A minute
with Mauti
By USA MAUTI
Columnist
LMM3SS@PSU.EDU
Political Banter. It’s annoying,
but come every election I still see
middle age men turn themselves into
kindergarteners like magic, pointing
their little fingers every which way to
make themselves seem like the better
person. It’s almost like the “Who’s
bigger” competition men secretly
engage in. (Yeah, don’t act like you
think women don’t know. We do and,
it’s okay. Just know that we
laugh inside.)
But seeing all of these messages,
whether true or not, still seems
to invoke citizens into heated
discussions surrounding politics. I
tend to be a hippy when it comes to
politics. I don’t really like them, but
societies need them, so 1 deal with
them. On paper I’m a Democrat, as
most of my family is. So, you guessed
it; I don’t appreciate the decisions
Bush has been making.
I can be very outward about my
feelings towards this administration,
but last Sunday I got myself into a
bit of a pickle when I started talking
politics with a bunch of Republicans.
Now this wasn’t just any group of
Republicans. They were the parents
of a certain someone in my life. After
a few heated debates aboutethe war in
Iraq, abortion and Bush, I declared,
“This is why I don’t talk politics with
friends or family!”
This issue has come up quite
frequently in the past year as I have
started to grow into adulthood. My
identity has started to shape, and
I’m not afraid to stand up for what
I believe in. But I had never before
realized just how defensive people get
about politics until I started openly
throwing around what I thought.
Now I don’t mean I go around
trying to start fights with people.
But when I talk politics it’s more of
a light, conversational occurrence,
or a disagreement in class. It’s a free
country and not everyone has to
agree, but I have discovered that there
are some people where it is life or
death with them. It’s scary in a way.
Even scarier is the fact of how old
school people are when dealing with
women in politics. It’s a jump back to
the 1950’5. Just bringing up the fact
that a woman might run for President
in an upcoming election, instantly
turns a switch and people refer
to women in the most derogatory
forms. For instance, if a man likes to
work hard and get things done, he’s
ambitious. But if a woman acts in
the same manner, she is aggressive.
And for heavens sake, we can’t have
an aggressive, emotional woman
in charge of our country. The Oval
Office would have to stock up on
Kleenex for days when she is so
emotional that every call makes her
cry.—Yeah right. That’s a bunch
of BULL!
Anyways, when it comes to
relationships, there is a certain
dance you have to do to keep things
civilized. My brother just married a
Bush-loving Republican who doesn’t
see anything but the good in Bush.
I can thoroughly argue with the fact
that people who don’t see the bad in
things are just making things worse,
but I love my new sister-in-law and
would like to keep it that way so we
stick to talking about other things. So
I guess if I have learned anything in
the past few months, unless you want
to lose some of your good friends for
reasons that should never enter into
a friendship, don’t let political banter
enter in the room. It’s just badly
produced propaganda that star middle
age men acting like youngsters who
like to point fingers to save
their reputation.
CULTURALLY INEPT
A 81-MONTHLY
By OSCAR BEISERT
Columnist
ODBIO2@PSU.EDU
In a letter to her mother dated
1856, the struggling American genre
artist, Lilly Martin Spencer, wrote,
“Things are going all ways, but
up!” After loosing one’s job to no
conceivable fault of his or her own,
fighting a torrent of governmental
fines and fees, and, continuously,
working to surmount the financial
struggles that burden the poor slob
who finds his or herself collecting
the —lower than usual —wages of
unemployment, it is difficult for
one not to empathize with
Spencer’s lament.
On the contrary, the one great
thing about hitting rock bottom
is the prospective acquisition
and strengthening of important
human qualities—endurance and
durability. Holding tightly to these
traits, I recently decided not to
allow a PHEAA faux pas or even
an elongated spell of bad luck
to debase my tenacity. So, in an
effort to surmount the path of life,
I decamped my cloud of negativity,
and employed myself as a laborer
of academia.
Still moving in all ways, my new
endeavors compelled a pioneering
upward motion —or, at least, an
uptown movement. Now, when 1
Don't be afraid to ask Zack
By ZACK PICCOLO
Hey Everybody! Hope everyone is
having a great semester! For those
“Ask Zack” is the Capital Times’
first advice column. I decided to
start this mainly because I know
there are students out there who are
being faced with difficult situations
and struggling with all types of
problems. Something that really
concerns me and motivated me to
create this column is the fact that
so many people out there are going
through problems and they feel
like they are all alone. I feel that I
have been blessed with a gift to see
deeper and I want to use that gift to
help those around me.
Now, as I am sure you know, there
are tons of problems and issues that
exist out there. So I rallied three
professionals in the psychology
community to help me in my
mission. The first person I would like
to introduce is Dr. Steve Backels.
He is a Licensed Psychologist in the
state of Pennsylvania and is currently
Osman's windo
By OSMAN ABDALLA
Columnist
OAAIO6@PSU.EDU
All types of current governments
don’t suit all types of current
nations. That is for simple reasons.
First, the people who are
governed (not the people in the
government) of any nation are not
the ultimate and the only recipient
of the nation’s resources.
