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Vol. XXVI, Issue 5 "Jamie is my emotional bustier." November 17, 2004

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 AuthoritiesAttempt toI IISilence
I
Indyme dia
· By Marcel Votlucka
The Independent Media Center, a.k.a. providers which maintained links to the infor- the behest of Switzerland and Italy, Calyx was
"Indymedia," has become a victim of harassment mation. harassed by the Secret Service at the behest of
by the FBI and foreign authorities. On But the reasons behind the seizure most the US government.
Thursday, October 7, two of Indymedia's inter- likely have to do with the fact that the Swiss and Another example of Indymedia affiliates
net servers in London were seized by the FBI. Italian authorities that requested it may have a being bullied by government agencies involves
The servers, hosting almost two dozen affiliate grudge against Indymedia. For instance, the list harassment of a writer working for an
websites as well' as radio streams for several of Indymedia affiliate websites shut down as a Indymedia affiliate in Cyprus. Petros Evdokas
radio stations, were maintained by a US-based result of the seizure includes one based out of wrote an article exposing actions spearheaded
web hosting company, Rackspace. The seizure Nantes, France which posted photos of Swiss by US intelligence and the UN to influence a
caused the websites to go down. Disks and hard undercover police agents in charge of last year's referendum on the "Annan Plan" to reunite
drives containing valuable information were G8 summit events in Geneva. Apparently the Cyprus. Authorities questioned Evdokas' par-
taken as well. Swiss were not happy about this; Indymedia ents in Oregon and tried to get them to incrim-
Rackspace issued a statement the day reports that the Swiss and the FBI had been in inate him in writing.-- According to Indymedia,
after the seizure admitting that it had complied contact with each other, and that the FBI subse- "this case illustrates the US policy of interfer-
with a court order from US officials ordering the quently approached Rackspace and an ence in even the most minute internal affairs of
company to submit the servers in question; Indymedia activist in Seattle regarding the case. other countries and it shows the degree to which
however it could not divulge any further infor- Interestingly enough, the FBI has admitted that the local authorities jump when the US says to."
mation under the guidelines of the subpoena. Indymedia's actions in posting the photos were The Cyprus case further shows how even indi-
Further complicating matters, on the same day not even a crime. At last check, the matter vidual journalists and their kin are not safe
the FBI admitted to French and Italian media appeared to be settled; but it is possible that from harassment from authorities trying to sti-
that while a subpoena had been issued, the the Swiss authorities still had an axe to grind fle dissent.
seizure was not an FBI operation. Instead, the with Indymedia. Of course, Indymedia is not the only vic-
FBI claimed that the subpoena had been issued Moreover, another of the affected web- tim of suppression at the hands of authorities.
at the request of authorities in Italy and sites is based out of Italy, where in 2001 the A community radio station in Santa Cruz,
Switzerland. city of Genoa was the site of mass protests dur- California was raided by US marshals and FCC
All the while, Indymedia itself received ing the G8 summit. Indymedia played a role in agents on the morning of September 29. Free
no direct, official word from either Rackspace or allowing activists to organize during the Radio Santa Cruz is a a-non-e-ommercial pirate
UK and US authorities on why their servers had protests. It also published information con- radio station that broadcasts without a license
been taken and their operations disrupted as a trary to what the authorities wanted out in the in defiance of FCC regulations. It has received
result. About a week after the seizure, on open. The Indymedia website asserts, "For its strong support from the local community. But
October 13, the hardware was returned with no part, Italy Indymedia can only assume that the this mattered little to authorities, who raided
official explanation of why it-had been done or request is motivated by the Italian government's the house in which the station was based and
who had ordered the seizure. attitude towards Indymedia, which has been stole the station's broadcasting equipment.
Indymedia is an independent, grass- overtly hostile ever since the 2001 G8 Summit Other pirate radio stations have come under
roots, alternative news network started in in Genoa." In the Italian city of Bologna, a pub- attack too, including a station in San Francisco.
Seattle during the 1999 World Trade lic prosecutor investigating an anarchist organ- While not directly related to the
Organization protests in order to provide inside ization reportedly issued a request for informa- Indymedia case, the Free Radio Santa Cruz case
information about the event that the corporate tion-to authorities in the US regarding material further illustrates how independent media is
networks would not report, providing journal- posted on Indymedia's Italian site. Indymedia coming under attack by those who would silence
ists with a wealth of information through its speculates that the FBI then issued the order to it for their gain. This has enormous implica-
website. Since that time, journalists and seize Indymedia's hardware in the UK, out of tions for all of us who value free speech and a
activists have set up dozens of independent which the offending websites were based. free market of ideas. In this age when govern-
media centers (IMCs) in every continent, creat- ment propaganda passes as "news," when sani-
ing a decentralized system to report oh local tized blurbs on the nightly news pass as hard
and international news and events. The flagship journalism, when exposes on the exploits of
website proclaims its devotion to "radical, celebrities overshadow relevant issues, and
accurate, and passionate tellings of the truth." when a parody news show on Comedy Central
Which leads us to wonder: why were the often provides better information than the
servers taken? According to Indymedia's flag- "serious" major networks, it is clear that inde-
ship website (www.indymedia.org): "Talking to pendent, grassroots media is the last bastion of
Indymedia volunteers, Rackspace stated that true journalism in this country.
'they cannot provide Indymedia with any infor- Readers may be interested to learn that
mation regarding the order.' ISPs have received The Stony Brook Press was the target of an
gag orders in similar situations which prevent investigation at the hands of the Secret Service
them from updating the concerned parties on about five years ago. Following the publication
what is happening." It adds, "An Indymedia of an anti-George Bush editorial, Press writer
system administrator stated: 'We do not know if However, all that is known for certain at Glen Given was subjected to harsh questioning
Rackspace is under a gag order, or what legal this point is that Italian arid Swiss authorities at the hands of the Secret Service. Also, copies
restrictions were imposed requiring them to act requested the server seizures; their precise of the issue with the editorial in question were
this way, or whether their legal department had, motives are still up in the air. As of this writ- confiscated and destroyed. So don't ever think
enough time to study the request.'" ing, Indymedia still has precious little infor- that you or I or this humble newspaper is
In the absence of any official informa- mation regarding the incident and the underly- immune to the sort of underhanded tactics used
tion regarding the incident, Indymedia and its ing motives. against Indymedia. All are suspect in this New
allies can only speculate as to the exact nature One thing is clear though: this is yet World Order.
of the seizure, and the subsequent shutdown of another example of government authorities Journalist Amy Goodman often speaks of
more than twenty affiliate websites as well as attempting to stifle and silence Indymedia. the importance of independent media in a time
losses of data from these websites. Some have This is, after all, not -an isolated case. of war. Fledgling organizations like Pacifica
suggested that this was politically timed as it Indymedia has had conflicts with authorities in Radio, Truthout, Indymedia, and countless
occurred a week before the start of the third the recent past. independent radio stations and community
session of the European Social Forum, a gather- One example of this occurred during the newspapers across the country-including The
ing of antiwar and anti-globalization activists Republican National Convention in New York Stony Brook Press-work hard to speak truth to
taking place in London. Indymedia had intend- this summer, when Indymedia's New York affil- power. But those in power naturally dislike our
ed to broadcast the' rallies and demonstrations iate posted the names of GOP convention dele- work, and undoubtedly they do whatever is in
live via streaming video on its websites. The gates. This was public information that was their power to stifle these voices. Indymedia is
International Federation of Journalists suggests freely accessible on other websites. Yet the not the only victim here; all of independent
that the seizure is related to a recent court case Secret Service attempted to obtain user connec- media is constantly under threat from corporate
against Indymedia activists who uncovered tion logs from Indymedia website users (infor- and governmental forces. It is imperative that
security flaws in electronic voting machines mation that Indymedia does not keep in order to we support independent media in order to pre-
made by Diebold. The website had posted maintain their privacy) from the New York serve a free, safe space for grassroots journal-
leaked memos and internal documents regard- affiliate's web hosting provider, Calyx. Calyx ism and activism. And it is imperative that we
ing the flawed machines, and Diebold had refused to provide the user information. In the speak out against attempts to suppress inde-
responded by threatening Internet service same way Rackspace was harassed by the FBI at pendent voices in the wilderness.

Pa e2

There has been a great deal of talk about
politics, democracy and marriage recently. All
three involve the recent surge of republican ilk
our government has had elected into office. Red
States and Blue States (and the lone Purple
State) all had a decision to make November 2nd,
and the contest deciding our future president
went off, presumably, without a hitch. But to
many immersed in the neon glow of flickering
states and fantastical projections, another issue
snuck under the radar, one that was infinitely
more telling than the presidential race. The
legality of Gay Marriage was placed on the bal-
lot, and many states overwhelmingly voted
against it. Now, if one takes into account the
states that made this controversial decision, one
is hardly surprised at the outcome. Southern,
largely Christian and morally conservative
came out and voted their minds on the issue, and
their minds said, "No gay marriage."
The results of these propositions were
disconcerting to some and comforting to others.
However, by all understanding of the term mar-
riage, and its application, the banning of gays
participating in this act flies not only in the
face of the United States civil rights policies,
but also fails to consider the institutional
repercussions of such a ban. The argument of
such a law on a moral front loses all credibili-
ty, as our nation is supposedly one that holds as
one of its tenants the separation of church and
state. However realistic this separation really
is, is of course debatable, but this is what civics
books have told me from 9th grade and on, so I
shall take them at their word.
The term marriage can be understood in,
several ways, but the most prevalent senses of
the term are as thus: as a tool of language, as an
issue of legality, and as an. institution.- So by
these standards of evaluation, is the banning of
gay marriage justified? Is there imbedded, in
any of them, some justification for the imple-
mentation of a policy that would deny a right to
a minority? Make no mistake; as much as this is
painted as a moral and social issue, this is a.
civil rights issue. Due to that fact, each of the
aforementioned aspects must be considered.
Linguistically, the term marriage hard-
ly has any static or universal meaning. In our
own country it is defined as a legal union
between individuals. Some states have taken
this interpretation at face value, and allowed for
unions to exist between the same sex. However,
others have taken the term to imply that this
union should only exist between a. man and a
woman, as it was intended when the laws of mar-
riage were founded. However, it should also be
noted that the term marriage is merely that, a
word, a tool of language, pragmatic in nature,
and easily employed in a million different
senses. It means a different thing to a Baptist
minister in Virginia than it does to a polyga-
mous Mormon in Utah. Let's not even consider
what the term marriage can mean at an interna-
tional level.
The Illusion of Manir ige
Looking at the term linguistically is sort
of a facile approach to the issue of gay marriage,
as the main concern of many attempting to get
gay marriage passed is the legal aspects of the
term. They want the union between them and
their same-sex partner to be considered on par,
legally, with those between a man and a woman.
Proponents of same-sex marriage are seeking an
extension of spousal benefits, as well as legal
tax status. Many in the government, attempting
to assuage the tumult caused by this issue have
suggested that Gays be allowed to enter into
civil unions. One that would be legally equiva-
lent to marriage however would remain a sepa-
rate entity. Now, I'm quite certain those two
vague yet powerful words in that sentence might
have rang in your mind as they had in mine.
Separate and equal. Or in their more ominous
ordering and inflection: Separate, but equal.
This is an impossibility, not only in
concept, but also legally. Therefore, many have
sought to simply ban the action, instead of con-
sidering an alternative, or modifying their
practices. Marriage and family values as an
institution are under assault, and the passing of
a bill allowing for same-sex marriages would
expedite the moral decline overtaking our
nation. I've tried to remain calm and rational
for this entire article, but all I can say in
response to that is: bullshit. For such a sacred
union, Marriage is certainly a contrary fuck.
Our highly moral nation is one that sees divorce
rates rise yearly, up to an astounding 50% as of
a few years ago. It seems that the populace may
not hold the institution of marriage as sacred as
the politicians imply. If our government had
never made marriage a legal union, then we
would not be facing this issue. If marriages
could only be granted by religious orders, then
the separations enacted between church and
state would keep this "moral" act safe. But it
isn't a religious issue, it's a legal one, and once
they invoked the term marriage in a legal sense,
they unwittingly started the ball rolling of pro-
gressiveness and equality.
By Michael Prazak
Additionally, the debate over whether or
not to consider this issue one of states-rights
has also gained prominence recently. However,
the granting of individual status for each state
in regards to marriage does present a few prob-
lems. It is generally understood, that though
the granting of a marriage license is typically
done through the state, these licenses will be
honored and applied outside of the states of
their origin. This is problematic in two senses.
First, it would become possible for people to get
married in a state that allows same-sex unions,
and then simply move to states that don't allow
it. second, it would ignore the fact that it is the
federal governments mandate to ensure equal
and unified rights to all. Thus, it would become
a duty of the government to ensure that the right
to marriage was extended to all people regard-
less of race, religion and sexual preference.
As issues go, this one is a muckity-muck
amongst muckity-mucks. It draws our govern-
ment and politicians into a realm that is best
left untouched by Bureaucracies. Since this
nations inception, there has always been a tacit
understanding of the dangers of religions and
government getting too snug in the rug. Is mar-
riage truly a moral issue anyway? It's the
granting of status that, if anything, facilitates
the pursuit of happiness spoken about by the
old white men who started this country. By
making same-sex unions a criminal act, we
equivocate it to things like murder, and theft.
All which are considered morally wrong in our
country, regardless of religious views to the
contrary. All that are viewed as illegal due, not
to some ancient slab of stone with them
Sinscribed on them, but because they violate our
most basic rights. Is allowing a man to marry
another man really at that level, or are the
idiots railing against it hiding from their own
fears and inadequacies.
So, this debate will rage on, people miss-
ing the point and ignore the madness of travel-
ing down this path. In seeking to abort the per-
ceived slippery slope of immorality that they
think would occur, they instead push to hard
and overcome the crest, starting a tumble in the
opposite direction. One that slowly but surely
eliminates the rights of every individual cur-
tails freedoms and ensures static social mores,
hiding behind language that conceals the truth
of such legislation. By "all deliberate speed"
they will continue to stifle civil dissent and
stamp out any progressive policy. And We the
People will yawn and ask for more snacks. We'll
close the windows and turn the volume up on our
TVs to better ignore the screams of our neigh-
bors. And as the credits roll and the commer-
cials start not a soul will ever miss the shades
of life we used to know, tubes flickering on the
reflective pale that is the face of the entire
nation.
 Dubya's Re-Elec on:
An Environmentalist's Point ofBy Joanew
Leong
Like the rest of the well-informed edu- is inconvenient to the industry." Five of the children on Medicaid will no longer be tested
cated part of the country, I was on pins and nee- strongest programs to reduce air p6llutants are for lead levels in their blood. It lifts the
dles on Election Day worrying about the results. in talks of being obliterated. Team Dubya wants requirement to test all children on Medicaid for
That night, as I watched the map light up red for to lower the regulations for pollutant causing lead levels and allows them to pick and choose.
Bush down south, my hope continued to dwindle.. companies that emit thousands of toxins into Surprise little Timmy!! You have brain damage
The next morning, I woke up on my couch and the air we breathe. Once again, Bush chooses and learning disabilities that all could have
the TV was flashing KERRY CONCEDES, BUSH large corporations over the American people. been prevented!!
WINS. I was stunned and sickened and I was so *Bush's Administration doesn't get any- *The Dubya Administration announces
depressed, I didn't leave my building that day more fucking deceptive than this. In July 2001, the end of funding for graduates doing research
except once. The campus had an eerie feeling to Mark Rey, a former timber industry giant, is in the environmental sciences. Graduate stu-
it, and it probably felt that way because the appointed under Secretary of the Department of -dents who has worked so hard to get into this
overwhelming majority of the campus voted Agriculture. Yes, thank god he picked a forest- prestigious program has now been informed this
Kerry. I blame the hicks down south and the destroying, tree-logging tycoon to run that program no longer exists. Thanks to Bush for
uninformed Middle America who voted for Bush position. Mark Rey is a strong supporter of hindering advances in environmental protection
based on his religious views, and not on the real deforesting our protected national forests and once again.
issues at hand. IEblame Republican sneaky vot- he continues to fight for the right to destroy *May 2002. Bush allows mining wastes to
ing procedures and I blame it on conspiracy whatever natural wildlife regions are left. Yay be dumped into rivers, lakes, streams and wet-
theories. I will probably never be able to prove for evil. lands. The 25-year old Clean Water Act has
any of it but what I have on my side is facts. *Oil spills and thrills in the summer of been obliterated. Bush's "reasonable" explana-
George W. Bush will go down in history as the 2001. Bush proposes opening up the Gulf of tion was that the wastes would cost the mining
president with the worst environmental record Mexico for offshore drilling. This is an extreme industries up to about 3,000 extra jobs and it
ever. Many people don't really care about the hazard to the quality of the water and marine would cost them too much and they would go
environment, but maybe it's because they don't life in that area. Any coastal oil-drilling will bankrupt, so just dump it into our waters
know exactly how much it really does affect inevitally result in oil spills, water pollution because it's just so much easier thlat w-ay.- G-td
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and drlctrnrcti;n nf ronctn-tal wet- miners, and other ore miners thank Bush for his
staffers write about the other lands. Doesn't anyone remem- wonder gift to the mining industry.
equally important issues, I'm ber the devastating effects of *New twist in the logging controversy.
going to tackle this one. We'll large oil spills in the 1990s? I August 2002, Bush firmly states that the pre-
take a chronological look at the know I will never forget the vention of forest fires is so important that log-
ways Bush has viciously heart-wrenching sight of thou- ging is a necessity. The more we cut down, the
attacked the environment since sands and thousands of dead less chance of a forest fire to occur. Well, then,
his early days in office. oil-covered seals, whales, fish if the president is always right, we must get to
*The devastation begins and birds all washed up on the work and cut them all down. If there are no trees
in January 2001 when Bush beach. left at all, there will be no forest fires! Brilliant
proposes a plan that would open *.August 2001, the work once again Mr. Bush.
up the Artic National Wildlife heavy logging continues. Our *Global warming? What are you talking
Refuge for oil. This would not largest national forest, the about? We don't deal with silly tall tales.
deter the rising gasoline prices Tongass in Alaska, is making *The Bush Administration shocks even
or significantly increase our oil timber and logging industries those who cannot be shocked. At an internation-
supply. Instead it would be salivate with greed. The Bush al endangered species conference, the US repre-
destroying the grandeur of the Administration, instead of sentatives shocked the other nations by propos-
Artic Wildlife Refuge that has upholding Clinton's Roadless ing the increase for commercial trade of ele-
.enpoetc irgnrtos
oeen protected for generations. Area
Aii,,,;e,
u•nsiervatiuon AtC, is giv-
A~e:- ,,
phant ivory over the next three years. ELE-
*Once again, instead of what is doing ing the thumbs up for the deforestation of the PHANT IVORY!! WHAT THE FUCK!? Of course,
best for everyone, the Bush Administration Tongass. While Bush stalls on the protection of the union declared they refused to lift the ban
doesn't care. March 2001: the Kyoto Protocol all our national parks, the timber industry is on elephant ivory. What the fuck were these
was rejected. It was an international agreement wasting no time to cut down as many acres of assholes in the Bush Administration thinking?
signed by eight of the largest industrial nations forests as they can get their evil hands on. The This enthusiasm for elephant poaching and
in the world to reduce the greenhouse gas emis- Tongass is home to thousands and thousands of killing is repulsive and further concludes my
sions, wildlife species. Many medicinal properties are belief that the Bush Administration works for
*Bush backs out on his most significant in the plant-life just waiting to be discovered in the powers of evil.
environmental campaign- promise. Claiming it the Tongass, and at this rate, they are probably *December 2002, the leniency for
would be too costly, he decides that he will not already destroyed. industrial pollutants regulations begins. The
regulate the reduction of carbon dioxide emis- *Bush finally leans toward environmen-. Bush Administration releases a report on their
sions which is the primary cause of global tal spending, but at a heavy cost. November plans of doing away with 300 federal regula-
warming. Studies conducted show that control of 2001, Bush proposes 19.1 billion dollars for tions that would diminish safety rules that pro-
CO 2 would not have any negative impacts on the energy research, national forests and parks and tect America's environment and public health.
economy. conservation programs. However, they compro- *Drilling in the Rocky Mountains found
*Arsenic is the new flavor in our drink- mise by giving industries practically the to be a mistake. Projected amounts of oil in this
ing water. Bush towers the standards for mining unlimited access to do whatever they want. So protected range discovered to be a fluke. There
companies so arsenic seepage is more readily now there is logging in our national parks, oil- was a significantly less amount of oil found than
available in our tap water. He chooses the bene- drilling in our national monuments, and cruise they had anticipated. Whoopsie. Well, now what
fits of the mining companies over the safety of ships roaming free in the fragile ecological sys- are we going to do about those gaping holes on
millions of Americans. It would only cost $3 a tem. the side of that beautiful mountain?
month for those living in arsenic-high areas to *February 2002, the attack on the *In January 2003, the EPA announces
clean up this cancer-causing contaminant. Endangered Species & Habitation Protection that our drinking waters are safe even though
*May 2001: Bush announces his energy begins. Only several hundred acres of land are they contain twelve times the number of con-
plan which will include using more fossil fuels put aside for animals on the endangered species taminants considered to be safe. This is caused
and focusing more on nuclear power. His plan list. Bush is now lifting those protected acres, by atrazine, a weed killer, which is banned by
would imply an increase of non-renewable including another half million acres of protect- many other countries but not ours. The EPA
resources like coal and oil. ed land reserved for endangered species. claims that there is no link between atrazine
*Bush attacks the Roadless Area *March 2002. Coal-fired power plants no and cancer even though the own manufacturers
Conservation Plan created by Clinton and longer have to maintain anti-pollution equip- of the poison repeatedly tell us they found links
approved by 95% of 1.6 million public com- ment due to the Clean Air Act's new provision, between atrazine and prostate cancer.
ments on it. Bush would allow logging companies the Clear Skies initiative. Now the pollutant Environmental agencies throw their hands up
to deforest and create roads through thousands causing plants have to voluntarily clean up flabbergasted.
of acres of nationally protected forest regions. their act, but if they don't, oh well. The govern- *During February 2003 to May 2003
*July 2001. "The Bush Administration ment isn't going to regulate it anymore! several nationally protected forests were
is trying to weaken the Clean Air Act because it *April 2002. Tens of thousands of poor opened up for oil-drilling and logging. More

-^P 4 .

provisions of the Clean Air Act are exterminat-
ed. The Endangered Species Act continues to be
cut away. Environmental laws and regulations
are eradicated left and right.
*The Environmental Protection Agency
chief administration Christine Todd Whitman
resigns. In May of 2003, after two years in this
high ranking position, Whitman can no longer
deal with the travesties of the Bush
Administration. Entering into office, she had an
honest approach and truly believed in helping
to protect the environment. However, over the
past two years, watching environmental policies
overturned and her opinions ignored and viewed
as a defiant opposition to Bush, she had enough.
Her previous environmental records as governor
of New Jersey were extremely commendable but
the ongoing destruction of the Bush
Administration finally does it for her. I don't
blame her; I respect her for everything she has
done so far. But for now, evil is winning.
*The EPA continues to ignore that mer-
cury is a severe problem in drinking water. 1
out of 6 American women who drink tap water
has so much mercury in her system that her
children pose a serious risk of birth defects.
Babies born to these women with dangerous
mercury levels will have heart problems, liver
and kidney damage and a number of other birth
defects. People who also eat fish in these mer-
cury contaminated waters will have health
problems. Mercury emissions are caused by
careless manufacturing companies that allow
mercury seepage into the waters. Bush okays
this.
*September of 2003. Get ready for dan-
ger. Regions marked off as hazardous and unsafe
because of high level of PCBs (cancer and neu-
rological disorder causing chemical) is being
opened up to land developers as safe before it is
cleaned up and made.safe.
Post-Elecon Jitters or SignsIOf
:
a
·· ·
Growing Authoritarian
On November 3, 2004 a group of about 40
huddled in a tight .circle in Love Park,
Philadelphia to take part in a post-election
speak out and march. The weather seemed to fit
the general mood, gloomy and overcast, with
clouds looming in the not so distant horizon.
Many clutched signs stating 'Fuck Bush' and
'Revolution is Necessary', their hands frozen
stiff around the cardboard. Although a
depressing day, it was an inspiring sight and
was coupled by inspiring words from those who
spoke.
The group had gathered at 4pm to speak
out about the election and march through
Philadelphia in protest of Bush's agenda. The
march began in Love Park, located at JFK plaza
near center city, continued down through
Second Street, and made its way towards the Ben-
Franklin Bridge, connecting Philadelphia with
Camden, New Jersey As they approached the
New Jersey boarder, multiple cop cars pulled
up behind them. Over a mega phone the police
warned, "If you cross over to New Jersey, you
will be arrested."
After -a few moments of confusion the
protesters turned around and headed back
towards center city. Yet, Philadelphia police
continued to slowly tail the dwindling crowd.
Dubya's Re-EectIion
*November 2003. Nuclear wastes that
were previously stored in carefully monitored
facilities will now be placed in regulai landfills
not equipped to handle these hazardous wastes.
"The Bush Administration is looking to save its
nuclear industry pals some money at the
expense of public health and the environment,"'
said National Resources Defense Council attor-
ney Geoffrey Fettus.
*President Bush cuts federal spending
for endangered species in February of 2004. It
isn't enough that millions of acres of their
homes have already been destroyed in three
years, but the funding to protect them is cut as
well. This is yet another ploy for Bush to help
his privileged few friends at the public's and
endangered animal's and plant's expense.
*March 2004. Bush gives the green light
for cattle ranchers to legally kill over 460 free-
roaming bison. The excuse was that the bison
was transmitting brucellosis to their cattle even
though no link has been found. These buffaloes
were nearly extinct once, we do not need anoth-
er threat like that again.
*Oppose Bush and your legs will be bro-
ken. In July of 2004; Andrew Eller Jr., a
Floridian panther scientist, is under heavy per-
secution after speaking out against his supervi-
sors who used faulty science to allow land
developers to invade the habitats of panthers.
*Throughout the entire year of 2004, the
·-· ·
Sta te?
One student was arrested for refusing to hand
over his camera. Other students were followed
for several blocks' after leaving the protest. A
helicopter hovered overhead and more cop cars
joined the already numerous police cars follow-
ing the protest. Protesters exchanged con-
cerned glances, one stating, "They're surround-
ing us."
The remaining 20 protesters completed
the march ending in Love Park with no violent
confrontations or further arrests. But the mes-
sage seemed clear; that intimidation was the
ultimate goal. The presence of over 10 cop cars
and a helicopter was enough to make anyone feel
uneasy and that was the intention. Even small
peaceful marches will be met with hostility in
the post-election environment. We are entering
a second term with George W. Bush, which if the
protest in Philadelphia was any indication, will
be another sad and scary four years.
Philadelphia was not the only city to
hold protests following the election. According
to IndyMedia.org, a protest in Tuscon, Arizona
attracted a crowd of about 200. The article cites
incidents of unprovoked police violence includ-
ing six arrests, the firing of pepper bullets at
protesters, and the discharging of a canister of-
pepper spray into the crowd. An Assistant
ContinuU
ed...
By Joan Leong
constant barrage of environmental violations is
heard over and over. Dangerous mercury emis-
sion ignored. More provisions of laws and bills
protecting the environment are done away with.
Large-scale companies and industries that vio-
late environmental polices are no longer
responsible for their actions because Bush will
waive it and throw his support towards them.
Bush has been the bane of Greenpeace, the
NRDC, the Sierra Club, and many other environ-
mentalist groups' existence these four years.
The fact that now he has four more years to fuck
up the world, I can't imagine what else he is
going to do. Greenpeace has informed me of
deforestation in other countries as well.
Mahogany trees in the Amazon Rainforest have
been illegally cut down and transported to the
United States. There are so many opportunities
for large companies to destroy, the environment
and Bush allows this all to happen. When asked
about his environmental policies, Bush often
adamantly professes that the air and water is
the cleanest it has ever been. I can't stand his
smug monkey face as he spews out lie after lie!!!!
The fact that he consistently puts large compa-
nies and the privileged few over the general
health, safety, and care of the public infuriates
me to no end. I know many people believe there
are more important issues to tackle right now
but the environment is just as important
because it affects us so tremendously. Theair
we breathe and the water we drink are the basic
necessities of maintaining animal, plant, and
human life. How can anyone in their right mind
taint the bare necessities of any living crea-
ture? Bush had re-election and public opinion
to worry about during these last four years and
now since that pressure is gone, he's going to
unleash crimes never seen before. The worst has
yet to come.
By Jackie Hayes
Police Chief commented to one Indy Media mem-
ber that, "A lot of people made it clear that they
probably wanted to make more symbolic ges-
tures than just chanting or just holding up
signs." His fear of escalated action didn't seem
grounded in reality, since there were no inci-
dents of property damage or violence. Was his
comment just a reflection of the post-election
jitters caused by pre-election hype? Or are we
approaching a pseudo-1984 era boarding on a
police state?
An article in the New York Times,
labeled this election year 'The Year of Passion,'
stating, "this was an awful campaign: too much
heat, too little light, so much wrong, not enough
right." The passionate campaign fueled an
already charged electorate that was /sharply
divided by the War in Iraq, domestic issues; and
'moral' issues. Another article appearing in the
San Francisco Chronicle characterized the elec-
tion as an example of, "the year partisan polar-
ization spun out of control." No doubt the coun-
try has become strongly divided and polarized
over the previous four years, which has lead to
predictions of a strong reaction from whichever
side lost the election. The anticipation of post-
 sh'-s
toin ro oP I I
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p

Edi torials
I ý mm
EditrialBoar
i

Gay Marriage Ban Passes in States

sub Commandante
Joe Filippazzo
SThat Hate Human Rights
Managing Editor
Mike Billings Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan, This country is supposed to allow freedom, how does
Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, reducing freedom of any kind help society? Arguments
Oregon and Utah are all states that few of us here at The like "well, it's a slippery slope, what's next, legal mur-
Associate Editor
Press will probably be visiting soon. These states der" are shallow and pointless retorts. First of all, we
Amberly Timperio became the first, and hopefully only, states in the union do have legal murder. It's called war and the death
to pass a state wide gay marriage ban. This is a shame- penalty. Innocent people have died in both cases.
Business Manager ful and ludicrous act, undermining some of the more That's murder. Senseless death can be logically deemed
Michael Prazak basic ideas this nation was founded on, and supposedly to be bad, and therefore, you can create laws about it.
still continues to run on. You don't need a bible for laws against murder. The
News Editors What is the purpose of the ban? Other than bible has no traffic laws, and some, like forcing people
hurting people, what does it accomplish? Has there to wear their seatbelts, are laws that saves lives, and
Brittany Brockner
ever been an argument for the gay marriage ban that once again weren't handed down to us from God, Jesus,
David K. Ginn does not stem from religious beliefs? People are enti- a mystical flying wombat or any other deity.
tled to their religious beliefs, and they have every right By banning gay marriage all you do is murder
Features Editor to oppose the gay unions within the walls of their place civil rights. For the most part, members of the
Melanie Donovan of worship, but what right does government have to take Republican party are the ones most in favor of a gay
the viewpoint of religion? Is our government secular, or marriage ban. Like the Patriot act, does this not
Arts Editor Christian? Is www.godhatesfags.com the new White increase the power of government, is this not govern-
House web site? Should we all listen to Jerry Falwell (a ment encroaching further into people lives? Is this not
Meri Wayne
good close personal friend of the president) when he what the Republican party supposedly abhors? Chew on
says that the real reason for 9/11 is because god is that for a little while.
Photo Editor angry at us for having gay people in our country? Give us one example of gay unions causing harm,
Jowy Romano We triple-dog-dareany of you to give us a con- one example of how these people are destroying socie-
vincing argument against the civil liberties of gay peo- ty. See if you really, really can. Because we here can
Copy Editors ple. The only catch is you can't use the words God, really, really show you lots of gay and lesbian people
Matthew Willemain Jesus or religion. Try coming out against gay marriage throughout history who have contributed more to soci-
Marcel Votlucka without the crutch of religion. See where it gets you. ety than hate mongers like Falwell and friends.
Nicole Barry

