mar • Remember to turn your clocks back on Sunday • The Behrend Beacon .. 4° Vol. LI Share and share all Spanier announces by Scott Soltis managing editor In an "if you can't beat them join them" type of move. Penn State recently announced a shift in its view on file sharing. Originally staunchly opposed to the idea of the tile swapping running rampant across the Commonwealth, Penn State is now going to enable it. While the University maintains its position on the illegality of downloading copyrighted materials via services such as Kazaa, they are currently taking steps to promote legal downloading. At a recent Council of Commonwealth Student Governments (CCSG) meeting held at University Park, Penn State President Graham Spanier discussed the University's view on file sharing. Earlier this year, Spanier testified before a Congressional Committee about the peer 2 peer (P2P) file sharing. He testified that "Higher education is clearly on the record in agreeing with the entertainment community that copyright infringement is wrong, and that P2P tile trading that constitutes copyright infringement is illegal and should be stopped." From here the University had two directions it could go. It could search through the 83,000 students and 5,000 faculty to try and find the lawbreakers, or it could find a way to make downloading the music that students crave legal. At CCSG, Spanier announced the University would choose the latter of the options. The President joked that they would "turn (students) into law-abiding citizens instead of the criminals you are now." This will be accomplished by Penn State's new University- Wide subscription to a downloading service. While the company has not been announced yet, since negotiations have not been finalized, Spanier assured that it is a service with one of the largest libraries of music for download. When this new service takes effect hopefully next semester, "Penn State will be the first University in the country to provide (students) with the ability to stream any music you want," said Spanier. A key word from the president's quote is "stream .. . While Penn Staters will have the ability to listen to music at their leisure, burning it onto a CD or putting it into an MP3 Sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll by B.J. Shields staff writer On Monday two Behrend offices will play host to an upbeat and energetic program called Sex, Drugs, & Rock 'n Roll. The program was created by Family Services of Northwest Pennsylvania and offers an open forum for parents, students, educators and community professionals. They will discuss issues surrounding unwanted pregnancies, transmissions and treatments of sexually transmitted diseases, sexuality, problems with teen and college drug use and detection, as well as legal aspects of drug and alcohol use, Internet safety and healthy relationship building. According to Nurse Practitioner Patty McMahon of the Behrend Health and Wellness Center, the program (prior to next week's presentation) previously had two formats: one for students in high school, and ohe for parents. McMahon, though, promises this presentation of Sex, Drugs, & Rock 'n Roll will be unlike any other program of its kind that students have ever "This new third format has been created to address college students," said McMahon. "There NEWS 1-4 CALENDAR 7 EDITORIAL 5 FEATURES 8 NAT'L CAMPUS NEWS 6 A&E 9 October 24, 2003 Inside new music downloading program for University students Graham Spanier, Penn State President addresses student leaders at the Schreyer House on Saturday. President Spanier's address re volved mostly around the new file sharing program being piloted at Penn State University. player would cost extra. Also, since the music is streamed, the music will only stay on the owner's computer as long as they are a Penn State student. What this means is as soon as you walk at graduation, all of the music files downloaded from the new system onto your computer will expire and be unuseable. This fact caused an uproar at the meeting with delegates from all non-University Park campuses. Many claimed that they would continue to use services such as Kazaa and other P2P for their ability to permanently download music and the ability to burn it. However, once more and more students use the university purchased system, it will be easier to tell who is downloading illegally. will be a DJ playing loud top 40 college music, and an awesome light show." The presentation, open to the public, comes with warnings that it will contain explicit materials, adult language, and contents not suitable for those under 17 years old. "It isn't a shock effect program, though," said McMahon. "Students can expect to learn how everyone is at risk, not just the people standing next to them." McMahon hopes the program will encourage people to develop a sense of community and to take care of each other. She further hopes holding the program at Behrend will contribute to a statistical decrease of STD transmissions and underage drinking offenses on campus. "Much of our community remains misinformed," said McMahon. "Transmissions of STDs are still on the rise." Also on the rise are the numbers of teen pregnancies in Erie County. According to Dr. Carl Kallgren, Director of Administration and Outreach for the Center for Organizational Research & Evaluation (CORE), Erie County's rate of births to single teens is 27 percent higher than the state average. Kallgren also notes that 77 percent of the county's Ilth grade students GREEK 11 SPORTS 13-14 2 8 2003 , No. 7 . 1 4 C O Another question was where the money would come from to fund access to a major downloading service for 83,000 students. Spanier explained that the University was "going to use the money left over in the Information Technology Fee from the termination of the Microsoft contract." So, this new service will not cause a raise in tuition, but rather be a shift in money already being spent. Spanier pointed out that another benefit of the service would be faster access to the Internet. "Penn State has the highest bandwidth there is," Said Spanier. However, while students may have the most bandwidth, they are not the ones who are using it. "Seventy-five percent of all University have used drugs or alcohol. It was CORE's commitment to addressing teen pregnancy that caught the attention of Family Services of Northwestern PA and led to the partnering of the two organizations. CORE, recognizing the mission of the Health and Wellness Center, invited their involvement. The program itself has received national recognition for its frank and open manner of addressing issues that might otherwise not be discussed openly within the community. The program was initiated in April 2001, and the response was overwhelming with more than S(X) people in attendance. Since then, more than 20 presentations have been held, and Erie's local CBS affiliate ,WSEE, has joined rank as a major sponsor. "The station will be broadcasting live from this event and will be shooting footage for a future video," said McMahon. The highlight of the event will be presentations made by four speakers who will discuss the topics. These professionals have been involved with the program in the past and are familiar with their respective subject matters. Following each presentation, the speakers will encourage dialogue and answer questions from participants. NEWSROOM: 898-6488 E-MAIL: Offices are located FAX: 898-6019 behrcolls@aol.corn downstairs in the Reed Union Building Contact Us 1NM1.14 Pages bandwidth is being used by non university computers," explained Spanier. This is due in a major part to the fact that in P2P systems files are taken off of one computer and copied to another. So, even when a student is not downloading, other people from across the globe can be uploading from their computer. The University is hoping to make the service available to all on-campus residents at Penn State this upcoming Spring. Expansion to off-campus students is planned for Fall 2(X)4. Whenever this service does take effect, it will mark a major shift in the University's position on downloading. One that, while not perfect, is considered to be a step in the right direction for most students. "They won't be standing there just reading slides from their Power Point presentations," said McMahon. Larry Dombrowski of the Erie County District Attorney's office will speak about the legal aspects of drug and alcohol use, sharing examples from local profiles. Tracey Thomas, a drug and alcohol prevention specialist with GECAC, will discuss aspects of substance use and how it affects decision making and the co-occurrence of diseases such as mental health disorders and STDs. Fran Reinsel of the Erie County Department of Health will discuss sexuality in relationships, and offer information on treatments and sources of assistance for those who contract STDs ur become involved with substance abuse. Anne Rydzewski of Thurston House will be sharing valuable insights for people who work with adolescents, as well as speaking about issues surrounding unwanted pregnancies. In addition to the speakers, roughly 15 local agencies will have tables set up with literature and representatives to answer questions and offer assistance to students concerned about the issues being discussed.
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