Page 10 The Lion’s Eye March 31, 2010 i Eve on Editorials PAIR OF PENNIES “In The Waiting Room” By daniel j. taylor - Lions Eye Editorial Editor - djt5036(@psu On Monday the 22nd, for reasons not particularly signifi- cant to this column, I sat in the lobby of a Philadelphian surgeon’s office. The place was packed to near-capacity, swelling the wait- ing time to a lengthy hour, even though the flow of patients moved quickly. I plopped down to slay the time with a short story as- signed by my ENG 435 professor, Dr. Sorkin. As I said, the room was crowded and there was lots of chatter. A patient and his mother, to my left, rambled on about the Health Care Bill, but didn’t seem to really know much about it. For a few minutes my eyes blazed ~ across the text in my lap without _ storing any of the information, as I half-unconsciously, half-curiously eavesdropped on their conversa- tion. I didn’t (and still don’t) know much about the Health Care Bill and figured it may be beneficial to try and pick up a few tidbits, being as how it is likely the most significant social legisla- tion passed during my lifetime. Soon enough, my ears were treating their conversation in the same manner that my eyes were treating my short story, and I’m certain I came close to think- ing nothing at all before being jerked aware of my own absent- - mindedness. “Time to knock this thing out,” I thought to myself as I bit off a hunk of a very good, very salty, sixty-cent soft pretzel. My attention dropped back onto the life of Zora Neale Hurston’s Mis- sie May and I obeyed my weak conscience, reading as 1 knew I should. Upon reaching the end of the story (a rather happy end- ing, I would say), my eyes and ears once more began to dance around the room, absorbing bits of general discussion—"“how ‘bout this weather,” “did you fill out a [March Madness] bracket,” etc. - Honestly, nothing interesting was happening. I felt as though my gaze must not center, however, be- cause before me sat a woman upon which I did not want to set “my sights. It wasn’t that she was awkward, deformed, or ugly, and in fact she was almost beauti- ful. She sat back, underneath a small blanket and visibly chilled. She remained quite still with the exception of her toes, which oc- casionally wiggled underneath her fuzzy, bright blue socks. She must have been over eighty and her wheelchair was large, capable of reclining, and placed directly in “had arrived at the office, and real- front of me. ; It’s odd how I handle situ- ations such as these. When I see an openly gay couple, a homeless man on the street, a lone black teenager in an otherwise white crowd, or a woman who needs a wheelchair, I almost always do the same thing—I look away. It’s not because I am uncomfortable, disgusted, or scared. In fact, it’s almost the opposite. Whenever a minority or outcast enters the scene and I have a suspicion that they feel uncomfortable or that they expect to get stared at, I try to look the opposite way, to accom- modate them and help them avoid such feelings. In practice it feels like the right thing to do, although in print it seems childish, but any- way, that’s where I was at with my friend, the elderly woman. She was clearly lucid, not having the lacquer of a far off mind upon her eyes, and once or twice I smiled to myself as her toes curled and fought against the constraints of her large sock. Twenty minutes must have passed this way before a nameless nurse swooped around the back of the woman’s chair, preparing to cart her off to some other place where I would no longer be in view of her. At that moment I noticed that the chair was not electric, and that no one in the room seemed to care that the woman was about to be removed. I wondered by what means she ized that she was alone. - To the nurse’s chagrin, the woman moved her head for the first time and said, quite plainly, “I am afraid. I am afraid to go in there alone.” The nurse quickly responded saying something we all could’ve predicted: “you’re in good hands,” “we’ll take care of you,” “everything’ll be ok.” Any of those are what she could’ve said, and are no different from what she did say. The woman eyes, which pleaded for a friend, looked hard at the nurse and replied, “My family lives very far away and | am afraid.” The nurse began to wheel : her away. have gone with her, but I didn’t. I hope she doesn’t have to go through that again. 