THE PROFESSOR’S CORNER /\ bailout for higher education? ED MISETA lecturer in economic;. A recent Erie Times-News ar ticle warned of “More Budget Worries Ahead for Penn State.” Apparently, $6,800 per se mester per student (much more for out of state students), plus funding from the state and stimulus money from the fed eral government, are simply not enough to keep this great institution afloat. Amazing, considering that employees got no raise in 2009 and will probably get none in 2010 either. (Don’t worry about me - I don’t live paycheck-to paycheck). The article states that Penn State has an enrollment of 94,300. At $13,600 annually per student (assuming all are in state), that works out to over $1.2 TRILLION per year, not in cluding government bailouts or the billions made on football weekends (just from bottled IN THE OLYMPICS fTIItPS ONSOi'^fVtWk.l’*^ ZeZ'z 4 «>'<rz'o the/^-ditot' belnorter then 350 words, will be printed as written. Subm All: RE: Answering questions from Democrats I don’t know which dictionary Ed Miseta is using, but his defi nition of socialism is quite a bit off. He makes the bold claim that allowing the government to take money from one person and give to another is “by definition socialism.” This is Tea Party revisionist nonsense at its worst. This distortion of the beliefs of actual so cialists spits on the grave of Karl Marx, which I’m sure Miseta doesn’t have a problem with Perhaps Miseta’s definition of socialism is derived from the right-wing offshoot of the Second Communist International that suggested capitalism could be reformed to make living conditions for all workers more tolerable. These “socialists” join the likes of Stalin and Mao in the pantheon of fools who have manipulated Marx’s message for their own political benefit. Miseta’s abuse of the term socialist may very well earn him a place right beside them, albeit for polemic rather than apologetic purposes. Miseta also assumes that everyone already knew that Obama is a socialist (he’s not), even socialists (!). For his evidence, he asks what else to call certain policy decisions - wealth redistribution, government ownership of business, and support of unionism - but socialism. Arguments like this have been refuted for over 130 years. Engels observes in his “Socialism: Utopian and Scientific” that defining socialism simply by state ownership of industry would bring the likes of Napoleon into the socialist tradition. If Miseta was using a more adequate dictionary, he might have la beled government ownership of property what it really is - state capitalism. Not knowing “what else” to call it doesn’t mean you can write any word you want. I won’t bother to respond to Miseta’s comments on the Demo cratic Party’s strategy or his questionable proclamation that the Massachusetts special election was “earth-shaking.” Miseta has proven himself adept at using Tea Party rhetoric, but this Boston Massacre of the facts leads me to believe that he should keep his mouth shut outside of reactionary circles. 470,Co^rSo e h' pa ' 6563 Thf. Behrend Beacon itive B Business Manager: Bethany Long bjlso37@psu.edu Faculty Advisor: Kim Young kjylo@psu.edu Marketing Manager Katie Cook klcs293@psu.edu Editor-In-Chief: Connor Sattely editor@psu.edu Managing Editor: Shawn Annarelli smaslB9@psu.edu Web Editor: Jeremy Korwek jdksoo9@psu.edu water and parking). That number is just slightly below President Obama's 2009 budget deficit and the projected deficit for 2010. To further put this in perspec tive, the tuition for my spring semester in 1982 was $382. 1 understand inflation, but has an education at Penn State improved by almost eighteen fold in the last 20 years? That is an almost 1,700% increase for those of you keeping track at home. So what exactly is the prob lem? The school blames it on the pension system and health care expenses. But it’s hard to be lieve that that alone could ac count for these severe monetary problems. I think it might be time to start looking in other places. This is not simply a Penn State problem. College students in California are already rioting over proposed tuition in- Tte SPORT of ’CURLING" ROBERT MOELLER history major News Editors: Ally Orlando ac 05051 @psu.edu Rachelle Thompson ritso§s@psu.edu Ast. News Editor: Eric Peirce ewpsos2@psu.edu creases, and I’m sure these huge cost increases are com mon to all major institutions of learning. Is it just me, or has anyone else noticed that these costs began to skyrocket as soon as the government got involved? The government decided that EVERYONE should be able to get a college education, and suddenly costs are out of this world. Let’s see a show of hands - how many people think that a student with a 2.0 GPA will be able to pay off a $70,000 stu dent loan debt in his/her life time? Yep. That might be part of the problem. Still, you really have to mar vel at the ability of the govern ment to wreck everything it touches The government gets in volved in education and sud denly no one can afford it. The government starts a re tirement system for its citizens, RE: Last week’s Letter to the Editor I appreciate Mr. Goetz's concern regarding current SGA projects and our priorities. I want to assure you that SGA is currently working on more than renaming a road. SGA operates and does most of its work through a committee system, and Governmental Affairs, the group working on the project, is only one of nine of these. Part of the problem is that it is not nearly as exciting to hear about projects being developed that are in their early stages. The renaming project has come to fruition and is why it is cur rently being publicized. Ideally, this project will serve two functions. First, by renaming the road, we hope to strengthen school spirit. Renaming a road, while minor, serves as a stepping stone to make the campus a little more prideful. Second, and perhaps most importantly, we will need to work with the Harborcreek Township Supervisors to ac complish this. Jordan Road, the road which Mr. Goetz hoped for sidewalks on, is owned and maintained by them. Since 1 began attending Behrend, sidewalks have been a goal but have always been held up because of this fact. We are taking things in a new direction by starting with the renaming project and establishing a working relationship between the Board of Supervisors and Behrend students. After this project has been successfully com pleted, I hope that we can approach the Board with the working relationship that we create and use it to deal with the sidewalk issue. The SGA is not only focused on this, however, as there are a number of things being worked on behind the scenes that not all students may be informed of. Our Student Affairs committee is working on, among other things, getting a DVD Vending Kiosk, like Redbox, at our campus. The Diversity committee has hosted events that are showcasing different lifestyles to students and will be bringing The Human Race Machine later this semester. The Budget Committee continually allocates thousands of dol lars for club use; and the Academic Affairs Committee is currently finishing its work on The Student Bill of Rights, a document which will outline different policies, steps to take, and rights that stu dents have within the University but may not realize. SGA, I assure you, is not allowing harder projects to fall by the wayside. We are working within our means to strengthen our campus. If we were to solely lobby for things such a new Resi dence Hall or focus on things which are completely infeasible like a second entrance to campus, we would be wasting our time and the possibility of change for those whom we represent. Further more, if you have any question or want more information on what the SGA is doing, please don’t hesitate to contact me. Editori Culture Editors: Shannon Ehrin sbesol7@psu.edu Copy Editors: Jeff Kramer jsksl6l@psu.edu Marcus Yeagley mjysol2@psu.edu Sports Editors: Nick Blake npbso4l@psu.edu Alec Italiano ajiso37@psu.edu Opinion Editor: Neil James opinion@psu.edu IN THE UNIT GTATES Photo Editor: Daniel J. Smith djss223@psu.edu Videographer: Mike Fultz nyls2o4@psu.edu and it goes bankrupt (but Bernie Madoff would be proud). The government provides healthcare via Medicare and Medicaid, and both are bank rupt. The government runs a mo nopoly on the delivery of first class mail, and it loses billions. The government decides to make homes affordable to all Americans, and the entire banking system is destroyed. Maybe it’s time we started getting government less in volved in business. How many industries does the government need to destroy before we real ize that maybe it is not that good at running things': 1 President Obama said re cently that Americans no longer trust the government to do anything right or to get any thing done. If true, then maybe it's time for less government rather than BRAD KOVALCIK S(,\ I’lvtidviu Telephone: (814) 898-6488 Fax: (814)898-6019 Business Editor: Garrett Carson : Any letters intended for publication must be addressed to the editor, be no more than .’ISO words, and include the amrHn?l(a>ntin tvin i wnter ’ s name and phone number. Letters may be edited for content or length at the editor in chief's discretion. u cm- • Ihe 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. Science Editor: The Behrend Beacon is editorially independent from the Penn Stale system The Behrend Beacon operates par r p | ' j bally on Student Activity l ee. and partially on advertising revenue It is published every I riday during the school : vear except for before and during scheduled vacations, with exceptions for special issues iggso29'.Vpsu.edu ; i ht . editl )r-in-chief has the final authority on editorial decisions, including, but noi limned to, all columns, edito i rials, and letters lo the editor Complaints regarding Beacon coverage of school events should be directed to the edi- MY VOICE Our oxymorons There are a lot of contradic tions in life. People use contradictory terms, also known as oxy morons, like act naturally, same difference, and no comment (after all, the person is giving a comment). We see examples of it every day, whether it is the double chinned, potbellied lady at McDonald’s scarfing down double cheeseburgers, talking about cutting carbs and losing weight, or listening to semi-ath letic white guys like myself talk about s which athlete: best Even here at. see a bunch of a dictions a things that ju; don't add up. Here are my top three. 