2 I The Behrend Beacon
Rice gives no assurance that prisoner abuse will end
BRUSSELS, Belgium: Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State, said in a NATO news con
ference that there is no guarantee that U.S. international prison detainees will not be abused in
the future
"Will there be abuses of policy? That's entirely possible," Rice also said at the news confer
ence. "Just because you're a democracy it doesn't mean that you're perfect."
She did assure those in attendance, however, that all cases of abuse in the future will be
investigated. "That is the only promise we can make," she said.
The meetings were held due to the concerns of the United States' European allies about the
conduct of the American government in recent years. Rice refused to answer, however, any
questions as to whether the CIA operated secret prisons in Europe in violation of European legal
and human rights guarantees or about U.S. treatment of European prisoners.
"There is a difference of opinion between Condoleezza Rice and the Council of Europe
because the law of war doesn't exist. We have international conventions. We are fully in favor of
the fight against terrorism, but we have to be aware that certain cases can not be accepted," said
Renc van der Linden, chairman of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Rice also made statements that claimed that no direct U.S. employees would be participating
in the torture of prisoners of the war on terror and avoided the issue of contracting out such
work to countries with far Imor legal protections against such tactics.
Email scams widespread
WASHINGTON: More than one in four internet email users are recipients of convincing
"phishing" scams and pyramid schemes, a recent study concluded.
"What's happening is that more and more people are actually engaging in transactions online
that would generate e-mail traffic that the stammers are copycatting," said Tatiana Plan, senior
vice president at AOL.
"Phishing" refers to the practice of sending emails that resemble legitimate communcations
from banks, insurance agencies and businesses that request information that a third party can then
use in identity theft or bank transfers.
The study also found that over 81 percent of computers have insufficient protection from spy
ware and viruses.
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Ann Coulter calls audience stupid
STORRS, COnnecticut: Ann Coulter, a conservative opinion columnist, was the recipient of
jeers as she gave a speech at the University of Connecticut.
Coulter, who has had problems with college crowds before, decided to change her plans after
getting largely negative crowd reactions to statements about former President Bill Clinton, who
she called "an executive buffoon." Instead, she decided to open up a question and answer ses
sion with the students.
"I love to engage in repartee with people who are stupider than I am," Coulter told the
crowd of 2,600 students and faculty members after the abbreviated speech on Wednesday.
Eric Knudsen, who is a 19-year-old journalism and social welfare major who heads the
group Students Against Hate, was upset by the comments Coulter was making during the
speech. "We encourage diverse opinion at UConn, but this is blatant hate speech," he said.
Coulter also ran into problems in a highly publicized incident in 2004, when students at the
University of Arizona pelted her with custard pies during a speech.
Air Marshals shoot passenger
MIAMI: Federal air marshals on an American Airlines flight to Miami shot and killed a pas
senger carrying a bag and acting in an agitated state.
Rigoberto Alpizar was a passenger on that flight. The air marshals shot him as he was leav
ing the plane at the end of the flight, clutching his bag and clearly 441 a panic. The marshals
claim that he was making bomb threats and walking up and down the plane aisles telling peo
ple he had a bomb.
"Based on their training, they had to take the appropriate action to defuse the situation to
prevent a danger to themselves and also passengers in the terminal," said Dave Adams, a
spokesman for the federal Air Marshals service. "Ho failed to comply with their commands,
continued approaching the air marshals claiming be had a bomb in his bag. And then they
ordered him again down to the ground. He didn't."
Questions are being raised about the official story, however, because not a single passenger
on the flight will confirm it. None recall ever hearing anything about a bomb, nor seeing the
victim stawng up and down the aisles announcing it, as the official report claims.
Furthermore, Alpizar had bipolar disorder, which caused him to become agitated in periods of
high stress. Many passengers recall his wife making statements that he needed his medication,
that she was reassuring him that they'd be home soon and that her husband was feeling ill.
"Rigo Alpizar was a loVing, gentle and caring husband, uncle, brother, son and friend," said
Jeanne Jentsch, Alpizar's sister-in-law. "He was born in Costa Rica and became a proud
American citizen several years ago. He will be sorely missed by all who knew him."
Alpizar was shot at least five times as he exited the plane. The air marshals are now on paid
administrative leave as an official investigation into the events leading to the shooting contin-
Speaker series tackles globalization
By Justin DeSantis
staff writer
jdd22o@psu.edu
The fall semester Speaker Series came to a
close Thursday night, and the final choice was
no less impressive than any of the last few
speakers, just perhaps a little less known.
The speaker series is held by the Sam and
Irene Black School of Business. It is sponsored
by the activity fee. It is also supported by the
Janet Neff Sample Center for Manners and
Civility and the Harriet Behrend Ninow
Memorial Lecture Series Fund.
This semester has been a blend of celebrities
and people who are well respected in certain
fields.
On Dec. 7, it was Dr. Joseph Stiglitz who [sometimes] only see the perspective of the
made the trip. Dr. Stiglitz is a Nobel Prize win- United States and don't have the opportunity to
ner and professor. He won the prize in his field see it from others' points of view," says Dr.
of economics. He received a Ph.D. from the Stiglitz.
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was a Fred Langil saw the more social side of Dr.
member of the Council of Economic Advisers Stiglitz.
for former President Clinton from 1993-1995 "A genuine [sense] of caring; [a] caring for the
and then served as the chairman from 1995- world order," says Langil, about what he had
1997. He was then named chief economist and taken from the speech.
senior vice-president of the World Bank. "Every one of us tonight was being men-
He brought to the world his "Economics of tored," said Langil.
Information" and has made many contributions As for the Speaker Series, most agreed it went
to the world of monetary theory and macroeco- well with a very balanced mix of entertainers
nomics. and people who handle "real world" situations.
Dr. Stiglitz's speech pertained to the world "I liked the mix. It's good also to get some real
market, also known as globalization. The term issues [of importance]," said Sitter.
comes from the idea that all man-made barriers As for his experience at Penn State Erie, Dr.
that separate trade should be taken down. But Stiglitz was most impressed.
such was his style that for every point he made; "It was a very enjoyable, enthusiastic student
he made sure to express the other side of argu- body: they asked a lot of well-thought out ques
ments. Lions," said Dr. Stiglitz.
The speech dealt with the system of world
Classifieds
"I expect to pass through life but once. If,
therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or
any good thing I can do to any fellow being, let
me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I
shall not pass this way again."
Janet Neff Sample Center
fxr Mariam 6. Civility
Friday, December 9, 2005
trade and how some of the advanced nations
have really hurt smaller, developing nations.
"I came a little late, but I enjoyed it," says
Chris Sitter, a senior Economics major. Among
the many points stressed, it was clear that Dr.
Stiglitz's had hit home.
"I was most [surprised] by how the U.S. is not
living up to its agreements," said Sitter. The
U.S., according to Dr. Stiglitz, had made some
promises that they failed to keep.
Dr. Stiglitz himself said that his speech isn't
directed to be anti-American.
"There are two messages to [take] from this
lecture: the United States has to move and cope,
and many policies have been in the wrong direc
tion," says Dr. Stiglitz.
"The second message is that Americans
-William Penn