Production Manager
Dear Administration,
Rob Pearsall
The Students Have Spoken
Webmaster exactly what they need to do to fix a lot of the problems
Adam Hunter Recently, Stony Brook University held its 2 0 t h
annual Student-Faculty-Staff Retreat. The event took at Stony Brook. We should not just float through college
place at a veritable mansion in Glen Cove and the pam- with the notion of "you win some, you lose some." We
Ombudsman pering was a-plentiful. But what is the function of the should start demanding improvements to the quality of

Staff .1
Dustin Herlich SFS Retreat, you say? Well, put bluntly, the weekend life here at our university. Besides... there's more of us
was devoted to ironing out the kinks between the vari- than them.
It was actually fantastic that students were
IJames Bloride Joan Leong
ous groups of people at the university. The Press' own
Executive Editor was in attendance to make sure that invited to participate in a forum where the next four
Philip Camacho Bill Lewis everything went off without a hitch and to deliver the years of their lives were being decided. In fact, the
concerns of The Press'loyal readers to the administra- administration should attempt more talks of this nature
Sarah Cassone Antony Lin
tion. The weekend was very successful in the sense that to directly involve the students in the growth of this
Willy Cibinskas John Mascher
many ideas were proposed and overwhelmingly agreed university. Communication should not take place once a
Tom Clark Jamie Mignone year at $10,000 a clip. The Pressis not worried though.
Juliet DiFrenza Ali Nazir
upon by students, faculty, and staff alike, but one cloud
looms; will the administration put any of the things Just to let you know what to expect, the main
Mike"Bublz"'Fabbri Mike Nevradakis points of the retreat were more than clear. Students
suggested into motion?
Vincent Festa Jason Ng The reason this remains a concern is two-fold. don't want their voices suppressed and they don't want
Rob Gilheany Rachel Eagle Reiter The first point is that we, the students, are used to get- the university to discourage activism like it is current-
Sam Goldman Ian Rice ting cfeated and ignored, so we'll believe it when we see ly. Dissent is not only healthy, but the retreat stressed
Tara Lynn Groth Joe Rios it. The second point arises from the retreat itself. One tradition. Years ago, students used to take over entire
Jackie Hayes Joey Safdia main problem that everyone at the retreat noticed was buildings! Students want more art around campus and
Steph Hayes Keith C. Smith communication between the students, faculty, staff and in buildings instead of the plain old boring cinder
administration. Things aren't as successful as they block towers we take classes in. Art, specifically our
Russ Heller Andrew Thompson
ought to be because no one listens to anyone else. So this art, is what spurs creativity and a healthy learning
Dan Hofer Claudia Toloza
begs the question: Will the administration listen to us environment. More art! And finally, COMMUNICATION!
Adam Kearney Morgan Wilding The administration must talk to us and listen to us or
Rob Kruper Chris Williams
this time? They are in the position of power at this uni-
versity. They have the resources to effect a positive this school is destined for failure. That is the Stony
'qTh Count' Brian Wong Brook University we want. Now give it to us.
change. Collectively, we have given them millions of
LeComnte Jessica Worthington dollars each year. And the students have told them

The Stony Brook Press is published fortnightly during the academic year and Wanna Know Where You Can Stick Your Opinions?
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Paie 6
 ---
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--IL.j-, roo
--- ~ I
CC ~~~ L

Noam Chomsky Supports State Slavery

-By Marcel Votlucka
"If there's going to be an army that will by people who are disadvantaged while the die. Never mind that the "disadvantaged" that
fight brutal, colonial wars, and that's the only elites stay on the sidelines. You know, "rich Chomsky speaks of would be the ones targeted
likely kind of war. . . it ought to be a citizen's people start the wars, poor people fight them." by the State to die in a foxhole halfway around
army so that the attitudes of the society are And while thatjmay be true, the solution he is the dVrld.
reflected in the military." proposing is beyond horrible.
Rep. Charlie Rangel also proposed the
-Noam Chomsky, reinstatement of the draft, supposedly in order
to make it more egalitarian and have people from
I used to be under the impression that all walks of life, rich and poor alike, serve their
Noam Chomsky. was an intelligent, decent, and country. I say that's bullshit. It was bullshit
moral man-at least, more moral than certain when Rangel said it, and it's bullshit when
people and institutions he opposes. I used to be Chomsky says itnow. Conscription is nothing
under the impression that his ideas held great more than slavery, and by advocating a draft, ie
intellectual weight. But in a recent speech is basically advocating slavery. As if that was-
-
Chomsky stated that he supports a draft in n't bad enough, by advocating conscription--for
order to create a "Citizen's Army." His reason- any reason--he is basically advocating the bru-
ing is that the current system is a "mercenary tal war machine which conscription serves to
-army of the disadvantaged." He believes, as feed.
many others do, that instead of reflecting the If you support the draft, you therefore
ideas and attitudes and socioeconomic diversity support war as well as state slavery. Nothing is
of society, our current army is largely staffed more cowardly than forcing others to sacrifice
their lives and their freedom for your own per-
sonal cause. Nothing is more cowardly th n
advocating that others die for you against their And/never mind that . has contradict-
own volition. Such is the ideology of immoral ed his seemingly anti-war/anti-state principles
communists, fascists, and totalitarian state by dvocating the draft in the first place. Let's
worshippers who disdain individual rights and just be h est and frank here; "egalitarian" or
liberties. not, consctiption is state slavery, and it is evil.
So we can conclude that Nom Chomsky, But isn't it a paradox for an anarchist of any
anarchist, dissident, and anti-war activist, stripe (or any moral person for that matter) to
actually supports shipping innocent people off advocate the expansion of state power? Perhaps
to die in a disgusting and immoral war for the Chomsky isn't aware of this paradox. Or per-
good of the State! Go back and read that sentence haps he chooses to ignore it in favor of "egali-
a few more times so that the meaning really tarian" ideals-a euphemism for coercing people
sinks in. Noam Chomsky ought to be that last to surrender their lives to satisfy his own
person advocating such a 9-orrid absurdity as worldview. Either way, his rationale is morally
the draft. bankrupt and should not be taken seriously.
The world is just full of surprises, isn't Chomsky ought to be ashamed of himself.
it? Warmongering politicians support conscription
Never mind that war itself is the sys- (i.e. slavery) and war for the good of the State;,
tematic mass slaughter of innocent people for he supports it (i.e. slavery) in the name of
political and economic gain. Never mind that "egalitarian" ideals. Either way, it seems that
forcing other people to finance this evil with he has no problem forcing other people's chil-
their (extorted) tax money is evil in and of dren to give up their lives (as opposed to his) in
itself Never mind that forcing people to fight wars paid for with other people's money (as
and die against their will is coercion and opposed to his alone). Is there really any mean-
aggression and a violation of basic human ingful difference here?
rights. Never mind that wars only serve the Perhaps President Bush should've nomi-
interests of the inherently immoral institution nated Noam Chomsky for Attorney General
known as the State. Never mind that, even if an instead of Alberto Gonzalez. If Chomsky really
"egalitarian" draft were to be resurrected, the. is the type of person who believes in an "egali-
elites would, for the most part, be able to avoid tarian citizen's army," I think he and Bush

,-,
AI-1
;
The Greatest
,·I
Democracy
--· c
in theWord...
I-
for So
By Joe Filippazzo
The media has a very specific role in our
society; to inform the public of the complete
truth to the best of their ability so that the pub-
lic may make erudite decisions. If those media
groups have access to the truth and purposeful-
ly present the facts on a slant to promote a cer-
tain ideology or agenda, they are abusing their
power of access to the truth. To circumvent this
worst-case scenario, we hold journalists to a
very high standard and we trust them to deliver
the truth. But what happens when the idea of
journalistic integrity is abandoned and the
public is lied to? The 5th annual George
Goodman Symposium, which took place on
November 3r d in the Wang Center, addressed
this very issue in the context of the independ-
ent media's role in a time of war. With speakers
Amy and David Goodman (both independent
journalists, children of George Goodman, and co-
authors of The Exception to the Rulers:
Exposing Oily Politicians, War Profiteers, and
the Media that Love Them) the current condition
of freedom of speech in our country and the per-
sistent question of "How did we get here?" were
the foci of the symposium.
So, how did we get here? Over 1,200 US
troops and an estimated 100,000 Iraqis dead,
free speech "zones" set up at the government's
convenience, legislation like the PATRIOT Act.
on the books and, worst of all, the fact that many
Americans seem to be fine with the current
state of affairs. Amy and David Goodman believe
that the cause of our woes is the corporate media
that lies to the public and reinforces compla-
cency instead of letting us know the truth and
inspiring us to ask questions. The media is not
supposed to keep the public at bay with fear as
they are doing currently. According to David
Goodman, the media is acting as the "megaphone
for the rulers" instead of the "exception to the
.rulers." They accomplish this with "embedded"
Page 8
me
reporters, which are journalists that-travel with
the troops into Iraq. Where it all goes awry,
though, is ,when the media only covers one side
of the story; the soldier's perspective. Then the
truth is filtered even more to paint a very spe-
cific, very government-friendly portrait of the
war. After a station like FOX is done with it, the
final product that we see on the 7 o'clock news
presents the American public with pure fiction.
The only thing we see on the news is US soldiers
marching to a destination or US tanks rolling
through peaceful streets - never an Iraqi civil-
ian woman collecting her children's charred
remains. It's as if this perfectly legitimate war
to bring freedomjto far away lands has cost no
innocent people their lives. In fact, the only
casualties are those of a few freedom-loving
American soldiers who were taken from us by
those barbaric, devil-worshipping towel-heads.
Amy Goodman, host of Democracy Now!,
says we should challenge the media to challenge
those in power since lives depend on it. The
media should be our sanctuary for dissent but
instead, the current system of reporting in
mainstream media is completely unacceptable.
The media must be separate from the govern-
ment simply because `all governments lie and it
is the job of the media-to not just tell the truth,
but dig for and expose it as well. This is the rea-
son why media is explicitly protected in the
Constitution!
In her talk, Amy held that people in
America aren't stupid; they are just great at
absorbing information. If the media skews the
truth, the public has no way to tell that they are
being deceived. In fact, Goodman says that we
are living in the age of pundits, which always
benefits the liars and cheats. The average sound
byte is only 8 seconds long; not nearly enough
time to explain anything. This type of selective
reporting shows that the media right now has
"nothing to tell and everything to sell." The
only: way to circumvent the lies put forth by
corporate media is to use a wide variety of news
sources, including independent media chan-
nels.
The media is dangerous to the govern-
ment because it allows people to speak for them-
selves. It is to be the ultimate in checks and bal-
ances by giving the public the complete truth
and allowing them to decide if their government
is working in their interests or not. But don't be
mistaken. The media is not supposed to work
against the government; it is supposed to work
for the public.
 T -
An Interview with Amy and David Goodman
The Stony Brook Press:In the past election,
half of the people that voted in this country did
so for George Bush and the war machine in
Washington. Do you think that "folks" are
deluded or is it just that the corporate media
only provides us with a very narrow scope of
current events?
Amy Goodman: Well, I think it's all the media
and I think that they have acted as a megaphone
for the administration instead of channeling it
and holding them accountable. They just ampli-
fy the fear mongering that the administration
practices and it's inexcusable. Bush could never
have done it by himself. Yeah, he could scream
from the rooftops with a little megaphone but
hot a lot of people would hear him. But he has a
global stage and he's got the global media.
Press: Why do you think the corporate media
puts this spin on the news? What do they have
to gain from it?
Amy: It's that they share the establishment
consensus. They reflect the views of the
Democrats to the Republicans and often those
views are one in the same. And they don't go
outside that spectrum. In The Exception to the
Rulers, we call it the "access of evil." It's their
trade of truth for access and it's unacceptable
and inexcusable.
Random elderly woman: We've come to take
you home.
David Goodman: This is all being recorded.
Amy : [to elderly woman] One sec...
Press:This is going in the paper.
David: Do you want her name?
A my: That is my aunt.
Press:Well, it's nice to meet you.
Cue handshake.
Press: Well, very straight forward, which
media outlets do you think people can actually
trust?
Amy:I think that you need to get a diversity of
sources. Democracy Now! Is a great place to
begin because it is a link to so many different
places. Everyday we're covering the latest news
stories. It's giving you a sense of all the differ-
ent places you can go and having conversations
with people who are closer to the story, not your
typical reporter but the people who are involved
themselves. Lots of newspapers are important
and newspapers from different places. And on
the Internet you can afford to do this because
you can just go around [and read news] from
other countries. They may have their own gov-
ernment's bias but it's different from ours and
so you can have a sense of all the different
spins. It's so important that there are websites
like CommonDreams.org and Mother Jones,
David writes for Mother Jones, and Media
Channel... just getting views from all over.
Press: In your talk, you mentioned that the
New York Times helped Dick Cheney out of a
difficult situation once by skewing the news.
When confronted by other media groups, Cheney
simply cited how the Times agreed with him
and, even though what the Times printed turned
out to be false, the subject was dropped on
account of the Times' reputation.
How can an independent media source
::
gain credibility when the already reputable
corporate media says differently and no one
questions it?
Amy: Just keep doing what you're doing and
you gain credibility because people start to see
that what you're saying is true. It reflects their
experience and people they know and you build
your reputation by doing this.
Press: A recurring theme of the symposium
was "How did we get here?" in reference to the
terrible state of affairs our country is in today.
I guess the next question would be, "Where do
we go from here?"
David: Well, I think that an important thing to
remember is that of the people who voted, which
is only half the number of eligible voters; half
of them are opposed to Bush and that's a signif-
icant number of people. People don't just vanish
because Bush is president. There is an enor-
mously receptive audience to critical thinking
and criticism and doing what the media is sup-
posed to do.
Press: Do you want to talk election shop for a
second?
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By Joe Filippazzo
Amy nods.
Press:Doyou think that the media was a factor
in voter 'turnout?
Amy: Yes. Absolutely. And if the media really
lets people know what's going on and also chal-
lenges the politicians, when [people] go out to
vote, they'll actually get meaningful alterna-
tives and meaningful choices.
Press: Do you think that the election would
have turned out differently if the media offered
the public a wider variety of viewpoints?
Amy: Absolutely. If people weren't duped by,
not just by the government, but the media that
acts as the messengers of the government, I
think that they would have challenged these
politicians and they would have demanded hon-
esty and truth.
Aunt: It's time to go.
Press: I just have two more.
Amy: Okay. We're almost done.
A un t: Oh, okay.
Press: Do you think that Bush's re-election
will spur a stronger Democratic candidate in
2008?
Amy: I think it will spur a very strong anti-
war movement in this country. It will let people-
know that it's a matter of life and death.
Press: ... if they haven't figured it out already.
Amy nods.
Press: Here's the obligatory, "Do you have a
note for aspiring independent journalists?"
Amy: Dave?
David: You can change the world through what
you do. Keep doing it.
Press:Thank you very much.
Amy and David: Thank you.
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Pae 9
 Bush S E io Again... Busin
Ok, so Bush won the election. Get over it.
It wasn't surprising. I mean, I don't actually
believe that 3.5 million more people voted for
Bush than they did Kerry. But I'm sure you all
heard about the new electronic voting machines
owned by Diebold, going into mostly
Democratic-voting precincts. The CEO of this
company even said he would do "everything in
his power" to get George W. Bush reelected.
Heck, he even donated to the Bush reelection
campaign and slept over at the White House! The
electronic machines have no paper trail and
have not been certified to be accurate by an
independent commission. The government wants
the election rigged; they won't allow independ-
ent U.N. election monitors in to observe the
election and report on its fairness. If Gore won
the popular vote by over 500,000 just four years
ago, it's really hard to believe, honestly, that
people actually like Bush more now, and voted
overwhelmingly like they did. So, the election
was rigged. But you knew it would happen, so
why be so upset? This is just proof that we can't
put all our faith in the political system. for
change.
Think about all those people who put
money into getting Howard Dean elected. Or
those average citizens, who care about the envi-
ronment and humanity, who raised money for
Kerry's campaign. Think about all the money
wasted on MoveOn.org and other organizations
with the sole purpose of kicking George W. Bush
out of the White House. They failed! Well, OK,
technically, they won. But Diebold and other
voting disenfranchisements overpowered the
popular vote. In key swing states, these inaccu-
rate electronic voting machines might have
changed every one in ten votes from Kerry to
Bush (although this was reported even -in
Bayshore, Long Island, New York). They are also
easily susceptible to hacking, there have been
cases of power outages before the machines
saved the voting results, and they have proven to
have many other malfunctions. In a school board
election, Diebold's machines were proven to
miscount one in ten votes. The votes went to the
opposite candidate, and when the exit poll
results didn't match with the election results,
the loser asked questions and they found out
one in ten people voting ,for her were actually
voting against her; the results were overturned,
and she now sits on the school board. Of course,
Kerry or the corporate media would never ask
these questions. "Everything in my power to get
George W. Bush elected." Do these words mean
nothing to us? Of course Bush would win! Don't
be so astonished.
Don't mourn-organize! Take all your
anger and frustrations, and instead of throwing
bottles off a roof or driving really fast, why not
get involved in an activist organization that does
not rely on the corrupted electoral and political
systems to achieve change? Voting can only go so
far, and politics is based on compromises. Also,
you are putting faith in some rich white guy to
stick to his campaign promises, which he will
need to balance with other special interests
(who paid for his campaign?). Voting, although
not unimportant, probably is the smallest
amount of democracy you can participate in.
DontJustVote.com put it this way, "Elections in
this country are the reddest of red herrings.
Liberals have been so fixated on them as to for-
get most other means of applying power; losses
in elections have demoralized and disempow-
ered the Left in general." Further, "But it is not
voting that gives power to politicians, just as it
is not not-voting that could take it away from
them; they have power because we place our
power in their hands, because we fail to apply it
deliberately ourselves."
Voting representatives into power, in
Page 10
C_
order to pass environmental laws, for instance,
is, most of the time, a long and arduous road
with a dead end. Most mainstream environmen-
tal organizations have had few successes (and
many drawbacks) over the Bush presidency, and
the millions of dollars that groups like the
Sierra Club or National Resource Defense
Council raise are going to waste. These groups
are on the defensive, funneling money into the
legislative process, in order to make sure that
Congress doesn't allow drilling in the Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge or revoke the Clean
Air Act. While these well-funded organizations
are on the defensive every time Republicans
control the country, there are a few grassroots,
low-budget, and yet very radiant activist groups
that are pushing the confines of activism to a
new scale. Groups like Rainforest Action
Network are the frontier for environmental
activism ii the 21s t Century.
Many scientists and environmentalist
fear that the next four years are going to bring
the world into a global-warming catfstrophe
because the president has refused to sign the
Kyoto Protocol, and is going to overturn every
environmental law on the table. People see the
last four years as a wreck of havoc on the envi-
ronment, courtesy of George Bush* and his
appointees to the Environmental Protection
Agency. Mapy people simply see no hope.
However, in the past four years, with
George Bush in the White House, I have seen
some of the most emotional and successful envi-
ronmental victories ever in the history of the
world. These successes have been accomplished
by grassroots activists with surprisingly low
budgets, compared to mainstream groups with
millions of members. For instance, the non-
profit Rainforest Action Network (RAN) has won
a historic victory in global finance reform. The
activists realized that corporations cannot
plunder the rainforest, create large oil projects
and wipe out endangered species if they don't
have the money to do so. After three full years
of pressure, Citibank has caved in to their
demands. Citigroup, the largest bank in the
world, has agreed to no longer fund environ-
mentally destructive practices in any of its
branches worldwide. The policies go into effect
immediately, and restrict the company from
financing any coal projects, phase out oil and
-natural gas funding, and create investment
funds dedicated to renewable energy technolo-
gies such as wind, solar and biomass. The com-
as Usual
By Matthew Rammelkamp
pany will no longer fund illegal logging, and
will. shift investments towards independently
certified sustainable logging. Citibank will no
longer fund projects that adversely effect
indigenous peoples, and they have adopted a set
of "Equator Principles"-only funding the
preservation and light, non-extractive use of
forest resources in forest areas of high ecologi-
cal value. All of the Citibank funding policies
are being overseen on a board with environmen-
talist and even RAN members. The monumental
reform of the banking sector has recently been
passed onto the world's second largest bank,
Bank of America/Fleet, which agreed to exceed
Citibank's set of environmental policies on the
eve of a day of international action.
I doubt the NRDC and the Sierra Club
would be able to pass a law forcing these banks
to change their funding practices if they put all
of their millions of dollars together! Even if a
law did pass (with tons of opposition from the
entire banking sector-it just wouldn't be possi-
ble), it would probably be unenforceable or
found unconstitutional in court: However, the
RAN set of principles is totally enforceable
because RAN members are at Citibank meetings,
looking at their corporate files. However,-the-
practice of protesting a company and never
stopping until they give in cannot be stopped;
the first amendment isn't going to be changed
anytime soon, and neither is the dedication of
people who care about the environment more so
than to just vote once every four years for a
president other than Bush.
After another three year campaign, end-
ing in 2003, RAN has forced Timber Giant Boise
Cascade to eliminate paper and wood products
from endangered and tropical forests, and to
extend the policy to all of its suppliers; the
only American forest products company to
apply such a policy both domestically and
internationally. In 2000, RAN convinced the
country's two largest home builders, Centex
Homes and Kaufman & Broad, to eliminate their
use of wood from endangered forests, phase in
certified wood alternatives, and implement
wood-use efficiency measures in new home con-
struction. In 1999, after a two year campaign,
RAN forced Home Depot to stop selling old
growth wood products. Immediately following
this, seven of the remaining top ten lumnber
retailers agreed to meet or beat Home Depot's
plan. Within sixteen months, an estimated 25%
of the U.S. lumber market has committed to
eliminate wood from endangered old growth
forests and to give preference to alternatives. In
1998, RAN and the Clayoqubt Rainforest
Coalition forced 30 leading corporations to end
their use of old growth wood products. The com-
panics, which include Kinko's, Nike, Starbucks,
Hallmark, and Hewlett-Packard, committed to
survey their suppliers and to ensure that they
are not purchasing products made from old
growth. RAN's successes date back to 1988,
when they forced Burger King to cancel $35
million worth of Central American rainforest
beef contracts.
Right now, RAN is not sitting around
waiting four years in order to vote Bush out of
office. Bypassing the political system altogeth-
er, and taking the fuel-efficiency issue straight
to the culprit, Ford Motor Company. Ford has
the lowest fuel EPA fuel economy ranking for
five years running, and hopefully with enough
energetic citizens involvement, enough pressure
will be exerted that they will be forced to agree
to a higher fuel economy; 50 MPG by 2010 and
build a zero-emission fleet by 2020. It might be
a long campaign that takes a few years, but it's
less likely for congress to pass a law mandating
a higher fuel efficiency, especially with Bush in
the White House. And once one company starts
 -
Bush --Steals Election Again
to cave, they all will: The domino effect of RAN
global finance and old growth campaigns show
us that even planned protests and the momen-
tum of past victories can exert huge influence
on the business decisions of some of the most
powerful corporations in the world.
On the contrary, there are few important
and effective environmental laws that have been
passed quickly; without being tied up in com-
mittees, filibustered, debated and voted down
several times. In fact, it seems when an admin-
istration (like Clinton's) finally gets the chance
to pass some good laws, like the U.S. Roadless
Rule (a landmark conservation initiative that
.puts nearly two-thirds of all national forests
off-limits to new roads and commercial logging),
the administration's time is up and you have to
deal with someone who is going to overturn
them, like Bush did. Thus, the inevitability that
legislative politics isn't the answer.
The Free Burma Coalition (FBC) has had
a notable success which is worth mentioning.
The Southeast Asian country of Burma is the
second poorest country in the world, due to its
human rights violations. In the 1990 general
election, the results favoring the National
League for Democracy (82%) were annulled by
the military, and a ruthless dictatorship took
over and has ruled since. They have the highest
rates of systematic military-rape in the world,
and even the U.S. State Department condemns
the country as deplorable (why we aren't fight-
ing for a regime change there is a question on
my mind). The FBC in 2000 launched a boycott
on apparel companies importing or sourcing
from Burma. Each company was singled out,
protested and boycotted. One by one, every sin-
gle major U.S. company pulled business opera-
tions out of Burma; Nike, Adidas, Reebok,
Federated Department Stores, the Gap, etc. As
time passed, these large companies saw that the
smaller companies were having a competitive
advantage by having their apparel made in
Burma, where the workers are paid probably the
lowest wages in the world. As a result, a trade
group representing all the apparel companies
was pressured by Nike, Adidas, etc., to get leg-
islation passed banning all apparel made from
Burma from being imported into the U.S. The law
passed quickly with no opposition, and soon
afterwards, President Bush himself even signed
a law for complete sanctions on all goods made
in Burma, not just apparel. The boycotts and
sanctions have hurt the Burmese government's
military strength, probably leading to the cur-
rent cease-fire and negotiations that are now
happening.
Probably one of the biggest lessons on
activism can be learned from your favorite ani-
Treatment of Animals. They have helped pass a
few laws from time to time, but their major suc-
cesses come from voluntarily getting companies
to agree to their higher standards of animal wel-
fare. Thanks to PETA, the majority of cosmetic
companies have voluntarily agreed not to test on
animals. On the contrary, laws like the Animal
Welfare Act, the infamous piece of animal leg-
islation that exists, barely has any jurisdiction
or enforcement. It doesn't protect animals on
factory farms at all, due to intense lobbying by
factory farm trade groups. Not to be deterred by
the inabilities of winning'through the legisla-
tive system, PETA has astonishingly forced the
world's largest fast-food chains to implement
sweeping changes in their animal welfare poli-
cies. McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy's, and
even the giant supermarket chain Safeway have
all agreed to PETA's list.of recomfnendations to
eliminate some of the most cruel factory farm-
ing practices (they are now campaigning KFC to
agree to those terms). The reason the spreading
of vegetarianism and veganism has been so suc-
cessful is because people take action them-
selves, volunteering and educating others,
rather than working (or fighting) with the gov-
ernment to try to change laws. Eliminating the
U.S. government subsidies on meat and dairy
which make those resource-extensive luxury
items so cheap is impossible, passing laws to
make sweeping factory farm reforms is impossi-
ble, and forcing restaurants to have vegetarian
items is impossible. However, we see a large
range of veggie options and restaurants just for
vegans all over, and a significant portion of the
population is vegetarian now, and it's not
because of, it's despite of, the government's
actions. The government and politicians will
never care about your issue, whatever it is.
Don't waste time with politicians; get out there
and take action yourself. Things will actually
get done because you care about them.
One of the reasons Oxfam and Global
Exchange have been so successful with the
implementation of fair trade coffee is because
they don't go to legislatures, they take on com-
a,
noni tlh m o! o Tho ra re n urhv- the
ontinu ed...
By Matthew Rammelkamp
the Americas Watch campaign has not been suc-
cessful is because they are fighting against a
government military base, and I think those
people who "cross the line" and get arrested in
Fort Benning, GA every year are going to prison
for no reason. I admire their determination and
dedication, but for a campaign to be successful,
it should not just stir emotions, it should be
well thought out.
As many of you may be disappointed and
angered at realizing that Bush has stolen yet
another election, don't cry. It's going to be busi-
ness as usual for Bush, which means trying to
fuck all of us over as much as possible. However
we choose to fight back is up to you. I have tried
to make an argument against using the political
system due to its ineffectiveness. I think you
will agree that if we come together and raise our
voices against these corporations, we can
achieve victories that we would have never
dreamed would happen if it was up to Congress
and the President, whoever he is. I don't see it
being too long in the future until corporations
are targeted so habitually and recurrently, that
they will use their own money and time to pass
laws protecting the environment, human rights
and worker rights. Such was the case with the
apparel companies lobbying for sanctions on
Burma. I think that when enough companies
agree to PETA's animal welfare standards, or
when enough companies agree to RAN's global
finance initiatives, they will use their power
and money to cut out the competition, and laws
will make these reforms legally the industry
standard. These strategies can be applied for all
industries, under any issue, as long as you use
the right tactics. Don't waste your timite in
Washington; the cause you support is probably
too important.
Rainforest Action Network
221 Pine St., Suite 500
San Francisco, CA 94104 USA
Tel: 415-398-4404
www.ran.org
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals
501 Front St.
Norfolk, VA 23510
Tel.: 757-622-PETA
www.peta.org
Free Burma Coalition
P.O. Box 9573
Berkeley, CA 95709
www.freeburmacoalition.org
School of the Americas Watch
PO Box 4566
p.hnonl nf Washington DC 20017
202-234-3440
www.soaw.org
Oxfam America
26 West Street
Boston, MA 02111
800-77-OXFAM
www. oxfamamerica.org
Global Exchange
2017 Mission Street, #303
San Francisco, CA, 94110
415.255.7296
www.globalexchange.org
"Never doubt that a small group of concerned
citizens can change the world. Indeed, it's the
only thing that ever has."
-Margaret Mead
Page 11
- c -, - -- ap~ -- - -- , - ------ ~-- - - - -- i -- - --- --- - - -"
~ -"Y- I I

