2 I The Behrend Beacon
Astronaut to run Boston Marathon in space
BOSTON. Massachusetts: Although far out of the country, astronaut Suni Williams plans
to run the Boston Marathon from an altitude of approximately 210 miles.
Williams was qualified to run in the Boston Marathon by running in the Houston
marathon in January and recording a qualifying time. Unfortunately, she won't be able to
compete because the launch of the shuttle Atlantis was postponed and she will be in orbit.
Using bungee cords to attach herself to the International Space Station (ISS) treadmill,
Williams will run the marathon in space.
"I considered it a huge honor to qualify, and I didn't want my qualification to expire
without giving it a shot," Williams told the Boston Athletic Association, who eventually
emailed her an official bib number so she could run in space.
"She thought it would be cool if she gave it a try," said Williams' sister, Dina
Pandya. who will run with 24,000 other people on Earth. "She said. 'l'll call you on
Heartbreak Hill.'"
Unlike other runners. Williams will not have access to frequent aid stations, and
even worse, no hot bath when she finishes.
Communications students visit continued from page 1
This bathroom of 636 East 22nd Street is just one of the uninhabitable scenes, which Jim McHenry must continue to
clean and bring up to the Erie health codes. Two Ily traps hang from the ceiling, both of which are completely black from
the dead flies clinging to it. It is nearly impossible to imagine a family with six children once lived in these conditons.
Creature Week controversy continued from page 1
moved from it, the university does not take discrim
states, "But more of a foolish act carried out by one ination lightly, in fact it has rules and by laws that
or more immature students." He also adds that he state the penalties that will occur if discrimination is
believes most of the students on this campus are reported. The site
respectful, but unfortunately
there are a few students who states discrimination is conduct of any nature
behave in ways that can causel haven't seen very that violates the policy set forth above by
"problems." In those cases, the denying equal privileges or treatment to a
strong
par
student is brought into the judi- cases of ticular individual because of the individual's
cial affairs process and is racism on this cam- age, ancestry, color, disability or handicap,
charged with the violation that pus." national origin, race, religious creed, sex, sex
fits the act they committed. The ual orientation gender identity or veteran sta
consequences are different
based on the act. Some conse-
quences are the separation
between the abuser and the vic-
tim, and expulsion. In some cases, such as hate gently to find out who is behind these acts. The
speech, there are fines and jail time because this is a Multi-Cultural club has moved forward in their pur-
In reference to the discrimination on this campus, everyone. "I think the title 'Multi-Cultural' implies
Herrera states, "I haven't seen very strong cases of there are a number of cultures involved in this organ
racism on this campus. I have only seen cases of ization. It's all in the name." If anyone has any infor
misunderstandings." Although the students have oration regarding the "Creature Week" incident, they
- Andres Herrera,
MCC Adult Advisor
suit of diversity, and Herrera implies that it is for
Ashley Bressler/THE BEHREND BEACON
Although most of the acts have been report
ed, they have yet to be proven and the
University and its staff are working very dili-
(" 1 1
ie)
Earthquake and Tsunami devastate Solomon Islands
GIZO, Solomon Islands: An earthquake and tsunami that devastated several small island
nations in southeast Asia also destroyed most of the area's boats and canoes, hampering res
cue and emergency supply efforts.
What supplies authorities were able to obtain were delivered to the city of Munda,
but even though the other islands are relatively nearby, the total destruction of all the meth
ods of transportation by the tsunami have made distribution amongst the over 500,000 peo
ple on the chain of over 200 islands nearly impossible. Even the residents' canoes were
obliterated.
"The recovery operation is not going as fast as expected because of delays here in
Honiara," Prime Ministerial spokesman Alfred Maesulia told The Associated Press.
"Suppliers don't have the volumes of relief materials we need to send."
The official death toll of the disaster was raised to 34 on Thursday, with at least
5,500 people homeless.
Weeks ago, the tenants were evicted from the home after destroying the neighboring house just six
months prior. The two buildings were recently sold to an Erie man. Jim McHenry, and his business part
ner. McHenry said, "I didn't know what I was getting into...my friend always has crazy ideas." McHenry
said that his friend told him of two houses that he bought and was going to renovate and sell, and he want
ed McHenry as his partner. McHenry agreed without seeing the property first. "I remember the first day
we went inside...the front door was boarded up so we went through the basement." He said how the base
ment was sound and seemed like it had a good foundation; it was normal. He went up the stairs to the
first floor door, opened it and he said, to say the least, "That wasn't normal."
A combination of trash, human waste and animal filth filled the rooms waist-high. "Every room was
full, [there was] no path to get from room to room," said McHenry. The second and third floors were the
same. The floors were buried in animal fur and feces, only to he covered by thin layers of newspaper to
be saturated over and over again by feces and urine. The smell of urine saturates your clothing as your
head began to feel dizzy from the inconceivable living conditions of the tenants. The heat from the sun
came through the rusted-shut windows baking the piles of filth to release a stench so real it was physical,
thick, and heavy, consuming you, weighing you down; you began to drown. "You can only do it for like
three days. Then you got to get away from it," said McHenry as he was explaining how he was manag
ing to clean out the building.
Young explained, "I took them to the house so they could gain first hand experience reporting. And so
they could understand the world of the safe structure beyond Behrend." The cleaning team was forced to
shovel the garbage out the windows of the house into the alley to be scooped up by a bulldozer and
dropped into dumpster containers. McHenry has already filled six- 30 cubic yard dumpsters. A white
laced baby shoe lay by the
dumpster and a broken baby
bottle atop the wall of garbage.
A closer look into the wall of
garbage, past the rusted cans,
empty beer bottles and torn
clothing, were small children's
toys, pacifiers, and stuffed ani
mals. Children were living in
this house. Senior Heidi
Brackbill said that, "As a
future educator I don't know
how a teacher couldn't realize
what these kids were going
through."
Three names, Kristie, Laren,
and Mathew, were scribbled
onto the wall of what seemed
to be a small bedroom. This
room, like the others, had to be
shoveled out. The only things
left were cartoons stuck to the
wall and a short article that
Mathew had written for his
school newspaper.
Mineweaser said that, "I think
children are too innocent to
realize." The walls were
stained with children's hand
prints and coated with the
same film as the other rooms.
McHenry said, "There was
one clean room and warning
written on the door. I assumed
a girl lived there because of the Erie resident, Jim McHenry is the current owner of 636 East 22nd Street. He bought the
stuffed animals... she would house after an unknown family filled it with trash. McHenry knew the house was in bad con
have had to step up over the dition, but took on the task of restoring it with the hopes of donating it to Erie DAWN.
trash to get out", said
McHenry. This room was the only bit of normalcy in the whole house. McHenry tried to explain how a
home can become so out of control, but could only say, "The only thing you can do is stop trying to fig-
ure it out."
Behrend faculty works towards equality continued from page 1
started discussing the issue and are making an
effort to evaluate more qualified female professors,
not based on gender. They have also started a peer
mentoring program to help keep the qualified pro
fessors at Behrend. For example, a tenured
Biology professor may support an incoming non
tenured Engineering professor and act as a mentor.
Also, the campus has a College Ombudsman to
hear any complaints that may arise.
Burke and his staff are continuing their efforts in
making Behrend a more diverse campus, dealing
with both women and minorities. "I am committed
Friday, April 6, 2007
Source: CNN.com, Yahoo! News
y BreWera
to making Penn State Behrend an inclusive and
welcoming campus for everyone," said Burke.
One of his solutions is recognizing gender and
race issues and bringing it to the attention of the
administration. He encourages faculty members to
bring these complaints to the University's atten
tion. He said, "Towards this end, I am asking that
if you encounter situations or have concerns relat
ed to diversity, civility and educational equity,
please bring them to the attention of your School
director, the College Ombudsman or my office."