A Thing of Beauty and
By Crispin Sartwell
Capital Times Advisor
Professional wrestling is the
most profound and characteristic
art form of our culture.
Perhaps when you want to
show what a deep and soulful
person you are, you head for the
museum to gawk at daubs of
paint or to the opera to marinate
yourself in the death howls of
sopranos.
Me, I just turn on the tube and
catch "WWF Raw" or "WCW
Monday Nitro."
Wrestling now dominates our
media and our culture. The high
est-rated cable show is "WWF
Raw is War." Wrestling has just
in the last couple of weeks gone
prime time on broadcast net
work.
The hottest politician in
America is Jesse Ventura. These
are all hopeful signs.
Like Greek tragedy, pro
wrestling provides a perfectly
From
Fall Festival Omission
Editor:
I'm writing to address some
omissions in the Capital Times
article about the Fall Festival.
The article which appeared in
the October 6, 1999 edition of
the Capital Times failed to men
tion that the Lion Ambassadors
club was present at Fall Festival.
I feel that this is of particular
note since the Lion Ambassadors
donated the helium and balloons
handed out to the children
attending.
We also wore the Lion Suit to
entertain those at the festival.
Christopher J. Wood
Lion Ambassador
Oct. 7, 1999
Smoking Policy
Sound-off
Editor:
Being uninformed of the
University-wide smoking policy,
I speak only on behalf of the
smokers at Penn State Capital
Campus.
comprehensible spectacle of suf
fering.
In Greek tragedy, a great man
is brought low, often because,
deluded by overwhelming pride,
he can't see the fate that awaits
him. Everything proceeds as it
inevitably must; everything is
destined; nothing is left up to
chance.
The audience achieves what
Aristotle called “a catharsis of
pity and fear” that can only come
in a reconciliation with the
inevitable.
All of this is true of pro
wrestling as well. A pro
wrestling match is always a strict
application of destiny; every
thing follows inevitably from
the character of the wrestlers
involved.
When the Rock pauses after
clotheslining Stone Cold Steve
Austin in order to exult to the
crowd, turning his back on his
noble opponent, it is his pride
Our Readers
About one and one-half years
ago, the campus instituted an off
campus smoking policy.
Attendees of Penn State are
restricted from smoking outside
while on campus grounds;
entrances to buildings are off
limits.
Perhaps I am dating myself,
but I remember when smoking
was permitted within the build
ings.
The University stopped that,
and I agree with their decision.
My decision to smoke should not
affect any non-smoker.
However, I feel that the
University has gone too far in
instituting an off-campus smok
ing policy.
This decision puts the admin
istrators in the center of a pseu
do-political arena where smokers
and non-smokers encounter the
wrath of very vocal and general
ly very nasty anti-smokers.
This is not the place of the
administration, in my opinion.
Certainly we smokers are
aware of health risks we are tak
ing by smoking, and certainly we
that will bring him down.
And no one could argue that
Stone Cold is not a great man:
ever seen him chug a beer?
The crowd screams its satis
faction; it feels purified of its
negative emotions; it goes home
having achieved a kind of recon
ciliation to the universe itself.
Like all great drama, the
wrestling match often ends with
bodies strewn around the stage,
as the crowd and the cameras
focus with unbelievable duration
and intensity on the deepest,
most public humiliation, or on a
victory over insurmountable
odds that signals transcendence.
As the Undertaker inflicts
slow, inexorable damage on the
beautiful Shawn Michaels, we
see the future that awaits us all.
Life will snap suplex all of us
in the long run, even the
strongest and loveliest of us.
Life will smash a chair across
each of our backs. Life will bash
do not expect non-smokers to
bear those risks.
Consider that the risk of sec
ond-hand smoke breathed out of
doors is minimal to non-existent,
and the University is doing a
great disservice to its smoking
and neutral non-smoking stu
dents by bowing to the demands
of the anti-smokers.
I am requesting that the
University review this policy
with some seriousness. I am
Penn State proud and wouldn't
even consider another university
for my graduate and post-gradu
ate studies, but I refuse to be
punished for smoking outside.
Respectfully,
Daniel M. Kane
Graduate Business
Administration Major
Oct. 10, 1999
Catch Our
Next issue,
On Newsstands
November 3!
a Joy Forever
our heads into the tumbuckle of
fate.
People will still tell you that
pro wrestling isn't “real,” as if
that were news.
I'm surprised that Anderson
hasn't done us all the service of
informing us that the Titanic is
not really going to sink tonight in
your VCR, and suggesting that
the movie's box office take is
proof of human gullibility.
Believe it or not, the stuff
described in the works of Jane
Austen did not really happen.
Don't try skinny-dipping
among Monet's water lilies.
Othello doesn't really smother
Desdemona every night and
twice on Sunday.
This question of what is “real”
is an interesting one.
Certainly, four-hundred
pound guys are really lifting up
three-hundred-pound guys and
lobbing them out of the ring.
On the other hand, as every-
Policies of The Capital Times
The Capital Times is published by the students of
Penn State Harrisburg. Viewpoints are solely those of
the authors and are not representative of the college
administration, faculty or student body. Concerns
regarding the content of any issue should be directed to
the editors. Advertisers are not sanctioned by The
Capital Times.
The Capital Times welcomes signed letters from
readers. No unsigned submission will be reprinted.
However, a writer's name may be withheld upon
request and by approval of the editors.
You may reach The Capital Times at Penn State
Harrisburg Campus, W 341 Olmsted Building, 777 W.
Harrisburg Pike, Middletown, Pa., 17057. Phone us at:
(717) 948-6440, or email: captimes@psu.edu.
All materials - articles, photographs and artwork - are
property of The Capital Times. No parts of this paper
may be reproduced without the expressed written per
mission of the editors.
Advisor: Crispin Sartwell • Editor: Matthew McKeown
Business Manager: Serena Silverman • Sports: Barry J. Hicks
Design& Layout: Alice Potteiger Wilkes, Matthew McKeown
Writers & Contributors:
Nick Ackerman • Nicole Burkholder • Brad Clements
Judson C. Davis • Tabitha Goodling • Jesse Gutierrez • Deb Hoff
Bryan Kapschull • Jill Karwoski • Ken Lopez • Paula Marinak
Daniel McClure • Brad Moist • Cathie McCormick Musser
Ann-Marie Newman • Kristy Pipher • Barb Roy
Tina Sickler • Amanda Weaver
COMMENTARY
one who watches pro wrestling
knows, the matches follow cer
tain scripts and the outcome is
known beforehand to those who
compose these scripts.
The point is just to have the
right script. That's why this thing
is art, not sport.
And there are true masters of
the drama in pro wrestling: Rick
Flair, the ultimate bastard with
the incredible line of patter;
Randy "Macho Man" Savage,
who always ends up crucified on
the ropes like Jesus; The Dog-
Faced Gremlin, Rick Steiner,
who despite his severely limited
intellect is always trying to do
the right thing; Public Enemy, a
tag-team of white guys who are
laboring under the delusion that
they're black.
These are masters of their
craft, cultural icons. Pro
wrestling is a thing of beauty and
a joy forever.