Inlde pend ent edia andthe Free Market

-By Marcel Votlucka
Foreword pendent of the state and its various special corporations and governments. In this way
interests. The state ultimately owns "public" these independent stations had the freedom to
Before I begin my discussion of inde- media-it has the discretion over what is to provide programs and viewpointg absent in the
pendent media and the free market it is critical become of it. At any time, the government could mainstream media. These stations are beholden
to distinguish between what I call "free mar- shut down NPR or hand it over to corporate to their listeners; they are truly "public
kets" and "corporate fascism." Free markets interests. Corruption will eventually spoil the media." This tradition continues today. For
involve individuals exchanging goods and serv- dream. instance, WBAI in New York City reaches hun-
ices voluntarily. No one is forced to support Secondly, at whose expense will these dreds of thousands of listeners in and around
any business that he or she does not want to. "public" media institutions be created? Is it the New York metropolitan area, and it provides
Coercion, whether by business or government, is right to force taxpayers to fund media outlets fresh, inspiring, intelligent programming that
shunned. Businesses succeed and fail on their that they don't agree with? Would it be right to you just can't get on the other networks-not even
own merits, with no government intervention or force a right wing Bush supporter to pay money on government-funded "public stations" PBS or
regulation. The market is self-regulating: to see Fahrenheit 9/11? Would it be right to NPR, which are ultimately beholden to the gov-
hucksters and scam artists and fraudulent force a left-wing MoveOn.org devotee to finan- ernment and corporate entities which funds
products and undesirable business practices cially support Fox News? If you answered "no" them.
will be weeded out. A free market is conducive to both questions, then you can see why "pub- The existence of these radio stations,
to small business and -a decentralized economic lic" media is a red herring and why forcing tax- even nonprofit outlets like WBAI, is an example
model. payers to fund media outlets they don't like is of the free market at work. Without tyrannical
Under corporate fascism, government wrong. In a free market, no one is forced to sup- agencies such as the FCC, and in the absence of
and big business do favors for each other, port a business they don't like. Nobody forces government favoritism in broadcasting, public
enriching each other at the expense of the tax- you to shop at KFC-if you don't like how their media could undergo a renaissance. People and
payer and the consumer. Those who are well- chickens are treated at the slaughterhouse then communities would have more freedom to create
connected can circumvent the law if they grease you don't have to buy their Buffalo wings. and maintain their own media institutions with-
enough palms. The government sees fit to con- So "public"'media is a euphemism for out the hard heel of the corporate fascist state
trol all aspect of trade and commerce, and it state-controlled media. And it follows logical- holding them down. Media outlets such as radio
taxes people to death and then some on order to ly that in this time of war such "publicly and the press would have to succeed and fail on
support its actions and its favored, industries. owned" and government-controlled media out- their own merits; if any-oeoutlet grew to geat
The state plans the economy more or less lets are the last place we would expect dissent- prominence and power it would be due to its
depending on the circumstances,,and corporate ing voices and real information. So how, then, do competitive success, not government favoritism.
interests are given priority over public inter- we achieve a more free market for dissenting There would be greater diversity of viewpoints.
ests. Corporate fascism (or state socialism for viewpoints and relevant information? Individual people would have more freedom and
the matter) is conducive to big business and more choices. It would lead to a truly demo-
centralized economic planning. cratic media.
The Internet provides us with a great
Introduction opportunity to educate, entertain, and inform
millions of people from all over the world. The
Did you know that in the 1800's New existence of the Internet is what has fueled the
York City, as well as most cities, had dozens of revolution in independent news websites like
competing newspapers, instead of the few we Indymedia. It has allowed activists to organize
have today? There was literally something for and raise money far mdre easily than in the
everyone; the diversity was staggering. This past. It allows individuals to circumvent the
was a hallmark of the free market at work. With media institutions owned by corporate fascists-
the growth of government power and regulation anyone can start up a website of their own,
"in the public interest" (read: in the corporate advertise it, and spread their message. It is the
interest) came the growth of the corporate media closest we have ever come to a truly free, unre-
and the propaganda press.. Asking for more government regulation stricted market for ideas. It is vital that it
Now, instead of a diverse and democrat- is not the solution to the problem because gov- remain unregulated by government entities
ic media, we have news networks that dissemi- ernment intervention in the market is what has hoping to advance the empires and fill the cof-
nate sanitized information, censor dissenting created these problems in the first place. The fers of big business allies, at the expense of the
viewpoints, push a pro-war, pro-corporate, pro- FCC and other regulatory agencies supposedly free flow of information and ideas.
statist agenda (with a leftist bias or a rightist are run "in the public interest," yet a look at
bias depending on which network you tune their actions will show that this is never so. The Is commercialism really evil?
into), and ignore issues of consequence in favor government, under the guise of "de-regulation,"
of fluffy stories about Hollywood celebrities. In 'relaxes the rules andoes favors to its political Critics of a free market policy will argue
the process, independent media has been supporters and them alone, allowing tycoons to that public media should not be "tainted" by
pushed aside and marginalized.. The news has monopolize the airwaves. In a free market with commercial interests. But what exactly does
become watered down and polluted by propa- no government intervention whatsoever, these this mean? Any economist will tell you that
ganda to the point where it no longer informs, tycoons and their ill-gotten conglomerates competition is a good thing; it spurs entrepre-
but dis-informs the citizenry. In short, the could never exist. neurs to constantly strive to provide better
media is no longer ours. service to their customers. Competition among
The realities of the free market cell phone companies, for example, has brought
Government is not the answer! us to a point where almost everyone owns one;
These conglomerates and the tycoons' they are cheap and affordable whereas in the
Some critics suggest that if only the gov- wealth do not exist because they necessarily recent past they were not. Each year computer
ernment would place regulations on the media, provided better quality service to their cus- technology becomes cheaper and more efficient.
providing for public access television and tomers, and they do not exist because they did Competition creates higher quality goods and
radio, funding "public" media projects, limiting better than their competitors. No, government; services. And this holds true in the media as
'how many stations any one company may own, favoritism is what got these inferior business- well.
forcing media organizations to provide "equal people where they are, not free and fair compe- The profit motive could spur commercial
time" in order to provide "balanced" coverage, tition. In a free market, businesses must suc- media networks to provide better service to cus-
then we could have better quality media. If only ceed and fail on their own merits, but under our tomers in order to survive and succeed. In the
the state would use its power to create a safe current system of corporate fascism, govern- same way computer or cell phone companies
space for ideas, then there will be a freer mar- ment and big business do favors for each other strive to please the consumer, media networks
' in a vicious cycle of statist fellatio. And the strive to please their entertainment and infor-
ket of ideas and information outside the influ-
ence of commercial networks. But there are two result is that the major networks are beholden mation-hungry customers-in order to make a
problems with this. to their government benefactors; hence the end- profit. Consumers always have the option of
First, "public" media is funded by the less stream of propaganda that passes as news. boycotting the network if they dislike its cover-
government, anid it is ultimately beholden to But organizations s.uch as Pacifica Radio age.
government-it is common sense that if the state are different. The advent of listener-sponsored The biggest problem with the corporate
gives you a check it can tell you what to do with radio was a breakthrough in communications. media is not necessarily that it is commercial-
it...and it will. Therefore we cannot fully expect Stations built up a loyal base of listeners and ist but that it is beholden to government and its
such "public" media to be truly free and inde- could operate outside the fickle influence of special interests, which necessarily limits

Page 12
- -- - L-· - · '· -- I- '1 -- -- - - I- -- - '- Y- - -- -

Independent P t-Elecon Jitters Continued...

By Jackie Hayes
Media and the racy, the powers of the government are, by law,
clearly defined and sharply limited."
react harshly to November 3r d protests in both limiting the avenues whereby minority views are
So, by

Free Market Philadelphia and Tuscon and may be a viable expressed and increasing the power of govern-
explanation for these 'isolated' incidents. But it ment to oversee independent organizations, it is
might also indicate a deeper problem, the rise of pushing our country farther away from democra-
authoritarian-like practices in the U.S. as a cy and closer to an authoritarian state. The
Continued... viable and legitimate solution to perceived or Patriot Act gives the FBI and CIA extended scope
imagined threats. to monitor independent organizations, creating a
In Cornel West's Democracy Matters he repressive environment in which free speech is
By Marcel Votlucka highlights three dogmas that have interfered jeopardized.
freedom of the press. However, it is certain- with the continued progress of democracy in the Some basic characteristics of authoritar-
ly true that even in a free market, corporate U.S. and abroad. He states, "The third prevailing ian states, as exemplified through Nazi Germany,
sponsorship of media networks means that dogma in this historic moment is escalating Soviet Russia, or Maoist China, include concen-
these sponsors and not consumers have a larg- authoritarianism. This dogma is rooted in our trated control in a central party, glorification of
er role in controlling what we watch and what understandable paranoia toward potential ter- the state, the use of propaganda to coerce the
information is put out. While the profit rorists, our traditional fear of too many liber- population, and focus on symbols (instead of
motive can be a very positive force, it has its ties, and our deep distrust of one another." He reality) to rally populations behind an official
drawbacks. Thus, non-profit, non-corporate, cites the Patriot Act as a prime example of state vision. The last election has placed the
grassroots, independent media does the best increasing authoritarianism. The Act, passed majority of political, economic, judicial, and mil-
and surest job of preserving the integrity of under the pretence of securing America domes- itary power in the hands of the Republican Party,
journalism as a public service. tically against further terrorists attacks, also with the implications of pushing through a neo-
Non-profit, grassroots media outlets chips away at personal liberties and targets left- conservative agenda, including the possible
such as Indymedia or Pacifica Radio provides ist activists. Under Section 802 of the USA overturning of Roe v. Wade, the passage of a
hard-hitting journalism and quality pro- PATRIOT Act, a person commits the crime of national amendment to ban gay marriage, and the
gramming largely outside the profit motive. domestic terrorism if within the U.S. they engage partial privatization of many social services.
Yet even Pacifica Radio survives on the basis in activity that involves acts dangerous to human The conservative Republican agenda may not be
of listener donations-i.e. money. And unless life, that violate the laws of the United States or news to anyone, but the way in which the Bush
you are fortunate enough to be granted free any State, and appear to be intended: (i) to intim- Administration is executing it is. The justifica-
webspace or own your own servers, you have idate or coerce a civilian population; (ii) to tions for war were based on lies that were accept-
to pay an Internet service provider to host influence the policy of a government by intimi- ed and publicized by the mainstream media.
your hard-hitting journalistic website on its dation or coercion, or (iii) to affect the conduct of Any dissenter was considered antipatriotic.
servers. So even "non-profit" media outlets a government by mass destruction, assassination On top of a frightening domestic agenda,
are not totally free from the profit motive and or kidnapping. Unclear at best, this section of our occupation and involvement abroad in
issues of money as a function of funding their the Patriot Act is ambiguous and allows room for Afghanistan, Iraq; and the Middle East reeks of
basic operations. loose interpretation. Could organizing a protest an imperialistic mentality. His proposed War on
Unfortunately for idealists, in this be perceived as an intention to coerce a civilian Terror has no clearly defined boarders or enemy.
world "money talks and bullshit walks." population? Could aggressive lobbying be con- It has been used to justify a pre-emptive war and
There are limitations to the profit motive as a sidered coercive intimidation intended to influ- the violation of the Geneva Conventions. Any
function of the free market and itis important ence government policy? It certainly would not other leader pursuing a similar war path would
to acknowledge them. But turning to "Big be a far stretch to imagine how the Act's ambigu- probably be prosecuted for war crimes. Yet,
Brother" is not the answer to these problems. ity could be used to hinder legitimate acts of dis- through lies, propaganda, and coercion he has
Overall, the dynaiiic of free market forces sent and target peaceful activists. The wording kept the majority of the country rallied behind
and the end of corporate fascism mean that we has the underpinnings of an authoritarian state: this destructive agenda.
as consumers of media would have greater . .One page of a U.S. government website In an article entitled "Factors of
power and freedom, and more diverse: choices (usinfo.state.gov) explores the question, "What is Personality and Their Correlation to Persuasion'
thani we do now. ... a Demcracacy?" Iresponse the site states, "All by Chia Chaing, she describes the characteristics
democracies are systems in which citizens freely of an authoritarian: personality. She writes
Conclusion: Free markets equal a free make political decisions by majority rule. But "'People possessing authoritarian personalities
m ed ia . . rule by the majority is not necessarily democrat- tend to adhere rigidly to conventional values, to
ic: No one would call a system fair or just that obey proponents of these values, and to exhibit
The free market is our greatest tool for permitted 51 percent of the population to overly negative views of mankind. They tend to
allowing a more diverse, free, and democratic oppress the remaining 49 percent in the name of be highly reliant on the moral authority of their
media. Instead of clamoring for government to the majority." So, basically, in the post-election own reference groups, to make absolute judg-
set up a freer public media, we ought to clam- environment, just because Bush won by a small ments regarding the values they hold, and to see
oring for government and its big business ter- majority does not immediately indicate that we the world in black and white. .. They are not easi-
riers to get out of the way. Only by abolish- have a democracy. Just because he's earned ly swayed by messages that seem to contradict
ing the FCC and related entities, and forcing 'political capital' does not mean he can spend it either their beliefs or the authorities they rely
networks and outlets to succeed and fail on at the expense of the remaining 'minority.' One on, even if the messages are rational and logical."
their own, without any help from the state, election every four years is not enough to prove a Bush exemplifies all the characteristics of an
will the media remain free and independent. country is democratic, especially if there are authoritarian leader, including his rigid adher-
Only then will people have the freedom and incidents of fraud. It doesn't give the majority ence to conservative values, his reliance on
the power to speak truth to power. By work- overwhelming support to do as they wish to the Cheney, Rove, and others in his tightly knit cir-
ing toward a free market, we will be pulling other 49% of the population. cle for all moral direction. Also, his interpreta-
the rug out from under the corporate fascists The site continues explaining, tion of international relations as black and
that so desperately need state favoritism in "Thousands of private organizations operate in a white, 'you're either for us or against us' and the
order to gain control over the media. By democratic society...Many of them serve a medi- fact that he has completely discredited any crit-
relinquishing power Over the airwaves and ating role between individuals and the complex icisms of the war, whether they are coming from
the presses and the Internet and letting indi- social and governmental institutions of which concerned citizens, soldiers, or members of the
viduals and communities in the free market they are a part, filling roles not given to the gov- CIA.
create media outlets for themselves, the gov- ernment and offering individuals opportunities It's not just another four years of Bush
ernment will do more for the "public inter- to exercise their rights and responsibilities as that is scary. It is the fact that 'the majority' has
est" then it does now with tyrannical entities citizens of a democracy." Therefore private backed a President that adheres to practices that
like the FCC, which seems to care more about organizations, separate from the government, are closer to authoritarian than democratic. I
exposed breasts than protecting free speech. operate and give minority views an avenue for have hope (and proof) that the entire country is
In short, a free market equals a free expression. Organizations like A.N.S.W.E.R. or not complacent to what is happening here and
media. the NAACP or the ACLU, etc, act independently, abroad. I think many realize how dire the cur-
through legitimate channels to espouse minority rent political situation is. I also hope this pop-
(sometimes majority) opinions.. ulation is willing to fight for furthering democ-
The site later concludes, "In an authori- racy and uttimately rejecting authoritarianism.
tarian society, virtually all such organizations
would be controlled, licensed, watched, or other-
wise accountable to the government. In a democ-
Page 13
 _ _
_ ____ ___
Last Election Day, people got a snapshot
of the United States of America. What they saw
startled many, especially those who didn't vote
for incumbent President George W. Bush.
Although many rely on the "lies, damn lies and
statistics" mantra, I do believe that in this case,
the numbers do indeed tell the story.
-A CNN exit polls showed that the most
important issue people voted on was not terror-
ism or Iraq. It was not even the economy. It was
moral values.
-Out of those people, 80% of them voted
for George W. Bush.
-A poll mentioned on Air America Radio
stated that 60 percent of the people they polled
didn't care who the President was, as long as
that person shared their moral values.
-In every state where initiatives to ban
gay marriage were considered, the measures
passed. In Mississippi, it passed with 96% of
the vote. Put a different way, only one out of ten
Mississippians believe in gay rights.
There is only one- ONE - lesson to be
learned from the 2004 election. And that is that
there is a cultural war brewing within America.
A war between those who are for gay rights,
women's rights, gun control, and affirmative
action, and those who are against it. A war
between those who believe that stem cell
research can save lives and those who (foolish-
ly) believe it is the destruction of life. A war
between those who understand the separation of
church and state and those who believe there
should be no such separation.
In fact, you can see the battle lines. Just
look at a map of red and blue states. Or look at
the amount of satirical talk about secessionism
and the like, or calling the South "Jesusland."
It's funny, but it's partially based in truth, as
satire is. More telling, there are few outcries
against this type of thinking. No one thinks it's
wrong to argue such things because, well, there
is truth in it. People are starting to believe that
Mississippians and us New Yorkers may be
united on things like health care, the economy,
or a host of things, but the Mississippian will
vote differently than we will because the
Mississippian will vote for a candidate who will
hang up the Ten Commandments on their wall.
So where does that leave us? Well, that
question begs another question:
Can you honestly say that the
Democratic Party made their best efforts to con-
vince people in the red states that their candi-
date. was best? Can you say they made the best
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Su ccession is Surrender
___
case that the war in Iraq was flawed? Do you
believe that the Democratic party made the best
case that the separation of church and state, the
rights of women to choose, the value of being a
true friend to the world, and that two people
who love each other, regardless of their gender,
should be allowed to be married are values we
should covet? And can you honestly say that
John Kerry was the best embodiment of those
values, and the person best suited to convince a
majority of Americans that those values are
worthwhile? If you can, well then, fine, talk
your secession talk.
But I bet you can't.
Folks, secessionism is surrender. It's us
saying, "they don't understand why we're right,
so we're going to just up and leave." Are we real-
ly going to be quitters? Are we really going to
give up the fight against homophobia? Against
the right to choose? Against stem cell research?
Against the idea that guns are weapons of
destruction? Are we really going to run away,
tail between our legs?
How about we stand and fight? How about
we put our foot down and say, "No, dammit, this
is what the world should be!" and then doing our
damndest to make America that way? How about
we really do it right?
How about we pick a platform and then a
candidate who shares our views and is not will-
ing to acquiesce to attempt to gain more voters?
John Kerry completely capitulated on gay rights
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and Iraq. He barely campaigned in red states,
considering them a lost cause. What would have
happened if he really tried to show them how
our vision of the world is better? Who knows?
All I know is. that we didn't try. Not at all. This
is why the "swing states" were in Pennsylvania,
Ohio, and New Jersey. These are Northern states
where Republicans went and campaigned and
tried their hardest to convince that their ver-
sion of America was better. We didn't go to
Georgia or Texas or anywhere else; we just gave
up, as many want to give up now.
How about we stop sending spineless
people like Gephardt, Daschle, Biden and Pelosi
to Congress? I understand that these people are
elected by their local constituencies, but it per-
sonally angers me that these people, who refuse
to stand up for the America Democrats want to
have, are chosen time and time again as the
leaders of the liberal agenda. And now who are
the Democrats thinking about in 2008? Hilary
Rodham Clinton, who never met a microphone
she didn't like, or a position she couldn't fudge
on. I apologize if I'm going off on a tangent here;
this has been a pet peeve of mine for quite some
time.
Let's face it, folks. This election was run-
half-heartedly on so many levels. John Kerry
campaigned only in blue and battleground
states, taking half of America for granted, ran
on a policy of "I'm not Bush," thought the youth
vote would come out to support him in record
numbers (which, if you look at exit polling,. did-
n't happen at all) and preyed on the unspoken
belief among liberals that Bush as an imbecile
and would reveal himself as such at some oppor-
tune moment before the election in such a way
that even the most arch conservative folks would
jump up and say, "Wow, I was an idiot for being
homophobic, anti-abortion and anti-gun con-
trol." Instead, they started behind, against a
President that, at best - AT BEST - lost millions
of jobs (whether it's 1.7 or 1.2 million is irrel-
evant), had serious issues raised about the
President's handling of Iraq, turned the US into
a global pariah, all without us being that much
safer here at home. AT BEST! Even with all that,
,Kerry almost won. Now think about how we
would have done if we, as a group of people who
have a vision of America, actually attempted to
bring our message to all Americans instead of
sitting on our heels and taking a group of votes
for granted.
Think about it.
-Then tell me, are you ready to give up
just yet?
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- So, you've reelected, statistically, our
worst commander-in-chief ever. Well, congrat-
ulations! I purposefully use 'you' as a relative
term which includes neither myself nor the
majority of people reading this. And the latter
is true for more than one reason: A) thankfully,
I am writing from Democratic New York; and B)
due to lesser intelligence, fewer Republicans
will read this, or any other article. And, as
frightening as it is, that is indeed a fact: this
past election day, each state voting for the
Democratic candidate, John Kerry, had a higher
mean IQ score. Coincidence? I think not.
I must admit that from the start I was not
overly interested in the election because I do
not allow the ignorant views of politicians to
directly affect my life. Instead, I find it quite
beneficial to live my life "under the radar". It
still surprises me how easy it is to do this con-
sidering our supposedly fool-proof national
security. For the record, though, I did my part
and voted. Nevertheless, it was a statement made
by some Republican official in the early hours
of the day following the election, once Bush's
victory was beginning to be clear, that struck a
nerve. We were publicly informed that, once
their control of each branch of government was
complete in January, the Republican initiatives
would begin to be put into effect. And at the top
of this list were getting the okay to drill for oil
in our Alaskan wildlife preserve and the ban-
ning of gay marriages. Holy fuck! I could only
hope, deep down inside, that many people had a
problem with this, and that the rest, had they
understood the facts, would have as well.
So let's start with oil, our precious com-
modity. The reason we've waged an unnecessary
war and, in turn, adversely affected a great deal
of lives, whether it be the countless, innocent
middle-eastern people, the thousands and thou-
sands of soldiers and their families or simply
anyone with a conscience. Why would we do
that, you ask? Well, aside from the obvious
purely economic advantages, it is a well-known,
A Modem Civil bar
--
scientifically extrapolated fact that in twenty-
some-odd years the entire world will have uti-
lized its Supply of oil. And that means it's gone
forever. Better stock up while we can, right? It
wouldn't make sense to allocate some money
towards researching alternative forms of ener-
gy, since, in about two short decades, our coun-
try's greatest source of energy will be obsolete.
We need that money for more important things,
like funding anti-homosexual or anti-abortion
campaigns. At this time I ask for the latter three
sentences to be taken as more than a little sar-
castic. Anyway, back to the point: the
Republicans wish to drill in, and inevitably
destroy, one of the world's grandest and most
delicate wildlife preserves. This project would
take years, and the results would produce, at
current consumption rates, which is increasing
every day, no more than a few months of oil.
The latter issue', admittedly, requires
By Brandon Cole Donoher
some information to truly comprehend or hold a
position,on; this is the case with many issues.
That said, I have a serious proposition: a voting
eligibility exam. It would not require much
intelligence to pass and retain your right to cast
a ballot, and you may hold any political views.
All it would ask of voters is to do no more than
about a half hour of research every four years,
and then prove some level of familiarity with
the current political issues. Then maybe our
country would,no longer find it justified and
necessary to rewrite our over two-hundred year
old constitution to disallow homosexuals the
ability to wed or to remove every woman's right
to an abortion. Except for, probably, all those
pesky conservative Christians. I am sure there
are many Christians out there with a true sense
of modern morality who believe in unwavering
equality, regardless of sexual preference, and I
salute you. But for those without, for those who
see no contradiction in taking away the rights
of a person who is attracted to a member of the
same sex and appointing rights to an organism
who does not yet have the ability to feel pain or,
medically speaking, anything else, for that mat-
ter, whilst stripping its mother of a feasible and
sometimes necessary choice, I can only hope
something happens to give you a new point of
view; something drastic. Oh, I don't know, like a
homosexual son. Or, maybe, a sexually assault-
ed, underage daughter who's been unwillingly
impregnated. Do you think then they'd want
their daughter to have options?
So, as I'm sure a good amount of the
country would merely dismiss all of this, hope-
fully evolution takes its course. However, I am
proud to know that many people agree with me
on at least some level, and to them I share empa-
thy and appreciation. And to everybody who
reads this, to avoid giving the wrong impression,
I wish to inform you that I am only this arrogant
when I know I'm right. Lastly, pertaining to the
imminent civil war in our country, I only hope
intelligence will prevail when it truly counts.
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i ,,
Election Day, 2004
While playing Killing Joke's "Another
Bloody Election" driving to the polling place, I
arrived at the local firehouse around 9:30 AM
getting ready to cast my vote on Election Day,
2004. Very anxiously I wait to be signed up and
next thing I know I am introduced to the voting
machine.
I pushed the big red handle to my right
direction and I saw before me a wall of switch-
es. I took all the time in the world to look at all
the candidates and the proposals in question. I
switched on for Presidential Candidate John F.
Kerry (along with Vice Presidential Candidate
John Edwards) and also switched on for Charles
Schumer. I also switched on for New York State
Senate Candidate Jimmy Dahroug, a friend of
mine who I went to high-school and hung-out in
circles with who left me totally mystified when
I opened the paper to see that he was runningTor
district office. I was wondering where he was in
the last couple of years...
It didn't matter if they were all
Democratic votes. I saw them as individualsthat
I saw were very informed choices and I felt that
they could fit the job description well.
As I lifted' the window out of curiosity
and slide it back down I tried to vote for Kerry
but the switch didn't give. "I'm fucked", I
thought. I tried forcing the lever down as hard
as I can and I totally flipped out and panicked
because it just didn't give. Republican conspir-
acy! I knew it! Fortunately the golden-age ladies
who ran the show informed me that I could write
in my vote, though it felt funny that the pencil
had an eraserattached to its butt end. After all,
it was my very first time voting. As soon as I
cast all the votes I wanted I pulled the red lever
backwards with a great big "YEAH!" and head
back home.
Past the rides from Huntington to Stony
Brook, my girlfriend Jenny and I sit down and
talk politics as usual over lunchtime. She'd
always tell me that she fell in love with
Presidential hopeful John Kerry because he was
someone new, different. He was a sturdy,
upright, and hearty man in which she believed
in because she was very upset and angry of the
way Bush had handled his affairs and the direc-
tion of this country. She did think that Kerry
had a lot of promises: promise to slow down the
war of Iraq to a halt, put an early end to the war,
and had no intention of a draft. He also offered
to slow down the outsourcing, and even went to
say to raise the minimum wage. He was the one
to race against President Bush.
What a race it would be. A race that had
the American people on the edge of their seats,
counting closely to their heartbeats and revving
up their'frustration and outcries. Never has
there been a searing hatred and apathy for both
sides, the liberals and conservatives. Democrats
and republicans. And no one had any idea that
it would be this close. After months of fear,
indifference, division, and Lady Uncertainty,
the American people would finally see who
would reside in the White House.
That day in Stony Brook, it started out
bright in the morning, then fleeting into the
afternoon it started to become overcast. The
weather here in our lives that day couldn't be as
less than the perfect setting to an event in
American history like this. Later that night me
and Jenny had a class with Professor Prusslin.
Our topic for that week was Media and Politics.
In between class we both raced downstairs in
the Douglass building to switch on the big-
screen TV to see that Bush was leading Kerry
Pagj'16D
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God Bless Amer 1m
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87-77 in electoral votes. In a matter of two min-
utes the figures shot up 112-77, and in a matter
of another hour Bush's votes raced itself over
Kerry's 177-112. For the both of us Kerry vot-
ers, things weren't looking, or feeling, good. In
the end, she was worried on the ride back home,
hoping that somehow Kerry would finally
spring ahead. It never happened.
November 3, 2004.
That morning I saw that the one who
would win Ohio would win the entire election: it
looked like Bush was winning in individual
votes over Kerry in Ohio, and it looked like
Bush was in reach to win it. Jenny on the other
hand wasn't excited. Instead, she felt hopeless,
sad, and border-lining on internal outrage. On
the way to class Wednesday morning she said a
lot of how she was very let down, worried and
disappointed on how the election and the direc-
tion of this country would turn out. She had a lot
of coinplaining to do and she did exactly that,
because it was her God-given right to do so.
Later on that say I stopped by at the
Press offices and the mood was chill. That all
changed to disappointment again when we all
found out that Kerry was going to wave the white
flag and give his concession speech. Then came
Bush's victory speech. It was declared that Bush
was the winner. The curtain falls, the election
was over.
Not yet was our day over, as we both
came home wondering what happened.
I was meaning to say something about the
presidency and the election all along, to give
myself some space provided by the good Press
and give out some random thoughts, which I am
about to give. Because I can't do it any better
than this.
I have never felt so hopeless and so sick
to my stomach with any presidency before. No,
I'm not saying this just because the punk com-
munity said so. In fact, it's coming from half of
the entire country. For those who've seen the
donkey, elephant, and bicycle race of 2004, it
was so close. Never have I felt a country and
people so divided and split on a presidency,
before.
I didn't vote? the. last time around
because at the time I wasn't involved in politics,
rather just shouting out slogans because the
magazines told me so. Obviously I saw that in
the last election it wasn't about the people, it
was more about the lawyers and judges. It did-
n't matter that more people voted for Al Gore,
instead we ended up getting a president we
never voted for in the first place and it's all
thanks to George W. Bush's brother Jeb Bush,
Kathleen Harris, and the Supreme Court.
And look where we're at.
Bush started off his presidency playing
a lot of golf and doing a lot of relaxing in the
better part of the first six months. What a way
to celebrate after forever tarnishing a democra-
cy. He declared the first time around that he
would try his best to bring Democrats and
Republicans to work together to a bi-partisan
relationship. Instead, what we see are two sides
at each other's necks.
And then we didn't hear from Bush that
'much up until the fateful 9/11, which should
have never happened if only Bush had taken
seriously the advance memos and warnings
handed to him a month prior to the attacks.
Taking himself seriously, he thinks to himself
minutes on end in a classroom if what was whis-
pered into his ear was true. Ever since he has
been playing some serious "catch up" making up
By Vincent Michael Festa
to his mistakes.
Despite dropping the ball and ignoring
the prior memos of a possible attack on 9/11,
Bush has decided to play the "good boy" and
tried to compensate by going all out to fight ter-
rorism and doing what needs to be done, in
which a good amount of this country sees him as
a hero and a savior.
And then there was the attack of our
civil liberties, thanks to the introduction of
John Ashcroft's Patriot Act which out of
nowhere was introduced with very little notice,
jeopardizing freedom of speech, privacy, and
giving authorities new and improved powers,
access, and the slowing down to a right of
protest. This mention of the Act wouldn't be
complete without the words "broad" and
"sweeping" for the sake of doing so. So some-
thing that happened to us on 9/11 wasn't our
fault and we lost so many lives that shouldn't, so
the reasonable thing is to take away some of our
civil liberties and freedoms while we fight for
the liberties of another country (not that I don't
want to see a free Iraq). IMakes alot of sense to
me, for sure!
What. was really laugh-out-loud funny
was the introduction of the Terror Alert System,
which was a 24-hour hoax to keep people in fear
and in check so that they would think that Bush
would save them a second time around. Fear
people into thinking that Bush would be our
hero, saint, and savior. And to vote for him too.
Freedom of speech was never before in
jeopardy. The FCC eased regulations so that
there would be more ownership and control
amongst major media moguls who already had a
big share and control over the media before.
This resulted in fewer people owning more and
more outlets dictating and controlling to a craft
what we heard and saw on TV. The media also
panicked like salon queens after the Janet
Jackson/Super Bowl Halftime "wardrobe mal-
function" that they started to poorly try and
clean up what was deemed filthy and dirty on
the airwaves. Never mind the other 99 percent
who have broken this rule... "Howard Stern is
really destroying society, let's go after him!"
And it wasn't just Howard Stern, it was also a
select few who spoke against Bush and his poli-
cies and presidency, pointlessly derailing some
careers because they chose to speak out,
because this is America after all. Never ques-
tion a man's presidency or his ego, I guess.
(I had some very important information
on this paragraph, but what you didn't know
before was that it was taken out by the
Republicans due to another one of their
Republican conspiracies. And no, you didn't
hear about this, either!)
This is a country that half of it voted for
Bush, just enough for him to represent the whole
country. But before, he has usually ruled upon
his beliefs and not with an unbiased opinion, so
he thinks and chooses for us. What makes a dif-
ference, then? So much for freedom of speech let
alone freedom of free thinking! So he thinks that
people should be ignorant of opposing ideas and
shun them to be part of his little club...me
thinks I should? He thinks a marriage ban of
gays and lesbians should be passed because he
can't stand the presence of gays...so me thinks I
should say "right on!"? He thinks he's a great
leader for our country despite leaving such a
mess. Methinks he's an absolute moron.
Self-appointed officials, connections,
easy access. It no longer matters that hard work
and determination will get you a job. It's
whether you agree with Bush and if you're on
his good side that now matters. Think like him

