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THE BEHREND B A
Friday, April 21, 2006
Motor malfunction creates smoke in apartilient furnace
By Christopher LaFuria
sports editor
c , ,150050 , p5u edu
A motor malfunction in an apartment heating
system caused a smoke outbreak Sunday just
before 9 p.m. A resident assistant and Behrend
Police and Safety responded to an alarm from
Packet Hall room 306 and found the complex
filled with smoke. from the top ceiling down five
or six feet. After the initial Police and Safety offi
cer received word of a possible fire, the officer
notified East County Communication Center who
proceeded to dispatch Kuhl, Brookside and
Lawrence Park fire departments.
As the fire departments arrived at the scene,
workers searched for the source of a fire. When
they found no source of a flame, they identified
the source of the smoke as a motor malfunction in
the heating system. The smoke was dispersed
throughout the room by the heating vent, which
continued to fill the entire room with the smoke.
Randy Geering, director of Housing and Food
Services said, "With any mechanical unit, you
will have an occasional malfunction. This will
cause smoke to fill the area. As the smoke reach
es the blowing vents, the smoke is then spread
throughout the entire area."
When the alarm sounded, the surrounding
apartments were evacuated until the source could
be identified and, if possible, extinguished. After
two hours, no damage was found and the smoke
was cleared out of the room. Students were then
allowed to re-enter their rooms. Police and Safety
kept a vigilant eye on the apartment and the heat-
Find out who won Mr. and
Ms. Penn State Behrend
Page 8
Contents
News 1-3
Editorial 4
Humor 6
Student Life 7-8
Sports 9-10
Cont:,No is
Newsroom:
898-6488
Fax:
898-6019
E-mail:
editorinchief@psu.edu
Our offices are located
downstairs in the Reed
Union Building.
ing unit
After the fire alarm was activated in the partic
ular room, University Park was notified immedi
ately. Due to the 24-hour monitoring of the
alarms from various campuses, University Park
officers are the first to respond to the campus fire
alarms. A Behrend officer was directly informed
to alert the people and determine a problem. On
Sunday night, the officer noticed the smoke and
alerted the dispatch center. In addition, alarms
have a tendency to be activated by such things as
candles and incense. University Park officials and
Behrend Police and Safety can determine if the
alarms are activated for serious instances.
Some Behrend students have expressed concern
over the safety of the heating system. Sean
Ruhlman, whose apartment endured the same
problem with heating units, said, "Something
needs to change with the heat system. Behrend
needs to update its systems and find better units.
The same thing happened in our apartment two
months ago, so it may be a reoccurring issue."
Officer Jim Amann, chief of Police and Safety,
credits the precise execution of the administration
for the swift and decisive actions in eliminating
the problem. "If a fire alarm were to go off, under
policy, the on-duty officer is dispatched to ascer
tain the situation. Based on what he observes, it
is up to him to notify East County Community
dispatch center to see if a fire department is need
ed."
"The smoke detectors and sprinklers worked
exactly how they should. All phone calls to the
administration were correctly made.
Administrators made the proper decisions,"
e stu
By Nick Underhill
staff writer
To many, the off-white house at 610 North Buchanan
Boulevard in Durham, North Carolina symbolizes every
thing that is wrong with their community. The house is
located just a few miles off of the Duke campus and is home
to the captains of Duke's Lacrosse team. The school's ath
letic programs generally set the standards of excellence at
the school, allowing them to boast about how well they
compete against top-level teams and still maintain a level of
academic excellence. On March 13, all that changed when
a party, with alcohol present, occurred inside the walls of the
house, leaving the school with a black eye that it may never
recover
from.
T h e
party was
attended
by as
many as
40 of the
47 mem
bers of the
lacrosse
tea m .
Some of
the upper
classmen
at the party
were of
legal
drinking
age, but
most in
attendance Collin Finnerty and Reade Seligmann, shown left to right, are facing accusations of rape
were not.
There were also two exotic dancers commissioned for enter
tainment. One of them, a black, single mother of two and a
student at nearby North Carolina Central University, claims
she was held down, strangled, beaten and raped by three
men after being pulled into a bathroom.
The issue has caused controversy on Duke's campus and
the neighboring community of Durham, who feel that the
school allows its students athletes to act as if they are above
the law. In a recent TV interview, Dinushika Mohottige, a
Duke student who is a member of their Progressive Alliance
program, said that many of the problems plaguing the cam
pus will now surface. "I'm sure this incident will bring to
light a lot of the privilege issues that exist on this campus.
This is a wake-up call for the university," Mohottige said.
