5 RE A Re BC * Cll EE ES SS STS EA The Lion’s Eye pe BD hE PU ERAN IRC TUG 41% Ry Ca Sig Ted als > DIN SA ERIE LS HO BB BR SE SR Genera 010 5 C1.0On He Said — 2010; The End of the World— She Said By daniel j. taylor - Lion's Eye Campus Editor - djt5036@psu.edu If there was one thing that ancient civilizations were impressively skilled in doing, it was checking out the sky. With no arcade, no PSP, no electricity whatsoever, the hot- test show on television every night took place in the heav- ens. The Ancient Egyptians, the American Indians, the An- cient Chinese, and the Ancient Greeks all followed, tracked, and made predictions about the stars, the planets, and the sun. They were basically the coolest and smartest people ever. Many ancient civilizations, such as the Mayans, had calendars and cycles based on the happenings in the sky. By checking out the sky lights, they were able to achieve a rela- tively advanced understanding of the universe. Their calendar was 365 days, based on the Earth’s solar orbit, and was bro- ken down into 18 20-day months. In addition to this manner of counting days, they also used a “long count” that included 1,872,000 days (5125.36 years). The last day in the long count lands on (time for the dramatic dun, Dun, DUN) Dec. 21, 2012! I know what you’re thinking: OH MY GOD, THE CAL- ENDAR JUST ENDS?? BUT THEN WHAT HAPPENS?? Good questions. On December 21, 2012 something quite historical will happen. The Earth is going to get bom- barded with Sun poop. The Sun continuously processes galac- tic food such as comets, invisible planets, space dust, etc., and regularly emits radioactive feces, called Critical Mass Ejections, that blasts a smelly mess into the air. Occasionally, CMEs hit Earth directly and can cause serious damage. Some predict that Earth will get splattered with the yucky stuff at the end of 2012, when both the Mayan calendar and the 11-year solar cycle end. Others, geniuses of course--I don’t trust yahoos, who state that 2012 completes an additional cycle, one of the Earth’s under- water super volcanoes. An explosion of multiple super volcanoes could make this whole place go kaboom! And, well, that’s bad. Or the Earth could meet its doom by way of a galac- tic super wave! They happen only once in a little while--some- thing like 13,000 years. The result would be a drastic heat in- crease strong enough to melt the polar caps or end an ice age (goodbye Winter 2010!). We’re talking some serious warmth. Moreover, the electromagnetic pulse created by such a wave could exceed the effect of a monstrous nuclear boom-boom. Still think it’s a gimmick? Boolchit! This is the real deal, ladies and gentlemen, and if you don’t believe me ac- cess to all the facts can be found on this amazing website: http://www.2012officialcountdown.com/?a=guiltygard. So here it is. On my honor as an undefeated member of the tag-team cage fighting duo “The Amazing Incredibles,” I affirm that the 2012 “doomsday” theories are not a hoax, but rather a factual event that will come to pass. How could it not? Even the date itself, 12/21/2010, feels like pure poetry. Don’t believe the evil naysayers or the evil mainstream media or the evil science professors on campus because they’re wrong. But I’ll tell you what. ..if we’re still around the week after doomsday, look me up, and I'll buy you a beer. And that’s for real. By Nancy Perone — Lion's Eye World & Local Editor — nip5014@psu.edu The world is not going to end in 2012, sorry to burst your bubble. What I mean is, we as humans have no way of know- ing what day, time, or place we will be “at the end of the world”. There are so many other scientific factors that people who study this don’t even know about yet. Sure, the movie 2012 starring John Cusack, Aman- da Peet, and Woody Harrelson was pretty epic, but in no way is it realistic. Yes, earth- quakes, volcanoes, and tsunamis happen but civilization in the part of the world that the “natural disaster” takes place in is only mo- mentarily stifled but eventually presses on. NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration if you weren’t savvy, even says that “the world is ending in 2012” rumor isn’t true. NASA, the government agency that flew to the Moon, gives us all of our information on the Solar System, and who studies and conducts research on all as- tronomical phenomena says this isn’t true! In fact, NASA has a frequently asked questions section on their website distinctly devoted to dispelling the rumors and answering your questions about “2012”. The website, www. nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012.html, even puts to rest all of the Internet rumors that said a large asteroid or planet was set to destroy the Earth in the year 2012. From a Q & A on the NASA website about fictional planets Nibiru and Planet X and dwarf planet Eris, “If Nibiru or Planet X were real and headed for an encounter with the Earth in 