- ·
and wishes are granted.
What was more hilarious than an episode
of Full House (yes, I was sarcastic) was Fox
News, the overly conservative journalist carni-
val act who declares itself "fair and balanced"
yet was more lopsided than a drunken and hazed
Courtney Love in court, who with other news
outlets ran that color-coded scheme.
Earlier this year, we heard Bush declare
his statements against the gay and lesbian com-
munity, saying that he would have approved of
an amendment to ban all gay marriages because
it ruins the sanctions of marriage between a man
and woman. Gays and lesbians don't ruin the
union of marriage: has Bush ever heard of the
idea that maybe cheating i sruining marriage as
we know it? In fact, by his mixing of church and
state he has himself attempted to impose his
religious views on the people as if to deprive the
rights of gays and lesbians. I know of and have
met people who are gay or lesbian, and I may
even have someone in my family who may be.
Why wouldn't I want to see them happy in their
lives? How does depriving their certain rights to
live just normal straight people do anything?
Because it's really heartbreaking to see that
those with a different sexual preference suffer
through life not doing things that millions of
other people'do.
Outsourcing was another hot-button
topic. What a great idea: take away several thou-
sand jobs and give them to other countries so-
that a select few CEOs can save money and make
more profit. Or, it's not that I want people
around the world to not work and be unable to
provide for themselves and their families to
feed themselves, however the transfer of materi-
als to make a better infrastructure for other
countries and to have people help learn others
to build it is something more suggested.
Hardly any funding for HIV/AIDS
patients: that is nowhere near important as,
funding for more of our weapons! And what
about protecting our environment? Bush has
also let his hands slip of the Gun Control Bill.
Well, he is from Texas, after all!
And he has also drilled the deficit/debt
even deeper to the point that we, and even our
children from the next generations, will pay for
it. I'm going to have to start planning to spend
my money so that I may never have to eat
healthy, buy a big house, save in a bank, or even
enjoy myself or with my family ever again. As if
I'm struggling enough.
While bombing Afghanistan and playing
hide-and-go-seek with bin Laden, why not take
over Iraq while they're at it? If you can't finish
one thing, start another! The administration
(including Colin Powell) had set up the big dog-
and-pony expo to show us that Iraq did have
weapons of mass destruction which to them was
a small enough of an excuse to go ahead with
taking over Iraq. Speaking of which...
The war in Iraq obviously isn't going too
well. So many of our soldiers and innocent Iraqi
civilians dying to me is just downright uncalled
for. Yes, Saddam Hussein was a threat to his own
people, and the Iraqi people really needed a
change so that he had needed to be ousted. Now
it's more than what they bargained for. The way
this war is being handled was and still is a dis-
aster as it is rivaling Vietnam. And really, no
weapons of mass destruction were found, so
what are we really doing there? But soldiers are
needlessly there to protect other interests, so it
seems but I could be wrong or naive.
Are some people even saying that the
war is all about personal greed? Then may I sug-
gest that the soldiers get a cut of the money, and
Another Bloody Electi m/
God Bess America continu ed...
By Vincent Michael Festa
maybe also the Iraqi and American families who
have lost their loved ones in the midst of fight-
ing? Bad idea. I highly doubt anyone would
accept dirty money, let alone be shut up by it.
Now we head to the Republican National
Convention, which was a sight to see. Ignorance
was bliss. It disappointed me to see how so many
citizens and people had the burning questions
that millions needed to know, yet what was the.
answer if they even got one? "Four more years!
Four more years!" Either that or we can shut
those up who just don'
disagree with one man'
actions. The media score
more points by showin;
protestors being defeated
beaten, arrested, and takel
away. Conservatives love ti
see that.
So, again, thl
return of McCarthyism wa
ever-growing and th
demonizing of protestor
who were deemed terrorist
because of what they spok
out for and that what thei
do was so "un
American"...let's not forge
about France who at lea
did have a kinder, more re
sonable heart only for T
idiots to just say "shut uj
to.
Once again, Rall
Nader had to run fc
President. As if he didn
get it the first time aroun
and again was and is still to blame by some for
robbing some of Kerry's votes. I understand that
people do need to eject Bush out of office, you're
not going to do it by voting for a candidate that
just won't win.
I was hoping for Kerry to hold out until
the last recountland maybe we would hopefully
see a brand new President that would bring us
change and a ray of sunshine to a stifled and
suffocated country. Instead, he waved the white
flag. So much for fighting for the last vote, John
Edwards says.
All that gasping for air, waiting for
months to vote, for nothing. All the bloodrush to
vote so that what happened four years ago would
never happen again. This time around the
results were damn close. The number of youth
voters was the same as last year, and more vot-
ers came out than any other election on record,
though I don't feel that 115,000,000 voters
were a record.
Already there's talk of Hillary Clinton
running for the 2008 Election in response to-
Bush's eight years of office and to win back
power to the Democrats for the sake of the
Republican half taking over. Others say that
Rudolph Giuliani will try and run the race. Some
will go far as to make the presidency a Bush
Franchise. Maybe two terms for Jeb Bush and
two terms for each Bush daughter. "24 more
years! 24 more years!"
Despite so much support from the musi-
cians, artists, and celebrities to rally to vote
and to rally against Bush like never before,
Kerry's supporters had lost in the worst possi-
ble way. So close it's a kick in the teeth. In fact,
if it were up to me, I'd rather save the win for
Kerry than the Boston Red Sox. You can only
have one Boston, Massachusetts victory at a time
-and I'd rather have seen the Sox defeated, not
Kerry.
No voting difficulties this election. No
debates of hanging chads, mismarking,
recounts, absentee or re-appearing ballots,
though people were challenged for their vote
based on their prior convictions and in some
extreme cases their racial background. The dar-
lings of the election were the electronic voting
machines. Despite fearing a possible hack or
manipulation, not much was being reported
against them let alone doing something about
them just in case. In fact, a paper trail wasn't
required for the election. Makes sense because
maybe it would've been easier
than crossing out votes with a
black marker.
And at times I feel that
we are so hypnotized sitting in
front of the TV or hiding our
faces behind the newspapers
hat we don't ever having the
ieed to feel to do anything
ibout anything anymore. We're
ow a people that just sits
here, numb. No anger, no voice,
o action. We just gave up
acause now most of us feel we
in't do anything about anything
yymore.
And now that President
sh will be our President for
Snext four years, Americans
11 be crossing their fingers
er counting them since the
st four. It doesn't matter if gas
ces are going up, people are
ing their jobs or their lives, or
t our rights are beiiig discard-
it's all about that 1 percent. It
didn't matter that Kerry held up and edged
Bush in all three debates, how Bush had con-
stantly lied to us, went against public opinion
and sometimes flat-out ignored us, it's "moral"
causes that really mattered. That gays and les-
bians shouldn't be married and have rights like
everyone else, but soldiers dying for grejed isn't
such a big deal. That people in the South and the
Midwest were just enough to make a difference.
So when we're on every countries shit list and
we're being pushed towards the end of the
world, would it really matter?
Bush has now realized that both sides of
the coin have really been divided on the issues.
"United we stand, divided we fall," as we say. He
now wants to reach out to the Democrats. Good
luck. As if they didn't try to reach out to him
before.
And so the story goes. On a final note,
I'm not a Democrat. I'm not even an independent.
I consider myself an individual. And people of
all walks of life and political backgrounds have
enough reasons to dislike Bush. Though The
Press welcomes any and all viewpoints regard-
less of origin, it should also be clear that the
Press does not ever tell people how to think,
mainly it is an outlet for people to become who
they want and say what they want, no matter if
they take one side or even become fair-and-bal-
anced. I admit, I'm not happy and I like millions
of others dissatisfied citizens out there tried to
make the difference. All I wish for is that
maybe, maybe we can get through this turmoil
and all of us and everyone overseas can get on
with our lives and see a positive finish (in both
contexts) to all of this.
So here goes the end of this article: "God
bless America."
Pae1
_ I
_ By Laura Positano
A New York Timesphoto spread featured a
young soldier, M-16 in hand, standing guard
over the body bags of his comrades. Comrades
who perhaps a day earlier were reminiscing
about home and singing the latest songs on army
radio in their bunker. Underneath the poignant
photograph of the casualties is a protest sign,
raging on about the United States' place in the
country of war. If there were not a photograph
of men burning draft cards, one would think
this dates from 2003 or 2004.
In actuality, this photo spread is from
May 16, 1967, the day before my cousin Michael
was killed. Iraq is similar to Vietnam in that it
may be incapable of being finished any time
soon, or at least not how we want it to end. My
cousin died outside of Pleiku, formerly called
South Vietnam. Pleiku is depicted on a nmap in
the paper that day as near an area where
"American helicopters ran into heavy fire."
Michael was only nineteen when he per-
ished, on his second tour of duty as a member of
the fourth-infantry division. He was a radio
operator; not something normally viewed as in
the line of fire. So he went, a young man full of
intelligence, patriotism, and an eagerness to
make an impact in the world. The summer
before returning to Vietnam, family members
had an ominous feeling that was great enough to
warn him not to sign up again.
When one is young, it is hard to listen to
those who have more wisdom than we want to
admit. We want to make a change in the world
now, we want to belong to something bigger than
ourselves. All of these motivations led Michael
not to heed the warnings of relatives who expe-
rienced World War II, knowing about the mess
that war is. Ironically, he was untouched in his
first tour, according to relatives who knew
him, but upon his second he was in a hostile sit-
uation with the enemy. How cruel war can be,
regardless of the, justifications given by an
incumbent president.
Vietnam was similar to this war in many
respects, among which is having military
Governor Shwarzenegger in no way contributed
to or endorsed this article
Thank God.
Dear Arnold:
No matter how hard I try, I just can't seem to
make any friends. I'm in the sixth grade, and
it seems like everyone else has a million
friends except for me. Maybe I am a loser, just
like everyone says.
Friendless in Long Island
Dear Friendless:
Stop whining! You ah acting like such a girly
man. You need some discipline! You cannoh
run around acting like sissy because you hav/e
no friends. Take it from mee. I've got arms df
steeeel. You need to pump up, girly man.
Dear Arnold:
Page 18
__
Societ's Loss i Young Soldiers
Lst in Two Quagmire
planes over a country's airspace that we are not
embattled with. A May 16, 1967 article reports
a dispute between China and America due to the
"crash of a United States Air Force fighter
bomber onto Chinese soil." The North
Vietnamese "shot the fighter bomber, leading it
to fragment over China, where the Peking [gov-
ernment] displayed alleged fragments carried
by American planes."
In the ongoing Iraqi war, Turkey refused
to grant the United States the airspace en
route to Iraq, citing sovereignty. Let's realize
the reality here: both China and Turkey were
expressing a wish for steadfast independence of
national interest from the most powerful coun-
try of the West. Vietnam was a war of unsus-
pecting captives, such as my cousin, who were
not in positions on the frontline. Reuters
reported on May 15, 1967 that "ten United
States aircraft were shot down, resulting in the
capture of many pilots in Hanoi."
In the current war, media stories abound-
ed with the news of captured cooks and supply
officers, most recognizably Jessica Lynch. Many
people in their twenties and late teens were
Ask Arnold Anythiing
I live in a cold place. Everyone is so boring.
Sometimes I just want to kill them. What
should I do?
Boiling in Alaska
Dear Boiling:
You must releease your frustrations. Alaska is
cold, like Mr. Freeze cold. You must say to
those assholes you meet, "I am Freeze! Hear
the chilling sound of your doom!" Be ahsse-
htive, little man.
Dear Arnold:
My best friend sold me a guitar tuner for thir-
ty dollars. I get the feeling that he ripped me
off. I mean, it doesn't even work at all. It
actually looks more like an old pager. Should I
confront my friend? What if I'm wrong? What
if it's a new kind of tuner, and all I'd be doing
is making a fool of myself? Should I put it off
for a while?
____
killed in both the Vietnam and second Iraq
wars. Ever wonder why we can vote at eight-
een? The protests of eighteen year olds who lost
brothers, cousins, and boyfriends, as well as
that of "draft dodgers," that "if we are old
enough to fight in a war, we are old enough to
vote," is what enabled this to happen.
Today's generation's casualties of war
have inspired MTV specials such as Gideon
Yago's Diary, where he interviews young sol-
diers and shows the humanity behind the head-
lines. Young men and women who joined for
various reasons and come from diverse back-
grounds are united, it seems, in their will to
live, to beat the enemy, to make their family
proud. The targets of the Vietnam and the cur-
rent war used guerilla tactics (dressing up as
civilians, for example). After getting accus-
tomed to an enemy in civilian clothes, today's
soldier will, unfortunately, suffer the long term
traumatic effects of these tactics, akin to the
Vietnam veterans who struggle with high alco-
holism rates.
The Vietnam wall, all stoic and cold, is
a physical symbol for the Vietnam era. It rep-
resents an era ambivalent about its veterans, it
also represents an era of many people not car-
ing about the individual views of veterans, vet-
erans who lost naivet6 and became pacifists
after seeing good friends blown up in front of
them. Today's equivalent to the Vietnam Wall is
the memorials found in cable news.
On MSNBC and the like, a wall of photo-
graphs is displayed recognizing brave troops
overseas. CNN used to have segments in honor
of recent casualties on a daily basis. Yet maybe
CNN stopped because after seeing so many
vibrant, smiling memories onscreen everyone
knew were gone, the pain was too much. Or
maybe people began seeing that war is not a
John Wayne film. As wonderful as those films
may be, we all have to accept that war is not
glamorous and that lives that once could have
cured diseases or mend international relations
are lost forever.
By Lord Arnold of Austria
Hesitant in Florida
Dear Hesitant:
You need some courage. First of all, IT'S NOT
A TUNER! You hah been played the big hand,
my mai man. You must tehhhminate his ass.
You must grab him by his little throat and be
like: "You are terminated, little man with my
hand around your throat." If that doesn't
work, kill
yourself. You
need to die.
Later man.
Email Arnold
@
YourMom@hot-
maim.com
 SA Commentary Advocating the
Dissolution of the Student Govemmr ant
SBy Sam Goldman
First off, a disclaimer: Having finally I have realized that the Undergraduate are not at least partially at fault for having it
found work, I have not been able to go to any student Government, as it is built, is essential- stretch into something lasting well over a
meetings of the Undergraduate Student ly flawed. Its Constitution was built by the month, especially with USG paying ridiculous
Government Senate. Everything I know about Administration, in closed door meetings, to cre- money to a parliamentarian whose job it is to
what has been going on, I have gleamed from ate nothing more than an administrative agency make sure stupid things don't happen in Senate
speaking to USG Senators and reading postings designed to dole out the Student Activity Fee, meetings, and "training meetings" designed to
from both sides on StonyBrookSucks.com and they have succeeded beyond all hopes. make sure Senate knows what it's doing, is
However, in discussions with other Undergraduate Student Government's basic, ridiculous and false. And no, I don't need to be
Press members, one word comes to mind again overriding concern is...the Undergraduate present at Senate meetings to say that. Lastly,
and again and again: Circus. Student Government. It's almost as if USG is Administration has no business butting into
So, instead of focusing on the intricacies involved in a yearlong budget process for the USG business; whether or not they did the right
of this particular school year in our student following year. The way USG is currently struc- thing (I have no idea) is completely irrelevant.
government, I want everyone to step back and tured, and with Administration knee-deep in What happens to elections should be the busi-
look at things from a "big picture" perspective. everything they do, they have no time to do the ness of the Undergraduate Student Government
The National Council for the Social things a student government is supposed to do, and the Undergraduate Student Government
Studies proclaims the following: "As one of the and so they go undone. only.
most important purposes of education is to pre- USG needs to be rebuilt from scratch. It
pare young people to become active and needs a budget process that is thorough enough
informed citizens of the communities in which to treat clubs fairly, yet not take months to do.
they live, it is essential that students be given It needs transparency built into it and not
meaningful opportunities to participate in the grafted onto it. It needs real teeth, and to be
governance of the school community ... Effective truly independent of Administration; It not
student governments serve a number of impor- only should be unafraid to fight for the rights of
tant purposes in our schools. They are laborato- students even when it has to, but it should be
ries in which students can learn and practice able to function in such a way that the branch-
essential citizenship skills, respect for human es of government get the chance to. It should be
dignity, and the value of the democratic process. filled with people who are willing to work with-
They provide students with effective forums for out pay, instead of people who have no problems
advocating new ideas and initiating school making a complete jackass of themselves by pro-
improvements. Effective student governments claiming that they don't get paid enough.
also provide a platform for the orderly expres- Consider this: So far this semester, the
sion of conflicting viewpoints and procedures student government of the University of Florida
for resolving conflicts when students disagree has passed over 100 pieces of-legislation. They
with policies and decisions that affect their range from the banal and minute to the profound
lives." and important, but at least they attempted to do
Over the past two years,. what has the things. Closer to home, a couple of years ago,
Undergraduate Student Government done to SUNY Binghamton was able to save a patch of
advocate new ideas? What have they done to ini- wooded land on their campus that has a similar
tiate school improvements? Have they been a Now, apologists for USG will claim that it's relationship to their campus as the Bamboo
forum for students to voice their disagreement a new government, still in its infancy, and it Forest does to our campus. To do so, they pub-
with University policies and procedures? Have needs this time to iron itself out. Horseshit! A licly spatted with their administration - and
they given students an opportunity to actively whole year was spent on its Constitution before they won. There are so many things a student
participate in the governance of the school com- USG was even certified. They spent all of last government might do here at Stony Brook. They
munity? year workin,g out the kinks, developing could save what's left of the Bamboo Forest; they
The answers are pitifully inadequate. Financial Policies and Procedures, and the like. could overhaul Student Activities so it actually
Over the past two years, the only things that They spent all of last year determining how works; they could fight for a better meal plan
have been accomplished have been the creation Senate was going to work. The Press wrote last and lower meal plan prices. So many people feel
of an entity to fund campus religious organiza- spring semester that there was no excuse by that student government, in any form, is use-
tions, and an effort to drastically increase THEN for USG to be functioning how it should. less, and that nothing will ever change here. But
transparency in the budget process. What is How can USG still be in a "transitional period" how will we know unless we get a chance to? -

notable is that both these initiatives were bul- after over a year? If it's taking so long'for USG We will not get a chance to find out with
lied through the legislative student government to become an effective organization, doesn't that this student government. Blow it up.
by forces outside student government, and, with tell you something?
the case of the transparency initiative (a.k.a. But let's make sure we keep our distance. "This just in:
the Club and Organization Bill of Rights), USG is Let's assume, for a second, that we cloned 50 Jon
seemingly pretending that it never happened Lawsons, and they all occupied a position in The Stony Brook Press is online at
(which, if I could be allowed to interject, angers USG. Every member of the Executive Council,
The Press immensely). every member of the Senate, every Justice, www.thepress.info
Last spring, Former USG President Sandy everyone was on the up and up. Raise your hand and... wait a second, I'm getting
Curtis and I had a long conversation when things if you feel USG would do what a student govern-
were all over (another aside: I don't hold ment is supposed to do; if you feel USG would be something else here... It would
grudges against any member of last year's USG, the organization we all wish it to be.
save one; grudges are poisonous and unneces- I thought so. seem to be the case that I
sary). I asked her, "Do you think that USG, as an The fact is, the Undergraduate Student have no personality...
institution, is a good thing for the student Government needs to be blown up. It is, as cur-
body?" She answered in the affirmative. I told rently constituted, absolutely impotent. It is
her I thought she was wrong. It is what student unable to do anything other than deal with the
government does with the power it is given that bloated bureaucracy it has created for itself.
determines whether it's a positive or negative USG should not be concerning itself with USG; it
thing for the students of Stony Brook should be concerning itself with the student
University. Officers in student government are body.
supposedly the most powerful students on this Again, the apologist rears its ugly head.
campus. They supposedly wield enormous "Sam," it says, "most of this year has been taken
influence on the faculty members they work up by infighting with elections being thrown
with, and with the administration of this school. out and the CORE folks poking into our busi-
They supposedly have the ability to convince ness! It's not our fault!" Again, horseshit! If
Administration to improve the student life elections went how they should, and the CORE
experiences for the students of Stony Brook. issue was handled the right way, there would be
I say "supposedly" for obvious reasons. no problems, and for USG members to claim they
 USG Has Greatly pset This Individual
- -- i,· · -~--
USG has been the focus of ever greater
attention by media outlets as varied as
StonyBrookSucks.com, the Statesman, and of
course, SBU TV. All of these have covered events
which pertain to clubs' funding on campus.
Clubs fortunately have had a Club &
Organization Bill of Rights which prevents them
from suffering the many abuses past student
governments have subjected them to. In fact, the
Press was influential in this Bill's passage, and
all students thank them for their advocacy.
Some of The Press's past accomplishments are
being rolled back, starting with the closed
training session which occurred on Tuesday,
November 9t h, where only those on a list were
allowed inside. The Press worked to have train-
ing sessions open to the public. Unfortunately
this has now been ignored, and if such an
important rule is being ignored, who knows how
long it shall be before the entire Club &
Organization Bill of Rights is ignored. It trou-
bles me to notify students that not all members
of USG are working on behalf of students' inter-
ests. For them, it is more important to follow
documents -written by Administration
(Chancellor's Guidelines which are not even
legally binding) rather than pay attention to the
results of student advocacy.
.One of these USG government members in
particular has worked in opposition to student
interests in my opinion. That person is Esam
Al-Shareffi, who originally seemed to be work-
ing on behalf of students. Even last year, there
were signs of his true intentions. But all of this
shall be explained, from his evolution from
Senat'or and President Pro-Tempore, to
Executive Vice-President of USG.
Esam's involvement began last year,
when he began his serve in USG Senate. From his
position in Senate, he was voted into the posi-
tion of President Pro-Tempore by his fellow
Senators. During a large part of the year, he did
in fact represent students' needs and interests.
His advocacy on behalf of students' needs was
commendable, -and his position as President
Pro-Tempore justified. The first hints of his
shift towards the interests of Administration
came unexpectedly, with his support of actions
taken against Bill Schwalback. For those who
were not here last year, Bill Schwalback brought
to the attention of Senate the wrongs they com-
mitted. Instead of listening to his legitimate-
grievances, the Executive Director Lou Medina
decided to call up the police to remove him from
Senate, using force. Esam supported this deci-
sion to remove Bill from Senate, but not much
attention was paid to his opinion, primarily
because he did such a fine job promoting stu-
dent's needs like Club & Organization Bill of
Rights. His support for Administration in this
instance would foreshadow the later abuses he
would make as Executive Vice-President of USG.
The spring 2004 USG elections were
exceptionally fascinating, for they removed the
former President of USG whose name since has
become associated with "tool" and is almost a
curse word in certain circles. Esam ran unop-
posed for the second most important position in
USG. His speech given to those gathered at the
debates even condescendingly referenced this,
joking ending with "your only choice." Votes-
were tallied up, and Esam's victory was assured-.
Personally I voted for him since I had thought
he would make an excellent Vice-President
since I had believed him to be impartial. How he
proved me wrong!
One of the first actions USG Executive
Council participated in was a training session
located in Las Vegas. Administration believed it
to be a good idea, so this trip brought everyone
associated with Executive Council for tests that
a retarded puppy could pass. Sonia Guttman
paIge20
III- I By Silence DoGood
went on this trip even though she is an FSA not
USG employee. Ms. Amberly Timperio of The
Press fortunately was there to report on what
was accomplished, which seemed very basic
training, nothing really against the meeting, but
nothing proving its usefulness either. Esam was
not involved in the decision to go on this trip; it
was an idea from Administration to get more
support from Student Government. His true col-
ors began to show with the lack of attention he
paid to the needs of clubs on campus, particu-
larly religious-orientated.
Religious clubs on campus needed a bet-
ter situation than receiving the small or non-
existent amount of funds they saw. An Ad Hoc
Committee was formed with Senators, and then
brought down to two members who would dis-
cuss the details. When their document was pre-
sented to USG Senate however, Esam berated it,
calling it confusing and directly insulting
members of Senate and Gallery. He berated the-
bill while he was chairing the Senate. The chair
of a meeting is supposed to be impartial. If
he/she can't remain impartial, he/she is sup-
posed to step down for that portion of the meet-
ing. In another display of his biasness, he began.
acknowledging whomever he believed would
support his ideas, people he had worked with
last year, like Kfier Kuba. Virginia Morgan also
spoke on the issue, introducing herself with her
proper title of "VP of Clubs and Organizations"
and many in the gallery looked dumbfounded, as
they allegedly claimed never to have met with
her before. Vincent Rasulo and others tried to
speak on defense of the Bill, since most others
were concerned with the ineptitude of Rustum
Nyquist, who claimed that he had a problem
with "Five Points," none of which he could actu-
ally name. Fortunately this Bill passed, and
Religious Clubs (to which 85% of all students
actively participate in) are fully represented.
It remains the job of the Vice President
to appoint members of Judiciary but Esam has
sidelined this important branch of USG govern-
ment, making them no where as effective a check
on the egregious errors that have occurred this
year. Things such as the Las Vegas trip,--whose
very purpose is questionable, could have been
brought up for review for Judiciary.
Unfortunately, no member of Executive Council
or (more shamefully) Senate brought this to
Judiciary's attention. Judiciary instead has
been allowed to run illegally through no fault of
their own but by the inaction taken by Esam and
his failure to meet his responsibilities.
The work committed by Esam on the
Grievance Board counts as one of his most obvi-
ous forms of deceit. It had a legitimate enough
purpose, to investigate wrongs done by any of
the candidates during their time for campaign.
However, wrongs were found (Romual Jean-
Baptiste campaigning early) and no action was
taken. This was a foolish road to take. Whether
or not he would have won without this violation
is debatable and it is not my call. Even had
there been a penalty reduction used against him
his victory would have most likely been
assured. During the meeting an Anti-Asian
racial slur was allegedly said by one of
Romual's "witnesses." Instead of any sort of
action taken against this person by the griev-
ance- board, at least asking for an apology, his
racism -was tolerated. And so was the violation
done by who is now Freshman Representative
Romual Jean-Baptiste.
How does Esam fit into what appears to
be typical complaints? Well, during the next
Senate meeting the Chair stepped down to
"inf6rm" Senators of what really happened.
Fortunately, enough Senators were able to see
past his self-interested agenda defending
actions that were clearly illegal by the
Elections By-Laws. A document categorizing
these illegal actions "101 Violations" was
passed among all Senators. Those who had dis-
covered Esam's deception voted against it.
This vote of Senate seemed to assure the
wronged parties that action would be taken by
an Ad Hoc committee. In all honestly, it
appeared as if no Senator or Freshman
Representative would be removed by these
investigations. The Ad Hoc Committee was cre-
ated to investigate the election results. The
chances of any of these newly elected officials
being removed from office were minimal at
worst. Senate created this Ad Hoc committee to
give everyone enough time to go over election
results that were posted on Monday morning
instead of Friday evening, due to a problem with
encryption. Clearly the Ad Hoc committee was a
check on the Elections Board's actions, fully
justified. Esam did not think so. Ironically
referring to a rule in USG Constitution (ironic
because he didn't feel it proper to consult other
documents, like Elections By-Laws when he was
clearly in the wrong) he had an Iraqi War
Veteran Jon Lawson removed due to an inability
to meet GPA requirements. Since the removal of
Senator Jon Lawson's vote turned the-vote-on-
Suspension of Elections a technical tie, he used
his vote to overturn the Senate's ruling by a
retroactive nullification. USG is based on the
American System of government, correct me if
I'm wrong, but I don't believe our government
operates under removing votes after they have
been cast, I mean I guess Esam doesn't believe in
a government where other people can make deci-
sions.
The removal of Jon Lawson from Senate is
an embarrassment not only to the Senator him-
self, but also to the University as a whole.
Where one man can by decree not only remove
Senators but also nullify votes is a scary place
to live. Unfortunately, welcome to Stony Brook,
where people like Esam can do as they please so
long as no one opposes them. His actions have
proven to many his biased ness, his inability to
control Senate or Gallery, and the general anar-
chy that results from these meetings.
Esam has, in his defense, claimed in the
Statesmanthat the USG government is in a "tran-
sitional period" and that the three branches
(Judiciary, Executive Council, and Senate) all
need more refinement. The words "transitional
period" harks back to last year with the inex-
cusable actions of our former President.
Refinement of the branches of government
sounds misleading, as it was directly his job to
appoint new members onto Judiciary. Why has
Esam decided to ignore the needs of Judiciary?
A nice step towards "refinement" would be to
remove incompetent people such as Esam.
Claiming The student body hasn't participated?
I would like to remind Esam that several times
the gallery has been full, like the Bill for
Religious Clubs on campus; he has fully ignored
their concerns and desire to speak.
Through this he blames the apathy of
campus and poor Senate training. Well, a good
way to judge the training session that occurred
this Tuesday would to have allowed media like
The Press and The Statesman to report on the
goings-on there. Instead, it was a closed meet-
ing, exactly what happened to media last year.
The student advocacy members of The Press
promoted are being taken behalf and secrecy is
not only being justified, but promoted.
Secrecy is employed by Esam to notify
newly elected Senators to be seated after Jon
Lawson was removed from Senate. Of course he
urged these 6 Senators to tell anyone else about
this, as was stated in the email passed around
among all Senators and the newly elected
Freshman Representative Romual Jean-Baptiste,
 USG Has Greatly Upset This Individual
who said in the Statesman that "If the faults are
in the system, I feel it's unfair to make faultless
members suffer for it." He had the ability to
ignore the reality that his campaigning several
days early actually made him not faultless, but
a guilty violator of Elections Board By-Laws.
Esam did not of course inform anyone
about any of the wrongs committed by those
found guilty by the Grievance Board. Instead, he
felt with holding that information would be
more useful to his ends. Also including a non-
voting member who was not a student (head of
NYPIRG Eric Bruzaitis) to council the Grievance
was a little self-interested as Esam had previ-
ously interned for this good organization. Eric
serving as a non-voting member is somewhat
inappropriate as he does not attend Stony Brook
as a student, but as a worker for NYPIRG.
Deception has been employed by Esam
on an almost daily basis; following the removal
of Senator Jon Lawson he decided that a training
session would be best for all Senators. Fine by
itself, but keeping the meeting closed was
against what the Press had so heavily promoted
the year before. The session was held in SAC
room 225, much smaller than the SAC ballroom
B. In fact, unknown to any of the Senators, but
known to Esam as he was seen walking down
there, all of SAC ballroom B was set up for a
Racism at Stony Brook Univer ity
Among all schools in the East Coast,
Stony Brook University has the largest Asian
and Asian American population on campus; in
both number and percentage of the total number
of students enrolled. SBU is also one of the most
diverse schools in the nation, in terms of all
ethnicities present on campus. Knowing these
facts, it is only natural to assume that our
school would promote democratic and multi-
cultural experiences for students. However,
this assumption is simply mistaken, unfortu-
nately.
Recent controversial incidents within
Undergraduate Student Government have gone
beyond the usualincompetent-student-activi-
ty-fee-abusers screwing up their jobs. People
have been speculating a rumor that, a "racial
slur" was used against Asian American during
the alleged "illegal grievance meeting" after
USG election. The fact is, this rumor is very
true; many USG senators, Executive Council
member Esam, Judiciary member Artie, elec-
tion board chair Leighton, and Eric, a non-stu-
dent paid by NYPIRG have all witnessed such
racist act. Yet, nothing was done nor was any
word even said by the board in charge of the
grievance meeting on. Do you think it was just a
simple mistake that racial bias was promoted by
silence? Let's trace back a bit.
In the beginning of Fall 2004, I attended
'many clubs to meet freshmen who might have
been interested to be involved in student gov--
ernment. My buddies and I interviewed many
individuals new to SBU, and attempted to advo-
cate activism on campus. A shocking discovery
was.made when I interviewed an Asian
American student who was in the EOP program.
When I asked her if she would run in the
Freshmen Representative, her reply was: "I
can't, I'm in EQP, 'we' have already decided who
will run..." Who exactly is "we" in this context?
Do EOP students come together and have their
own little election before the real USG election
occurs? Once a person has won the EOP election,
is no one else from EOP allowed to run in stu-
dent government? Can people with passion and
will to make changes for the better no longer
run for an office if they're in EOP and not "EOP
Senate meeting, with the tables, microphones,
and everything necessary to run a meeting. This
setup confused many active members .of the
gallery who regularly attend Senate meetings.
Not only did Esam go down there, he did not
explain to anyone why SAC ballroom B was not
the site of the Senate "training session."
The lack of democracy in USG can be
directly attributed to Esam's alleged deliberate-
and malicious acts. Judiciary has not been
treated with the proper respect and neither has
Senate, both of which he is directly involved
with. Thursday further displayed his abilities
to undermine the power, of Senate. He filed a
petition against the Council of Religious
Entities. Due to this action religious clubs'
funding again is held into question. The petition
suspends any action that could be taken to help
religious clubs on campus, who have for far too
long been ignored by USG government and
Administration as a whole. Esam's work has
ruined what was a golden opportunity to work
with some of the most active clubs on campus.
Religious clubs are disappointed with his clear
lack of faith in democracy, allowing the old,
unfair system- of funding for religious clubs to
occur. Members of religious clubs are encour-
aged to go to Senate and Executive Council meet-
ings to meet this representative who represents
elected?" I'm sure this is what EOP students
were told during their six-week training camp
the summer before their first year in SBU. EOP
students are not allowed to bring cell phones to
school during those six weeks, no contact with
non-EOP student was allowed until late night
after the programs ended. There was a designed
absolute isolation. Does this sound like organ-
ized brainwashing? You bet.
If you take a look at the EOP students
who are in USG office now, you'd see no "multi-
ethnicities." You would see "one race" running
the whole show.
Is this the kind of diversity we expect
from a school like Stony Brook? Not that it's a
problem if something like this happens in a
while; but this has been going on for many con-
secutive years. To make it worse, how would you
like to hear the "racial discrimination" in elec-
tion processes? Many Freshmen Representative
and Senate candidates got their applications
completed on time and properly...only if they
were already friends with the current incompe-
tent USG officials. Guess what happened to
Asian American students who went to the USG
office to apply? They were told "no seats" were
open anymore, they were told to goback later,
given the wrong applications, they were told
that they would be contacted later but never
were. What more could've gone wrong with this
process?
Oh wait, there's more! Last year an
Asian American student was told that she was
not eligible to run for Senate because she was a
Continued...
By Silence DoGood
no one but himself.
Esam had once been an excellent repre-
sentative of student iinterests. Unfortunately
this is no longer te case. His rule is not
enlightened, but tather quite tyrannical.
People's concerns have been silenced; advocacy
he once promoted has instead been ignored.
Many promises he had made last year no longer
carry weight, rather he has recanted his earlier
support for media on campus. Open meetings do
not occur with as great frequency, who knows
how long before the Clubs and Organizations
Bill of Rights is not just ignored by violated.
Religious clubs cannot trust someone who disre-
gards their legitimate grievances. For far too
long religious clubs on campus have been treat-
ed unfairly, their first chance at better repre-
sentation and it is taken away by an incompe-
tent Executive Vice President. My sincere con-
cern is with the student body as a whole, if peo-
ple such as this claim to represent the student
body, I fear for the USG government. If someone
such as this is elected and fails the student
body as a whole, I believe that person ought to
never again participate in student government,
knowing the malicious intent he works alleged-
ly for. I plead on behalf of all students to please
consider the aforementioned when you make
decisions.
By Publius
transfer student with no GPA, during the debate
weeks after the application! At the time it
seemed that Leighton was only being an incom-
petent Election Board Chair. However, people
with no GPA were elected as Senators this year!
Wait a minute! Leighton was the chair of
Election Board last year, and he is still the
chair this year? Guess what, his term has
expired yet he allowed people who were not eli-
gible to run last year to run this year, as an
"expired" chair!
Enough ranting ablout the election
process, let's take a look at the clubs and organ-
izations. First year new clubs are not allowed to
apply for a yearly line budget, they have to
apply for a base funding of 750 dollars through
Special Services Council before the evaluation at
the end of first year. The process is simple: you
fill out a form and wait for a decision just like
how most things "should" be done in USG.
However, one Asian-American-interest club
was at first refused their 750 dollars without
proper explanation. I introduced this club to
USG President Jared Wong, and President Wong
pressured the SSC Chair to give proper explana-
tions. Another Asian-American-interest club
has been functioning on SSC base funding for 4
years, but it takes only one year to get on the
line budget! Another Asian-American-interest
club was "forced" to get on SSC base funding
after it was promised a recommendation for line
.budget by the Executive Vice President Esam.
According to USG Treasurer Rajat, USG lost all
paperwork so they have no record of that club's
past. To make it fair USG has to deny theirline
budget. What about all those clubs who have
been on line budget for the past several
years??? If paperwork were lost and no record is
left, how can you say it's fair to force some clubs
on base funding, and give line budget to others?
I do not see the logic here, do you?
Is everything I stated here non-issue?
Are my points of view over reacting? Imagine
identical incidents but replace Asian
Americans with African Americans. What
would people say and do? Remember the Civil
Rights Movement?