Another former Duke student, Kelly Jarrett, who now
works at the university, recently expressed her distaste for
the University in an ESPN interview, "They tell Duke kids,
`Don't go into the big, bad Durham community.' Well now
they can get violated right here on campus. The admistra
tion does well to take a position that protects the rights of the
young men. They've done a poor job at articulating the
rights of those who feel violated and threatened by their
behavior."
In a one page public letter from the "Concerned Citizens
A Penn State Erie Student Publication
ents accuse
nru Ioo@psu.edu
Local fire de eartments res sond to a smoke outbreak at Packet Hall. No one was in
Geering said. "Everything happened the way it that were not inspected. Furthermore, there was
was supposed to."
There was no sign of faulty motors or utilities room
at Duke University" that was addressed to Duke President
Richard Broodhead, the group stated, "It is our impression
that the university is cultivating and sustaining a culture of
privilege and silence that allows inappropriate behavior to
plague the campus."
Brian Streeter, Penn State Behrend's Athletic Director,
feels that Duke is doing all they can with the information
that is available. Streeter said, "It's an unfortunate situation,
but the athletic director and president there are doing every
thing they can. They canceled the season, the coach lost his
job, it's a bad situation. These people need to be held
accountable, and they should step forward, but everyone is
being quiet, so the university did what it could." He added,
"Accusations have been made and if no one steps up and
points the finger, then they all have to take the fall together
and that is what
players in all, had
been charged
with other alcohol related crimes in the past, such as under
age alcohol possession, loud noise and public urination. The
story stated that most of these charges were resolved
through pleas that would protect them from criminal convic
tions.
After the incident, the school allowed the team to carry on
as if nothing had occurred. They played two games against
North Carolina and Cornell and initially, only intended on
forfeiting two games before putting an end to the entire sea-
The season's cancellation came after a member of the
team, Ryan McFayden, who is an Atlantic Coast Conference
honor roll player, sent out an e-mail describing how he was
going to put on an encore of the party where he would kill
and skin strippers in his dorm room.
"I plan on killing [them] as soon as the[y] walk in and
[proceed] to cut their skin off," he wrote before going into
vulgar terms describing how he would find the act sexually
satisfying. He signed the letter with only his jersey number,
41.
Lacrosse
continued onto page 2
o assau
is happening.
You have to
stand behind the
accusations; you
can't let them go
on to compete,
but the facts
have to be there.
We would handle
the situation the
same way."
Critics claims
were further con
firmed after The
Raleigh News &
Observer pub
lished a story
showed that a
third of the Duke
lacrosse team, 15
7 2006 Vol. LIII No. 28
no location of a fire or any evident damages to the
t an
Assault vic-
tams are
supported
By Jennifer Haight
news editor
Many college students are concerned with
safety on their campuses in light of the alleged
rape at Duke University. These students' needs
are met with facililties that offer assistance
such as personal counseling and on campus
clinics.
Penn State Erie is prepared to face cases such
as sexual assault, date rape, rape, domestic vio
lence and other forms of abuse. The Health and
Wellness Center can administer an emergency
contraceptive within 120 hours of intercourse
for $4O. There is a process though; a pregnan
cy test will be given and Director and Nurse
Practitioner Patty Pasky McMahon is available
for consultations.
If a rape occurs, it is important that the vic
tim immediately get to a safe place and keep all
physical evidence and do not bathe. Contact
the Health and Wellness Center or Police and
Safety, get medical attention and contact a
close friend or relative who can provide a safe
environment.
There are also personal counseling services
offered at Behrend. The counselors offer sup
port groups, individual counseling and confi
dential and free services among others for Penn
State Erie students. The counselors are Sue
Daley, staff psychologist; Nicole Kirkpatrick
,personal counselor and Dr. Ulus, consulting
psychiatrist.
The staff can help if anyone feelings a vari
ety of strong emotions like fear, anxiety,
depression, guilt, disorientation, powerless
ness, shame, shock, disbelief, embarrassment,
denial and/or anger. They can also help if phys
ical problems such as sleep disturbances, nau
sea, stomach problems, change in eating habits
and nightmares are experienced. Personal
Counseling can also help with confusion and
lonliness.
The office hours for personal counseling are
8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and appointments are pre
ferred. Crisis services are available twenty-four
hours a day, every day at 456-2014, or by call
ing Police and Safety at 898-6101. For those
who live off campus, the Crime Victim Center
is available at 455-9414 twenty-four hours a
day.
ured in the incident
rape
nev,seditor(a psu edu