BOMB SCARES
immediately evacuated again.
Not only was Reed evacuated, but
so was Academic, Erie Hall, the
Glenhill Farmhouse, and the
Carriage Houses. Everyone was
told to reassemble by the tennis
Courts.
"Police and Safety decided to
evacuate people from the
Academic Building as a safety
procedure," said Burke. There
was no suspicious object found
outside of that building, but
Burke explained that student and
faculty safety was top priority.
The Erie City and Millcreek
Bomb Squads were contacted
immediately.
Many classes were in session at
the time of the alarm; students
and professors were both engaged
in presentations.
"I was giving a presentation on
persuasive song lyrics for my
SPCOM 230 class, and I was in
the middle of a sentence when the
alarm went off," said Kevin
Fallon, a fifth-semester
communications major.
Dr. Dan Frankforter, professor
of ancient and medieval studies,
was in the middle of a religious
studies class. "I wondered why
some students left their
notebooks behind," chuckled
Frankforter.
At approximately 2:00 p.m. the
Bomb Squads used their own
materials to blow up the device
as a precautionary method.
At about 2:15 p.m., students
and faculty were admitted back
into the buildings and classes
resumed almost as usual.
University to limit abuse of bandwidth
by Erin McCarty
associate editor
At the Provost's Advisory Com
mittee meeting which was held on
Friday, March 30, Vice Provost for
Information Systems J. Gary
Auguston spoke with committee
members about various computing
issues
One of the largest of these con
cerns was that a minority of students
throughout the University is down
loading excessively, slowing down
the connection speed of the Penn
State community at large. Most of
the offenders live in residence halls,
which Behrend Network and Infor
mation Systems Manager Ron
Hoffman notes is true for this cam-
pus as well.
"Students have reported how slow
the residence hall network is com
pared to the Computer Center,"
Hoffman says. "We have our fair
Slippery Rock speaker presents slide show on Civil War
by Mark Benko
staff writer
Award-winning author Dr.
David Dixon detailed the
experiences of the common Civil
War soldier from Pennsylvania in
a slide-show presentation given
last Thursday night. The lecture
emphasized the impact of the war
in letters, journals, and diaries left
behind by those who fought it.
Dr. Dixon, professor of history
at Slippery Rock University, has
written many books on the Civil
War, including The Hero of
Beecher Island: The Life and
Military Career of George A.
Forsythe. Dixon has a Ph.D. in
American History from Kent
State University, and is a
Commonwealth Speaker for the
Pennsylvania Humanities
Council.
"A simple constellation of
values" including courage, honor,
dignity, and sacrifice, are
reflected in the artifacts, declared
Dr. Dixon. Haunting depictions of
terror, sadness, and even some
humor peppered the scenario in
which the common Pennsylvania
soldier found himself.
The lecture was filled with
interesting facts unknown to the
general public. Did you know that
share of abusers.'
border to curb abuse and speed Coordinator Todd Say. "Each fau
up the connection for the majority cet that taps a water main diminishes
of Penn State community members, the flow of liquid a little until finally
the University has begun to issue the last water line user has the po-
"Network resources can be envisioned as a water
pipeline: each faucet that taps a water main dimin
ishes the flow of liquid a little until finally the last
water line user has the potential to have little or no
pressure at their tap."
warnings to those who use a dispro
portionate amount of bandwidth.
The 300 most serious offenders
have been advised that their service
will be reduced if they fail to cut
down on their activity.
"Network resources I bandw h
can be envisioned as a water pipe-
the youngest Civil War soldier in
the state of Pennsylvania was only
12 years of age? The oldest
documented active soldier was
83, and the average age was 22.
Another interesting and
somewhat unusual tidbit revealed
by Dr. Dixon was the occurrence
of women in disguise serving as
men. One such example was
shown to the audience on the slide
projector. The reasons surmised
for this phenomenon ranged from
women who wanted to remain
close to a brother or husband, to
transgendered patriotism.
"Drummed out and discharged"
was the solution the Union Army
applied to these problem
volunteers, according to Dr.
Dixon. He also stated that he was
surprised at how many
documented cases of women
soldiers the records showed.
