I The Behrend Beacon
O'Brien to visit
NEW YORK: When Conan O'Brien first noticed that he looked exactly like the president of
Finland, he probably didn't expect it to turn into a major news event with international political con
sequences. Instead, his talk show has become a major international news event.
Stemming from jokes that his show was popular in Finland only because he closely resembled their
president, Tarja Halonen, O'Brien soon started making regular segments, jokingly comparing the two
and highlighting the wonders of the Finnish countryside.
"Why do I support Tarja Halonen? Because she's got the total package: a dynamic personality, a
quick mind, and most importantly: my good looks," O'Brien told the Associated Press in an interview
last month.
When the time came for Halonen's re-election campaign, O'Brien began airing fake commercials
endorsing Halonen in Finnish during segments of his show, which airs three days later in Finland. In
an odd twist of fate, his timing could probably not have been any better, as the resulting publicity and
popularity of the show may have been what boosted Halonen to a close victory in the polls. Now all
that remains is a runoff election against her main opponent and O'Brien may have made an impact on
international politics by installing his first national leader based on popularity alone.
"Once I conquer Finland, I'll head south through the Baltics and on to Belarus," O'Brien joked.
"Soon, all the world will find me mildly amusing."
O'Brien left for Finland on Thursday and will be taping several segments showing that they are not
in fact the same person, and also doing several brief interviews. He said that he looks forward to
meeting his double in person.
The airing of O'Brien's late-night talk show will resume on Feb. 28, after network NBC completes
its coverage of the 2006 Winter Olympic Games.
UN Security Council received Iran notification
UNITED NATIONS: The Security Council of the United Nations received on Tuesday the formal
notification from the General Assembly that action should be taken against the continuance of Iranian
nuclear research
While Iran continues to claim that research is only being done to further national goals of reliable
nuclear power, a peaceful endeavor, several nations including the United States, France and Germany
have united in an effort to express concern over possible nuclear weapons research.
Iran broke UN seals on several storage sites and nuclear research items last month in what it said
was a legal effort to improve nuclear power production. Now that the issue has been raised in the
UN, that matter is for the Security Council to decide.
"The process has begun," said a U.S. spokesman for the UN.
Dobbins stair "case" solved
By Keith Richard Golembiewski
staff writer
k i , g so2 psu.edu
A staircase is under construction between
Dobbins and the Behrend Apartments that
will allow students from the top of campus
to access Dobbins. New walkways are
under construction as well. The new paths
will support increased traffic on campus.
Academic facilities on the Behrend campus
will nearly double with the addition of the
REDC. This will result in more students that
will he on the upper side of campus, giving
students the opportunity to stop by Dobbins
for lunch, instead of Brunos. Al Vogan, the
Assistant Director of Food Services
explains. "More kids will be up here, more
going to the REDC or Junker Center. A lot
more traffic during lunchtime will increase
the chances of a student stopping through. -
Since the center of campus is moving,
Dobbins is expecting more traffic, and to
accommodate this. Dobbins will be remod
eled. The project is estimated at a little over
$6 million. Because the lower level of
Dobbins is mainly storage. it will be trans
formed.
This will utilize all of the unused space to
expand Dobbins. "The entrance on the north
side of the building you will come in and go
up an elevator to the lower level and be able
to walk through the building. The lower
level will have IT support for computers...
also, there is going to be a conference room
which can seat about a dozen people and a
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You have your own
meeting room which will seat up to fifty to
seventy-five people, - said Vogan. The din
ing area will receive a makeover. which
includes new bathrooms and food stations.
The wall in the dining room by the current
apartment-side entrance will be expanded
south toward the stairs. This will accommo
date the bathrooms and food areas.
Two new food stations will be opened,
one similar to Panera Bread and the other
will offer coffee. The renovations will speed
up service and offer students more selec
tion.
"We are going to reconfigure in the reno
vation so that we have five smaller woks
which we can be cooking for three to five
people at the same time," explained Vogan.
The salad bar will be moved from the cen
ter of the serving area and the outside of the
serving area, freeing up space to ease the
flow of traffic.
When renovations took place eight years
ago, the back of the building was not updat
ed, so there is equipment that is constantly
breaking down. This causes high expenses
because no parts are available, and custom
fabricated parts are needed.
Dobbins is expecting some new equip
ment to help with the higher demands. The
project is on an indefinite hold because of
another project Penn State is working on.
The new children's hospital in Harrisburg is
installing updates. All major Penn State
projects are on hold until the hospital is
completed.
-The Koran
ilk
.
The new stairwell behind Dobbins is designed to thin out high traffic areas by offering a different route to classes
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where that came from. Come down to a
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• Beacon layout night on Thursday.
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Former FEMA Chief Brown threatens to talk
WASHINGTON: The former chief of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Michael
Brown, has threatened to testify openly before Congress about communications with the White House
regarding Hurricane Katrina and the subsequent relief disaster unless President Bush provides him with
legal defense and support.
Brown made his statements in a written letter after the Bush Administration refused to release docu
ments to the special congressional commission regarding Bush's role and directives regarding the federal
disaster relief effort, claiming national security issues and executive privilege protected Bush from hav
ing to release them. The documents have been legally summoned by the commission.
"Unless there is specific direction otherwise from the president, including an assurance the president
will provide a legal defense to Mr. Brown if he refuses to testify as to these matters, Mr. Brown will tes
tify if asked about particular communications," Brown's lawyer. Andrew W. Lester wrote. "Brown's
desire is that all facts be made public.'
Sen. Joe Lieberman said that now that Brown is no longer an advisor to the President, there is nothing
that can legally be done to prevent him from testifying against the administration.
"1 see no basis for him to refuse to answer any of our questions. and I hope the White House will not try
to direct him not to answer our questions, - Lieberman said. "He now has to answer every question the
committee puts to him truthfully."
White House and administration officials have been steadily refusing to testify or appear at the official
congressional investigation, and have declined to answer even seemingly innocent questions about meet
ing times and topics discussed by certain government officials.
Brown gave the White House a deadline of Wednesday at noon for a response. His lawyers said that
that deadline came and went without any response from the administration.
Lester said that his client is now "between a rock and a hard place," and that. lacking any support from
the Bush Administration, "Mr. Brown is going to testify before Congress. It he receives no guidance to
the contrary, we'll do as any citizen should do - and that is to answer all questions fully. completely and
accurately."
Bird flu spreading rapidly in Africa
ABUJA, Nigeria: World Health Organization officials are concerned about the rapid spread of the
avian flu through Africa, which is spreaking much faster than anticipated.
The bird flu has proven resistant to all forms of containment as it spread around the world and threat
ens a possible deadly mutation to a form that makes it easily transmittable between humans.
"The federal government is doing everything to contain the disease within the three centers that have
been located," said Tope Ajakaiye, a spokesman for the Nigerian government.
"We have been saying for a while that were the disease to get to Africa. it's a continent where most
countries have very weak veterinary infrastructure," Alex Thiermann. special adviser to the director
general of the World Health Organization told the Cable News Network in a recent interview. "And we
know from our experience in Eastern Europe and in Southeast Asia that the rapidity to which the dis
ease can be fought, and how quickly we can eliminate it ... is very directly related to the quality of the
veterinary infrastructures."
Attempts to stop the spread of the avian flu have so far led to the slaughter of over 140 million birds
worldwide, as health officials continue to search for an effective method of containment.
Well there's more
Friday, February 10, 2006
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