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