Most Pennsylvania soldiers
worked on farms, in factories, or
in mines. The vast majority had
no military experience. Card
playing and talking about home
helped to counter the boredom
and loneliness that accompanied
basic training, but once the
fighting started matters of
survival seemed to take
prominence.
In many batiles it is
FROM FRONT PAGE
says Student Computer Lab
-Todd Say,
Student Computer Lab Coordinator
tential to have little or no pressure
at their tap." To help ensure a free
flow, University Park will begin,
starting this fall, to prioritize net
work resources according to the
amount of instructional support for
which those computers are used.
"It is hoped," Say said, "that these
initiatives will combine to provide
a stable network that meets the edu
cational needs of all of the
Residence halls will receive a low University's computer users."
documented that as many as 7,000
men were killed in the first 20
minutes of fighting, but even
more men were killed by disease
than by bullets. Dr. Dixon relayed
touching stories of dying men
struggling to write one last letter
home before the inevitable
occurred. He read aloud from
some of these poignant artifacts,
which brought home the horror of
Dr. Dixon described makeshift
and unsanitary hospital
conditions, amputations due to
gangrene, and lack of antibiotics
as major obstacles for the men. He
included these descriptions in his
portrayal of the battle of
Gettysburg. He also showed how
these conditions helped people
move up in rank rather quickly,
due to such a high casualty rate.
There were 350,000 men from
Pennsylvania who fought in the
Civil War. No other war in
American history claimed as
many lives. 2% of the U.S.
population was killed, and yet
men continued to re-enlist.
Dr. Dixon informed the
audience that most of the men
feared being conscripted again
after their three-year term had
been completed. Rather than fight
along side recruits they did not
r
I\i EA V\
priority rating, leaving the greatest
amount of network capability for in
structional support and research.
Ideally, each student, faculty, and
staff member should have enough
bandwidth available to meet his or
her academic needs.
University Park's Office of Food
and Housing and Office of Telecom
munications will impose the guide
lines fur acceptable usage.
"Real University business on the
Internet is being hampered by the
excessive use of bandwidth from the
residence hall connections, - said
Hoffman. Say agreed that students
need to be made responsible for
their use of resources and hopes that
the University's plan will he suc
cessful.
know, they would quickly re
enlist as a matter of survival. Such
was the strength of the bond
formed between men whose lives
depended on one another.
Dr. Dixon was asked what the
letters revealed about the common
soldier's attitude toward slavery.
He answered the inquiry by
stating that there was little or no
concern in the beginning of the
war, and that most documents
show the preservation of the
Union as the primary concern of
the soldiers. It was only after the
Emancipation Proclamation that
mention of the moral crusade
appeared, although comradeship
and mere survival was foremost
in the minds of the men, not high
ideals.
Dr. Dixon concluded his
remarks by reading from a letter
that was written by a soldier
shortly before his death in battle.
It spoke of the willingness to die
for the right to maintain a
government by the people and for
the people, and maintained that
this was the legacy of the struggle.
In recounting the horrors of the
conflict he stated that if we forget
this legacy of the Civil War, it
could still be lost.
THEFT SUSPECTS
the names of the suspects, though
both are Behrend students. Formal
charges have not been made yet.
"Charges haven't been filed but
will be soon," said Donahue. "[The
suspects] will be charged with three
of the projector thefts."
On January 2 projectors were
stolen from Nick 170 and Witkowski
109. Another projector was stolen
from Academic 41 on April 9. One
of the projectors was located in New
York and is in the process of being
recovered by state police there. If
convicted, the students will be
responsible for an estimated $15,000
in theft.
"The investigation is being led by
Trooper James Brown of P.S.P. He
has a very heavy case load and is
working very hard on this case even
though it's not one of his more high
profile cases," said Donahue.
These crimes were a third degree
felony and are part of an alarming
trend of rising theft that has hit the
campus in the last year or so,
Donahue said at the time of the theft.
Donahue recalled that he has not
seen theft to this degree in all seven
years of his tenure at Behrend.
The maximum penalty for a third
degree felony in Pennsylvania is a
fine of up to $15,000 and a prison
sentence of up to seven years.