1 hope she doesn’t have to sit alone in that room again in six months, or a year, but she will. I hope she has someone next time, and if not, well, then I hope she died on the table. I realize now that I should | c005024@psu.edu Belligerent Spectator: “Disarming The Jealousy Complex” By Caitlin Olszewski Lion's Eye Entertainment Editor Early people everywhere are going green. However, they are not buy- ing reusable shopping bags or recycling, they are bitterly biting their nails with envy and scowling with infinite jealousy. Jealousy is everywhere, and regardless of who you are, everyone experiences it to different extents at various points in their lives. Your girlfriend’s ex-boyfriend, a ~ peer getting a higher grade, or a promo- tion given to an undeserving co-worker can bring out the envious snake in every- one. After all, it is only human. Envy and jealousy in small “doses are the driving forces be- hind motivation and hard work. ing this cImage courtesy heektopia.ning.com A common virtue in the workplace, envy causes many promotions and leads to competition at the price of co-worker disputes. Jealousy and envy can rapidly consume the mind and very quickly create a horrible environment full of bad vibes and negativity. The horrible actions that are a result of intense jealousy break social bonds and cause distance between oneself and the rest of humanity. Alas, people have been overdos- ing on motivational envy and have been going mean for green. It is one thing to let jealousy internally drive you to better yourself and surpass the person you are jealous of. It is an entirely different aspect to blatantly insult someone and try to it. diminish their confidence so they become just as miserable as you. In other words, jealousy is very unattractive and sadly very prominent in the college world. I recently stumbled across several ar- ticles in Psychology Today discussing the meaning behind jealousy and the driving force behind being consumed by envy. The article defines the two relative words as; “Envy is the bile on which we choke when we want something that belongs to someone else. (Its cousin jealousy is the toxic sensation that someone might take from us what we already possess, notably the affections of an important person.)” Bile? Toxic? Negative words to describe an awful, ugly trait that no one should possess. I could touch base on the jeal- ousy complex regarding relationships, but frankly that is so boring. Relationship jealousy only boils down to insecurity and craving the reassurances of, “Baby, I love you. I promise.” It is completely unneces- sary and people need to grow spines with | some confidence on the side. I know some of you may be thinking, “This is the same stuff they preached to us in middle school. Bullies and mean people are apparently acting out because they are just jealous. I’m not buy- crap.” To be honest, back in the day I didn’t either. Now with the wisdom of age, keen observational skills, and self- actualization, I have a pretty good under- standing of jealousy and envy. It’s easy to spot when people act out upon jealousy and it becomes even easier to rise above In our age it’s especially hard to deal with the trials and tribulations of growing up and self-realization. If you are unsure of yourself, gain some assertive confidence! Don’t be a jealous, arrogant jerk. Jealousy diminishes social skills to the point of non-existence. Don’t make pathetic and empty attempts to gain self- worth by belittling others. You’ll make yourself feel better and people probably wouldn’t dislike you as much. 5 The = [Editor-in-Chief- Christina Felizzi |Lion’s Eye | ~ Local/World News Editor(s)- o o_.00_ 00 Al Jenn Knowlton and Nancy Perone = ‘a’ a’ i taylor MISSION . STATEMENT . Entertainment Editor(s) - We are the newspaper of the Kionna Lipscomb Penn State Brandywine campus, | serving the students, adminis- tration, faculty, staff, and visi- tors of our campus. We vow to ‘inform all of our audiences, and - we will strive to make each issue better, so that we remain a vital part of the Penn State Brandy- wine experience. We also pledge to be professional, and to follow the highest standards of quality journalism. O’Connor Contributing Staff Writers: Kyrstin Camp, Tiffany R-Morris, "and Steve Scoleri - Campus News Editor (s)- daniel j. tay- lor, Jen Santengelo, and Evan Kroboth Op/Ed Editor(s) - Evan Kroboth, daniel Caitlin Olszewkski, Chris ‘Dilenno, and - Generation Editor - Caitlin Olszewkski Sports Editor(s) - Justin Park and Sean Martina Delgado, Jennifer Sitangelo. ‘Hazinsky, David Hoffer, Karlo Radolovic, Ashley Carpenter, Colin Coates, Kenny purposes and content. Please send all Kellar, Angela Potter, Chris McSweeney, Contact the Lion’s Eye: Christina Felizzi- clf5050@psu.edu Karrie Bowen - kab44@psu.edu 2 For advertising information, please t Karrie _ Bowen at 610.892.1336 or * kab44@psu.edu. The Lion's Eye is published bi-weekly by the students of Penn State Brandy- wine, Media, PA. Penn State Brandy- ‘wine does not necessarily represent or. endorse the accuracy or reliability of: any of the _ information, opinion con- ‘tent, or views set forth in the Editorials/. Opinions section of this publication. ‘The Lion's Eye welcomes both guest edi- torials and letters to the editor. Letters must be no more than 200 words and ad- dress a single topic or theme, and con- | tain contact information of the author. ‘Guest articles can be up to 500 words. The editorial board reserves the right to § . edit letters and guest articles for space. Cait editorial and guest correspondence to ‘kab44@psu.edu.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers