I The Behrend Beacon
Hamas wins Palestinian parliament vote
RAMALLAH, West Bank: In a stunning defeat of the traditional ruling party of the Palestinian
Authority, the Islamic fundamentalist group Hamas won a surprising 58 percent of the votes.
Hamas, which won 76 seats in the Palestinian parliament, soundly defeated Fatah, which has been
in power for several years and only held on to 43 seats.
President Bush, who has been pressing for democracy in the Palestinian Authority and the rest of
the Middle East, was less than accepting of the people's choice.
"We don't have a government yet, so you're asking me to speculate on what the government will
look like," Bush told reporters Thursday in the White House. "I have made it very clear, however,
that a political party that articulates the destruction of Israel as part of its platform is a party with
which we will not deal."
Bush continued, stating that it was a sign that the people were not happy with the lack of a resolution
with Israel. "Obviously, people were not happy with the status quo," he said. "The people are
demanding honest government. The people want services. They want to be able to raise their children
in an environment in which they can get a decent education and they can find health care. It's a
wake-up call to the leadership."
The major issue surrounding the election is that Hamas has been known to support specific
Palestinian terrorist groups to make its voice heard to an Israeli government that would rather ignore
them. However, in addition to the support of terrorist groups, it also runs a system of charities and
schools in the Gaza Strip, making action against the group a politically touchy issue.
A statement released by acting Israeli Prime minister Ehud Olmert read, "I will not negotiate with a
government that does not meet its most basic obligations -- to tight terrorism. We are prepared to
assist the Palestinians and 'Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas] very much but they must meet
their commitments."
The election was very successful in terms of those turning out to exercise their rights to vote. It is
estimated that over 77 percent of the eligible Palestinian population turned out to make their voice
Mustafa Barghouti. a member of the Palestinian National Initiative, a democratic opposition party,
said, "Wednesday was a great day for Palestine. This is the best democratic practice ever in the Arab
world.'
Behrend Briefs
It's that time of year again when spring is right around the
corner, and graduation consumes the thoughts of our hard
working seniors. As a salute to our dedicated senior class, we
must decide upon a special gift to send them on their way.
Previous Senior Class Gifts include the Lion (03-04 i, flag
pole at the Baseball and Softball fields (2002) and most
recently the benches (20051. Many will he happy to hear that
a process is underway for establishing a permanent home for
the Lion near the Junker Center and the Smith Chapel.
Currently. a selection committee of students and adminis
trators will meet throughout the spring to establish a list of
potential gifts for consideration. We are asking YOU for youi
thoughts and ideas regarding the 2006 Senior Class Gift. The
committee will stop accepting ideas on Feb. 6. 2006.
Students will then vote on the particular gill, one they believe
will he most beneficial to our Behrend Community.
If you are interested in helping to leave a lasting mark on
Behrend. please contact Meghan 800 l at meb332o psu.edu or
Jed Smith at jjs.423o"psu.edu.
GlObill Internet security team , ' are warning that
theW32.Blackmal.Eo mm e-mail worm, initially released on
Jan. 17, is programmed to implement a very destructive rou
tine that repeats on the third day of each month. The worm,
which is scheduled to begin this malicious acdvity on Friday,
Feh. 3, replaces the contents of files such as Word documents
Excel spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations. Students
are reminded to keep their antivirus programs updated.
Back in
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Best-selling book author exposed as liar
CHICAGO, Illinois: James Frey, author of "A Million Little Pieces" and "My Friend Leonard,"
recently appeared on "Oprah," the show that boosted his hooks to bestsellers to explain himself
after his "memoir" was exposed as mostly fictional in a special investigative report.
"It is difficult for me to talk to you because I really feel duped ... hut more importantly I feel that
you betrayed millions of readers," said host Oprah Winfrey during the show.
A special investigation recently published by The Smoking Gun showed that nearly everything
that supposedly happened in Frey's life story was either heavily embellished or fabricated entirely,
including a three-month jail term that Frey never served and makes up a large part of his story. His
actual time served was about six hours. The report goes on io note that any private dialogue that
went on in the book occurred with people that are either dead or there is no proof that they actually
existed at all. No records from police stations in at least four states corroborate any of his sup
posed oftenses, and no one who knew him during the periods of time his hooks cover confirm any
of the "facts" they contain.
The new statements from Oprah mark a drastic departure from her earlier comments defending
his books and the messages they contain. "I left the impression that the truth is not important," she
said.
"I made a mistake," Frey told Oprah during the interview Thursday. He went on to explain that the
same demons that caused his drug addictions and criminal history made him "mischaracterize"
himself in his memoir.
New Earth•llke planet found
WASHINGTON: Astronomers have discovered a planet that may be similar to Earth circling a
star about 20,000 light-years away.
The discovery was made using a new technique that uses the gravitational fields of other nearby
stars and objects to magnify and amplify the light reflected off planetary bodies before it reaches
the Earth, where astronomers with telescopes are then able to observe it.
The discovery is part of the new Project OGLE, or Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment and
is part of roughly 500 observed lensing events a year.
"This is an important breakthrough in the quest to answer the question 'Are we alone? — said
Michael Turner, a representative of the National Science Foundation. "The team has discovered the
most Earth-like planet yet, and more importantly, has demonstrated the power of a new technique
that is sensitive to detecting habitable planets," he said in a released statement.
The planet, temporarily named OGLE-2005-BLG-390Lb, is about five times as massive as the
Earth but estimated to have a cool surface that could possibly sustain life. It is located in the
Sagittarius constellation near the center of the galaxy
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Police and Safety
1/18/2006
Suspected Marijuana in Niagara Hall. See incident
1/20/2006
Complainant reported that his driver's side window was smashed
on his VW Passat sedan sometime between 0030 hours on
01/16/06 and 2200 hrs on 1/19/06 as it sat in Jordan Rd. Lot.
1/24/06
Discovered fraudulent permit on a green Ford Taurus parked in
the Turnbull Hall Lot. Sec incident.
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