2 I The Behrend Beacon
Pirates seize U.N. food shipments to Somalia
NAIROBI, Kenya: Pirates seeking to sell goods on the black market have twice hijacked
emergency food aid destined for ports in Somalia.
The merchant vessel MV Miltzow, and its cargo of 850 tons of foodstuffs, were pirated while
pulling into the port city of Merka, near the national capital of Mogadishu. This new piracy
occurred only 10 days after the buccaneers seized the MV Semlow for nearly 100 days.
"It is scandalous that a small number of profiteers would once again hijack humanitarian food
supplies destined for fellow Somalis," said Robert Hauser, the director of the U.N. World Food
Programme for Somalia.
The pirated aid was intended to relieve famine conditions for more than 78,000 Somalians in
the Jilib district that has suffered from flooding, violence and crop failure in recent times.
The Indian Ocean near the Horn of Africa has some of the most dangerous waters in the
world. The two emergency relief vessels captured are added to a fuel vessel that was seized ear
lier this year that services the ships that deliver food aid to the embattled region.
Many ships are now refusing to provide shipping service to the region without armed escorts,
which has left aid officials searching for alternate transportation methods such as airlifting and
overland trucking, both risky endeavors in areas controlled by ruthless warlords and peasant
militas.
Volcanic activity in Alaska increasing rapidly
ANCHORAGE, Alaska: Several volcanoes in Alaska are showing new signs of increased
volcanic activity as residents witness eruptions of ash and smoke.
Seismologists reported Tuesday that three volcanoes, two in the Aleutians and one southwest
of Anchorage, have been responsible for several tremors that have shaken the area, as well as
repeated emissions of steam and ash.
Dave Schneider from the U.S. Geological Survey said that the growing ash emissions "are a
lot easier to see now than they were in the summer because you have fresh snow."
The last major series of eruptions in 1992 from many of Alaska's more than 40 active volca
noes blanketed the landscape in ash and debris, causing disruptions in civil services and bring
ing both commercial and non-commercial travel to a near standstill.
New grant offered to student parents
By Justin DeSantis
staff writer
d„22o.lisivedu
student's tuition, but the cost mation provided by what the
of childcare. The choice for student reports on their
the students involved FAFSA.
includes whether or not they The Pell grant is available
want to have childcare pro- to all students, but the
easy. vided by the school or by a amount totaled is based on
For parents trying to pay private institution. The only certain criteria. For instance,
for their own college tuition, stipulation is that the child- students who attend part-time
it can be that much more care provider must be will receive proportionally
challenging, a challenge that licensed by Pennsylvania. less than those who attend
the federal government will "Student parents contribute full-time. The calculation of
help to alleviate. to the diversity of the Penn the grant is determined by the
Enter an increase to the old State community," said Linda amount of money the family
childcare grant, a part of a Pierce, manager of University of the student, or the student,
federal disbursement program Park's Work and Life can provide towards educa
offered to University Park. Programs. tion. The number is then sub-
The university will receive The amount of money pro- tracted by the total cost of
$300,000 over a period of vided is based on the age of tuition, and that indicates the
four years. The subsidies will the child or children and student's total financial need.
he distributed to all Penn whether or not they are "With additional federal
State campus locations. As attending full or part time funding, Penn State will be
required by the Department daycare. able to lower the high cost of
of Education, students who As far as why the grant childcare for hundreds of stu
receive Federal Pell grants money is based on loans dent parents across
will he given priority. Those available to all students, not Pennsylvania," said Pierce.
who do not receive the Pell necessarily just those who are This new grant replaces the
grants can apply for future student parents, Linda Pierce old grant that had been
subsidy distributions. cannot say. "I'm not sure offered to student parents pre-
The U.S. Department of why the federal government viously. That grant was start-
Education gave Penn State uses that as their measuring ed four years ago and expired
the maximum grant as stick, but they do," says on September 30th of this
allowed by the Child Care Pierce. year. The new grant has
Access Means Parents in There is only one uniform added an $BO,OOO increase
School Program. The grant standard set for colleges or over the old grant.
will help adult students who universities wanting to apply Additional information can
attend college and face the for the grant. Penn State met be obtained form Linda E.
prospect of trying to raise that qualification by having Pierce, at the Office of
children at the same time. total Pell grants for all stu- Human Resources at
It is available on a first come, dents meet or exceed University Park at (8l4)-865-
first served basis. Therefore, $350,000 for the preceding 4046. Information about how
the money isn't equally dis- fiscal year. The Pell grant is to apply for the grant can be
tributed. If 50 students at distributed by the federal found at the website
Behrend apply first, then they government. It is a grant dis- www.ohr.psu.edu/worklife/su
will receive the money first. tributed to eligible students bsidies.htm.
The money does not cover a by calculating financial infor-
Paying for college is never
Classifieds
"The highest result of education is
tolerance. "
Helen Keller, American social activist,
public speaker and author (1880-1868)
Janet Neff Sample Center
for Manners 6 Civility
has led to a 400% increase in reported video game-related counseling within the last year.