- By Juliet Di Frenza
This past Wednesday NYPIRG held its
annual Sleep-Out to promote Homeless
Awareness. Cheryl Lynch is the project leader
for the homelessness outreach project and this
is her third sleep out. A personal friend as well
as an accomplished activist I feel compelled to
give her a shout out, wink and high five. Good
job Cheryl. So, back to the sleep out. It was set
to be in Mendelson quad between Gray and
Amman, kick off at 8pm.
Unfortunately I got there late, held up
by a midterm, ("bane of my existence" subject)
but I digress. A week before we had amassed a
collection of cardboard boxes to be used as
shelter, compliments of Students for Choice and
Kinko's. Set up began around 830 and by 10ish
there was a small gathering of people by a card-
board wigwam in the center of the quad. Dinner
was supplied: an aluminum tray full of corn and
rice left over from the Oxfam harvest dinner
that had happened earlier at the SAC. Aren't we
a lucky few. After some reinforcements to the
wigwam, (it really did look like an Algonquin
structure), the evening began. The first speak-
er was Mark, a guy who currently works for a
Port Jefferson men's shelter. He discussed the
different parts of the Port Jeff program and
homeless issues in general. First he discussed
the functions of shelters and homeless outreach
programs. Some men can get an apartment and
free rent for a week while they go out and find a
job. He also touched on the current issue of
homielessness today and what the next four
years under the current administration might-
hold for those on the streets. The President will
probably cut more funding for homeless out-
reach programs. The next speaker was Jamie, a
Stony Brook senior, who shared his story of life
Baby, Its Cold Outs ide
spective since each story I hear about homeless-
ness is different. I'm sure that his life spent
homeless has undoubtedly had a part in shaping
his distinctive character. Matt, a NYPIRG chap-
ter member was the last share of the evening
giving a brief statement about a man he used to
give rides to on Route 347 since the guy worked
at the mall but couldn't afford travel expenses.
His moral was-"pick up hitchhikers, some of
them are unable to afford transportation fare
and you should help a person out". The rest of
the evening everyone hung out, chatted and had
a good time. The weather was pretty cold so we
all soon retired to the wigwam. The small struc-
ture was able to hold up to 14 of us. We were
scrunched but it was all good; we were amongst
friends after all. Since I had pulled an all
nighter the day before, (getting things ready for
the sleep out), my body was kind of on the
exhausted side. So, by 4:30 am I was about ready
to get some sleep, which apparently was not an
I was feeling grumpy, tired and quite claustro-
phobic so after a half hour of feet, arms and tor-
sos as bedding I bounced. Now, it was pretty
cold out and I was planning on sleeping in one
of the cardboard boxes but then I went with
comfort and crashed at my boys place in gray
college, only a stone's throw from the sleep out
location. So, I didn't stay out the whole night-
sleep and-comfort won out, but the aim of the
sleep out was most definitely not lost on me.
I found that the sleep,out did indeed
raise homeless awareness at least for myself.
Jamie's story struck a chord and I realized how
life can really fuck you over and at a young age
sometimes the only way you can get out of it is
getting out of the house even if that means you
have no place to go other than a train station or
a friend's car in their driveway. I've been so
fortunate that I haven't been driven to that
point, yet many of my best friends have. So not
only did the story open my eyes but so too did
the actual sleeping conditions. I got a taste of
what it might be like to be driven to the point
where you have nowhere to go to rest your head
at night. Another friend of mine reminded me of
how dangerous it can be to be homeless, since
she had been taken advantage of when she was in
a most vulnerable state-with no safe haven of a
home. So, all in aH I think that the NYPIRG sleep
out was very successful, since there is at least
one more person who realizes how much of a
great misfortune it is to be homeless and have
nowhere safe to call home. I HIGHLY suggest that
all who read this article attend the next sleep
out this upcoming spring semester, it's an awe-
some experience. Pardon the cliche but next
time you see a homeless person on the street
remember that could be you in a blink of an eye.

- · -- ·I ·
on the street. His account gave me a unique per-
National Homeless Estimates:
700,00 Per Night 2 Million Per
i
Which is the largest and fastest growing
segment of the homeless population:
A) Veterans
B) Elderly men and women
C) Families with children
D) Middle-aged men
What most people think a-homeless per-
son looks like is your grungy middle-aged man
holding out a cup, asking you for money in the
city. However, the answer to the above question
is families with children, which constitute 40%
of people who become homeless.
You might not think you know anyone
that is homeless, but be assured that you have a
friend or a friend's friend that is or has been
homeless. On this campus alone, I know at least
six fellow students that do not have a room to
call home around school. These folks crash on
couches or floors in a friend's room, in differ-
ent club offices, in the academic towers, or even
in the emergency waiting room at the hospital.
This past Wednesday, November 10,
Adom (a kick-ass RA in Ammann) and myself
put together a sleep-out through NYPIRG's
Homeless and Hunger Outreach Project. We col-
lected lots of cardboard boxes and headed to the
pit in the Mendelsohn inner-quad with a crew of
about 20, and lots of stragglers stopping by. We
built a shack out of cardboard for our shelter,
and brought some sleeping bags to stay warm.
That was our "home" for the evening. This gave
everyone that stayed until the morning an idea
option. It was packed in our little structure and · ~ ·
Year
By Cheryl Lynch
also learned statistics and facts about why peo-
of what it is like to live without a concrete home;
to experience just a glimpse of homeless life. By ple become homeless, and what kinds of people
the morning, our home had collapsed and we are homeless. We were all then touched by
were subjected to the elements of nature. The Jaime's story of being homeless and just how
temperature had gone down into the 30s. The hard life is on the streets.
When the speakers were finished, we
opened things up to questions. One of the last
questions asked was "How are we helping the
homeless by sleeping here?" My response to
that question was that the project is two-fold,
with outreach and awareness. The sleep-out was
an awareness event for you and me right here at
Stony Brook. Everyone that came to the event
left with an insight into understanding the
hardships of being homeless. Most of the crew
that spent the night came up to me afterwards
and said that they are truly grateful to have a
room to call home and the ability to eat whenev-
er they are hungry.
NYPIRG's Homeless and Hunger
Outreach Project is doing a few more outreach
projects this semester, including: volunteering
at a soup kitchen; Stuff-A-Bus (in which we
wind made it even colder. The morning dew stand out in front of Stop and Shop collecting
made everything damp. The birds came to eat up enough food to stuff a bus); and Got Points? (in
any crumbs of food we had left behind. They which students purchase food for the homeless
even went into the collapsed hut, where people with the extra points on their meal plan at the
were still sleeping. end of the semester). If you want to be a part of
During the evening we had two speakers. the Homeless and Hunger Outreach Project stop
The first speaker Worked at a homeless shelter by the NYPIRG office anytime. We are located in
for men and the second speaker was Jamie, a fel- room 079 of the Union basement, next to the
low student here at Stony Brook who had been SINC site. You can also email me at
homeless for six years. Everyone that listened calynch @ic.sunysb.edu.
learned something new about homelessness. We

Pa122
How To Avoid 0H
- Being a Jobless Scholar TAvo
Li
El
Imagine this: You are a senior in a presti-
gious college. You have interned at some of the
highly reputed companies in the world, you
have a 4.0 grade point average. You finally grad-
uate and when you go out in the "real world" to
apply for a job, you are turned down.
It hurts just thinking about this but for
those who are soon to graduate this may soon be
their reality. Many students who graduate from
a highly rated school find themselves unem-
ployed. In this game we call life, there are rules
and in order to know the rules, you have to be
prepared for hard work and some disappoint-
ment.
Many people enroll themselves in school
on what is called the four year plan. The four
year plan is the student who passes all their
courses and graduate, planning on getting a job
right after college. The problem with the four
year plan is that you live in a country called
America and in this place; only being smart
would not get you anywhere.
ThP nrholem
with the four year plan
student is that he
depended on his
grades alone. He
thought that an
employer would look
at his resume and all
of his honor society
certifications and say,
"We have a good one."
The problem with that
ideology is that in the
rdare
u y
S
rnrilhr hn-nni-
21st century, .that
a11
Pp lo . l
ure
having good grades is a good thing to have when
you want to get internships but this is the job
market ruled under our Chief Commander,
President George W. Bush and in the Bush world,
you can't get anything without something. You
want to become successful, here are some steps.
These steps will help you avoid being jobless
and still living at home with your mama when
you are 30 years old.
First, the main word in success is NET-
WORK. In this world where kids glamorize
"rims" and rappers, networking is one of the
only ways to get what you want. I am not saying
picket in front of your prospective employer's
home waiting for him to come out so that you can
show him your resum6. I am saying be smooth.
When you meet someone that may be able to help
you in the future, don't wait for them to make
the first move. You must be AGGRESSIVE in
order to get to that next level. You have to tell
them what you want and with the right skills,
you can get a business card out of anyone. You
must come off as being true. You just can't walk
up to a person and act all nice so they can give
you their card. You must simply let them know
who you are, what you want to do, and with the
right grace and luck you are in there.
Once you have the card, you are halfway in
there. The problem with the "Here is my card"
trick is that many potential employers have
secretaries and would block your calls if neces-
sary, and many of them do not check their email
at all or by themselves personally. You must
call immediately so that the person whose card
you have will remember you. Call with the same
ease that you had the day you met that person.
Secondly, you must intern, volunteer, or
do something toward the particular field you
plan to expert in. No employer wants dead
weight around the office. Yeah sure, you may
have a 4.0 grade point average but nothing beats
experience. Someone that has a C average may
get a job before you do. Why? Because while you
were in class being the all you can be student,
your fellow classmate was working or volunteer-
By Tionna Tee Smalls
ing-that's why he received a C in the class. You
may think that he is an idiot for putting work
over school but in the end, you will see that you
are wrong. Jobs hate training people. It takes.
time and money to train a new employee and
everyone knows that many huge companies don't
want to lose either one. If you know how to:
incorporate volunteer work or a part time job in|
your intended field and good grades, you are wa
hot commodity. Just remember that no one real
ly cares that you interned for Hospice Care if
you are going for an acting job. It's more impor -
tant to work in the field that you are applying
for.
Next thing that is very vital to your suc-
cess is MASS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS. Mass
media consist of the television, the radio, theI
newspaper, etc. I don't care what field you are
heading to; whether it's modeling, business, or
nursing, there is a show for-it on television.
UPN's "America's Next Top Model", produced
by supermodel Tyra Banks is a reality televi-
siinn shnow hased
becoming a model. I
don't want to even
become a model and
that show teaches me
so much. So does
Donald Trump's "The
A p p r e n t i c e . "
Television is taking
over manual training
and learning things on
your own. Thanks to
my journalism profes-
sor, I have learned that
i
if
yvu
no ri ld Th/
York Times everyday, you will become smarter.
ATA
The New York Times teaches me better than
almost half of my classes in college. If you look
at the television or read about someone's expe-
riences, it will help you. Also read self-help
books like Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad
or Gail Evans' Play like a Man, Win like a
Woman. No matter what industry you are head-
ing to, it will help you. Reading will bring a lot
of motivated and positive thoughts.
ATTITUDE IS EVERYTHING. Your attitude
can make or break you. Everyone knows that in
order to have a job working with the public, you
must keep your personal life home. An employ-
er does not care if your boyfriend cheated on
you or you did horribly on your GRE exam. All
the employer cares about is you getting the work
done. You are also going to have those bosses
that get on your nerves, especially women boss-
es, but you have to suck it up so that you can get
to that next level. No one likes a grouch. Stay
positive and you will make it very far.
Having work ethic is extremely important.
We all have had jobs where people go to work, sit
down, read the newspaper, get on AOL Instant
Messenger, and don't do anything. Those people
may seem like they get away with everything but
believe me they do not. Employers recognize
greatness, and you will be rewarded in the long
run.
Lastly, you must always stay true to
yourself. Everyone wants to make it but you can
not lower yourself to get what you want. You will
never gain any respect from those who work
around you if you do. Allow yourself to be men-
tored and trained but don't become someone's
butt of jokes. You do things you feel is right.
Sleeping with your boss or practicing Quid Pro
Quo is not right. Hang in there and you will
make it where you want to make it and always
remember those who help get you there and help
someone else who is need one day. In the words
of an actor named Leon (Above the Rim fame),
you don't owe me, you owe yourself, and the ones
that cared enough to get you here.
Why All Honors
Programs Suck
inComparison to
University Scholars
By Nicole L. Barry
Stony Brook has well known and prolif-
ic Honors programs: the Honors College, WISE
(Women In Science and Engineering) and
Scholars for Medicine, you know, the people
who dorm in Roth, with air conditioning and a
minute's walk to the saddest excuse for
Chinese food in the history of Chinese food.
They're smart, have great grades and some of
them are Presseditors.
As a high school senior, you send in an
application, essays, and letters of recommen-
dation for these prestigious programs, hoping
your GPA and SAT scores are high enough to get
on in (and at Stony Brook, the numbers are what
matter.) Ard not everyone gets in. Lots of peo-
ple get REJECTED. And yes, that would have
included me. My grades, not weighed, were not
3.5-4.0 material. I took more classes, and more
difficult classes than my peers, without class-
es like Chorus and Band to boost my average
(and you know as well as I that an easy 99 in
Chorus can help any average.)
But here's the great thing. We have a
program on campus that doesn't care if those
numbers fit a certain standard. They notice
intelligence and motivation. They notice you
took five AP classes and filled your schedule
chock full of extra classes and still did damn
well. It's a five year old program called the
University Scholars program, and it kicks the
shit out of all the others.
My suitemates and I, all members, jok-
ingly at first referred to our program as "the
reject group." Every single one of us had been
rejected from either Honors College or WISE or
both. But, as it becomes more clear to us now
than ever before, we realize just how cool our
Honors program is. There's no lengthy applica-
tion, no letters of recommendation, no essays,
just a simple flyer that comes in your mail
because when you got rejected from the Honors
College or WISE, someone looked at your appli-
cation and said "This person is still really
smart." If you don't get the flyer, you can apply
(ie: request) to be admitted into the program.
It's a lot less stressful.
We're housed in Toscanini, Tabler
Quad, and the director of our program is Dr.
William Oberst, the director of all the Learning
Communities programs on campus. Our class is
held in the Toscanini lounge, a 4 credit semi-
nar course that knocks out a DEC G first semes-
ter and a DEC F second semester. Basically, w-
have discussions for two hours on logic and
evolution, do group activities and write two
papers. LRN 104 and LRN 105 is where our
obligation ends. There are no thesis pape.rs,
there's no special program to follow, and no
GPA requirements. We get the same advanced
registration privileges that the other Honors
programs do, and register at the same time.
A small group of about 40, the
University Scholars freshman group is laid
back, fun, and very, very, very passionate about
how they feel about creationist/evolutionist
theory. Or at least, that's how it seems. A lot of
us are friends, and have become really close
through this program. Dr. Oberst is possibly
the kindest, most lovable professor on this
campus. And he brings us Dunkin Donuts on
Thursdays. Yes, I'm pretty sure it's the consis-
tent flow of donuts that makes this program
rock so much.
-Page,23
 -- ·' 'Y ~ '- -- -- -- -- --

The Commuter Student Association (CSA) is

Stony Brook's largest (and only) student'run organization
dedicated to serving the needs of the University's large
commuter student population. The organization sponsors
recreational and cultural activities, lobbies on behalf of
commuter students with the administration and repre-
sents commuters in our student government's legislative
From its earliest meetings, Club
branch (the USG Senate). In short, the Commuter Student
Om, the club dedicated to providing
education about Hindu and Indian cul-
tures, did everything right. Club Om
Association (CSA) is the primary organization represent- LI.I>
.12
President Vinay Venugopalan had an ice ing Stony Brook's approximately seven thousand under-
breaker, food and an entertaining,
informative, - consciousness-raising graduate commuters.
game. Club Om Vice President Nishant CSA meetings are Wednesdays at Ipm in the
Parmar helped present a semester
schedule of events ready at the begin- University Cafe in the Student Union (not the SAC) -
ning of the semester. Club OmSecretary
Snehal Natre had publicity strategies
and more planned.
enter the Union from the gym side. Meetings include Wi-
Fi internet access, some training in procedure, free food
0JJ*
The game was a Jeopardy-style
game with categories including Famous and an X-Box. Bring your Halo 2 discs! CSA also has sev-
People, Geography, Scriptures and eral November and December 2004 events planned
Holidays, Words and Language and
Miscellaneous. Here are some of the including a Harvest Dinner, Mood Indigo, an evening
questions. This movie about an Indian
won nomination for best movie at the Concert Series, Study Sessions and more. If you're a com-
Oscars. Answer: Who is Ghandi? This muter and want or need some way to get involved on
director is the most successful director
of Indian origin in Hollywood. Answer: campus, there are plenty of ways to get involved through
Who is M. Night Shyamalan? This Desi
play is currently on Broadway. Answer:
CSA, now more than ever. You- can email CSA at com-
What is Bombay Dreams? This is the mutercornerl @yahoo.com and let them know what's on
world's only official Hindu country.
Answer: What is Nepal? India has the your mind. Come and be a part of it!
largest---------__ in the world.
(Democracy.) This is the most famous - -I
Dravidian language still spoken in south
India. Answer: What is Tamil? This
Sanskrit-derived word describes the
ultimate reality of Utopia. Answer:
What is Moksha? Other questions
included: Which Desi DJ is famous
The Asian Students Alliance (ASA) had its When asked whether either of ASA's
because of his remix of Night Rider?
first general body meeting on Tuesday, September Freshman Representatives would run in this fall's
What is the most populous city in India?
14 in SAC 306 at 8:30pm. President Cathy Lee campus wide race for Freshman Representative in
(It's not Bombay.) What is the name of
introduced the ASA cabinet including Vice the Undergraduate Student Government (USG), Lina
the end of the Vedas? Who is the only
President Elaine Shiang and Treasurer James Han. O said she would not run for USG Freshman
Indian author to win the Pulitzer Prize
The mission of the ASA was originally to provide a Representative because EOP had already picked
and for what book. Answer: Go to a Club
forum where South Asian, East Asian and Asian their candidate for USG Freshman Representative, a
Om meeting and ask! The game was a lot
American people and clubs could voice common Haitian-American EOP student, Romual Jean-
of fun, not just because of the questions
concerns as well as plan activities together. Since Baptiste, as the official EOP candidate for USG
that you 'won't hear from Alex Trebek's
that time, ASA has maintained that mission while Freshman Representative. Likewise, Angeline Seah
mouth, but also because the members of
also expanding into a club with its own member- is being courted by SSC member Elaine Shiang to
Club Om clearly had a good time learn-
ship and activities. For example, ASA events now serve on SSC (an organization with a checkered past
ing while competing.
include Asian Night, Halloween Grams, Walk for that is supposed to fund new clubs and special
The semester events schedule
Beauty, Nations of Asian Semi-Formal, JCA's events), so she was unlikely to run for USG
included a Carnival with henna painting
Spring Fest, East Coast Asian and Asian American- Freshman Representative candidate as well. ASA
and Indian/Hindu food and music. Also
Student Conference, and more. ASA maintains its plans many interesting activities this year, but
planned was a Diwali Festival on
original mission by working with other organiza-. putting forth a candidate to represent the Asian
November 11 in the Wang Center, arid tions such as CASB, JCA, GSO, TSA, KSA, PUSO, and Asian American community may not be one of
more. Club Om also plans to do some
SASA, AAJ, SBCSSA, and many more. them.
fund raising for good causes. The Diwali
After an explanation of the ASA's origin, ASA's biggest event of the year is likely to
Festival is typically celebrated on the
activities and mission, everyone in the room intro- be Asian Night 2004 on Friday, November 19th in
day of the new moon immediately pre- the SAC Auditorium at 7:30pm, and was the topic
duced themselves and elections followed. Open
ceding autumn. Dewali commemorates
positions included Secretary, Public Relations, as of much discussion. Asian Night 2004 will feature
the festivities that took place in well as Junior, Sophomore and Freshman Eliot Chang, a comedian whose appearances include
Ayodhya after the return of the victori-
Representatives. The two winners of Freshman' Comedy Central, Last Comic Standing, and appear-
ous Ramachandra, considered the sev- Representative were Lina O and Angeline Seah. In ances in both NYC and LA. In keeping with ASA's
enth incarnation of Vishnu. This year it high school, Angeline Seah was active in tradition of fun activities combined with con-
was on November 11 in the Wang Center Cheerleading, Key Club and is now a member of the sciousness-raising, Eliot Chang will also speak
from 7pm and lasted until 12pm.
Honors College. In high school, Lina O was active in about his experiences as an Asian American in
Whether you want to learn about Adopt a Grandparent, Violin and worked two jobs - Hollywood. Also appearing will be Hip-Hop new-
Bollywood, Desi contribution to one in a pediatrician's office, the other in Social comer Flow Sik. Students will also put on various
Hollywood, the Vedas or other aspects of
Services. Lina O is a member of EOP, and partici- fun, serious and irreverent skits and songs.
Hindu or Indian Culture, Club Om has
pated in the EOP's six week summer orientation Comments about last year's Asian Night were that
an event for you. Club Om has biweekly entertainment and enlightenment combined to
and fall class preparation. Other winners included
meetings, and their last meeting was on Kacey for ASA Secretary, Lisa and Lily for ASA make Asian Night an amazing event. With lots of
November 17, 2004 from 7 to 8:30pm in effort by ASA members and participating clubs,
Sophomore Representative, Jon for ASA Junior
SAC 308. For more information contact and Jason for ASA Senior such as the Tae Kwon Do Club, PUSO, Martial Arts
Representative,
club om@vahoo.com. Representative. A tightly contested race for Public Club, Sikh Club, Break dancers and the Lion
Relations required a run-off election with Jasmine Dancers, this year will be a smashing success as
winning. well.
Commuter Student Association
South African All-Stars Band with Bakithi Kumalo, Grammy Award winning bassist
CSA, Tuesday November 16, University Cafe 7-llpm,
FREE admission to all undergraduates with student ID.
"Originally from Johannesburg, South Africa, Bakithi Kumalo is a Grammy Award-winning bassist,
composer, and vocalist who has collaborated with Paul Simon, Laurie Anderson, Cyndi Lauper, Herbie
Hancock, Bob James, Randy Brecker, Chaka Khan and many others. Thought of by many as one of the
most talented living bassists, Kumalo possesses a unique musical style reflecting influences from
around the world, including South African traditional folk, contemporary jazz, salsa, and electronica."
Visit www.boneinthenose.com for more information. The Malik Sigma Psi Fraternity,
Incorporated held a tribute to women in
SAC Ballroom B on Thursday, September
Harvest Dinner with Khana, South American Andean indigenous musicians
3 t h. It was dedicated to appreciating and
CSA, Thursday November 18, Union Ballroom 5-9pm,
celebrating, all women-mothers , wives,
FREE admission to all undergraduates with student ID.
sisters and daughters-and all their dedi-
A traditional Native American fall harvest dinner with the South American Andean indigenous musi-
cation, community service, emotional and
cians group Khana. Last year's Harvest Dinner was well attended and featured Native American per-
formers from the Shinnecock Indian Nation in Southampton, traditional food, and much more. physical support. The title of the event was
The Velvet Side, and was so well attended
that all the spots at the tables were taken,
Pre-Thanksgiving Punk Blow Out!!! and extra chairs were needed.
CSA, Tuesday November 23, University Cafe 7-9pm, The event started with light music,
FREE admission to all undergraduates with student ID. followed by "pop dancingT" and a power
Punk rock is back! Well, it is for one night that featuresA Reason for Being. point presentation of women from around
the world with the theme that there was a
message in the pictures. Love, happiness,
Mood Indigo -Havana Nights hosted by WUSB's Felipito Palacios'Londa Nueva joy and other emotions in the pictures
CSA, Tuesday November 30, University Cafe 7-llpm, revealed that attraction can be a function
FREE admission to all undergraduates with student ID. of the love a person shows and the passions
Mood Indigo is a semi-formal style event that features light food (Hors d'oeuvers) and mock Casino they share. Poetry, music, and dedications
style gambling such as Craps, Roulette and Blackjack. Past themes have included Cotton Club, Speak came next. The Coalition's McKinley
Easy, Elvis and Valentine's Day. This year's theme is Havana Nights as hosted by WUSB's Stacker IV (vocal) and Michael Dada (key-
Felipito Palacios'Londa Nueva. (See wusb.org) board) delivered an outstanding Rhythm
and Blues guest performance. An awards
ceremony followed which recognized
NYS DMV Mobile Outreach Program Tasika Sutton of IFSC, Maria Terrana of
Tues and Wed December 7&8, SAC Lobby 9:30a-3pm Student Union and Activities, Aja Holmes,
"Skip a trip to the DMV when DMV comes to you...make your appointment today by calling Senator John Daniela Tompson, former USG President
Flanagan's office at 631-361-2154. Forms and other necessary information you will need will then be Sandy Curtis and many more. The Gospel
mailed to you in advance...credit card, money order, or personal check only." Choir then gave a stunning musical per-
formance including many classic and mod-
ern spiritual songs. Ricky Lamour then
presented some closing comments which
Finals Help Study Sessions were followed by refreshments. After the
CSA, Fri, Sat, Sun December 10-12, Location/time TBA, show, sophmore Keli Lovell described trib-
FREE admission to all undergraduates with student ID. ute to women as a "very elegant and
Last year's Study Sessions were well attended and featured help in MAT 125, 126, 127, 131, 132, and thoughtful event." SBU student Lisa
some AMS courses as well. Patrick said it was "beautiful and we need
more stuff like this...it shows us that
***If you can, please bring an unopened, unwrapped toy for the US Marine Corps Toys for Tots program. chivalry is still alive."
Also, after the show, Vice President
Haynes Harris explained individually that
the Maliks are not a "greek" organization
in the traditional sense as they have rites
of passage rather than a rush, and member-
ship is by invitation only. The Maliks also
After VSA president, Cindy Ho Mai, intro- reactions of parents, friends, and relatives to strive to reclaim legacies and cultural tra-
duced herself at the Monday, September 27 meet- interracial dating. Also discussed was how one ditions. Malik President Ricardo Lamour
ing of the Vietnamese Student Association, there defines the meaning of "traditional". quotes the Malik website, "In a climate of
was a power point presentation of the clubs goals, Event planning for the Fall 2004 semester mis-education, truth awakens change."
history and vision. The VSA goals, available on came next. The theme of this year's Asian Night (http://www.malik77.ofg/) Indeed, many
their website, included creating a collective is stereotypes, so of course the topic of events planned by the Maliks do not shy
vision for the organization, having fun and teach- Vietnamese nail salons came up. Some levity fol- away from challenging topics such as
ing people about Vietnamese culture. Next came lowed the admission by one member that some "Latino Leaders" and "Light Skin vs. Dark
an improved version of a common ice breaker in members of his family are indeed part owners of Skin: Is there really a difference", and an
which people were asked to say their name, major a nail salon. But, on the serious side, it was also "AIDS Banquet."
and what they hoped to get out of VSA. This was pointed out that less than five percent of One of the biggest events of the
not just an ice breaker but also an informal sur- Vietnamese have anything at all to do with nail semester is the 15th annual Malik Star
vey of member's interests. That was followed by salons. Stereotypes may result from the positive Search on Friday, December 3 in the SAC
one of the funniest and most creative warm ups human ability to pick out anomalies combined Auditorium from 6-11pm. With 15 years
ever, with a twist or two-literally. Members with a negative habit of overgeneralization. Other of publicity, the Malik Star Search has
formed a circle and linked hands in such a way events discussed include the VSA 2004 Fall BBQ grown into one of the biggest talent shows
that they were knotted together. The task became at noon on Sunday October 3 on the Tabler Front on Long Island. It will feature dancing,
to untie the knot. Much laughter and fun fol- Lawn, Vietnam "Food Network" Night, Karaoke rapping, singing, stepping and more.
lowed. Think of a non-naughty game of Twister. Night, Vietnamese Traditional Dress Fashion Tryouts for the Malik talent show are still
How well past events met VSA's collective Show and, in the spring, a Conference and Concert, happening. If you would like to audition
vision then became the topic of discussion, and Water Puppets and the Annual Spring Picnic. your fun, serious or irreverent skit, song
discussion was also supported, in part, by power VSA, the Vietnamese Student Association, or dance, .contact Malik Vice President
point slides. For example, a previous event in stands out from many other groups even before Haynes Harris at 631-632-0557. Tickets
which VSA participated, Asian Night, had the one goes to a VSA meeting because their website will be on sale for $5 on-campus/$8 off. If
theme of interracial dating. This was a timely is up to date. But the real fun starts when you go it is half as good as The Velvet Side tribute
topic because the VSA president at the time had to their meeting. Good ice breakers, novel warm to women, the Malik Star Search will be one
both black and Thai ancestry, and was dating a ups, serious goals and a lighthearted mood made of the best shows of the year.
VSA member. Skits at the event included the this VSA meeting a great experience.
Page 25
 U ~

