transporta tion. This will come in handy in the future, because we all know history tends to repeat itself. So when World War 111 finally ered in nuclear winter, you will be able to travel in style as you scavenge for food and fight off Deathclaws. On a more serious note, be coming a good skier takes more skill then one would originally think. Instead of standing on a gle surface, a skier must learn to evenly distribute their weight between skis and since turning is all about weight distribu tion, it is a pretty impor tant concept. Now most snowboarders use a half-pipe, thus it is not as fun. However, skiers can say the same thing to boarders about moguls. Moguls are nearly im possible for a boarder to tra Jenna Schwabenbauer freshman elementary education “I actually know how to ski, but if I had to choose, I’d have to say snowboarding, because it looks a lot harder.” verse and, depending on which resort you go to, are on most Black Diamonds. That will really restrict the places a person can go at a par ticular resort so make sure you do your research before you get the lift passes These are all pretty good rea sons to ski, however, the decid ing factor for people usually comes down to which one is cooler. Coolness is usually given to snowboarding because of the tricks associated with the sport. That being said, don’t count skiing out just yet. The next time you get a chance, check out the X-Games or the cur rent Winter Olympics. Skiers can pull off some gnarly tricks too. And when it comes to the laws of physics, skiers actually have a vast ad vantage. Not to knock boarding, but the physics at their disposal are somewhat limited. A boarder’s legs are confined to the restrainst of the board. A skier, however, has the free use of their legs in the air. They can use the momentum of their in dependent limbs to pull off ex tremely unique tricks. If you get a chance, look up skiing trick videos on You Tube. I think you may be in for a pleasant surprise. Skiing also provides a great lower-body workout and cross country works the whole body like nothing else. Between the poles and the kicking, cross -country skiing provides and lleled cardio workout. .iing is a great sport. But regardless of whether you choose to ski or snowboard, shredding is shredding. So just go hit the slopes and decide for yourself. To see video footage of the interviews on Have Your Say, go to wvm.thebehrendbeacon.com Brianna Fisher sophomore physics & chemistry ‘Td go with skiing because I can’t balance sideways”
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