In February, as far as possible
motives were concerned, Donahue
speculated that reasons could range
from simple vandalism to resale for
profit. The crimes could also
involve someone who wanted the
equipment for personal use, or who
simply didn't want to have class that
day.
"The crimes in the past year have
been more serious than we normally
deal with," stated Donahue.
On April 9 a janitor reported the
most recent theft from Academic.
The thief bypassed several security
measures while removing the
projector from its overhead bracket
and cutting the wires leading to the
computer in front of the classroom.
Also, the locked computer stand in
the podium at the front of the
classroom was broken into in order
BEACON CHANGES
easily accomplished.
Wynne would also like to continue
to promote the Beacon and Behrend
by participating in community
service projects and working with
local high school students. Under
Snyder's guidance the Beacon made
a concerted effort this last year to
become more involved on campus
and in the community. Some
projects included visiting the elderly
at Brevillier Village, working with
March of Dimes, and supporting
campus activities, like Feed the
Need, spirit stations, the Student
Government Association, and
political events like the debates co
sponsored with the College
Republicans.
Dr. Speel, who will be on
sabbatical next spring, has been an
adviser to the Beacon for the past
five years. Mr. John Kerwin, a new
addition to the communications
department, will be taking over.
Other staff leaving the paper
include: Katie Galley, editorial page
editor; Jermaine Hardy, features
editor; Deanna Symoski, arts and
entertainment editor; Christine
Kleck, associate editor; Amortya
Sinha, money page editor; Kristine
Battik
ONLINE
ett
www.clubs.psu.edu/
beacononline/
FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2001
to retrieve the remote control for the
projector
"They have a special security kit
that are made for computers,
projectors, and A/V equipment.
They use aircraft grade steel cable
and chains. There are also alarms
on the projectors," said Mario Loreti,
an instructional service specialist
with Media and Instructional
Support (MISC). "It takes a special
tool to remove them as well."
Since the cables leading from the
projector to the computer go through
the walls it isn't just a simple matter
to replace the missing projector. The
room will have to be rewired.
The monetary value of the
projectors isn't the only concern for
administration. "Whoever walked in
and took this projector [was also]
stealing the ability of the college to
provide quality education." said
Donahue.
Behrend's MISC is doing
everything possible to replace the
missing equipment and keep the
negative effect it has on classes to a
minimum.
"One problem is these projectors
are chosen because of their features
and ease of use. It seems as soon as
we find the perfect model they stop
making it," said Loreti. A new
model will have to be selected to
help replace what has been stolen.
Behrend is taking steps to reduce
theft of technology equipment on
campus. "We are investigating it
actively, and the state police have
been made aware of the theft," said
Donahue. "There have been
cameras placed in some of the
computer labs to monitor activity.
And other security measures are
taking place to help reduce theft."
"We are working on a completely
different installation method," said
Loreti. With these changes to
Behrend equipment, Loreti believes
theft should be deterred.
"I would encourage anyone with
information that would help us
resolve the case to get in touch with
us at 898-6101 and they can talk with
any of the Police service officers or
myself," said Donahue.
Harakal, business manager; Ainslie
Ulmer, public relations manager;
Doug Smith, distribution manager.
As it now stands, next year's staff
will consist of the following: Rob
Wynne, editor-in-chief; Jeff Miller,
managing editor; Paige Miles,
assistant managing editor; Liz
Hayes, news editor; Mike Bello,
sports editor; Kate Levdanksy
Petrikis, assistant sports editor; Karl
Benacci, features editor; Erin
McCarty , assistant features editor;
Abby Long, editorial page editor;
Emilie Mague, wire service editor;
Jeanine Noce, arts and entertainment
editor; Kelly Walsh and Kristin
Rodgers, photo editors; Becky
Weindorf, copy editor; Joshua
Hilewick, associate editor; Sarah
Orr, health page editor; Ann Marie
Havey, advertising manager; Neil
Makadia, business manager; Jason
Alward, office manager; Jon
McLaughlin, website editor; Doug
Butterworth, tech support.
There are still openings on the
Beacon staff for the fall. Positions
available include editors, editorial
columnists, and staff writers. Those
interested should contact the Beacon
at x 6488 or behrcolls@aol.com.