2012, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye. Obvi- ously, it does not exist. Eris is real, but it is a dwarf planet similar to Pluto that will re- main in the outer solar system; the closest it can come to Earth is about 4 billion miles.” So, scientific facts don’t do anything for you? Well what about the ancient Mayan myth that couldn’t be farther from the truth? The myth goes that December 21, 2012 is the end of the world because it is simply the end of the Mayan calendar. The Mayans were highly intelligent as astronomers, architects, and mathematicians developing the 365 day solar year as well as keeping track of lunar/ solar eclipses. While December 21st marks the end of their Long Count calendar, there is no way that they would know something so as advanced as the end of the world, es- pecially without modern science. The calendar isn’t a widely followed as before Europeans took over and it ends on that date to start a new one. Christian based religions, including Catholics, don’t believe in all of the hype either. It is only the religious extremists that believe that “the end of days is near”. After the occurrences of the earthquakes and tsu- namis in Chile and Haiti, radical Christians started trouble by saying it was due to “all of the sin” that had occurred in those coun- tries. The 700 Club host, Pat Robertson, is prime example of this. Most of this talk is to just draw attention to whatever Christian organization that they belong to or to start media chatter. The only major occurrence in the Catholic religion happening in 2012 is the 50th International Eucharistic Congress in Dublin, Ireland. This is just the 50th anni- versary of the Second Vatican Council, which lasted between 1962 and 1965, involving Vat- ican pope candidates and other theologians. They were looking for a way to infuse Cath- olic dogma with modern life and the theme for 2012’s Council is essentially the same. Like the Mayans, 2012 just marks the end of a specific era for Catholicism and they only mark the anniversary to stay current with the rest of the World. If the Mayans, stupid Hollywood movies, Christians, and NASA can’t convince you that the year 2012 doesn’t mark the end of the world, I don’t know who can. Maybe the Y2K scare that happened when computer geeks and major corporations everywhere went into a panic because they thought all of their systems would crash at the start of the year 2000. All of the excess funds spent to prepare for it and for the most part nothing happened except for a giant crystal ball dropping in New York City at midnight— oh wait that happens every year and it’s pretty! Still not convinced? Take the ab- surdity of the 1950s/60s bomb shelter construction into consideration. Ameri- cans were so afraid of nuclear attack they created underground abodes that housed canned goods and water to last them as long as they had to stay there. What kind of life is that, living in fear? So take advice from me, Robin Wil- liams, and Horace who said “Carpe diem quam minime credula postero” or “Seize the day, trusting as little as possible in the future.” National £SSEUPIENEIS ¥ Support Network Did you know that 22-30% of college students have lost a family member or close friend within the last year and 35-48% of undergraduate students have lost a family member or close friend within the last 2 years? National College Student Grief Awareness Week is April 18-24, 2010. Learn more about how you can help raise awareness of this silent epidemic by visiting www .studentso- famf.org and downloading our Awareness Week Toolkit. You can also attend our Facebook event to get updates on Awareness Week activities. Tuesday, April 20 Show your support for those who are grieving; express your feelings of grief Wednesday, April 21 Honor those whose loss we feel every day, those who are still with us, and those who make your day brighter Each day of the week we'll suggest ways for individuals and groups to take action to raise awareness about college student grief. The specific actions we are promoting are below, and the toolkit provides ideas for executing each. The timeline below should be used as a guideline, and can be modified to meet your needs. Thursday, April 22 Connect with someone who is grieving or someone who can support you in your time of grief Friday, April 23 Serve others Saturday, April 24 Sunday, April 18 Educate others on the prevalence of college student grief Thank everyone for their support Thank you in advance for helping spread the word about college student grief! Monday, April 19 Share your own personal experiences or make an effort to listen to someone else’s Staci Barfield Executive Director National Students of AMF Support Network 919.803.6728 877.830.7442 staci@studentsofamf.org www.studentsofamf.org 3] If anyone is interested in being apart of AMF on Brandywine campus please contact Stacey Shapiro at s1b38@psu.edu.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers