2 I The Behrend Beacon
Six Sept 11 conspirators face death penalty
On Monday, Feb 11, the Pentagon
announced that it would seek the death penalty
against six men. including Khalid Shaikh
Mohammed, one of the alleged masterminds
behind the Sept 11 attacks. The six men would be
charged with conspiracy, murder in violation of
the law of war. attacking civilians and civilian
objects, intentionally causing serious bodily
injury, destruction of property in violation of the
law of war, terrorism, and providing material
support for terrorism, the first charges to be
brought against any of the 800 detainees at the
Guantanamo Bay U.S. military Prison in Cuba.
Mohammed is also facing the additional charge
of hijacking a vessel.
This is also the first move
in a change of strategy by
the Office of Military
MIAMI
No new eateries coming to Behrend
Continued from page 1
establishments within walking distance around
Behrend would be impressive; not to mention
being ol‘ some assistance to the growing popula
tion. and to some of the students who do not have
the luxury of a car. "The growth of the campus is
a plus, but isn't enough to develop retail or food
establishments solely for the purposes of the cam
pus." He also added that there was some talk of a
coffee shop to be built by the Shannon Exit on
Bayfront. However, that was three years ago.
The Behrend population itself seems to be
increasing more and more each year, so the needs
for such establishments are considered crucial. In
response to Rich Hall. Courtney Gibaud. sopho
more at Behrend. had this to say; "1 think it's
unfair as far as population concerns. We have
more of a population than the Harborcreek- com-
I#.-' ,43*> *" -mK*
Want to write news for The Behrend Beacon?
Contact Lenny Smith at lrsso46@psu.edu or
Matthew Schwabenbauer at mjss3B7@psu.edu
Budget released for student clubs
Continual from pai>e I
student population. Budget approval is governed by
a committee consisting of three SGA members and
six campus representatives seleeted by the budget
committee head. Each request is considered in the
order thev are received.
The twelve remaining groups received amounts
ranging i'rom $l.OOO to no funds whatsoever.
Erin Kennedy, the vice president of SGA and
budget committee head, stated in a short interview'
the three criteria the organization utilizes to distrib
ute the very limited financial pic. First, the clarity
of the request is accessed; SGA will not allocate
funds for a request they do not understand or see
the need for. Second, the request must help fulfill
the official mission statement of the club. Lastly,
financial quotes (proofs of cost) are mandatory.
When emailing each club president for com
ments about their budgets for this article, only two
responses were elicited, one by Jason Baptiste,
president of Trigon and a member of the SGA and
budget committee, and by Caitlin Lovey. president
of the Panhellenic Council.
Quotes on Civility
"Secrets should be Secret, told
only to the Secreter and the
Secretee."
-Virginia Clark Clarkson,
The Alphabet of Civility
Janet Neff Sample Center KSfl
for Manners & Civility
Sources: LA Times. BBC News
Commissions. For the past six years, the commis
sions has been focusing on building cases against
12 detainees accused of lesser crimes. The com
missions’ new strategy is to go after the inmates
with the worst offenses.
Last year, the chief officer of the Office of
Military Commissions resigned in protest to
“political interference.” As the Bush
Administration has been receiving more and
more criticism for it’s policy at Guantanamo Bay,
it has been applying more pressure to the office
of commissions to convict Mohammed, and other
high-profile detainees. Now, with Mohammed
being convicted, it is expected that the current
policy at Guantanamo Bay will carry over into
the next presidential administration.
munity, and if they want the population and inter
est in Behrend to grow, they have to develop the
areas around it to accommodate the students."
Some students also believe that it is to our
advantage to build the new coffee shop, and sand
wich restaurant, because it adds to more of a vari
ety of food establishments on campus. "I feel that
the decision is wrong because not everyone on
campus has a car. and since I really don't appreci
ate cafeteria food, it would be easier to have
another variety within walking distance." stated
junior Sasha Singh.
Students say if there were to be a new establish
ment built on or within walking distance of
Behrend for the sole purpose of the campus, it
would be extremely beneficial. When will it hap
pen'? That's a question still waiting to be
answered.
"I feel that our club gets the funding it asks for
and needs." said Baptiste. "Clubs get funding
based on the presentation of the proposal to us. If
we as a committee feel that this program is unclear,
not organized, or lacks creativity or does not make
sense then we will not fund it.
Baptiste also stressed the importance of speed
when it comes to budget requests. "[T)he people
who tend to w ait to the last minute and turn things
in usually do not get the money because we have
already given it away to another club on campus."
Lovey backed up Baptiste's positive statements.
"I believe most or all organizations, including
mine, have good relations with SGA." stated
Lovey. "SGA takes into consideration all organiza
tions requests, and doesn't discriminate against any
club or organization."
In order to receive funding from SGA. events
must be open to the public. Food requests exceed
ing $75 dollars must be for events based around
food (dinners, luncheons, etc) in order to receive
more than the $75 amount.
NEW.
r i
O
U.S. military to shoot down broken spy satellite
WASHINGTON - The Pentagon announced on
Thursday that the President has approved the
U.S. military to shoot down a broken spy satel
lite. The Pentagon claims that if the satellite is
not shot down, it will land on Earth within weeks.
The government is concerned that if the satel
lite crash lands on Earth, it will release a haz
ardous material that is dangerous for humans.
The material in question is the fuel that powers
the satellite; hydrazine. According to General
James Cartwright, Hydrazine affects humans in a
way similar to ammonia or chlorine, a burning in
the lungs and possibly death.
Deputy National Security Adviser James
Jeffries said this case is different than other space
objects falling to the earth because of, "the likeli
hood that the satellite upon descent to the Earth's
surface could release much of its I,ooolb plus
(454 kg) of its hydrazine fuel as a toxic gas."
Online Wiki
Continued from page 1
As with any Wiki, there are going to be people
abusing the resource. On the front page of the
wiki,there was the inevitable yet insurmountably
obnoxious "We Are" topic, with the body of the
post containing "Penn State." In addition to useless
or empty posts, there were many duplicate entries
of people trying to gain an unfair advantage over
other posters.
One shortcoming of the Wiki is mandatory regis
tration. In order to make posts, you must be a reg
istered user, which is understandable, but to use
some crucial features such as the search bar, you
must be registered. In order for a service such as
this to catch on to the majority of Penn State stu
dents (which is clearly the goal of the Wiki's cre
ators) features must be able to be accessed quickly
Comedian Ronnie Jordan amuses Bruno’s
By Walaa Ahmad
staff writer
wmalo9(?’psu.edu
Comedian Ronnie Jordan had Penn State Behrend
students roaring with laughter during his recent
appearance at Bruno's Cafe on Friday, Feb 8.
Jordan got his start as a comedian by performing
at open mic nights in Atlanta. "It's not easy to make
people laugh." Jordan said. "You have to have the
right settings. In college. I used to make jokes with
my roommates."
"If there are moments the audience doesn’t laugh
about a certain joke. I quickly roll it to something
more funny." said Jordan.
Jordan admits he used to be a class clown. He
used to get in trouble for talking in class, but always
did his school work. Jordan wasn't expecting to
becom a comedian, but he knew that he wanted to
work for himself.
Behrend students like sophomore Rose Skiba
enjoyed Jordan's performance. "He was hilarious,"
she said. "He was easy to relate to. He knew what
was amusing to college students and delivered. I
liked that he could poke fun at himself. His honesty
At least five dead, 17 others wounded in
Northern Illinois University Shooting
Alleged gunman commits suicide
By Matthew Schwabenbauer
assistant news editor
injss3B7(«'psu.edu
At least 22 people were shot at Northern Illinois
University on Thursday, six fatally as of press time.
The gunman opened fire from the stage of a large
lecture hall, emerging from behind the stage’s cur-
Four were pronounced dead at the scene, includ
ing the gunman who turned the gun on himself.