1. Tan girl in the winter: Everyone loves a little color, but with the harsh Erie win ters, it would be to see red, rosy cheeks But it seems like the more 1 walk around campus, the more 1 see orange. A lot of female college students like to go tan ning in the winter, and that’s their choice. However, they do stick out among the white snow, and it's even worse when they look like they escaped from Willy Wonka’s Factory. I’m not suggesting that every one should take a tip from the Twilight movies and be pasty white. I’m just saying that there’s a difference between a little bronze and Oompa- Loompa orange. 2. Gatorade for the lazy guys: MY VOICE Killing grammar Throughout every year of high school, you probably had to take an English course. When you got to college, your major required that you take at least two more English courses. We take all of these courses, yet every day I hear people using words incorrectly. I’m not an English major or anything of that sort. These are just common things that every one knows; and still, we use words wrong. 1 just don’t get it. We spend all these hours sitting in Eng lish, so why not just use the in formation you learn so you don’t look unintelligent? My biggest issue is with the word "seen." I do not under stand how so many people can use this word incorrectly. You cannot “seen” someone You "saw” someone most often in text To most people, hea, one say they “seen’ doesn’t even sound i ally does make you ucated. Another word that often used incorrectl is “ignorant.” You a> ways hear “ignorant being used in place “rude.” They do not mea, same thing. Soi being ignorant ha: with a person havin; of knowledge towari ject. “Rude” is whei one says something out of line or impoli I live at Universii partments and I’m , we all know what goi on there during th weekends. When people tell 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 $1.5(1 each ( ipinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of all students, faculty or Lniversity administration. Opin ions expressed in columns, cartoons, and letters are not necessarily those of The Behrend Beacon unless otherwise indicated. In almost all of the vending machines around campus, there’s water, pop and Gatorade. While water has its benefits and pop has its down falls, Gatorade is what seems most contradictory. It seems that most often peo ple are drinking Gatorade when they are doing nothing. Gatorade is intended for con sumption during physically ac tive occasions. I’ll admit to grabbing a Gatorade a few hours after playing, basketball, but -is the guy he Gatorade ■ he couldn’t ifference be iaseball and a te ball. Say one do another: m guilty of myself, espe ly when it >es to classes. BRANDON BOYD senior wntt'i the week. I put it off for a day or two, whether it’s for watch ing Sports Center or writing my article. Eventually, it gets to the point where it’s nine at night the day before the test, and I’ve glanced at my notes for all of three sec onds. I frantically cram in studying for the next few hours and am usually able to get a B on the test. Of course, I tell myself that I'll study harder for the next exam. Or, that I’ll write my ar ticle a little bit earlier next week. Will I continue on my path of saying that I’ll do some thing and then doing some thing completely contradictory? No comment. about the U-Gates Apartments you will often hear, “I was so belligerent this weekend,” when in reality they mean that they were just extremely intox icated. Belligerent is defined as, “warlike; given to waging war.” This has nothing to do with being very intoxicated. If you were actually really intoxicated and fighting people then you use the term correctly. People always say it doesn’t matter what they say in normal conversation because it is just with their friends. In reality though, after so long it will become a habit, and you won’t be able to control it. Therefore, when you go to an interview or something impor tant, you will more than likely still speak incorrectly. stories All profile photos taken by Daniel Smith / Behrend Beacon itorial Policies •out a week : ore a test jmes up, I tell myself and those around me that I plan on studying throughout s(,m writer
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