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Pag 26
 Guess Guidelines for the Writer
the in Metamorphosis
By Rachel Eagle Reiter
Straight A paper is only as good as its peo-
pie. It's the contributors that ci reate the
image portrayed to the media. T-he Press
something original. As for the people who
have an inkling that they may want to
write for The Press, but they don't think
relies on people-all sorts of p eople to they can write or they don't know if they

Person make it the successful collabor ation of

writing that it is and continues to be. The
Press is sensational because its c.ontribu-
can write, a news flash for the hesitant,
nervous or fearful writer in the mak-
ing...you have been doing it since the first

Panel tors are as well. Be a part of nex;t issue's

masterpiece because it's the pec)ple that
make The Press the, best-it's The People's
tress.
grade with those oversized, fat pencils and
those big double lines on your very own
writing tablet. Now in college the key-
U A1k 1hA +1-%
By Christine Tanaka What sorts of peo-
ouar•d as
pencil and the computer
repiaceu t

Let's take a moment out of our lives to take a ple make The Press what it screen has replaced your
closer look at gay, lesbian, bisexual and even is? All sorts of diverse, writing tablet. Follow
straight stereotypes. We all know what a stereotype unique, intelligent, these simple guidelines
is; a set of roles or attributes given to an entire inquisitive and creative and you will be on your
group of people, which usually ends up being wrong. people of different back- way in no time.
Let me paint ya a little picture. There's a grounds, majors, ethnici-
man walking down the street wearing an Armani ties, genders, and sexuali- 1) It's ok to disagree. (A
jacket with Gucci shoes. He's looking kind of stylish ty with varying political, paper without a hint of
and neat. He sees someone he knows and starts up a ethical, and personal views controversy is like a per-
conversation-"Hey girl!" He flops his hand (limp- can each be valuable con- fectly prepared presenta-
wristed), onto the shoulder of his friend, retracts it tributors. Whoever you tion of what has already
quickly, leaving his hand limp in the air by his are there is a place for you. been stated a thousand
shoulder for a moment before putting his arm down. If you think you times before. It may rein-
He and his friend gossip and talk a little about the won't fit in, then bring force popular opinion, but
show they were in together. They wrap it up with a your unique perspective to doesn't challenge you to
peck on each cheek and he strides off. the Press meetings and let think.)
Here's another one. There's a woman, or is it your authenticity shine
a man, walking down the street. No, it's definitely a brightly. If you are wondering who the 2) It's ok to write about sports (or art, or
woman. It's kind of hard to tell because she's wear- best candidate is for writing for T he Press, music, or theatre.) These are valuable
ing work boots and overalls with paint all over them you needn't look beyond a mirror . If you aspects of our culture and sometimes the
and is walking with giant steps, sort of haphazard- aren't sure of what to write abou it,I have only beam of joy in the midst of political
ly. Her hair is cropped short and she's not wearing very good news for you. The sear(ch begins controversy and war.
any makeup. She coughs, turns her head and hocks a wherever you are right now-sittinig, stand-
loogey into the grass. She runs into a friend and they ing or walking-whatever you are doing, so 3) Be an uncensored (or at least minimal-
reach out to half-slap, half-shake hands. They talk don't look to the left or the ri;ght, look ly censored) writer...without being bla-
about their last camping trip, the football game and within. Look to your talent, your interest, tantly obscene, of course. In other words,
their jobs doing construction and painting. They or your curiosity and build on th at. don't stifle your imagination, suppress
wrap it up by saying goodbye and a slight wave. The Press is not only li mited to your opinions, or limit your ideas when if
Do you get similar images in your head when writers. If writing is not youir knack, comes to writing. Go a little off the edge,
you hear the words gay or lesbian? Well, as we saw reveal yourself through another creative and let the editors be your parachute.
at the guess the straight person panel, some people passageway: photography, comic illustra-
still do. The panel was sponsored by James college tions, dditing, layout, design, or think of
and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender --------------------- -----
---
----- ~~- I·py--1"-
·~0·~
Alliance (LGBTA). There were two panels, a male
panel and a female panel. Each consisted of all queer HOURS: f f -A A AA
people except for one straight person on each panel.
The audience had a chance to ask the panel any
Every Day 10AM
Sunday 1OAM L,4-4
questions, but without the use of pronouns or any-
thing that would necessarily reveal the sex of their
partners. There were questions ranging from, "What
kind of music do you like?" to "Do you have a strap-
on?" At the end of the allotted time, the audience
was asked to guess whether each person on the panel
was gay/lesbian, bisexual or straight. -"N---
"--
s Adoftal *mow lom mww I ·LL · i·iiiil YYYYI ~·LYYY_~
-YIIIIY 1YL
I think the results turned out to be the.most
interesting part of the panel. One by one, the sexu-
ality of each panel member was revealed. The audi-
ence was completely surprised. One of the lesbians
FOURTH WORLD COMICS
33 Route 111, Smithtown, NY 11787
on the panel had only three people guessing that she (Hillside Shoping .Center)
was a lesbian. Also, a bisexual woman on the panel
was overwhelmingly thought to be a lesbian. On the
men's panel there was a gay man that the vast major-
ity of people thought was straight. In fact, only one
person was able to guess that he was gay. Another
gay panelist was only guessed to be gay by six peo- STAR TREK* DR WHO TOYS STA WARS
ple, but the straight panelist was thought to be gay
by six people also. SCIENCE FICTION * POSTERS *T-SHIRTS
As you can see, sexuality is not something
that you can tell from the outside, or even from. talk- JAPANIMATION * VIDEoTAPES MODEL KITS

'110/0
DJ. S
0 COýUNT W/VALID
ing to someone. Basically, what this panel teaches us
is that the only way we can know someone's sexual- MAGIC: THE GAT ING

Sý,O-Y B.00( D. CRDý

ity is if they tell us.

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 1
Future
Accomplishments
of Bush's Second
Term
10 Getting that G.E.D.
I______

i
fying the traditional rules of debate
ake vacant stares and unintelligent
giggling acceptable responses

Ladies and gentlemen, your new

ihief Justice of the Supreme Court,
Ted Nugent!

an effort to outlaw everything he

sn't understand, Bush abolishes all
middle school science classes

"Finding" weapons of mass

destruction in Paris and New York
While he sufficiently scares
4 minorities, Bush wants to work
harder on scaring children
Sparking a second Civil War and
mnaming it a "Freedom Discussion"
; ·

1 Overturning Roe v Wade...

l oh shit that's not a joke

COMP SCI
I saw three major computers. The Danger
Room, the machine that amplified Xavier's abil-
ities, and the machine that kept Xavier in a sta-
sis while holding Cyclops and Storm at bay. I
don't think I'll be getting into the code behind
this stuff but I am going to try to vaguely
explain algorithms and if it were even possible.
The Danger Room provides seemingly
endless simulations for the X-Men to combat-
and train with.. The robot we encounter in the
Danger Room needs to have some sort of artifi-
cial intelligence. I'm not talking the kind that
is going to think for itself, then exterminate
humanity, then spawn three movies with Arnold
Schwarzenegger. I'm talking some type of rou-
tine that takes in outside input and determines
appropriate reactions. The robot would need
sensors to figure out what's going on around it.
Perhaps a heat sensor that tells it where the X-
men in the room are. It could then fire it's heat
missiles at them, but wait, it fires missiles at
the mannequin civilians. Kitty then disrupts ft
by phasing through it; I don't understand how
that works. The cage that Wolverine is in would
need some sort of closed circuit on each bar
piece that could detect if the circuit had been
broken or not. Maybe infrared beams along each
bar so if they were cut by the claws then i-t
would indicate that the bar was also cut by an
adamantium claw. The target grid makes the
most sense, it's an 'if' statement. If the force
detected on it is X then we stop the sequence.
The machine that amplifies Xavier's
abilities is akin to Cerebro, so I am going to talk
about Cerebro. I don't know what Xavier sees
when he's jacked into that thing but it can't be
the holograms we see in the X-Men movie. The,
technology simply doesn't exist; As for ampli-
fying telepathy... damn. It could either give him
a drug that boosts his abilities or telepathy is a
form of energy that can be amplified by waves.
I don't know of any drug that grants telepathy.
If telepathy is a form of wave-like energy then
we would need to emit the same wave and have it
coincide with the Professor's to create giant
crests. Waves going out of the Professor's brain
would not help him alone so telepathy must be
some sort of sonar that comes back to the
Professor after it has been emitted. If we can
generate the wave then detecting one would be
just as easy. We start generating waves to coin-
cide with the Prof's and then we're done.
Holding Storm and Cyke is easy enough,
it's like really strong roller coaster braces. But
we're amplifying the Prof's abilities again so he
can't block out their pain. See above. His sta-
sis can be monitored like they do in hospitals
and I'd assume they could keep him thoroughly
doped to maintain his stasis. That would all
take hospital equipment. I still hate that
Danger Room robot.
which would shape his view of Homo Superior
and their relationship with mankind. A car
crash that forced his wife into labor would serve
as the catalyst towards a genocidal future for
William Stryker. Delivering the baby himself,
he immediately noticed the child was genetical-
ly different than he, a mutant, in the world that
he lived. In response to this scenario, Stryker
took it upon himself to- murder his recently
born son and his wife.
But why react in this way, why use this
event as a means to embark on a crusade to
exterminate mutants? This leads one to ulti-
mately confronting the possibility that William
Stryker had always had this hatred within him,
and the confrontation with the reality of a
mutant child merely served as an incidental and
superficial justification for the vision of terror
he sought. One can find an interesting correla-
tion between William Stryker, as a paragon of
the bigoted genocidal individual, and the per-
sonality described by Jean-Paul Sartre inAnti-
Semite and Jew. Here, Sartre confronts the real-
ity of racism and hatred through the liberating
eyepiece of existential theory.
Major in the tenants proclaimed by
Sartre is the idea of the Anti-Semite being in
control of the creation of the Jew, or the other.
By saying this, he means to claim that the indi-
vidual who is titled "Jew" is arbitrary and
inconsequential. This idea is reflected in
maybe the most famous passage from this book:
"If the Jew did not exist, the Anti-Semite would
create him." This rather simplistic statement
has far reaching repercussions in terms of the
application of existential theory. This is
reflected in the passage where Sartre examines
the idea that the Jew is not free not to be a Jew.
This would immediately seem to contradict a
foundational idea found within Existentialism;
that of universal freedom. However, Sartre is
careful to magnify this statement with the
aforementioned claim. The Jew is not a Jew in
terms of his individual traits, but rather is the
Jew because the Anti-Semite claims him as
such. It is the Anti-Semite who assigns all the
negative and hated characteristics to the Jew,
not the Jew himself. He simply exists, and
exists as is, not participating in the process of
hatred and bigotry.
Considering these ideas, Willi-am
Stryker becomes less a victim of his own fate,
and more a active component in the cycle of
hatted existing in the World Marvel. He can
very easily engage in the emotions he feels
towards mutant kind. However, to blame the
mutants for this hatred and thus allow them to
suffer the repercussions of it, he acts in bad
faith and is thus privy to a grave injustice.
William Stryker is a man who allows his hate to
define, and, doing so, defines a people as an
object of this hatred, victimizing them overtly,
for sins over which they have no control.
Stryker good sir, thou art a dick, stultus.
human beings with powers or abilities that go
beyond the scope of normal humanity. Stryker
has built an evangelical movement that is about
to reach its denouement by declaring war on the
mutant populous, and a frightening number of
people are behind him.
An important puzzle to unravel here is
why Stryker holds such hatred for mutaintsAhati
he would rally millions to his cause of seeing
them all slaughtered. It is revealed that, years
ago, Stryker's wife gave birth to a mutant, and
Stryker was so disgusted with his new son that
he killed him and his wife moments after the
birth occurred. At that point, Stryker was con-
vinced that his mission from God was to contin-
ue what he had started and ultimately cleanse
the world of the mutant race. What he failed to
realize, however, is that God didn't tell him
anything; Stryker was actually being driven by
a mixture of projection and guilt.
The second that Stryker laid eyes on his
mutant son, he questioned his own humanity. If
he could produce a mutant son, then what was
he? Stryker may not have consciously known the
answer to that question, but he believed he was
something other than human. In response to
this, Stryker has projected his hatred of himself
onto the mutant race in order to stay sane.
Instead of blaming himself for what happened,
he blames mutants. Not only this, but Stryker
needs to alleviate the guilt he feels over mur-
dering his wife by making her a martyr. To
Stryker, she wasn't killed by his irrational
hatred, but rather by God's Will to smite mutan-
tkind. In order to justify this action, Stryker
has made God's supposed will the premise of his
crusade to destroy every mutant on earth.
To begin his holy mission, Stryker deft-
ly utilizes the principles of social psychology
to develop a zealous following. The Reverend
held his first major rally at Madison Square
Garden, the ideal place to sway the minds of a
large group. With the sheer number of people,
Stryker need only to pack the building with
believers, use the peripheral route of persua-
sion to appeal to their fears and emotions, and
you. instantly have tens of thousands followers
who, under the principle of groupthink and de-
individuation, will now be willing to think irra-
tionally and act in such ways that they would
never do in a more intimate setting. If all goes
according to plan, Stryker will have a fervent
religious following that will have no qualms in
aiding him in his quest to kill millions of
mutants. Although he ultimately fails, the story
of William Stryker serves as a warning of how
dangerous a man can be if he knows how to get
people on his side.
The Living Tribunal is:
Rob Pearsall
Michael Prazak and Mike Billings
gag9,.9
 unny
Brown Bunny
~wn Af
Grand Theft Au to:
(cause it was San Andreas -
up your ass) ore of the Same
By Jamie Mignone By Joe Rios
Fuck Vincent Gallo. He made the worst
movie I've ever been ashamed to have brought a On October 2 6 t h , Rockstar North, the you can spray graffiti, participate in gang wars
friend to. Brown Bunny sucked ass. It sucked so creators of the Grand Theft Auto line of games, for territory, and break into houses to steal
much ass that it has permanent ass-breath and released Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. The items, which you later sell for money. In fact,
ass withdrawal would set in if it were possible newest GTA game is what we expected from there isn't much of anything that you do in this
for it to refrain for the most minute theoretical Rockstar, it's GTA: Vice City plus much, much game that IS legal.
time unit from sucking ass. The film ass-suck- more. There is so much going on in favor of
ing league has closed its books and its members Allow me to explain-what I mean by that. Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas that you might
have stopped debating. It is all over, Brown GTA: SA (for short), is significantly different wonder what could possibly be wrong with it?
Bunny sucks the most ass ever, fucking ass- from its predecessors. In this game, your main I'll tell you. The primary problem with Grand
sucker. character is Carl Johnson; a gang member who Theft Auto: San Andreas, is that it is a Grand
Vincent Gallo wastes the viewer's time left San Andreas after his- brother was gunned Theft Auto game. The concept of being able to
with his grille up in the frame, without a damn down. 5 years later, CJ's mom has been killed, just massacre people in the-sreets while on a
thing going on in the background for and he has to return home. As soon as he gets bloody rampage, has lost its novelty to some
loooooooooooooooooooooooong periods of movie- back he finds himself back in the kind of trou- extent. While Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is
seat-ass-numbing time. In total, between ble he was hoping to avoid. As much as he would a great game, one has to wonder how long
increments of equally mind-numbing inaction, rather run back to Liberty City (where he has Rockstar can keep selling these games, but then
there are about twenty-five lines of dialog in been for 5 years), he can't because family's fam- again I guess since people have been buying it
this terrible excuse for a movie. There only ily, and he won't rest until he avenges his moth- like crazy, it can't be doing so bad.
seemed to be music during mundane driving er. Another drawback to Grand Theft Auto:
sequences, where the poor bastards watching GTA: S.A. is a look at "Thug Life" at it's San Andreas, is that it is pretty much just a
the worst film ever made are subjected to the very beginning back in the early 90's. The one Grand Theft Auto: Vice City expansion pack. It's
worst music ever made, good old Gordon-fuck- major drawback to the plot is that -it works the last game, plus a much larger map, and while
ing-Lightfoot. under the assumption of "I'm Black. I live in a you have control over an assortment of new vehi-
If you happen to be curious because poor neighborhood, therefore I MUST be in a cles such as bicycles, airplanes, and a slew of
there has been a relatively high amount of hype gang." That concept is actually rather racist, new motorcycles, the game is not remarkably
over this piece of shit amongst artsy film but it does reflect the rampant gang mentality, different from its predecessors.
enthusiasts, then let me assure you, the critics and undeniable amount of gang warfare during As long as there is a market for people
who damn this film are the ones who are right. that time. who want to have a ridiculous amount of violence
The "plot" is thus: this guy Bud drives GTA: S.A. has some new customizability in an urban setting like Los Angeles, or Miami,
around, he only talks to girls with names in that is worth noting. For example, in this game, or any of the other GTA settings, there will be a
common with flowers, and then there's a twist. you have stats like "stamina, sex appeal, market for these games, and if you have the
Here, however, is the break between the idea of respect, muscle" etc. that you work on over time money to spend on it, go and buy Grand Theft
"surprise ending" and "fucking stupid." His to make your character significantly better Auto: San Andreas. It will keep you entertained
ex-girlfriend is just a fantasy, as she was from when you start. In addition, your can cus- for hours on end.
raped and killed with their unborn child after tomize CJ's hair, clothes, and for the first time
smoking crack at a party. Bud was a scaredy- ever, his car (of course HIS car is any car you
cat and ran away because he thought she liked feel like taking).
being cracked out and raped, so he didn't help There are also new types of game-play
her. So, his hallucination of her, Daisy, has to that have never been in a GTA game before. Now
smoke crack and suck him off on screen before
she can reveal to Bud and to the audience that
she is dead.
Vincent Gallo, you are a stupid, stupid
man. Your protagonist does not draw sympathy
after cleverly being portrayed as undeserving
of pity, rather, he is your petty manifestation
of your love for your own cock. I feel dumber
now that I have seen it. Chloe Sevigny has been
raped enough on film, thanks, and now that I've
seen her slob your knob on the silver screen
and get raped in the
same movie, I can
assure you that I am
dumber now. Thank
you, asshole.
This film could
have been more
effective in doing
whatever it was try-
ing to do if it were
six or seven still
photographs with a
single sentence
underneath each,
outlining the "plot."

WORST MOVIE EVER!


II I I
Cake's distinguishable sound is as con-
sistent as their album covers. Most people prob-
ably heard of this Sacramento alternative-rock
band through their mid-90s hit "The Distance."
Since then, many have called them a one-hit
wonder but that does not do justice to this band
in any way. Just because this band hasn't had a
smash hit on MTV for a while does not mean
their loyal fan base are gone or they are any-
thing short of awesome. John McCrea's vocals
has somewhat matured since their previous
albums but their funky sound, colorful trumpet
play, electric guitar and eclectic songs all add
up to a wonderful album. It's relieving to see a
band that hasn't changed their unique style to
succumb to whatever crappy crap is popular in
the music world today.
The album is able to produce a variety of
songs for every emotion. Some of the songs are
mellow and cool in a dark way like "Wheels" and
"Dark" and "Take it All Away." These three
songs is what you would hear playing in an
artsy cafe on Bleecker Street in New York City
where everyone there are intellectual artists of
some sort. I also suggest these three for make-
out music because there is something sexy
about the beats but some of the witty and sar-
castic lyrics might throw off the mood. Pay it
softly in the background.
The rest of the album is bubbly and
spirited. Cake incorporates all genres of music
into the rest of their songs. You can hear hints
of jazz, pop, neo-soul, ska and even bluegrass
I ' ' : I , ' `' I
: I · ,·
A boy on the verge of pop but tipping on
a sort of rock and roll/grungy sound is what, I
would call Val Emmich. I have to say the only
reason I picked this CD up was because it has
a young man walking by himself along a sub-
way platform, so I figured it had to be some
singer/songwriter, one man and his guitar,
John Mayerish type of music. Surprisingly,
each one of Val Emmich's songs on his first full
release, Slow Down Kid, are fully equipped
with electric guitars, bass, drums and some-
times Christmas bells. This New Jersey guy
has a lot to complain about and so little time to
do it.
Val's vocals are enjoyable, and his
lyrics are, most of the time, meaningful, not
just the usually pop nonsense. For example,
the first track off the album is called "Medical
Display" and is about someone watching anoth-
er person lying on their deathbed. "Linen
sheets conceal you / And in minutes you'llbe
gone / Our exchange wontt bring any under-
standing." His vocals on this track turn to
screaming, "release you release you," and show
he has the emotion to back up his words.
"I am suffering / From a make-believe
disease / Life is terrifying / So I just sit here
dying dying dying." At 15 years old Emmich
.was diagnosed with Lyme Disease, which is an
influence in some of his songs like the-one
above called, "Unstable." It'seems like he was
a young kid thrown in a situation that deals
with adult problems'. He vents in his lyrics
and gets out the frustration of not being able to
do a great deal of physical activities in life.
Many of his songs deal with him trying to fig-
Cake - Pressure Thief
I By Joan Leong
1Ings will be so fucked up. I wish I wasn't just
a pedestrian breathing all this in. " This is def-
initely music for the long drive to the beach.
From what I can tell, a good number of
their songs are about relationships. Instead of
sounding like a whiny emo kid, .they are able to
employ clever metaphors into their songs.
"She'll hang the baskets on the walls. But I've
seen it all before, heard the slamming of the
door. Come summer, come fall, come winter.
There will be baskets on the floor." The entire
album is very enjoyable and one of my favorites
is "The End of the Movie" which has a very six-
ties rock sound to them. In my interpretation of
the song, I believe it's about faith in people.
"They'll pull you down. You'll frown. They'll tar
you and drag you through town. But you still
don't like to leave until the end of the movie."
I highly recommend this album. Other
people might dislike the fact that they do not
seem to- evolve or change in the musical style
but I commend them for it. I believe they still
write incredibly creative songs and that's all
that matters. There are so many bands that have
instrumentals in tneir songs. '-uitar ivian, switched to being political or screamo because
"Dime," and "Carbon Monoxide" are songs that that is what is going to put them on MTV. The
will remind you of the summer. I especially fact that they stuck to their true nature allows
liked "Carbon Monoxide" because it was very me to respect them all the more. And finally to
ska-ish with a message behind it. It made the the sad emo kids out there, listen to the final
environmentalist in me skip for joy just a little track, "Tougher than it is" because Cake wants
bit to see a band show concern for the air we all you to just chill out and stop making life so
breathe. "Don't you care? Don't you care? After hard.
car after bus after car after truck. After this my
I '' I -- : --
Val Emmich Slow Down Kid
II'I IBy Melanie Donovan
I i`ii
ure out the important moments of his life and tell if Val Emmich is falling into or out of the
the pieces that fall between. In "A Voice," constant cliques of popular music. Hopefully
Emmich speaks of the constant thoughts going he will continue to fall away from it and pro-
though his head, "You're not going to die in my duce a sound that will become his own.
mind / You're still alive and well / If you leave
so does my sanity."
My favorite song on here would have to
be "Shock," the guitar here leads me back to
the Mayer style. But Emmich twists it around
to a bitter rock song, "You're supposed to be
my friend / Don't lie to me / Just turn and
walk away / I could punch your fuckin' face."
A more upbeat song, "Bury Me" is just your
usual plea for help found in little poems you
wrote in ninth grade with lyrics like, "today
I'm sick of everyone," and "go ahead and bury
me." At 23, I hope Emmich has resolved all
the, "the world hates me" problems, because
overall I see a lot of talent shining through all
the helpless words.
The passion that Emmich displays def-
initely comes from within. His thunderous
sounds lead him far away from any simple cof-
fee shop musicians. He does border on your,
average teen pop musician, complaining about
their petty problems. Since his problems are
a tad more real, Slow Dow•n Kid is worthy of
getting a listen. I would call him the male
Michelle Branch with, a touch of Phantom
Planet, who are both trying to stray away from
the pop titles. The last track on the album,
called "Slow Down Kid," pretty much ties up
the album by saying, do not worry so much
about all these problems. It is a slower song
accompanied by a piano which is usually the
way to go in a song of that title. It is hard to
 Assembly of Dust - The Honest Hour
· ·
The name of the band, Assembly of Dust,
sounds metal. I was hoping to listen to some
guitar solos, double bass, arid maybe some.
Opeth type growling or lyrical singing akin to
Blind Guardian. There are few things better
than listening to someone who has an intimate
relationship with their guitar, solo off with
double bass pounding in the background like a
rampaging beast who has forgotten why he ram-
pages and continues to rage because it's all he
knows. I like metal. I like punk and ska. I am
not the target audience for this album.
Assembly of Dust reminds of Jackson Brown
(who I like) infused with country. The pacing of
the songs and some of the vocals reminded me of
Jackson Brown. The lyrics and the playing
csoundt ;lke ~clintrr muic;o I d
not like country music.
Not liking the genre, is
not helping me write this
review. I feel that this band is
actually pretty good. I espe-
cially liked Adam Terrell's
solo in "Man With a Plan." Reid
Genauer definitely reminds of
Jackson Brown's singing. The
keyboards are a nice touch.
When I think of country, I
think ten-gallon hats and
frilly boots with spurs. I know
this is just a stereotype
brought on by line dancing but
I can't help it. The keyboards
Kill Radio - Raised on Whipped Cream
· I I I I I I
Here is to choosing a book by its
cover! While I was sitting in one of our week-
ly SB Press meetings, I was handed a bunch of
CD's in order to pick one out for review. This
band KillRadio caught my attention.
Naturally, I was automatically driven to the
disc with a naked baby sucking down "whip
its" as it cover. The album is called Raised
on Whip Cream.
KillRadio is a four-piece Punk-Rock
band from Los Angeles, California. Most
people I have talked to on Long Island have
never heard of them, but they are signed to
Sony/Columbia records and were also on last
year's Warped Tour. "Raised on Whipped
Cream" is the bands first album. It was
released only a couple of months ago, on
September 7t h 2004.
The band combines heavily political-
ly influenced/PUNK lyrics with a relentless
rock sound, and non-stop attacking guitar
riffs. They are the turn I have been waiting
for punk to take. A band that isn't afraid to
say what they are thinking. You know, the
whole "fuck the system and fuck you too!"
attitude that punk used to have. Somewhere
along the line, punk lost all its drive for
political and social change, and became
widely socially acceptable. KillRadio is
bringing music with a political message back
to the forefront. I am glad to hear that a band
like this is getting attention from a major
record label. It could mean good things for
all of you out there that cant wait for the day
when the radio might actually play some
music YOU WANT TO HEAR.
Page32-
help me realize that this band is more than
country, the occasional guitar solo is enough the
keep me listening through the entire album and
there's something I like about Genauer's voice.
The whole band seems to fit together fairly well.
They form a cohesive unit that's damn solid. I
say all this because, once again, I am not the tar-
get audience for this album. I think they're
good but I don't like the album very much. I
don't like most of the songs. I don't like many
of the interludes. I don't like the lyrics.
By this point I'm over the fact that
Assembly of Dust is not a metal band. They
could probably make a good metal band; I don't
know if Andrew Herrick- has the stamina for
double bass, but he should give it a try. Enough
di re-Qrion hback to what I did-
n't take to on this album. I
briefly looked over the lyrics
after listening to the album.
All the songs had the same
feelings. There were feelings
about coming and going; I got
the vibe of missed opportuni-
ties and what-ifs, it basically
came down to life. How we
travel through it, how things
change, and a lot of reminisc-
ing about it. All the songs
seem a little romantic in their
view too. I guess this particu-
lar view comes with age.
Maybe I'll live a little too fast
I I i I I I I
Brandon Jordan is the bands vocal-
ist/guitarist. His voice sounds like
Operation Ivy's "Jesse Michaels" with an
alternative rock twist. Growing up in L.A., I
think it is safe to assume that Jordan had
been to a few Op Ivy shows back in the day?
Jordan sings about social and political
issues, namely: mainstream radio (duhh),
war and peace, redneck agendas, lies, and the
empty headed minds of today's generation.
Having enlisted in the military after
high school, only to withdraw shortly after,
he has personal feelings toward this "war on
terror" that we are fighting. In "Pull Out,"
he sings "I need your opinion like I need a.
bullet to my head. You didn't care then, so
why care now, unless you're cashing in on the
dividends... I'm not going to sit on the side of
the road, watching brothers die, or pretend
its kosher. 'Cause that soldier could well
have been me." In "A.M.E.R.I.K.A," Jordan
directs his anger directly at President Bush
when he sings; "The informed citizen became
un-American, for reading a book instead of
watching the television. Supporting peace
and not the president. Rather die on the cross
than for a fucking Republican."
When asked in an interview with
"Rebel Yell" why the band chose to name
their album Raised on Whipped Cream,
Jordan responded by saying: "We picked
whipped cream because it's this object, this
food, decoration, dessert, that's totally
devoid of meaning or nutritional value. It's
totally empty and fluffy, it doesn't have
much to it, substance-wise. We feel like,
By Rob Pearsall
and really regret the way my time was spent.
Maybe I'll look back and relate to some of these
songs one day. Today I'm looking at four more
years of bad decisions, a year or so of college,
and plethora of things to do in that time.
Ooh, "Honey Creeper" just came on and it
fooled me again. I must confess I've been lis-
tening to the album again to help me write this;.
It starts off with a nice porn riff and then turns
soft, Terrell comes back with a purty solo but it
doesn't last long enough. Now I'm stuck with
how he doesn't have "Miss Honey Creeper" any-
more and how he's wanted her back. Going a lit-
tle backwards in the playlist but the song
"Harrower" has a major flaw. I haven't heard the
term "sharecropper" since junior high social
studies. The word is stuck in my head from
being in the refrain. Stop "Bus Driver," stop. It
breaks into the typical fast southern skiddle
(skiddle is probably not a word, let alone a word-
used to describe a southern beat. I just think
'skiddle' when I hear that beat). and God help
me, I want out of this hoedown. "Never let 'em
go, never get away. Never let 'em go, never get
away," but I want out!
I've got to stop listening to this. I think
these guys are a good band but it is definitely
not my cup of tea. I think it's for the over 40
crowd and I've got to give this CD to my dad. I
bet he'll enjoy it. Meanwhile, I'm going to get a
ticket for the knitting factory and call it a day.
I
By Erik Salomon
summing up our childhoods, where we came
from and what we learned and what we were
told was truth, that a lot of it was absolute
bullshit, and a lot of it is just devoid of
meaning...we almost had to unlearn things
that had been taught to us at an early age that
we had just accepted and figured, "That's the
way the world works," because people just
say stuff. It's not that other generations that
are older than us are wrong in their advice,
but they did not have the same parameters
and the same consequences and the same
issues that we have today. We have complete-
ly different issues. Everyone just needs to
recreate themselves and not let anybody else
define their inner capabilities. You define
them yourself."
You can check out the band at
www.KillRadiorevolution.com. They have
four Mp3s available to download or listen,
pictures, reviews and even the music video
for their song "Do You Know." There is also
a link to where you can buy their CD. I
haven't checked out any of the music stores
on the Island to see if they carry it, but if
they don't, you can E-mail KillRadio and
they will make sure it gets there. So...um
yeah, this band fucking rocks. The CD hasn't
left my CD player since I got it. They do not
currently have any shows scheduled outside
of California. E-mail them and ask them to
play your town next time they make an East
Coast tour! If there is enough interest, per-
haps we could convince these guys to play at
the University Caf6.

