CCT 0 7 200* THE BEHREND BEACON Friday, October 1, 2004 Students receive crime alert Scam artist calls for bank information By Maggie Causgrove On Sept. 23, an e-mail was sent out to all Penn State Behrend students with the subject line, “Crime Alert.” The purpose of this e-mail was to inform all students here on campus of individuals making fraudulent solicitation calls to students on campus. The e-mail stated that a student was contacted by a person stating he/she was randomly selected to receive a state grant between $B,OOO and $25,000 for educational purposes.. The catch, however, was that this student was to give out his/her banking information in order for the grant to become pro cessed. “These types of calls come from solicitors hop ing to get requested information from people, said Mr. Jim Amann, manager of Police and Safety Ser vices. “However, these con artists go onto banking and financial websites as well and send emails re questing the same information as they would in tele phone calls through what look like official web pages. They duplicate the information off these websites and send those out to students who they hope will believe it.” Mr. Amann said they look authentic and ask for a questionnaire and return request. However, when you return the information, he said the information Bruno’s was busy on Thursday night with students taking part in Dl first of four sessions in which students watch and then discuss the debates Inside Mark Cole concludes research, SPORTS, Page 11 “The Forgotten” movie review. STUDENT LIFE, Page 6 CONTENTS News 1-4 Editorial 5 Student Life 7-8 Sports 10-12 CONTACT US Newsroom: 898-6440 Fax: 898-6019 E-mail: behrendbeacon@aol.com Our offices are located down etaire In the Reed Union Building. staff writer A Penn State Erie Student Publication does not go to a bank or financial company, but to some stranger who then has gained access to the person’s private account. This scam is also known as PHISHING, he said. This phrase refers to a person who believes the scam and will “bite on it,” just as fish bite on a line. As far as he knows, Amann said that he is not aware of this type of soliciting happening before here at Penn State Behrend. Ken Miller, Director of Student Affairs for Behrend sent out the “crime alert” email to all stu dents. “Whenever there is a crime-related issue we need to share with students, we send out campus wide emails,” he said. The purpose of these e-mails is to inform all students about the nature of these scams and to let them know it is very possible to believe them. If students are contacted here on cam pus, a report should be placed to Police and Safety Services. In order to keep all students safe and in avoid ance of these scams, Mr. Amann said, “I caution any student in regards to giving personal/financial information over the phone. Banks do not solicitate—students would be notified by a letter, not the telephone if that was the case.” The student who received the call for his/her per sonal information contacted Police and Safety Ser vices and reported the call on Sept. 23, the same day the call was made. Religious leaders discuss the American dream By Alicia RafTensberger staff writer The Institute on the American Dream will begin activities this semester with a series of speakers throughout October. The series will give students a chance to raise questions about the American Dream and discuss issues in a question and answer debate-type format giving students a chance to voice their opinions rather than just listen in a lecture for mat. The institute’s main purpose is for Behrend stu dents to explore both the bright and dark sides of the Dream by asking the questions: -“Where did the American Dream come from?” -“Who wins and who loses?” -“Is it a sly way to blame the victims?” -“Can the dream help hold society together?” The mission statement of the Institute on the American Dream is to “define, analyze, and com pare concepts of individual, ethnic, and national American dreams, seek their origins, and evaluate who wins and who loses under the various defini tions.” On Oct. 5, the first designated speaker of the se ries, Charles Brock, Senior Associate in Religion and Director of the Institute of the American Dream, will speak at 7:30 p.m. in the Smith Chapel on top ics such as the ones listed in the mission statement. Brock will be discussing some ideas on American Dream Fundamentalists such as the perceptions stu dents have of the American Dream. “The American Dream goes all the way back to Thomas Jefferson and his fight for equality in the Declaration of Independence,” Brock said. Brock hopes to raise awareness of the American Dream. “A college education should help ask ques tions, ‘Why are we here?’ ‘What are we doing with our lives?’ ‘What are we doing this for?’ ‘Why do DREAM, continued on Page 3 Campus construction update A plethora of projects planned The REDC, the sidewalk in front of the Reed Union Building, Senat Hall and the expansion to the Junker Center parking lot are only a few of the many construction sites from this past year. There are many more to come. One of the major construction projects is the REDC, which is located on Jordan Road, south of the Chapel. It will be approximately 160,000 square feet The Research and Economic Development Cen ter will be the new home for the School of Engi neering and Engineering Technology, as well as the School of Business. This new development will greatly enhance facilities for more computer labs, classrooms, and permanent offices for the faculty instead of the temporary offices around campus. It will have 17 classrooms and 100 offices. John Ream, Director of Business and Operations, said that the architectural firms of Weber, Murphy, Fox and NBBJ teamed up to design this exceptional building. The Research and Development Center design is unique because on the north side of the building there are three stories, whereas on the south side of the building it appears to be a one-story building. Certain authorized students will be able to access the building 24 hours a day by using the card activated locks. This was the The estimated cost for the Research and Devel- ID cards undergo change New options for unsatisfied students There is a list of minor problems surrounding the Penn State idCards. Affecting a select number of students, cards have been ringing up with dollar amounts that are foreign to the card-holders them selves. There is no single identifiable problem or easy solution to fixing the ID card situation. The Penn State ID cards can be used for a variety of beneficial purposes by staff, students, and retir ees of PSU alike. Several programs exist like Lion Cash Plus and Diners Club that gives the cardholder a 10 percent discount on food at Bruno’s Caf6. These cards are also essential to on campus students of Behrend, acting as their key and allow ing access to their respective dorms. Without these cards, a person would not be able to function as normally as they would like. One occurrence of the mishaps with the ID cards came from Julie Kosin, EDUCA 01 , whose card rang up as having an amount of money on it that she knew was not true. “I was frustrated more than anything,” said Ko sin. “I almost ran out of time to eat that day be cause I had to wait for the problem to be fixed be fore I could go back and get my food” says Kosin. Kosin regularly uses her ID card to go about her day. “I would say I use my card at least once, maybe twice a week at Bruno’s or the cart in Hammermill.” Most of the time, these minor inconveniences can be described as “growing pains” said Director of Housing and Food Service Operations, Randal Geering. “The changes we’ve been making are ul timately going to make it easier for students attend ing Behrend.” The changes he is referring to are the different By Emily Hannah staff writer By Aaron J. Amendola staff writer opment Center is approximately $3O million. The building of the REDC should be complete in Feb ruary 2006. The REDC is being built by the Gen eral Contractor, E.E. Austin. There are many com panies working on the Research and Development Center. For example, subcontractors are working on the painting, electrical, air conditioning, and plumbing. Another project was the sidewalk renovation in front of the Reed Union Building. The sidewalk was tom up due to safety hazards. The sidewalk was deteriorated and was beginning to create divots, causing difficulties for students, visitors, and fac ulty to walk along it without tripping. This past summer, construction was completed on Senat Hall, which now houses part of the fresh man class. This residence holds 150 students. Also, they added parking spots to the Junker Center park ing lot. There are also going to be more projects in the future with the addition of parking spaces. In the future, Ream is looking to place directional signs along Jordan Road and Station Road. This will help first time visitors find their key destina tions a lot quicker and with much more ease. Also, in the future there are plans on making renovations to Dobbins Hall with the intension of expanding the building. After REDC is complete, Ream in tends to add a large classroom to the building. Ream said that the contractors are doing an ex cellent job with the progress of the building. He also said that they plan on having the building un der roof by the time the snow flies. cards Behrend students are using this year, as op posed to the cards used last year. The previous year’s cards had a special chip in them that kept track of a person’s money. This year’s cards have a single metallic strip that is superior to the chips in many ways, including how easy they are to replace. It was very difficult to track the chip’s data where it is fairly easy to keep track of and replace the new ID cards. One of the ways students are having trouble with their cards is that Behrend students may be putting money onto the wrong accounts on their card. “Stu dents just need to realize the differences between the Lion Cash Plus program and the Debit PNC pro gram,” said Geering. “Without realizing it, students may be depositing money into the wrong accounts.” The Debit PNC program allows students to use their card as a credit card wherever PNC allows, though it is not usable at Bruno’s. Lion Cash Plus is a pro gram used solely for on campus merchandise. “We are currently working out the odds and ends with the ID cards...we are working on more ben efits students can get while using their cards,” said Geering. “We hope to have all of the vending ma chines hooked up to the cards by the end of Octo ber as well.” Soon, all of the campus’ food services will be accessible through the ID cards. The Office of Hous ing and Food Service Operations are doing all they can to improve the overall experience students get while using their PSU ID cards. The students that do have problems pertaining to their cards can stop by the ID card office on the second floor of the Reed Union Building. For more information on the ID cards and their various benefits and offers, visit www.idcard.psu.edu. Vol. LII No. 6
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