AAI Behrend Beacon y\
I U April 16,2010 vy L J
■ www.thebehrendbeacon.com J/
MY VOICE
A need for real
health care reform
MLADEN GRGIC
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Land of the free, home of the
brave; the American dream is
what we all strive for. Wealth,
happiness, and stability, all of
which are easily accessible
while living in the United
States, as long as you are dedi
cated to hard work and perse
verance. So with all that said,
how is it that today over 37 mil
lion Americans live in poverty?
Are they not working hard
enough? Although finding a job
without a car or significant ad
dress if pretty much impossible.
Or do they not ;
want the “Ameri- "SIDC© th© QOV6ITI
can Dream"? mentS’S fOCUS is OUt
the American SidG Of th© United
dream is just that, a States, these
dream, a succes- >, r .
Sion of images, 37 million people
thoughts or emo- will live in poverty until
liTugh the'mind the government wakes
during sleep. Be- up and realizes that
cause the Ameri- this Is a major
can dream seems J
so intangible it is problem”
becoming obsolete
to those 37 million Americans
living in poverty. The 37 million
people who are already living
in poverty and the millions
more that will join them be
cause of the recession basically
have no way out, so my ques
tion is what is the government
going to do about this problem?
Living in a country where
you can do anything you put
your mind to, how do we have
poverty? Maybe it's because the
government’s focus is else
where. Helping foreign coun
tries with their poverty while
ignoring our own backyard. For
example. New Jersey, one of
the richest states in the country
is home to the poorest city in
the country, Camden. How is
that possible? New Orleans is
another example of the govern
ment’s lack of concern for the
countries well-being and its in-
DOUBLE DOWN
Have Your Say: «' x°" £»»*£ Do " s
Desstia Jones
freshman
undecided
“I’m going because the Goo “No, I’m not going. I have
Goo Dolls are freaking sweet!” to coach my lacrosse team
habitants
While our nation is plummet
ing and becoming poorer every
day, other places are flourish
ing and benefiting from the
American dream. Who’s to
blame? Do we blame the past
presidents for making eco
nomic decisions that have
made today’s economic reces
sion? Or do we blame the peo
ple who are living in poverty
and the people around them
who choose to not help them in
their time of need? But how can
those people do better or help
when the government isn't
showing any significant con
cern for these peo
ple?
Most of the
people who are liv
ing in poverty are
either African
American or
Latino and live in
the worst of towns
none as ghettoes.
How are these peo
ple supposed to
bring themselves
out of the slums
when there is no
help? Realistically
they can't; since the govern
ment’s focus is outside of the
United States, these 37 million
people will live in poverty until
the government wakes up and
realizes that this is a major
problem.
How can there be a war on
drugs and a war on terrorism,
but no war on poverty? The
government should realize that
a war on poverty within the
United States is just as signifi
cant as a war or drugs and ter
rorism. In order for our country
to get out of this slump that we
are in, our leaders need to real
ize that the focus is needed at
home in order to attain that
American dream and fix sur
rounding countries like that of
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Ryan Adams
sophomore
business
MY VOICE
Lady
NICK BLAKE
sports editor
Constructed from 2,950 tons
of stainless Pittsburgh steel, the
Mellon Arena opened in Sep
tember of 1961 as the Civic Au
ditorium.
It featured the world’s first
retractable roof on a major ath
letic stadium, and it has been
the home of the Pittsburgh Pen
guins since day one of the fran
chise.
Mellon Arena, named for
Mellon Financial which pur
chased the arena in 1999, has
hosted the likes of Elvis Presley
and the Beatles.
She has welcomed Muham
mad Ali, the Harlem Globetrot-
ters and the WWE. “To hp in Mpllnn over me and 1
Even though IU Dc IN MeilOll cou i dn ’ t S ee the
Lady Mellon has Arena when that puck Jumbotron.
seen her fair share hit that hark nf thp None of that
of talent over her uldlUdUvUl ulc mattered, though. I
49-year career, the net WaS a Surreal was in The Igloo
hockey games that f ,• Thphllilriinn for a P la Y off S ame
have taken place IMg UUIIUlliy against the Flyers,
under her silver was rocking, and I who are arguably
dome may have ■ • , f the Penguins'
produced her COfTnete biggest rival.
greatest memories. StfanQefS Who felt like Bill Guerin
I could go on a fripnrk " scored with less
rant listing num- TnenOS. than two minutes
bers and stats all to play in overtime
relating to Lady Mellon, but
Penguins fans already know
that stuff.
She has been the home to
some of the greatest players to
ever play in the NHL.
Jean Pronovost, Andy Bath
gate, Tom Barasso, Ron Fran
cis, Paul Coffey, Mario
Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney
Crosby, Evegeni Malkin, Marc
Andre-Fleury, the list goes on
and on. AH of these players,
and countless others, have
donned the Penguins uniform.
Each and every one of them
has had their fair share of ac
complishments, and calls Mel
lon Arena “home”.
For you Penguins fans, who
have been as lucky as I have to
attend at least one game at The
Igloo, you know what 1 am talk
ing about.
I went to my first Penguins
Brian Beswick
sophomore
plastics engineering
“I’m not going. I’ll be going
home. I haven’t been there in
two months.”
Mellon , /
game when I was 12-years-old.
The Penguins beat the San Jose
Sharks 4-2 that night.
My seats were in the Igloo
Club section, right behind the
benches. I was sitting five rows
behind Lemieux, Martin Straka
and Alexei Kovalev.