The Huntington Cinema Arts Center
played The Wizard of Oz with the Dark Side of
the Moon soundtrack and I, feeling compelled to
finally understand the meaning behind the
myth, undertook the investigation and attended.
For years the rumor has circulated, that if you
played the 1939 movie along with Pink Floyd's
1972 album, amazing synchronicities would
occur as if the album was produced to coincide
with it. The theory is widely accepted to be
true, and having attempted the remix myself
and failed to produce any results due to techni-
cal difficulties, I thought let's see what the pro-
fessionals have figured out. The key is you're
supposed to start the album after the third roar
of the MGM lion.
Well, like most things magical, some-
times it works and sometimes it doesn't. The
first run of the record works the best. Because
the album is only 41 minutes long and the movie
is like 86 minutes, you have to either restart the
CD or put in another one for the end. At this
showing in the Center, after the first run of
Dark Side, they put on Wish You Were Here, and
for the last ten minutes was the end of Dark Side
again. They told us how they were going to do
this before the, show even started, which dashed
some of our hopes for a seamless flow of music
and images, but when it began and we heard the
strange coolness of Pink Floyd playing over the
somewhat dilapidated brown and white credits
of the Wizard of Oz, it was obvious we were in
for some synaesthesia.
There's a lot of transitions in the album
that coincide with scene changes in the movie,
perhaps more so than with any other album-,
movie combination. I'd estimate an awe inspir-
ing "coincidence" like every five minutes or so,
The Dark Sideof Oz
I I
when a song would change or there's a sound
effect that goes perfectly with what's happening
onscreen. Between these transitions where
.everyone laughs or is thinking holy shit this
real, the mood and meanings of the songs form a
good backdrop for what's going on in the film.
Veteran fans of the movie and the album could
be refreshed by this original synthesis even if
slightly disappointed by dramatic scenes in the
movie that weren't represented by Dark Side.
Pink Floyd's trippy electro-spook sound is fit-
ting for the innate trippy-spookiness of The
Wizard of Oz, which is sometimes lost on the
springy ballads.
The most startling synchronicity
throughout the film, the one instance that
proves the theory's worth, is during the transi-
tion from black and white to color, when
Dorothy's house crashes in Munchkinland and
she looks out the door. Let me backtrack and
say that the entire movie you are treated to a
bleak portrait of life for Dorothy on her Kansas
I I I By Adam Kearney
farm: there's a lot of dirt, animals, and empty
space. Not a lot of dough was spent on the set.
Then the tornado comes and plops her down in
Oz, and as she peers out of the doorway into the
colorful, and need I say expensive, arrangement
of flowers and sparkling blue fountains of
downtown Munchkinland, the cash registers of
Floyd's Money come on. At this point everyone
in the theater starts cheering. And it's really
funny. She's a Kansas farm girl wandering
around a sparkling fantasy land in full
Technicolor as cash registers ring and the all
familiar bass-line of Floyd's ironic tribute to
getting paid begins. The coincidence reeks of
conscious intent.
And if it was intended, was it also part
of some grand design that I would be observing
this phenomenon during a lunar eclipse? This
might also account for the fact that I arrived a
half an hour late, the show was sold out, and I
still managed to get in for free. Either way the
experience of a synchronicity, or a seemingly
meaningful coincidence, is usually a subjective,
entirely personal affair, and yet here is an
urban legend describing such an occurrence
and it is widely accepted and verifiable by any-
one who has seen it.
Determined that in discoursing with the
people involved in this weird mash up I might
fully understand what the hell it's all about, I
tried to get the grandson of the midget who
played the Mayor of Munchkinland on *the
phone. I only got to speak with his agent. He
said, "Haven't you ever heard of The Ozzorcist,
or Ziggy Starfighter? Those synchros work just
as well, they just don't get hype in the press."
Ahh, I thought, I guess anything's an amazing
conspiracy if you can make people believe it.,

Halo 2. Still a "Must Bu ?"

I I - , __ ,· - , ·, , I - , By Joe Rios
also a few new left out simply because they are trying to tell
On November 9th,one and a half million ing multiplayer mode). There are
vehicles, improvements on the ones from the old two stories at once. Finally, the most significant
(estimated) people agreed to accept a semester
game, and most significantly, a massive collec- outrage to me as a Halo fan is that the ending of
of poor grades, lackluster work results, and an
tion of new weapons. One might consider this the game is a cliffhanger. You are left not know-
overall lack of sleep. On November 9t h, the very
enough to make the game a winner, but there is ing what the fate of the universe is going to be.
long awaited Halo 2 came out for Microsoft X
more yet still. There are all new maps for split- The original Halo left an opening for a sequel,
Box. I, one of those 1.5 million, was at the mall
significant change of but Halo 2 leaves a DEMAND for it. My sincer-
at Midnight to be able to get my copy as soon as screen mode, and the most
all, the incorporation of the X Box Live system, est hope is that after a much-deserved vacation,
humanly possible. By the time I got my copy and
which has so far worked perfectly (Of course, it the folks at Bungie begin work on Halo 3.
got back to my dorm room it was lam, and my
has to because X Box live was the supposed rea- Halo 2 has developed a cult-like follow-
roommate and I played until the sun came up. It
son for the delay on the game). ing. The number is somewhere between 1.5 and
was a good departure though, from Grand Theft
While Halo 2 has plenty working it its 2 million copies that were reserved (I get dif-
Auto: San Andreas, which had been played non-
favor, it also has numerous things that now are ferent numbers from site-to-site) but those
stop before that day.
a sever disadvantage. For starters, the heads- kind of numbers are something significant.
It was only just a short while ago that I
up-display (HUD) no longer has a gauge to mon- Many music CD's and movie DVD's don't sell
actually beat the game, and the end results are
itor your health, only your shields have a gauge. that well in the first few WEEKS, and these were
both very positive, but also VERY negative. I pre-orders! Bungle and Microsoft have managed
In addition, you cannot do much when you are
will do my best not to spoil anything for those to outdo themselves, and as I sit at my desk,
holding 2 weapons at once, and attempting to do
of.you have not yet beaten the game. into a forcing myself off of X Box Live *to write this
everything anything, like throw a grenade or get
Halo 2-brings to the player
vehicle, requires you leaving one of the two very article, that becomes very clear to me.
they wanted that they couldn't have from the Halo 2 is an AWESOME GAME, make no
first Halo. The graphics are mind blowing, the weapons on the floor. mistake about that! It has some shortcomings
cinematic scenes are significantly more realis- The HUD problem and the weapon issues
significant, but are not nearly as significant which I wish had been handled before the game
tic looking, and of a general better quality. But are was released, but that aside, Bungie has man-
as the plot problems. For starters, the game
the improvements on existing features of the
begins with you back home near Earth, with no aged to bring to its fan-base a game that is more
game are perhaps not as significant as the fea-
explanation as to how you got back from deep than we could ever imagine and a game that is
tures that were added in all new. going to keep MILLIONS entertained for some
In Halo 2, you can hold not one, but TWO space (there is a book however that does the job
nicely). If that weren't enough, you get to play while to come. So what is the final verdict? Well
smaller weapons at a time, effectively making since day one my opinion was that Halo 2 was a
as 2 different characters which can be confus-
your character a two-fisted "Bullet Hose." In "Must Buy" and that has not changed. Now go
ing at times, but the main problem is not that.
addition, you can now attack characters that are buy the game and save the Universe!
The problem is that some of the plot seems to be
in vehicles (something particularly useful dur-
Rage33
Dear Red States,

Thhe last 228 years have been great and al, but q think it's time that you andqmoved on. You see, you'rejust not the same states feCC
for aCthose centuries ago. You're changednow. You're not the charming, rogressive, enemy of tyranny that q admiredso long ago. think that
we have come to a crossroads in our relationshipthatfinds us no Conger compatibe.
iknow we've hadourpro6lemsin the yast; slavery, the Civi ar, and my eaving the toilet seat up - ut hey, what relationsiuip doesn't
have arguments that take years to resolve? q mean, it used to be that we'djust take our most acclaimedgeneraCandcuta bloody swat hof may-
hem anc human suffering towards Artlanta,- but don't think that's going to work this time. q wouCd ike to say that it's not you; it's me b... ut it's
not. qt's alyou this time.
Otjust seems like you've been stuck in a rut lateCy. q remember when you usedto besuch a go-getter! 'Manifest estiny! Remembelr lManifest
Destiny? That was you andme, baby, aCCthe way! Together we wouldpurchase huge chunks of anlandwipe the irty natives clean of fwith fake
treaties,SmaCllCox, andvastCy superiorartillery. T'hen we'c o consummate the slaughterover at Make-Out Point (We stole tliatfrom t!he rnjuns,
too!). 'lfow, though, it's •ike you're stuck in the 1950's or something; rolling back women's rights,popularizingdiscriminationagain,infhringing on
civilClierties; q mean, q thought we couldgrow together. But a fwe grew... was apart.
And don't act ike you're innocent, always hiding behindcFOX. q seethe way you look at those oilCderricks. it's (ike Tm invisiblfe or some-
thing as soon as those pipeaines come into view. Io. You know what? MayBe you'd'e happier with that viscous, onyxfloosie. That's a Clyou and
your horny neo-conbuddies talk about, anyway. Well'm sick ofit Oh yeah, andyou gota dcroy that stupidaccent. It's ust notfunnySanymore.
LateCy, we've headso manyproblems but you won't even acknowCedge them. What's globa warming?" .ran'sprc
he says. What's bPCem?" he
says. Atnd don't even get me startedon that "sanctity of marriage"bullshit you've been spouting off about.it'sjust time or me to mowe on and
grow as an incivicual. think you need to find out who you" isfirst. Then we can work on "us." But, Red States,' don't know if I can wait
aroundthatCong. 9'-ave a nice lfe, andcallme when you grow up.

Sincerely,
'BCue States
'P.S.- ' fuckedNewfouncdCand.. andit doesn'tjust lay there.

!By the way, below is a Cist of some stuffwe want back and
heep.you can
some other stuff we (on't reay care atout that

'"
The l o We thought we wanted John Kerry but it was too closse to call
The name
Liberties Post-Haste
our new
y, .so
country: the Republic
or RALPH for short!
of American
you can have him, Iguess.
Joe Lieberman.Please take Joe Lieberman.
Everyone named Rudy. This includes Rudy Reuttiger, the
diminutive Notre Dame football player with a heart of gold, A malfunctioning bicameral legislature.
and Rudy Giuliani, the hyper-tractable former mayor of New
York with a prostate of cancer. The Liberty Bell. It's a cracked reality that repr esents a
pleasant ideal... Just like Americanbipartisanship.
Pat Buchanan and Ted Turnerso they can build a wall to
keep those dirty Americans out. All country musicians, discounting Willie Nels on, that
ageless, tax-evading pothead.
Mary Cheney so she can be happy. Hillary Clinton. Bill can stay and party with us but his ball
and chain has got to go.
All nuclear weapons so we can dismantle them, since
you're clearly not mature enough to have them. Grits are all yours because we respect our intes tines up
S. north.
The legend of Davy Crockett, just out of spite. He no
longer dies defending the Alamo, but instead dies defending And finally, we magnanimously yield to you this hotl y
th eL11W
t; V
d I7rth
aV N WorU L
Ath-im
HI Veu11
i H-.tfnrr U1
11 aU1nIL r1 I cC1 orr 1 U ,
CnV I n tr L
t -. contested
%-1A.WU
nronertv

All cowboy hats, but not to wear them seriously. We will just
mockingly don them to demonstrate their impracticality and
goofiness to our friends.
Mike: "Hey Y'all!"
Joe: "HAHAHA"

Rush Limbaugh. We'll lock him in a radio station in

Wilmington, Delaware where he will receive an uncooked T-
Bone, a pile of Oxycontin, and a water bowl every six hours.
Truly, he will be an overweight, bellicose drug addict scream-
ing to absolutely no one.

All minorities. Problem solved, Alabama! Enjoy your mono-

chromatic school system.

Page 34
 SA 150mi. pedestrian chunnel from [A Nothing
Spokane, WA to Moorhead, MN
SThe panhandle of Oklahoma will become the
The 500mi. Ol' Dirty Bastard Memorial Bridge from Homosexual Re-education Encampment
San Diego, CA to Honolulu, HI after Hawaii's relocation
(map drawn to scale) Herr Cyborg Dick Cheney's permanent resid ence

Our new nation's capital in Schenectady(sp?), NY so An oil derrick large enough (drawn to scale) to spew
those backwards hicks from the USA can't mail our Texas-T directly into Dick Cheney's pockets
peace-loving nation their impotent hate letters.
(see Schenectady map below) SEven though all minorities will.have moved to the
SRALPH, a separate school district will be set up for
A No-Fly Zone for a 50mi. radius around the pristine people who have ever spoken to an African American
Hilstead Museum in Farmington, CT
Flavor Country

10) Homestyle Pizza

9) Fireside Pub
8) Gershon's Deli
7) Union Pizza
6) Popeye's Fried Chicken
5) Mari's Japanese Cuisine
4) Pinhead Susan's
3) Ben Ylvisaker's Mom
2) Jumnpin' Jack's
1) Mike's First Prize Hotdogs

*) President Chester A. Arthur

went to college here!
Schenectady NY street map (Enlarged from abdve)
!aPAg-5
 - I -- e I -- -- --- ~ -- IY-'' L -L-d LI _- ---
A'

Firefoc : A Thoroughly Boring Perspective

You use a computer. You use the
Internet. To do anything useful, or have the
same experience as everyone else, you must use
Internet Explorer.
The day has come where it can be defin-
itively said: No longer.
On History, and Microsoft
Since Microsoft first realized that the
Internet would change computing with or with-
out its help, the company has desperately been
playing catch-up. From the days of BBS, gopher,
telnet, IRC, and finally HTML, they were content
to follow developments at a leisurely pace. But
as the first graphical browser (NCSA) gave birth
to other browser applications, one began to rise
rapidly in usage, acceptance, and a mass of fea-
tures and ease-of-use. For most users, Netscape
Navigator became synonymous with "the Web"
itself. Microsoft would have none of it. Version
3 of Internet Explorer (IE) gave Microsoft a com-
__ i
_ J_ J_ -
becam as aruu a aka h uligo e -By John Mascher
became as arduous a task as the building of new
features.
Closing the gap
As the dominance of IE grew to a near
monopoly, and our technology and broadband
availability grew, expectations for browsers
have changed. Updates from Microsoft, however,
have been incremental. Instead of embedding
layout and style for a webpage inside its own
content, designers began to use an entirely new
language. This language was far more popular
among designers than the old, sloppy, and hap-
hazard method of cramming an entire site - both
content and style - into one file. Yet, Microsoft's
adoption of this advance was slow. Even today,
there are very fundamental problems with IE's
interpretation of these style files. Making
things more difficult is that each version of IE,
and those made for platforms like Macs, all have
different problems. Making pages that were
obscure browsers, their inclusion and seamless,
tidy integration makes Firefox an impressive
browser and platform for future extensions.
After a short "preview release" period last
month, some final bugs were promptly
squashed, last minute touches added, and the
already refined interface made even more ele-
gant. While millions of people have already
downloaded the preview release in just weeks,
the long-awaited version 1.0 has drawn much
attention and acclaim. Already endorsed before
its release by business periodicals and nation-
al newspapers as a safer, saner choice for users,
more people are bound to pile on to the Firefox
bandwagon. As for future development, rumors
run amok about integration of a new Google tool
for your own local computer's files. Great things
seem to be in store, and Open Source software
may have a new flagship to tout its benefits.
Microsoft Reacts...Sort Of

petitive Drowser. ny
1 .. .- .. . . t» _ _
1",_„
11
111010
* I
tL
,
'
111
t
.110 About three months ago, with the
a .t
',
tQ
111U N0

version 4 their
(frankly superior in
many aspects) product
and shrewd business
tactics (found illegal in
some jurisdictions)
threw a stranglehold on
a drowning, bloated,
and slowing Netscape.
A
.tt
-
mLpsl
L
+,•-
LtU r3UsIr L
Navigator, a product built on an aging and shaky
foundation, proved fruitless. Development of a
new version faltered, and Netscape's version 5
was never even publicly released. Meanwhile, IE
released its version 5 onto multiple platforms
(more on the repercussions of this later), and
Shas by now swallowed a stunning 95% usage in
Sthe browser sphere. The way you see and use the
eb has been shaped, or rather constrained, by
S Microsoft.
.ut blic Trust ; -
After the burgeoning AOL purchased
the declining Netscape, they sunk over $2 mil-
lion into a foundation- called Mozilla - to cre-
ate a new browser from the ground up. All the
work done on the product would be openly
shared to the public, and public contributions
would be solicited. For traditional business, or
(what was seen as) a highly evolved and domi-
nated area, many mocked the move as a waste of
time and money. The project, conventional wis-
dom dictated, was doomed to an early failure.
What AOL/Netscape (or whoever it was in those
companies that budgeted for the project) count-
ed on was a growth and development similar to
other projects that used this model. Open
Source, as these programs are called because
anyone can see and build on the code, already
had two well-known successes: Linux, the oper-
ating source competitor to Windows; and
Apache, web server software that hosts more
websites than Microsoft's once dominant IIS
After years of development with little oversight
other than peer review and consensus, secure,
well-tested, mature, and popular free-of-cost
products emerged. These products became the
proving ground for common standards, coopera-
tive information sharing, and the Open Source
development model. Yet, despite long-term
hopes, early returns from the Mozilla project
were indeed of questionable quality. Even to the
most ardent supporters of open source programsi
and fans of al1 things Not Microsoft found
Mozilla somewhat.. .ess than ideal. Mozilla suf-
fered complaints of slowness, bloat, difficult or
cryptic interfaces, and incomplete or missing
features. Tracking and fixing mistakes (bugs)
basic sort became an Windows XP Service Pack 2, IE got its largest
art of dodging bullets; update in two or three years. Focused on mostly
finding loopholes and fixing security flaws, it managed to include a
flaws to cover and cor- few sparse improvements, such- as--a--pop-up
rect other ones. Less blocking tool. Although there has been no
skilled designers admission from Microsoft, there is common
resorted to giving up agreement that they have begun to feel some
ever having pages look pressure to advance their products. Still, the
the same on multiple next version of IE is scheduled to release with
nlatfnrm. and the next version of Windows, and not as a stand-
browsers, or reverting to ancient methods that alone product. The unwillingness of Microsoft to
undermined speed, features, or ease of mainte- meet the evolving needs of the Internet user has
nance. During this time, Mozilla continued to already produced interesting results. Although
mature. It soon became a suite of Internet appli- exact dates and statistics vary by source, since
cations: browser, mail reader, composer, chat some time this summer, use of IE has declined
client, and more. The sound foundation made it for the first time in over 7 years. Initially just
possible for programmers to create modules and a 1% drop in usage among the otherwise almost
extensions for uncommon and creative purpos- complete domination, observers project that the
es. Advanced features were slipped seamlessly millions of downloads of the Firefox preview
into the new programs, and there soon grew and the expected 10 million downloads of
things Mozilla could do that were impressive Firefox 1.0 this month willyield a more signif-
.: *. , . ..- proofs of concept. Public adoption however, icant shift. How far this trend can carry onwil
could be elusive. Polishing a release by round- depend on the responsMisft akes, and
ing out missing features and making such pow- whether Firefox can continue creating a clearly
erful tools sleek and friendly would be a jour- superior product while using original market-
ney on its own. It was agreed that there was a ing techniques and promising technical part-
need for individual, slim, focused, and clean nerships.
applications made for the casual computer user.
And Finally:
What's in a Name?
To all those that couldn't care less about
Roadmaps for development and public technology; I apologize. I didn't even mean to go
adoption were set. Amid many forks, branches, on for so long, it just happened. Please carry on
backtracking, and caffeine, the very identity of (but, try Firefox).
the project shifted. Several times. What emerged
was a focus on the individually packaged brows- For more information on...
er component, renamed as Firefox. With a slick
new look, a full set of features, and growing Downloading Firefox:
advantages, some less avid Internet surfers have http://www. getfirefox.com/
begun to hear about Firefox. As the development
teams got closer and closer to their technologi- Firefox Marketing:
cal and usability goals, these features began to http://www.spreadfirefox.com/
create pressure on the previously unflappable
Microsoft. The Mozilla Foundation:
http://www.mozilla.org/press/mozilla-
Advantages, and the Arrival of Version foundation.html
1 0
The Open Source Software Movement:
Integration of tools such -as pop-up http://www.opensource.org/
blocking, control of Javascript behaviors, http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/cathedral-
tabbed browsing, explicit password, security, bazaar/cathedral-bazaar/
and cookie controls made Firefox an easy choice
for demanding surfers. An improved search Please note that the epilogue of The
toolbar, customizable and. theme-able interface, Cathedral and the Bazaar directly addresses
easy site syndication and subscriptions, word Mozilla. ,
search bar, and the advent of plugins like mouse
gestures put Firefox in a class by itself. While
most of these features had been available in
branded plugins for IE or included in even more