South Korea, which boasts the highest levels of broadband Internet connectivity in the world,
has made a major industry of video gaming. Three cable channels are devoted to nothing but
live and recorded game matches, with televised specials of tournaments and events.
Professional players of games, such as Star Craft, can earn upwards of $lOO,OOO a year and sign
lucrative endorsement deals for food items and computing products in much the same way that
professional athletes do in the United States.
The most recent gaming-related death in South Korea was in August, when a man who had
been playing Star Craft for over 50 hours straight died of stress-induced heart failure after col-
Source: CNN.com lapsing at his computer.
1 f E Vy
The pictures are of a student destroying a wall
of the Stair Tower of Penn State Erie. However,
pictures only tell a small fraction of the story. This
time they told a story that, at face value, seemed to
be a clear cut case of vandalism hitting hard. The
huge hole in the wall had to have been caused by a
vandal or a certain number of vandals. The stu
dent was not immediately available for identifica-
Lion or questioning.
"Call it reckless behavior," said Chief Jim
Amann of Police & Safety.
The still frames caught a student who seemed to
want to ruin the campus. Although that's the way
it appeared to people and faculty who run Penn
State Erie, it was actually an act of unintentional
damage. The hole was covered up last week, and
as of last Friday had yet
to be completely fixed.
Also, there appeared to
have been more dam
age done as other stu
dents picked away at it
The student called
and turned himself in to
Student Affairs even
before the incident was
reported to Police and
Safety. The incident
occurred over the
weekend of Oct. 7. The
Police and Safety office
wasn't informed of it
until Monday, almost
three days after the
damage was done.
That means that the
student most likely
admitted to the damage
immediately after caus
ing it. Since the alleged
vandal turned himself
in, and agreed to pay
damages, it was consid
ered an unintentional
act. The student has
accepted full responsi
bility for the damage he
caused. There were
even restitution pay
ments that are being
planned for him to
make. Chief Amann
determined this to be
sufficient and said
there wouldn't be
charges pressed.
"We didn't have to go looking for him," said
Chief Amann.
Even though the intent wasn't to cause any dam
age, the act could still be classified as criminal
mischief. The fact that the damage was done unin-
Heavy rains bring flooding to the Northeast
TRENTON, New Jersey: A huge storm system has dropped as much as 10 inches of rain in
some parts of the Atlantic northeast, causing severe transportation problems and increasing the
possibility of voluntary evacuations along the eastern seaboard.
Several major highways were swamped as storms continued to lash large areas of New York,
New Jersey and much of New England. The high levels of precipitation overwhelmed many
small streams and rivers across the region, ultimately resulting in several deaths as vehicles
were swept away by walls of water.
"I looked out my window and all I could see -- straight down -- was water, right up against
the building," said Sean Weeks, al9 year-old New Hampshire resident. "I saw all this New
Orleans stuff happening and I was thinking, 'This can't happen to me,' then bada-bing, bada
boom, it just happened."
The widespread flooding caused the destruction of hundreds of homes from Maine to
Pennsylvania, and is responsible for at least 10 deaths. Several governors and mayors are hop
ing for federal disaster relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
"There is no way we could foot this bill," said Greenfield, Massachusetts mayor Christine
Forgey.
Clean-up and recovery efforts are continuing despite the threat of renewed rains, which could
cause yet more flooding.
Video game addiction becomes national problem in South Korea
SEOUL, South Korea: The problem of video game addiction in South Korea is quickly
becoming more of a problem, as nearly 35% of its population considers themselves "obsessive"
game players.
More and more light is being shed on a problem that has already claimed several lives, and
Student admits to reckless behavior;
2 .
a t r-vt-%:)„,3 to pay T or c tr i p i ,,, q .-- 104 ,
( 4 ,/ 9 , Saee , ' 9 e, 44,
By Justin DeSantis
staff writer
dss22oo psu.edu
Damage to the wall in the stairtower is gradually being repaired
Friday, October 14, 2005
tentionally severely lessens the amount of punish
ment administered.
However, had the damage been labeled as van
dalism, the penalties would have been much
stiffer. Vandalism, legally speaking, is the act of
knowingly destroying or desecrating religious
areas, public works, or other type or state and fed
eral buildings.
The grade of vandalism is a felony of the third
degree. It is graded as such if the person who does
the damage desecrates or defaces property in any
way, or if there is damage totaling more than
$5,000.
Of course, that is all subjective legal talk. It
would be relatively difficult to say that someone
set out to destroy something and then turned him
self in. At any rate, the damage cost will have to
be paid, regardless of intent. There were no avail
able estimates.
As far as this being a motivator towards
installing cameras, Chief Amann said he only
knew of one other location that will have cameras
and that is the REDC building being built.
"Justice was served," said Police and Safety
Chief Amann.