I got to see Lemieux score a
goal that night. It wasn’t a mile
stone goal or anything like that,
but I got to see Mario Lemieux
score a goal at Mellon Arena.
That was special.
Last season, I was lucky
enough to get a ticket for game
two of the Penguins’ first round
match up against the Philadel
phia Flyers.
My seat was in section E.
The section F balcony hung
to give Pittsburgh a 2-0 lead in
the series.
To be in Mellon Arena when
that puck hit the back of the net
was a surreal feeling. The
building was rocking, and I was
hugging complete strangers
who felt like friends.
I’ll never forget that moment.
The Penguins would go on to
win the Stanley Cup, and I
could say that I got to go to a
game on the road to their third
Stanley Cup in franchise his
tory.
This season, on a chilly No
vember day, my girlfriend and I
sat outside of gate eight for six
and a half hours for a Student
Rush game against the Ana
heim Ducks.
With no blankets or chairs,
we sat on 6f\e cold pavement in
the shadow of the Mellon, and
it was amazing.
FORMALDEHYDE
<7*
!&
Lauren Liebdzinski
freshman
IBE
“Yes, I will be going. I’m on
the hospitality commitee.”
All profile photos taken by Daniel Smith / Behrend Beacon
bid you adieu
Mike Lange, who has been
the play-by-play voice of the
Penguins since 1975, is a leg
end when it comes to Pitts
burgh Penguins hockey.
On that day, Lange was enter
ing the arena right next to the
Student Rush line.
I had the opportunity to meet
him and have my picture taken
with him.
The Penguins won the game,
and it was easily one of the best
days of my life.
For anyone that has been to a
hockey game at Mellon Arena,
you have your own special
memories.
MY VOICE
Is this
Ben's reputation?
SHAWN ANNARELLI
manji>in# editor
Big Ben is the NFL's Big
Sleazy.
Just check out how the guy
presented himself in his
scripted apology to the NFL last
week after it was announced no
charges would be filed against
him for sexual assault.
Ben s lack of professionalism
had less to do with his attire
and a lot to do with his hairdo.
Ben s normally golden, curly
locks were greased back, al
most as if a steamroller leveled
his cranium.
He looked like Ted Levine
playing a well-dressed Buffalo
Bill in The Silence of the
Lambs, but 1 digress.
Ben needs to be suspended:
not by Roger Goodell, but by
his own team.
In just less than four years,
Roethlisberger has engraved
his skull into the windshield of
a Chrysler New Yorker after
plowing his 2005 Suziki
Hayabusa into it, and he has
been accused of sexual assault
by a woman in Las Vegas, Nev.
and another in Milledgeville,
Ga.
How much grief can he put
Dan Rooney through?
He was the man that en
dorsed Roethlisberger as the
Steelers number one pick in the
2003 NFL Draft.
The answer should be that
the Rooneys are fed up with
being disrespected.
The Rooneys, one of the
NFLs most storied and influen
tial families, should be fuming
after their $lOO million plus
quarterback walked his way
into a bathroom stall of trouble,
again.
It is not that Ben is a bad guy,
but you cannot help but feel
that he needs to be held ac
countable for his lack of off the
field professional judgement.
Just look at what has hap
pened over the years to three of
Ben s top receivers after they
failed to uphold themselves as
character teammates.
Plaxico Burress was not re
leased due to a lack of talent or
any off the field issues, but he
was widely regarded as a
inion
Right next door to Lady Mel
lon, the Consol Energy Center
is being built, and come next
season will be the new home of
the Penguins.
While Penguins fans are
looking forward to a new arena
with more seating, more space
and a new feel, we will be sad
to see The Igloo go.
Even though Mellon Arena
will be demolished, her memo
ries will live on, and Penguins
fans will never forget the magi
cal moments that were experi
enced under her silver dome.
the end of Big
locker room cancer. In 2004,
former head coach Bill Cowher
temporarily suspended Burress
for missing an unexcused prac
tice.
Where has that accountabil
ity in the Steelers’ organization
gone?
Despite being Bens favorite
target as a rookie play caller,
the Steelers let Plaxico go north
to the New York Giants in 2005.
Five years later, Burress can
be found in a Rikers Island jail
cell serving a two-year sen
tence for shooting... himself.
Fast forward to March 2008,
and the Steelers are suspend
ing Ben's then No. 3 receiver
Cedric Wilson. Wilson, who is
no stranger to being a distrac
tion to teammates, allegedly as
saulted his girlfriend.
Wilson was later released on
$lO,OOO bail, but the Steelers
released him for good.
You can probably find him at
your local anger management
therapy group.
Our next and final stop on
Big Bens troubled receivers'
past takes us to a not so distant
name, Santonio Holmes.
Holmes, a break-out star in
2009, just did not know when to
stop "waking and baking.”
The young and restless re
ceiver was also accused of as
saulting a woman, which was
the last straw for the franchise.
The Steelers traded him for a
fifth round pick in the upcom
ing NFL Draft. You can find
Holmes in a Jets jersey, but he
will be sidelined by an NFL
four-game suspension for sub
stance abuse.
This brings us back to Ben.
He carelessly rode helmetless
on a motorcycle into another
vehicle, and two women have
accused him of sexual assault
in the last two years.
How many straws are the
Rooneys giving this supposed
football icon?
It would appear that Roethlis
berger has one more straw left,
which is probably one too
many.
Until he pulls that one, a mes
sage should be sent to him.
That message should come in
the form of an unpaid multiple
game suspension.
Contributed photo