Page 36

- ---
Before beginning this article, I'd like to
thank everyone who responded to my rant, even
though it was never meant to be published. By
responding to my ideas, you have shown they
have at least a minimal level of validity.
Perhaps in the future I will write an article
addressing the ideas you put forth, though I
doubt I would waste my time doing so. Below is
what a finished article might have looked like if
the editors of The Press had not published my
rough draft (a comical and extremely crude
rant.)
What has become of sexuality in
America? Straight, gay, metro-sexual...what do
these terms mean? I think they mean very lit-
tle. Instead, I subscribe to the philosophy that
a deep loving relationship can be established
with any other human being if one is selfless
enough. In these days, where it can be consid-
ered sexist to attribute any particular gender
role to a...particular gender, it seems we have
become a genderless society. If so, then there is
no male, no female; instead, merely humans with
different parts that can be altered with modern
science. Even our hormonal balances can be
doctored and "treated" to the point where you
don't know if the "man" sitting next to you was
always a "man" or was once a "woman."
Hence, I ask again, from the perspective
of a human born with a penis who dedicates
himself solely to a single human born with a
vagina at one time; what do people mean when
they say they are gay (not lesbian)?
Does it mean they are a human born with
a penis who prefers another human born with a
penis as a sexual partner? If this is the case,
the deciding factor appears to be physical and
not emotional. If the deciding factor were truly
emotional, they would consider themselves
bisexual, accepting humans.with both penis and
vagina (one at a time).
You see, this article is addressing only
those men who insist they are only attracted to
men. I am calling them on their flagrant sexism.
D§3o9ou §ooG od
Devressedbo wh
Gay Equals exism, Per iod
I- --
In this world where "men" and "women" share
and exchange the same roles, attitudes, and
e•.rn•c• n Wlla,
wl icol l
1 c e~aU r
crude, it may be the female menstri
yI
h i l'?
lifestyles, how can one have an emotional pref-
nn xhnt JI .V l
cycle that disgusts them. I found tl
said cycle to be a beautiful demonstra
tion of the females' ability to add life t
the universe. Perhaps they do not. Fo
those self-declared gay men who don'
engage in sodomy, I can perhaps believ
that they are deterred simply by tl
vagina and its cycles, but as for the "g
man" who partakes in sodomy, I can't
how a little blood and an occasional fragrant
smell can offend someone who places his penis
in someone's else colon, There's feces in there,
man! It's disgusting!
Understand this article tries to be for-
giving of men who are so disgusted by the female
anatomy that they resort to oral sex with other
men and give up on relations with women. I
mean, I personally feel bad for the women who
are confronted with sexism every time they
-meet one of these so-called "gay" men..
To those men who call themselves gay
(not bisexual) and engage in sodomy, I implore
you to at least admit you have a bad habit, and
could use some psychological therapy. You
obviously are not disgusted by anything
(rationally), and your only reason to be biased
against women is that you have sexist, precon-
ceived notions about how women act in an emo-
tional relationship. This I can not stand for.
There are women of all kinds of all ideologies.
My only rational conclusion is that you are a
slave to the stimulation of your prostate. This
is why I do not consider you gay, because that
word implies that women and men cannot offer
the same order of emotionally fulfilling rela-
tionship. Instead, to me, you are sexists who
value the pleasure of sodomy more than a mean-
ingful emotional relationship.
What upsets me is that you have a parade
Fuck It Im Moving o Canada
seen~0
.By Ben Bravmann
to celebrate your gayness. You walk down the
street celebrating your disgust towards either
. . druil
U., YVU Pm in-n znl
the female' anatomy or the females' ability to
- iXXthth thi
WILLtI
tifnrti
,U.
L-.tl 11tl UVllNlM
u desire. Again, I find it very hard to
. bIUCU .;LI0,
LI,.UI1ll
elieve that, in this time and country of
nixed rolls, the emotional aspect of
women is what troubles your sensibili-
ties. I am forced to conclude that your
troubled mind is unable to conceive of
nteracting with female anatomy without
feeling of disgust; a rather sexist notion,
idering they have a natural place for
)enis to go that does not also function as
a waste disposal facility twenty-four hours a
day, seven days a week, as the colon does.
In conclusion, I here-and-now declare
the term gay (referring to gay men) as invalid.
You should simply refer to yourselves as sexist,
narcissistic men who cannot accept an anatomy
that does riot match your own. Please come out
of the woman-hating closet and accept your
identity as a bisexual, and replace the gay pride
parade with a human sexuality jubilee.
Note: The axiom of the argument is to
value a person for who they are, t-what- they
are. That is, value a person for their personal-
ity, essence, and soul; not their body parts.
Love them not as a means of getting you off, but
as a human being with a heart that finds common
ground with yours. Lastly, I did not address
women in this article because I wanted to keep
this article short, and people with vaginas
deserve their own article. On a personal note, I
do not consider myself straight except in a col-
loquial sense. I choose women because I value
having a family of my own blood and this is not
possible with a man. Though I will probably
adopt one day because there are so many chil-
dren without parents, I believe having children
through birth is an essential part of life for
anyone who is sexually active.
9es'4
OE
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 __
Seawolves cre Off Black Bears
On a Halloween Sunday the Stony Brook
Seawolves men's soccer team defeatedthe Maine
Black Bears by a score of 1-0. Approximately
400 supporters turned up for the match at
Kenneth P. LaValle Stadium. It was a defensive,
yet entertaining, hard-fought battle from start
to finish.
The home side would immediately get on
the board in the first minute before the Black
Bears even got a touch on the bail. It all started
when striker, Anthony Barberio sent a long ball
for defender Zach Norwood to run onto. Norwood
on the right wing sent a cross for striker Chris
Megaloudis to head it home from 5 yards out.
"We got off to a good start. We struggled later on
in the match and gave the ball away cheaply. We
needed to keep the ball on the ground," stated
Norwood.
The next opportunity for the Seawolves
would come in the 13th minute.
Norwood's outswinging. corner found
defender Mike Salvador on the far post. His
header went right into the. hands of Chad
Mongeon.
Stony Brook would continue to create
Road Tript the Ameri East
.· · -·
Men's Soceb
--·
Boston, Mass- On Tuesday afternoon as I
surfed the Seawolves athletic web site, I saw
something truly shocking. A road trip was being
offered to its supporters. This was not a road
trip for a football nor basketball. But it was one
for the men's soccer team. It was nice to see
some attention given to soccer. Being a soccer
fanatic and realizing how rare this occasion is,
I was definitely not going to pass it up.
Full credit has got to go to the athletic
front office for setting this up on such short
notice after Seawolves defeated Vermont the
past Saturday in a shootout after a 1-1 regula-
tion draw in Vermont. With so little time, the
marketing/communications department was
able to gather approximately thirty fans on the
bus.
It was Wednesday afternoon at 2PM as I
boarded the bus. I was on my way to watch the
Seawolves. take on the Boston Terriers in the
America East semifinal at 7PM. It was my first
trip to Boston and it was quite an adventure.
Just minutes before arrival at Nickerson
Field, things took a turn .for the worse. The
directions available only included the direc-
tions for a car, not the bus. Only vehicles of a
certain of a certain height can go through the
tunnel we were about to go through. With kick-
off time nearing and fingers crossed, the driver
took the risk and succeeded.
Appoximately 460 people attended the
match. Though on the road, the Seawolves sup-
porters were clearly the louder side, as numer-
ous members of the Stony Brook women's soccer
team provided the much needed vocal support
throughout the full ninety minutes.
It was a different story on the field how-
ever. The first half saw most of Boston with the
4Pap-42
opportunities the, following minutes.
Norwood would find Megaloudis on the
left. Catching Mongeon coming out, Megaloudis
de.cided to. chip one from 11 yards out only to
see it sail just high over the bar. In the 24th
minute left winger, Jose Sura, shot from 20
yards out, following a Black Bear defensive
error, sailed just inches wide.
Maine would get their first opportunity
in the 31st minute. A Black Bear forward was
able to turn from point blank only to have the
ball brilliantly tackled away from defender Rob
Fucci. .The second half saw the home side once
again with the better chances. In the 57th
minute, Sura, with a ton of space sprinted
towards goal and laid one off to striker Bright
Animdee. Animdee's effort from 7 yards out
sailed wide of the near post. Seven minutes
later, Sura, given a ton of space once again,
sprinted towards goal and fired one from 22
yards out sailing inches wide of the far post.
Things got a bit physical in the 72nd
minute. It was a 50-50 challenge between strik-
er Chris Scarpati and Mongeon. Scarpati taking
a whack at the ball, connected with Mongeon
Semifinals
1
in Bto
majority of the possession at Stony Brook's end. Certainly, the fellow supporters that came along
The unfortunate happened in the 2 5th minute also deserve a lot of credit for making the trip a
off a stunning goal from Federico Bianchi, in hilarious one.
what would, prove to be the game-winner. ::
Bianchi with a cutback, sent
a bending left footed shot
from 15 yards out to the far
post leaving no chance for
Seawolves goalkeeper, John
Moschella.
The second half saw
the Terriers put on quite a
diving show, 'going down
numerous times a Seawolf
defender went for a chal-
lenge. The referee somehow
bought all the acting and
flashed 'the yellow card
numerous times at Stony
Brook players for non-
bookable offenses. Lon g
balls were lofted by the
Seawolves into the box to no
avail, as the Terriers'
defense remained solid.
The finisher would
come for Boston in the 6 7t -h
minute off a miscue in the
backline. Moschella came
UUL LU
---
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Lco1t;Lt
--..-^ --
a IoUss,
1,.
only
to collide with a fellow defender. Bianchi would
take advantage of the loose ball and get the
insurance goal shoot ing to the lower far post.
It was about 9:30PM when I got back on
the bus. The bus would arrive back on campus at
around 2AM. It was unfortunate to see it all end.
Nevertheless, kudos once again to the folks in
the marketing/communications department.
By Antony Lin
instead. Mongeon got back up and shoved
Scarpati. "It was a 50-50 ball. I read that their
defender was going to head the ball back to their
keeper and I happened to connect with the goal-
keeper. I can definitely understand his reac-
tion. But I thought he definitely should have
gotten a red card for retaliating like that," said
Scarpati.
The Black Bear's first real opportunity
would finally come in the 86th minute. A 24
yard effort from Maine was easily handled by
goalkeeper John Moschella. The shot was
Moschella's first test of the day as his defense
was well organized the entire day.
"We were very good defensively. We
could have been more patient. Young guys are
always a bit impulsive. But we came out and got
the win," said head coach Cesar Markovic.
With the win, Stony Brook improves to
10-5-2 overall and 3-3-2 in the conference. The
Seawolves need a win against Northeastern in
order to assure themselves a ticket to the
America East playoffs.
By Antony Lin
Despite the unfortunate end to the sea-
son, the Seawolves had an
arguably highly successful
season finishing at 11-6-3.
The season also saw a huge
rise in attendance under
coach Markovic.
"My goal is to put
Stony Brook on the soccer
map and to compete on a
national level as soon as
possible. Our team will
play an entertaining style
of soccer that we hope will
receive tremendous support
from the local community,"
Markovic stated before the
season.
rNot to criticize the for-
mer coach, Scott Dean, but
the level of soccer has
clearly improved.
AtteAding matches, for the
last three seasons, I saw a
clear difference between
Dean and Markovic.
1• , •_ .,Y:,. _.- .
Under
.t I-
_ _•
iJean, it Was moure- a oUL
lofting long balls from midfield for the forwards
to run onto. Under Markovic, possession is val-
ued a lot more. The current team is a lot more
patient in the buildup while at the same time,
mixing up the attack. Attractive soccer means
nothing without wins, but coach Markovic has
been able to put together a combination of
attractive soccer as well as winning soccer.
 Seawolves Chew Up Black Bears
OnFriends and Family Day 1-0
By Antony
On a drizzly and cloudy Halloween eve, Few opportunities would come for both
the Stony Brook Seawolves women's soccer s ides in the first half. Neither of the two
team closed out their last home match of the ,oalkeepers were kept busy.
season by the defeating the Maine Black The Seawolves would score what proved
Bears 1-0. About 180 supporters turned up t o be the game-winner in the 1 4 t hminute off
on Friends and Family Day at Kenneth P. a blunder from Black Bear keeper, Tanya
LaValle Stadium. Adorno. Striker/left midfielder, Kelly
Lin
Bahnsen, off a throw-in found striker,
Victoria Feliciano. Feliciano from about 26
yards out chipped one past the outstretched
fingers of Adorno, as she backtracked to no
avail.
The Black Bears would get their first
crack on goal in the 30th minute. A 20 yard
shot from the left was easily handled by
goalkeeper, Cindy Bennett.
The second half saw the visitors pres-

IV1KNO sure heavily from start to finish. Erin

Corey's' shot to the near post in the 47th
minute from point blank was parried away'
from Bennett. Following the save, a-cross w-as_
sent in front to Heather Hathorn in front only
to see her shot hit the cross bar from 4 Yards
out. Seconds later, another low cross was sent
in front only to see the shot hit the cross bar
once again for Maine.
The pressure would continue for Maine.
A hard whipping cross from the right wing
was knocked away by Bennett, following a
quick restart, before a Black Bear forward
could connect on the cross. On the very next
sequence, Bennett would deny Corey once
again saving her 13 yard effort.
Stony Brook would get its first opportu-
nity of the second half in the 5 9 th minute.
Midfielder/right back, Chelsea Van Horn was
able to win the ball at midfield. With right
winger Danielle Lewis making a great run
down the wing, Van Horn was able to send a
brilliant long ball to Lewis leading her to a
breakaway. Her chance from 9 yards out
sailed just wide of the far post.
The Black Bears would get another gold-
en opportunity four minutes later. Following-
a scramble, left back, Jess Rogers, was able to
stop the ball from going past the goal line
following a back-heel shot.
Bennett would come up with the biggest
stop of the game in the 7 6 th minute. The
service off a free kick was sent in from 40
yards out. Bennett was able to deny the
point-blank header to the near post to pre-
serve the 1-0 lead. "Her.e's a quote that I
always use, 'They're a good team, but we have
Cindy (Bennett) and they don't'," stated head
coach Susan Ryan.
"It was a must-win game for us to have
a chance at making the playoffs. We found a
way to win. We await the result of the other
conference game," stated Ryan.
Unfortunately, Hartford defeated
Vermont by the score of 2-1 which eliminat-
ed the Seawolves from the playoffs.
:1 R R. I0 SA_ Nevertheless, Stony Brook still ended the
season with high honors. The team has just

IFrtOU KNOW OR K -O FONATHAN

A Kwro been recognized by the New York Metro
Chapter of soccer officials for sportsman-
ship. Coach Ryan will be honored on
November 16th for the achievement.

+ :T LL S-
\ioI AT KNO . :.
.
Bennett was just named the America
East Goalkeeper of the Year,- defender, Krista
Shilts, was named to the America East All-
Rookie Team, Teliciano was named to the
"2 ' ~4 --. America East Second-Team, and right back,
30.i-NA-L1 tIuNTA"oLR@OAI.OM Kirsandra Seaton, received honorable men-
tions.

SPagf 43

It's approximately six more weeks until
the corporate world's biggest capitalist holiday
celebration is bestowed on the working class
who with short arms and deep pockets are situ-
ated to try and please their spoiled-rotten rich
children and style-Nazi loved ones, and to inch
their noses up their bosses' Hershey highway
just a little more. Therefore, shoppers will try
to do their best to get their deeds done and over
with. Did I mention this holiday was called
"Christmas"?
I work in retail and 95 percent of the
time shoppers are nice, straight, fair, and in-
the-know. However, in the event that other
shoppers are uninitiated, pressed for time, the
full moon is out, or even that they are just a lit-
tle bit more "special"- that the rest of us, their
flaws and habits will happen to show. In fact,
ask anyone else working behind the register or
on the floor at Macy's, JC Penney's, or their
favorite repressive retail work environment and
they will tell you that retail, specifically, will
bring out the worst in people. We don't know
why, just as much as we're still trying to figure
out how the Boston Red Sox plowed through the
New York Yankees and managed to win the World
Series, but that's a totally different subject.
Shoppers will try to bend the rules or maybe
unknowingly get on employee's nerves just to
have their way and have a little fun.
Whether it's to save money, having that
essential item, dressing to impress, or just
wanting to get things done, shoppers will bring
themselves out in a variety of colors and moods
that somehow will peek out for us retailers to
deal and square against. And on top of us dodg-
ing whip-cracklin' managers, doing twenty
things at once, and dealing with lazy rich girls
who only are there because their mommies and
daddies told them to get a real job, there's
always just a little more room to ply your teeth
out of your mouth without the anesthesia by
using your anti-social skills to fend off against
the vicious, greedy, and conniving. Most of us
sacrifice our free time to be here to put up with
their hippopotamus crap, so they should be
thankful that we're doing favors for them.
Hiding in a filth-infested underground
warehouse in some fancy Tiffany gift store, here
is a list we retailers constructed of things that
customers should not do when shopping at their
favorite stores. And if you, a shopper, do hap-
pen to be reading this? Follow it well, and you
won't get hurt.
Don't camp out in front of the
store before opening or hunt us down
when we're not even in the store. If you
really need to hang outside for hours on end
like a group of thugs straight outta' Compton in
front of a 7-11 just to be the first one in the
store, seek professional help and get a life.
Don't ask us for help when we
didn't clock in yet. Give us a chance! Not
until we go to the bathroom, get a drink of water,
and then arrive at the cash desk but not before
we get situated with our perfect alignment of
office supplies, straightened bills, and our
four-point upright standing position where the
aisle number lights are in a straight highway-
like succession, then you can ask us to help.
Don't hunt us down with your
eyes. You'll tend to look like those furry little
ferrets creatures that fear the sunlight and only
come out at night to bow down to your kings and
to scavenger what's left of the waste that are
discount coupons. (Oops, did I say the word
Retail Hell: What NotTo Do
When You're a Custon her
"coupon"? Now it's got me thinking about those
Bingo housewives from Arkansas that I don't
want to have anything to do with.)
Don't have us looking for an item
that you know will either take forever
to look for or is impossible to look for.
After all the blood, sweat, and tears if you
decide that you don't want it, line up in front of
me and deserve to be shot point blank in the
face. (Disclaimer, the Stony Brook Press does
not condone violent acts against other people.
We're really peaceful people, yo.)
Don't be in a rush. You know that waiting very patiently on line. People calling up
you're on your way to pick up your grade-school the store are like the same people who cut in
demon spawn at the bus stop. Then what the hell front of everyone on that line and expect to be
are you doing shopping here? Which leads me to. treated first. Let me put you on hold while you
this...
Don't leave you kids in the car. then I'll answer your question of if we have this
I'm not kidding. If I hear that you're leaving the or that, in which we'll reply with a very quick
car running with your kids in the backseat of a "NO!"
Volvo while you're being rung-out for panty-
hose, I swear I will smack you cross-eyed...
Don't forsake the kids. And when
you do bring the kids out of the Volvo, letting
them run around screaming like Power Rangers
on Prozac while you do nothing but talk to your.
auntie about your vacation isn't going to help,
Don't have us look for a price for
an item without a tag.There are millions of
other shirts in the store that have. tags. Can't
you pick one of those out? Oh, but you want that
one.
Don't reminisce. No one cares about
the time back in 19186on how your sister, aunt,
daughter, or grandma saved all that money
shopping with us...especially when Fleetwood
Mac is playing on the muzak.
Don't use a calculator. Calculators
are supposed to make you look and be smarter.
Playing rocket scientist with a calculator con-
vincing yourself that you saved money at the
desk with people behind you waiting in line
makes you instead look much more stupid.
Don't play storyteller. We don't
need to hear your agony on how you dodged the
Iraqi no-fly-zone, skipped down the yellow-
By Vincent Michael Festa
brick road, and made the left turn at Truth Or
Consequences, New Mexico just to find out that
your Aunt Gelda in Brooklyn didn't like the
snakeskin boots. Just get to the point, because
we're better robots than listeners. And I really
do need to go to the bathroom.
Don't ask us how much a sale item
is. Don't ask us to figure out what the dis-
counted price of the item is. Use your brain
instead. It should work.
Don't call us up on the phone.
There's only two cashiers and thirty people
sit there and listen to Cyndi Lauper for a half-
hour and when the last person on line is done,
Don't bring-your family on line.
Sure, I'll scan you. And while you're at it, bring
in your other five generations so they can be
scanned without waiting in line, and I'll get
yelled at.
Don't ask the same thing over
again. "Excuse me, do I get my %10 off each
item? Don't forget to take off the %10 percent off
the stockings. Did I get my %10 off the stock-
ings? I got %10? Now I get %10 off of each item
of the whole receipt, right? So I did get %10,
right? Wait a minute, you forgot to take %10 off
the stockings. Can you redo the whole thing so I
get %10 off the stockings?" Holy shit, lady! I
never knew you were a fucking game show host!
Damn!
Don't forget to feed your chil-
dren. I eannot stress this enough, people. If
you're shopping with us five times a week and
on each day you're spending $1,000 on us, then
would'you still remember that you have kids at
home waiting to eat? For chrissakes, aren't they
at least worth a frickin' McDonald's Happy
Meal?!
Don't ask for the manager. It
defeats the purpose of me being the Holy One
telling you what the store policy is, only for my
manager to tell me that I'm wrong. That really
bruises my ego, for sure!
Don't sweet talk us. Don't make
those flushed, seductive, crying-eye looks. It's
very repulsive and it doesn't make us want to
give you thirty cents off of your Morrissey-
quality thrift-store shirt.
Don't come in at the very last
minute and start shopping, only for us
to take another half-an-hour after clos-
ing scanning you out. We are closedbut we
will be open tomorrow. We have lives too and do
need to go home to eat dinner, get drunk, have
sex...you know?
Don't come in at the very last
minute toodo massive returns. You'll be a
likely candidate to be turned away to go home
after going 90 miles-an-hour in a 15 mile-an-
hour school zone in your blazin' SUV o' death,
hauling six bags of goods all the way to the reg-
ister. It'll be so funny when we start laughing.
 - ~I
Retail Hell: What Not To Do Continued...
Don't throw your items on the
counter and then look for your tickets.
If you were in a war and came across an enemy
soldier, do you have your gun ready and loaded
or do you tap your enemy's shoulder and then
tell your enemy to hold on while you fidget for
your gun and then get ready to shoot? Same
thing here. The time it takes you to decide
whether or not you really needed the leopard-
skin fur coat for the anti-PETA rally you
could've looked for your papers then to make the
lop-sided profit/exchange experience a little
easier.
Don't jet. I'm not the lantern boy in
your front lawn, standing there like a jackass
when you finally get to the register, drop off
your items, and then decide to get "one more
item" while a line of 50 people are standing
there watching you embarrass yourself.
Don't get over-excited. Wow, out of
nowhere you saved $1.34 on a $3.00 piece of
string. Stop jumping up and down: this isn't The
Price Is Right, and you didn't win anything.
Don't babble on the cell-phone. If
you weren't on the cell-phone looking like a
self-righteous untouchable socialite then we
wouldn't be standing here an extra half-hour
Is business more exciting than dating?
Or have sex/love become business transactions?
If one were to attend a business school,
or own a business, there are specific elements
that are beneficial to understand in order to be
successful. In writing and in business it is
repetitively preached to "know your audience"
in order to maintain effective communication.
Without knowing your audience how can you
satisfy their desires and give them what they
want or need, or keep them coming back for
more, or make them a customer for life?
It may be considered that there is little
humanity present in the corporate world. White
collar, walking suits, the 9 to 5, I need not list
the balaal characteristics. When taking into
account the intimate relationships we form
throughout our lives, there is more of an essence
and enthusiasm attached to them than what one
may feel for investment banking and the Dow
Jones Industrial Average. Do we spend portions
of our day fantasizing about sex or about Disney
stock? However, where is the difference between
the two? There are so many similarities...
Marketing has a core based on what are
referenced as "The Four P's." In no specific
order: Product, Price, Place and Promotion.
Products are to be purchased and then con-
sumed, usually after the item's features are
compared to that of its competition. Do you buy
the computer with the CD burner or the DVD
burner-or both? Or do you have a suppressed
sentimental attachment to your Commodore64?
Similarly when someone chooses to form a per-
sonal relationship there is a comparison taking.
place. Whether it is conscious or not, the advan-
tages of one person over another are analyzed as
well. Honesty, loyalty, and excitement in people
are qualities that add value and a certain guar-
antee that cold, heartless, impotent people can't
offer. This is a good time to have a competitive
edge, unless of course the buyer has brand loy-
alty and will always go after a similar type of
person.
Pricing doesn't necessarily need to
string along the monetary connotation. If it.
were, there would be the cost-oriented and com-
tT
correcting my mistakes now, would we?
Don't flank. Do you see me helping
someone else? Do you see that we're busy? What
makes you so important that you can cut the line
for me to drop everything and help you on your
fantastic magical journey to find a wedding
dress?
Don't cry. People are getting killed
halfway around the world, you're so worried
about a $5.00 off discount. And you drive
around in a BMW while I drive a broken-down
Chevy. You're so amazing.
Don't befriend us. We're not dar-
lings, nor this is The Cable Guy. We're not going
to eat in your little "fish-market" that you
claim to own and operate. Rather, we are the lit-
.tie red riding hoods, you are the wolves.
Remember that.
Don't be nervous. Now if it were a
mint-condition issue of The Uncanny X-Men #1,
I'd understand. What you have is a pair of pants
worth only $19.99. Don't get nervous if I don't
fold it the right Way because more likely it will
probably be on the floor in a hotel room later
that same night.
Buyers and Sellers: Bew;are
7 By Tara Lynne Groth
petition-oriented pricing approaches, maybe
even a payment plan with low introductory APR.
A person may appear affordable, yet the fine
print reveals that an exorbitant balloon pay-
ment will be required down the road. Maybe
this person will become a distressed former
lover who slashes your tires, cha-chingi In mat-
ters of interpersonal relations there are emo-
tional and temporal exchanges as well. Is the
person carrying bumper-stickered baggage of
depression? Or are they invasive and overly
cheerful like'those folks concocting your latte
in Starbucks? You may find yourself thinking
that you have better things (or people) to do
while in their presence. In some areas this may
be diagnosed as Buyer's Remorse! Keep your
receipts, keep your receipts.
Place represents the venues of distribu-
tion: is the product easily accessible? Some peo-
ple just emanate that unattainable glow. When a
product is overly available, it seems everyone
has one, like iPods and downloadable ring tones
(for which most people download the same tones,
defeating the purpose in differentiating them-
selves). In this instance, products become main-
stream: you know what you're going to get. There
is a definite product life cycle. When you pur-
chase a gallon of milk-you know it's not going to
taste better in a month. On the flipside
Twinkies have a longer shelf-life, yet they're
not made with anything real. What a conundrum.
Additionally, with distribution in mind, there
are certain values associated with points of pur-
chase. Meeting someone in a bar or at a barbecue
sheds a different light on their character.
Consumers feel more confident making a pur-
chase where their money can get the most for its
value. We all have what's called a "perceived
value" of products ard stores, and in other peo-
ple. Hot Topic isn't perceived at the same value
as Dolce & Gabbana. In a similar respect, people
who shower are favored over those who don't.
Promoting, or in its early personal
stages-flirting, requires the most investment in
the majority of situations. Singles on the prowl
may utilize the services of personals advertise-
ments in newspapers or on the Internet. These
Do
By Vincent Michael Festa
Don't play yourself. Because 45
year-old women trying on Juicy Couture for 14
year-old girls to attract 18 year-old guys is as
sad and depressing as condoms for small men.
Don't "pretend" to forget. After I
complete your 75-item transaction, the last
thing I wouldn't want to hear from you is "ohhh,
I forgot to give you this coupon Please?!", and
look at mne with those crying eyes. Again...war,
soldier, gun?
Don't ask the age-old question
"do I look fat in these jeans?" If you do,
I'll embarrass you like KRS-One did to MC Shan
back in the 80's. Word.
And finally...
DON'T STEAL. If you can't afford it,
don't bother. That's life. It's not worth risking
your career, your families' well-being, or your
ability to function well in life over a silly toy or
candy bar. I promise you, you will bend over or
eat the banana-split.
The choice is yours. Now you know what
not to do. Don't have me see you in line the day
after Christmas. Thank you for shopping with us
and have a pleasant evening.
are obvious means of advertising and promotion
that are too logical to outline; almost more com-
monsense than conceptualizing supply and
demand. What can be garnered here is the abil-
ity to understand how other people are promot-
ing themselves and then keeping ahead of the
competition. For a girl, wearing a tube top may
milk the attention of a guy by accentuating an
individual's distinguishing attributes. This is a
superficial example'.
Before an investor will endorse a compa-
ny, a business plan must be created and it
requires a description of the business. Mission
statements must be composed, competition ana-
lyzed, examination of the strengths and weak-
nesses must be completed. Much research and
development takes place to accomplish these
objectives. As individuals, an equivalent of an
investor, we describe ourselves to other
"investors," do some "research" by asking a
friend if they know so-and-so, and pros and
cons are tallied in deciding whether or not the
investment will produce a favorable return.
Furthermore, everyone has their own personal
history of "research" between the sheets, which
can make or break a relationship for some peo-
ple.
The similarities between the way busi-
ness is conducted and how we, in a way, "solic-
it" sexual relationships, are not few at all. It
leaves the possibility that our sex drive is
directly proportional to the stock market. Okay,
that would be going too far. But not in jest, there
appear to be innate patterns mirroring each
other in the formation of intimate connections
with people and in the rigid structure business
of functions. One is more of a pleasure source
than the other, yet both operate under the same
logic.
We may each be individual businesses,
sole proprietorships searching to form a part-
nership, or in some cases a corporation. There
are advantages and disadvantages to these forms
of ownership as well, but that sounds like
another article.
 Sigh of Relief. Media Etics: Reporters Privilege
Gasp of Horror. For two issues in a row I've done a little
piece about media ethics. This will be the third
By Dustin Herlich
Laws that protect reporters are common-
ly referred to as Shield Laws. One of the best
By Amy Wisnoski installment in that series, and I hope that in resources for reporters these days is the
The 2004 Presidential election is over. terms of feedback, the third time's the charm. Internet. On the Internet there are many web
There's no more campaigning, convincing, or
I'd love to write a piece that instead of just being sites and societies dedicated to media and jour-
debating to be done. And now that it is done a rant is something more like a reporter's Ann nalistic issues. Some of them, like the Society of
and my team has been squarely defeated, I find Landers, but as of yet, the address Professional Journalists arid the Student Press
myself afforded with the profound opportunity media_ethics@excite.com is yet to receive a sin- Law Center, are invaluable, helping to keep The
to reflect on what I have learned in the past
gle letter. Even from a spammer. That's quite Press among others out of trouble, and can help
couple of years. sad. Send me your comments, your questions, you too. While SPLC is geared mainly for people
The first thing I've learned is that and concerns, and I'll in college, SPJ and The
America seems to have missed the boat as far as do my best to answer
political equality goes. I don't think we should, Reporters Committee
them. I"m nowhere near for Freedom of the
we could, or might elect an African-American, as talented as our very Press are available to
Jew or (emotionality intact) woman as our own Amberly Jane, but writers and reporters
President, I think we must. I don't know why for journalistic mat-
I've taken so long to realize this but I am thor- of every level but
ters, I can hold my.own. geared for profession-
oughly angry with both the Democratic and
Now, on to this week's als already in the field.
Republican parties for completely failing to column. The web site for the SPJ
ever embody an entire half of this country's Reporter's priv- is http://www.spj.org/
population. I am tired of hearing the excuse 11 ..1.'
.. 11 .' - . ..

that women are too emotional, particularly liege is one o0 tne most and the website tor the
often cited, yet seemingly least understood The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the
when our President, penis and all, practically aspects of journalism. Reporter's privilege, Press is http://www.rcfp.org/ the specific site
threw a temper tantrum when he thought he very simply, is the ability of a reporter to pro- for their page on Shield Laws (which is the most
wasn't going to be allowed to respond to what tect their sources, and the reporter being pro- extensive, and has several search and compari-
his opponent had said. I think enough is tected from having to reveal that source in a son options) is http://www.rcfp.org/privilege/.
enough, we've let the men try for the past two court of law. This is actually an issue that has Other sites that may be ofin-terest-on-this-topie-
hundred and thirty years. To be honest, I don't come before the Supreme Court, but for the most are the Student Press Law Center web site at
see how we could do things any worse. part is governed by individual states. http://www.splc.org/ and the first amendment
The second thing I've learned is the term The rights of reporters vary, with states center's page on this issue available at
"anti-American." I really hadn't heard it used like Texas having laws that hurt journalists http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/fa cli-
at all until this election season began, and have more then help to places like California where brary/libraryexpression. aspx?topic=reporters
had quite sometimes to chew on it and decide some of the best reporter's privilege laws can be _priviliege_topic
what I really think about it. And, not surpris- found. Reporter's privilege is a complex matter, This installment is a little lighter then
ingly, I've decided I don't like it. It's a slip- involving considerations of the nature of the the last few, because honestly, I want to see if
pery, completely arbitrary term used to make crime, where it was committed, and rulings of people are reading this or not. Send me some
people feel badly about themselves. On a more past courts. mail, and I'll go more in depth about all this. I
personal note, I'm tired of being called anti- The Supreme Court of the Unites States will say that if you are considering extending
American for disagreeing with certain choices has actually ruled against reporters being pro- reporter's privilege to someone, make sure it's
made by my leader. I mean after all, he is my tected from having to report their sources, but worth it!! Spending time in jail, or having to help
leader, he's supposed to be working for me, so there were some notable dissention letters put someone behind bars you might not want to
if I don't like what he's doing, shouldn't I vocal- handed down with the ruling. Courts of law can send to jail could really put a damper on your
ize that dissatisfaction? Wouldn't it be anti- force a journalist to testify, or hold them in con- day. I suggest that before; you go about protect-
American to just sit back and allow my govern- tempt, but to have the journalist appear in court ing a source, or writing a story that might need
ment to make terrible choices than in no way at all should only come to be if there are no a protected source, you consult one of the above
are representative of what I want done? I mean other options, and there are no other witnesses web sites, which probably does a better job
surely that would be much less in my country's available. Using journalists in this matter writing it all up then I could have...
interest than staying informed and asking com- should be the last resort, but they are no differ-
pletely appropriate and valid questions. ent from any other person in the eyes of the law.
The last thing I've learned in the past
0
couple of years is- that fear is absolutely
incredibly pow-
erful. We were
all terrified
after what hap-
Tired of working
pened in New
York City
September
on
11,
for someone else,
2001. And
sadly, a lot of us
are still scared
man?
now. Fear makes
you vulnerable.
People can be
convinced to do
almost anything
ifthey are scared enough. I think the most dis-
gusting, anti-American, anti-HUMAN thing a
person can do is take advantage of another per-
son's vulnerability. I hope we don't have to
suffer through another event like what hap-
pened in 2001 ever again. But more than I hope
Entrepreneur's Club
for that, I hope that if something like that does
happen again, we are fortunate enough to have General Body Meeting
leadership that will not take advantage of our
trust in them during our time of fear and
vulnerability. And I hope our leadership does-
November 17 t h @ 5:30
n't do everything with their power to perpetu-
ate our fear, but instead tries to make us legit- In the SAC, Room 304
imately safer and restores hope within us. I
don't see hope arriving anytime within the next
four years. But maybe I'm wrong. I hope I'm
wrong. --- --- Is' I -I I
P^ag^4S
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www.stonybrooksucks.com via webmaster@stonybrooksucks.com" info@endlesssummertours.com, info@campusfundraiser.com,
contactmarketing@geico.com, Communications@geico.com, Mobile@mobile.att.net,
info@holiday-stonybrook.com, webmaster@www.staller.sunysb.edu,
If you desire to express your opinion here are a list advertisers to call or email:
Setauket@coachrealtors.com, Portjefferson@coachrealtors.com,
SMillerplace@coachrealtors.com, MountSinai@coachrealtors.com
- ,,, ,, __ -- i
Wanna Know Where You Can Stick Your
Opinions?
(hint: It Rhymes With "Stained-Glasshole")

sbpress@ic.sunysb.edu
or website-it-up big time at

www.thepress. info · · ·I -I
i I
P-age 47
inthe
~ ffice until 4 AM making giant quality isses- and not gtting pa-id,
This is because - unlike SOME people - we beieve working at a cam pus
cub or organization isit own ward. PuIt's damn funr
g r.., -af .' . .Go

SWebeieve that all Undergraduate Student Government membe

shoud be called upon to elimi nate stipends completely.
rsk
Being the people voice shoud be its own reward

f you feel USG should stop paying thenmseves, call the front de
.rnierat Ril
at 2-6460 , eail .Rosaro mnotes.c.sunysb.edu,
or go to SAC 201 and yel at them loudly unti they listen to yozU.
DEATH ESE 2DNE=