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- LIONS EYE - = -
May, 1999
Thanks for reading ...
The staff of the Lion’s Eye wishes all of our readers a great
summer; and we look forward to seeing you next year. Pictured from left are Sarah
Stover, Aimee Stone, Rob Coyle, Jenna Montgomery, Ed Blackburn, Regis Fields
and Doris Ruiz.
Cyber Surfin’ and Lovin’
By Ed Blackburn
Assistant Editor
Last month in the Lion's Eye,
I wrote about Internet addiction.
Now let me address a different as-
pect of cyberspace: love.
It’s easy to dispel the idea of
falling head over heels for someone
you’ve never met face to face. Sure,
" I’ve heard the common criticisms:
Hey Ed, I bet that Canadian girl you
talk to over the computer is really a
500 pound guy in a Georgian prison;
or maybe she’s really some serial rap-
ist in West Virginia. Hah.
While sometimes this is true
(and you do hear about these kinds
of stories, which only bolster the
paranoia), and many people do lie
about one thing or another while de-
scribing themselves (like they don't
in real life!), my experiences are
proof that sometimes love is possible
on the Net.
I have met a girl from Canada
online, a very attractive, very normal
one; and during her summer vaca-
tion in the USA we met, and we had
a great time. I’ve talked on the phone
for hours to a girl in Germany, and
have done some insane things just
to be able to talk to a girl in Switzer-
land. I could go on and on about my
personal experiences.
Before you call me a cyber-
‘nerd with no life (better not, or I'll
hack into your records and delete
your very existence), let me tell you
that I’m not alone.
Now I’m not the kind of guy
who goes online, enters chat rooms
and immediately posts the question:
“Any hot chicks want some cyber?”
Personally I avoid these people; you
know they’re the ones with the real,
uh, issues. I also tend to avoid those
people who have problems typing in
practical sentences, like, “how. r u.
where u live. age/sex/location.” I
know this isn’t saying too much
- about a person, the way they type;
but unless I know ‘em, they strike me
as a bit shady.
Where I’ve found actual “re
lationships” are from places you
share common online experiences,
like playing MUDs, which are
internet text role-playing games. You
get to know the person without ex-
pecting a romantic relationship (you
become friends, or foes, first.)
Again, you won’t find me in
chat rooms called “Hot 21 female
wants u”, (inhabited by 15 females
who somehow always turn out to be
21 year old blonde cheerleaders with
a fetish) unless I’m in there talking
some smack and causing trouble.
Maybe you can find true love in
places like that; but if you’re an in-
sane freak and you go online, that’s
where you go.
Let me add my little insight
on the physics of meeting people
online. It gives you a chance to get
to know someone without their
physical appearance giving you false
preconceptions — you’re forced to -
know their mind before you know
their appearance — and that can be a
- good thing.
Editorial on Kosovo
: (Continued from page 2)
their loss? The respect and adortation
of a government led by a sex-crazed
President and his band of crooked
congressman (minus a few diamonds
in the rough?)
Do not take what I am saying
as a slap in the face to our military,
and do not perceive that I am under-
mining the plight that the ethnic Al-
banians are facing. I believe inter-
vention was a must. Genocide can-
not be tolerated. The heavy use of
the NATO air force is, and will con-
tinue to wear on Milosevic and his
loyal followers until the Albanians
are relocated or Milosevic is forced
to surrender. But to even consider a
land assult...
Although I am unquialified to
say anything but my own personal
beliefs on the matter, here is where I
make my verbal stand: Bring back
those three soldiers currently held
captive, Mr. President. We have the
covert capabilities, use them. Bring
them back with not one more mark
on their already-scarred faces. And
then get the soldiers the f*ck out of
- Kosovo. The End.
Relationships ae
Proceed with Caution
By David Robbins
Lion's Eye Staff Writer
Has anyone ever told you not
- to go party or not to hang out with
someone? Many boyfriends/girl-
friends feel that it is their right to
control you because they are your
“significant other.” In reality, they
should be supportive and trust
enough to let you make your own
decisions. If you can’t be trusted to
~ go out without him or her, then the
relationship won’t work anyway.
Too many people reform their ideas
and beliefs for people who aren’t
right for them and it makes me sick.
Personally, I have now had
too many friends whose boyfriends
tell them what to do and control
them. The question arises, why do
you put up with this? Their answers
are usually, “because I love him”; but
how can you love someone who
doesn’t trust you and doesn’t treat
you like a whole human being?
Many of these friends are also girls
who define their self-worth by the
guys they are with. Most can’t or
haven’t gone a single month with-
out having a boyfriend. If someone
can’t be by themself for an entire
month, then how can they know
themselves well enough to make an
educated decision on who they
should be with. Personally, I’m look-
ing for a girl who has a sense of iden-
tity and her own views, regardless of
whether they coincide with mine.
After seeing relationships of
control and distrust, I now under-
stand why women get abused. If
people are this naive to think that
they are truly in love with others who
don’t really respect them, then I can
understand how they also can stay
around even through abusive situa-
tions.
love into a distorted feeling of the
real thing.
I have a friend at Clemson,
and although she isn’t beaten, she
stays in an emotionally abusive rela-
tionship. She started dating her boy-
friend during the first week of last
year, her first semester in college.
This guy controls her everyday life
and cuts her off from her family,
whom she was very close with be-
They project their need for
fore. She even dumped him at one
point, but they are now back together.
I have to see her voluntarily place
herself back in this relationship, but
she has been with him for so long that
she doesn’t know how to be alone.
Having a boyfriend or girlfriend is
great, but people need to know who
they are and what they believe in first.
Another friend of mine went
out with a controlling guy for four
years. After he finally ended the re-
lationship, she didn’t know what to
do. She tried moving from guy to
guy for a couple weeks before find-
ing another friend of mine. She has
now been‘in a relationship with him
for four months. “Although they are
not a bad match, I'think she clings to
him for the sole purpose of having a
man. [ would have liked to see her
become a little more stable before
getting into another relationship.
What is the point of all this?
People need to wake up. Society puts
too much pressure, especially on
women, to have someone to call
“boyfriend or girlfriend.” People at
our age, in college, rarely know what
it truly means to be in love (even
though most think they do) and need
to spend sometime growing and ex-
periencing life before they think
they’re in love. This doesn’t mean
people shouldn’t have boyfriends or
girlfriends. On the contrary, being a
“player” gets old quickly. People
should be smart about who they pick
and not go out searching for “the
one.” If he or she comes, then so be
it. But until then, just have some fun,
experiment, and live life. And if
you’re in a controlling or abusive re-
lationship, get out and find someone
who will respect you.
Summer of Fun
(Continued from page 1)
re-hydrate yourself and put the forty
ounce down. And on the serious tip,
women are all Queens, last summer
at the Greek we all got a little out of
hand...a party can’t get so out of
hand that you forget that that girl
you’re hassling is somebody’s mom,
sister, daughter, or whatever, just
don’t go there this summer fella’s.
Peace to all, bankhead
bounce this summer for me!
THE LION’S EYE
Vol. XXX, No. 10 May, 1999
The Pennsylvania State University
Commonwealth College
Delaware County Campus
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF % :
Rob Coyle Aimee Stone
rhcl14@psu.edu carmilla3@hotmail.com
ASSISTANT EDITORS
Regis Fields Jenna Montgomery
: ST. RS
- Ed Blackburn Sarah Stover Doris Ruiz
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Phillip Yi
ADVISORS
Lauren Yanks Ron Hill John Terrell
The LION’s EYE is published monthly during the
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Material must be typed, double spaced, and submitted in the LION’S EYE
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