Second, while the social structure
of any country is changing,
ideologies a re not. Ideology-based
decisions therefore interrupt the
dynamic of the social structure and
lead to more and more conflicts.
Third, politicians in all nations
based on current measures severely
lack transparency. And finally,
priorities of any nation are well
confused by the government.
The government in any country
should be an instrument in the
people’s hand to use in their pursuit
of happiness. For many reasons,
government officials tend to
say uptown, I’m withdrawing from
this —the Harrisburg—region and
relocating the subject to the tiny
island of Manhattan. This “upper”
led me to the New York Metro
American Studies Association
(NYMASA) Conference at 115 th
and Broadway where I found “the”
Columbia University.
Never having attended an Ivy
League university, I was slightly
intimidated by the level of discourse
that might ensue at this conference.
The day’s events were titled, Crash
Landings: Friction and Flow in the
American City, and the discourse
proved to be not only intriguing,
but —on the whole —at my level.
Thoroughly enlightened and
intrigued by the first two sessions,
it was quite a change of pace to
embark upon session three’s pseudo
intellectual level of discourse. (Now,
please remember, this is merely
my opinion!)
This session involved two speakers
and a respondent. Speaker one,
a graduate student at Columbia,
presented his paper titled, Mark
Twain in New York City: The
Country Boy Made Good. While I
am not greatly knowledgeable on
the subject of Twain or his writings,
the presenter alluded to a number
of racial and theoretical statements
made by Twain.
Some of these allusions included
of you who do not know me, which
are most of you since I havsjpftt.j}epfl
here long, my name is Zack Piccolo.
' I amcurrentjy in the
Psychology Department majoring
in Applied Behavioral Sciences.
employed here at PSH as the
Director of Counseling Services, and
has been in that position since 1991.
The second person is Anthea
Stebbins. She works full time
at Interworks in Harrisburg as
a counselor and teacher and is
an adjunct instructor of Human
Development and Family Studies
here at PSH.
The third person is Linda Meashey.
She is a licensed psychologist and
works full time here at PSH as a
counselor in counseling services
and has been here since 1988. These
professionals will act as advisors
to me and help me make sure my
information is accurate.
You are free to write about anything
that pertains to your life as a student
which could be honestly anything
you’re going through at all. Please
try to keep all questions 400 words
or less.
suppress this role for government.
Instead they abuse the power were
given to them to serve the public.
They take advantage of their seats
to advance personal, partisan,
or ethnic agendas. If this power
will remain permanent to them it
wouldn’t have came to them
first place!
We need government officials who
believe in altruism as a way of life.
Do we have those?
The social structure of any
country is not very static, as
government officials perceive
it. Based on many factors, the
social structure changes in a very
observable way. Therefore, the
same way of decision-making is
never feasible.
Therefore, partisan ideologies
severely cripple the social progress
and bring more conflicts.
Select any country and examine
if the current government takes
priorities in the order they should
be taken. For the example, take the
current administration in the United
PONTIFICATION
Twain’s use of the “N” word as a
term of racial identification and
a theory regarding country child
rearing as the best and truest form
of such a task. Another of his
references derived from the topic
of country child rearing It entailed
the belief that great men come from
poor and/or humble beginnings. The
delineation of these facts involved a
self righteous jeering and criticism
as though Twain were present and
standing at the opposite podium.
In fact, the entire presentation,
including the question/answer
portion, denoted a great interest in
derision more so than analysis.
While I am fully competent of
the social necessity of historical
and cultural analysis of deceased
individuals and their works that
have effected American society, I am
not persuaded that the lampooning
of people long dead has any real
academic or social value. Obviously,
we analyze and acknowledge
historical events to understand the
present and create a tool by which
unnecessary or detrimental actions
are not repeated.
I am mindful of this sort
of discussion as a genre of
contemporary academics. However,
I am unclear as to its scholarly
value. Twain opined that great
men come from poor and/or
humble beginnings, but we know
This is my second semester at Penn
Enptigh atotfy.
EeFs get to what Ask Zack is all
about!
To contact me, please type
(preferred) or write a letter, and send
it through the mail. I chose that as the
standard way to protect your identity,
but you are more then welcome to
send letters directly to my e-mail as
well, which may be easier and more
convenient for you. You can choose
a code name to be addressed by, and
if for some reason it is inappropriate,
I will simply use “PSH Student”.
Letters through e-mail can be sent
to zjpsoo6@psu.edu. Please use the
following address for mailing letters:
Penn State Harrisburg
Capital Times Advice Column
777 West Harrisburg Pike
Middletown, PA 17057
Now I go to my last and most
important topic, confidentiality.
Here it is down to the brass tacks.
ABSOLUTLEY NOBODY else
will see these letters but me. My
staff will never see them, only listen
into the world
States. The Bush administration is
the only administration in the world
that did not sign the Kyoto protocol
that tackles global warming. Global
Warming is a threat to the existence
of human herd, how can there be
more important issue than
our existence.
President Bush vetoed a bill that
congress passed to fund embryonic
stem cell research, this research is
expected to eliminate Alzheimer
and many other genetic diseases.
Lack of transparency is
institutionalized in all governments’
structure, regardless. Why should
there be classified information?