Seventeen of the victims v/ere rushed to
Kishwaukee Community Hospital, six of which
were in critical condition and flown to other hospi
tals. One fatality was confirmed by the hospital,
with two victims being admitted, and three dis
charged. According to a hospital spokesperson,
most of the injuries are head and chest shotgun
wounds.
As of press time, authorities have not released
the shooter’s name or motive.
The shooter was a spring 2007 NIU graduate stu
dent. but not currently enrolled at the school.
"He just kicked the door open, just started shoot
ing," said Kevin McEnery, a student present during
the shooting. "All I really heard was just people
screaming, yelling ‘get out.’ ... Close to 30 shots
were fired."
The class in session during the shooting contains
Although it is not very probable that the satellite
would land near a populated area, Jeffries claims
there is enough risk for the president to be con
cerned about human life. If the satellite were to
crash, the area at risk of exposure to Hydrazine
would be the size of two soccer fields.
To destroy the satellite, the Navy plans to
launch a specially modified missile from an
Aegis destroyer. Gen. Cartwright said only one
missile is planned to be shot, but there will be
three spares in case the first attempt fails.
The National Reconnaissance Office “bird”
was launched in Dec 2006, but shortly after
entering space it’s power failed and communica
tions with the satellite are impossible.
Gen. Cartwright denied that the satellite was
being destroyed to cover up confidential infor
mation.
not as great for Behrend
and easily. For someone just searching for informa
tion on an event, having to take the time to create
an account and then log in to your e-mail to acti
vate the account is a hassle, and quite unnecessary.
It remains to be seen if the PSU Wiki will catch
on with Behrend students as it has with University
Park students. Currently, all of the postings on the
front page of the Wiki are associated with UP. With
such a sheer number of main campus students com
pared to the relatively small amount of students
attending Behrend. there is little room on the Wiki
for our campus. A Behrend-specific Wiki is possi
ble, if there is enough of a demand for it.
Collegewikis has an e-mail dedicated to sugges
tions for Wikis for other universities. If interested,
send an e-mail to suggestions@collegewikis.com
and ask for a Behrend Wiki.
made him seem more confident. I also liked that a
lot of his material was targeted toward the audience,
there wasn't a dull moment. He was 'real' in an
amusing manner.
Senior Dewey Black said Jordan's humor was
great for a college audience. “He was very funny,"
said Black. “Despite the poor turn out. Jordan did a
good job incorporating jokes about college life. He
was good about using self-deprecating humor. He
was also good about making the audience feel
involved by asking questions and shows of hands.”
Samira Hassan. a freshman elementary education
major at Behrend said "I think Ronnie Jordan is one
of the funniest comedians. He made the audience
laugh and by talking about different subjects, he
entertained the audience."
Jordan gave a fantastic performance. He even
used background music over some of his jokes.
Jordan kept the audience involved by asking them
questions. Keep an eye out for more upcoming
events in our area such as; August Rush in Reed 117
and Bowl For The Kids at Eastland Lanes.
162 registered students. The lecture hall had four
exits, two in the front and two in the rear.
Shortly after the shooting, the campus was
ordered into “a lockdown situation" according to
police chief Donald Grady. Eventually, an all-cam
pus alert was sent through e-mail, the university
website, the campus crisis hotline, voicemail, news
media and alarm systems. According to Grady, the
message was “There’s a gunman on campus, stay
where you are, make yourself as safe as possible.”
By 4 p.m., police had checked the area and came
to the conclusion the gunman was alone, and dead.
According to authorities, the shooter had three
weapons. He started with a shotgun then switched
to a Glock handgun and a small-caliber handgun.
NIU events and classes have been canceled until
further notice, and the Illinois governor has
declared a state of emergency. Counseling areas
have been constructed around the NIU campus, and
hotlines have been established.
In December, police found threats on the NIU
campus. Written on a bathroom wall were racial
slurs and references to the Virginia Tech shooting.
Authorities stated they have no evidence linking
the threats to the shooting.
Note: All information and statistics were acurate at
press time Thursday night. A.v with all developing
stories, information is subject to change.
Friday, February 15, 2008