The government thinks that people
don’t have a right to know what the
government is doing. Why? Why
do politicians lie?
These governance issues stem
from one primary reason, that
is the separation of decision
from analysis. The separation of
decision from analysis stands as
a fundamental factor that will
undermine human progress.
THE CAPITAL TIMES
from history that (wo)men such
as Abraham Lincoln and Harriet
Tubman were just as contributive
as others such as Theodore and
Franklin Roosevelt.
Modemly, society opines
that you MUST have a college
degree to perform the widest
range of lucrative American jobs.
However, is it possible that intense
training and vocational education
might provide the same level of
preparation —or even more so —than
four years of a liberal
arts education?
It is relatively simple to criticize
someone of another era—someone
reared with completely different
values, ideas, and understandings
of social issues. However, it is
less simple to revisit their level
and fathom the reasoning behind
choices that were made once upon
a time. This more difficult approach
does not validate these antiquated
practices and/or ideas, but instead,
it allows one to truly understand the
subject and/or situation. Thus, one is
enriched with the viable knowledge
needed to accurately and positively
utilize such information.
Maybe such criticism has great
validity, but the real value is in the
effort to move forward. Is it possible
that despite all of the negative things
that occur in life, we can still move
in all ways including up?
to them. Once I receive the letter,
I will go th|ough tbem.jaod select
the you .... .
want a
published, ahd you write a letter,
please include your PSU e-mail. I
will do my best to get to as many as
I can. I will not get to all of them, so
please don’t be upset if you don’t get
a response.
But, please be advised that
Pennsylvania State Law requires
my staff and I to report any serious
crimes that are made known. Also,
if we feel that your life or someone
else’s is in any danger, we need to
act and beg you to provide contact
information so we can get you help
from the counseling center.
The counseling center is in Olmsted
Building W-117 and their phone
number is 717-948-6025. Only in
extreme emergencies like those will
my staff read the letters and take
appropriate action.
I hope you take advantage of this
column and start sending letters.
I look forward to getting to know
you all and I hope we can learn
something from each other and make
a difference here on campus.
It has been clear by many
cognitive scholars’ articles that
decision making depend entire on
the person’s cognitive style
or knowledge.
Without the analysis that uncovers
truth behind all the facts and the
relationships between them, how
can a person make a decision?
Especially In the public sector
where all officials are equipped
with whatever they can spend
taxpayers’ dollars on.
All these resources are granted for
them for making better decisions.
Yet everyone in the country is
not enjoying a better health care,
education opportunity...etc.
And why politicians don’t
consider Global Warming as an
issue that threatens our existence,
simply because gut feeling doesn’t
match the scientific findings, and
as well as they don’t feel scientific
findings as true as their gut
feelings. That is an other form of
the separation of decision
from analysis.
November 6, 2006
President's
Corner
By ARIEL O'MALLEY
SGA President
AEOSOO2@PSU.EDU
LEADER. What does the word
“leader” mean to you? Do you
think of a person with a lot
integrity, strength, or ambition? Or
maybe someone who is outgoing,
congenial, or approachable.
Whatever group of traits you use to
define a leader, that is your unique
point of view.
In my opinion, a leader is
someone who is approachable, and
open minded, yet possesses a set
of their own opinions, determined,
ambitious, and willing to go that
extra mile to get everyone to work
together and accomplish
their goals.
However the definition of a leader
does not simply stop there. A leader
is also defined by how they react
to things.
They are defined by how they
react to confrontations, last minute
changes, flaws in the plan, and
issues within their organization,
i No one wants to be led by
! someone who cannot do damage
| control or someone who flies of
the handle when things do not go
exactly as planned.
But as Abraham Lincoln once said
“nearly all men can stand adversity,
but if you want to test a man’s
character, give him power.”
A person may be your best friend,
yet when put into a position of
power or lack of power they can
become your enemy.
As one can see, it becomes quite
difficult to find a person with the
right set of qualities as well as the
ability to have power to lead those
around him.
Which explains why there are
also various levels of leaders. For
instance there is the average leader.
The average leader does their
job as outlined, goes about their
daily duties, and generally gets
along with everyone. They do well
enough but nothing really stands
out about them.
Then there is the great leader.
The great leader does their job as
outlined and beyond. They go that
extra mile simply for the sake of
doing it, not for the gratitude
or praise.
They are respected simply for who
they are and what they do. Respect
is never commanded or
demanded, rather; respect
is naturally given. But most
importantly when they leave, they
leave behind a group of individuals
who want to strive to be just
like them.
Even the person with the best
mixture of leadership qualities
can fail with a lack of cooperation
within their organization.
If a leader cannot inspire those
within his organization, he is
simply a man among men.
One must be able to rally those
who depend on him to reach a
common goal in order to succeed.
A leader also needs the faith of
those within his organization to do
what is best for them as a whole in
order for the organization to excel.
Without this faith there is a
constant questioning of motives and
a lack of grow th.
In the end, it is not the person who
defines leadership, but rather the
things that they do that define the
leader they are. So I will ask you
again, what does the word “leader”
mean to you?