2 I The Behrend Beacon UN issues Guantanamo Bay report UNITED NATIONS: A new report by the United Nations Commission on Human Rights has chal lenged the United States to either try the suspects being held in Guantanamo Bay or release them, say ing the jail should he shut down "without further delay." The committee also outlined a series of human rights violations they claimed were being committed at the facility in Cuba including torture, lack of legal representation and the indefinite incarceration of people without charge or reasonable evidence. "I think that what we are seeing is a rehash of allegations that have been made by lawyers represent ing some of these detainees," said White House spokesman Scott McClellan. "We know that these are dangerous terrorists that are being kept at Guantanamo Bay. They are people that are determined to harm innocent civilians or harm innocent Americans. They were enemy combatants picked up on the battlefield in the war on terrorism." Administration officials also criticized the UN committee for not visiting Guantanamo Bay them selves, claiming that an invitation was turned down and that first hand knowledge of the facility would have painted a more positive picture of what was going on there. UN officials rejected that idea, say ing that the invitation the United States made also included a list of restrictions and classifications that both the U.S. and UN would have rejected if the facility was owned by any other country. "1 can't go to a country and only speak to the prison officials and be denied the opportunity to speak to the detainees, - report co-author Manfred Nowak said. "We are serious, objective, independent fact finders. We would undermine the U.N.'s fact-finding capacities if we were to accept an invitation that we are not accepting from any other state in the world." The UN report also implicated on-site U.S. health officials in contributing to the degradation of the mental health of its inmates through indefinite periods of solitary confinement, noting over 350 cases in which inmates have either attempted suicide or inflicted injury upon themselves to be able to make human contact The report concluded that the U.S. was operating in an overall illegal and irresponsible manner. "The executive branch of the United States government operates as judge, prosecutor and defense counsel of the Guantanamo Bay detainees." S.W.A.T. team robbed in Texas SAN ANTONIO: A Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T.) police unit visiting from Virginia Beach, Virginia was robbed while checking into their hotel. Thieves broke into the officers' rental car and stole an unreported number of police weapons, badges and laptop computers, all within the few minutes the team was inside receiving their room keys. "Notoriously, these car burglars work very quickly," San Antonio police spokesman Gabe Trevifio said. "They can go up to a car, break a window, get in, take items and be gone in a matter of 20-30 sec onds, at the longest." No arrests have been made. The San Antonio Police Department has assured the public that they are trying to find the weapons "very actively." Hollis donates hair to Locks of Love In the holiday spirit of love and compassion, Meeghan Hollis, Resident Life Coordinator of Penn State Erie, happily donated ten inches of her hair to the Locks of Love organization. Locks of Love was started in 1997 as a non-profit organization designed to provide children eighteen years of age and younger, who are suffering from long-term medical hair loss with a custom made hairpiece giving them newly restored confidence. Hollis said she had been growing her hair for two years and decided to get it all cut off and donate it to Locks of Love in December 2005 for her birthday. Hollis said she had donated once before by mailing her hair in her self, but this time she looked into finding a salon which participates in donating to Locks of Love to make the donating process simpler. In the Erie area, there are a number of salons registered with the Locks of Love organization, including Elements, The Academy of Cosmetology and Ambridge Rose Spa and Salon, all of which are located on West 26th Street. Total E-Clips also participates with loca tions on Peach Street and West Eight Street. Hollis chose Elements hair salon with her Locks of Love experience. At the salon, Hollis said her hair was tied in a ponytail and cut leav ing ten inches to donate, which is the required length for donations. Elements hair salon mailed her donation to Locks of Love, where it will he added to a collection of other donations to create a customized hair piece for a child in need. Hollis said. "I think that any time you can do anything little to help someone going through a traumatic experience, the time is worth it. Hair is very personal, and it is an easy step to take." Recently, Hollis received a thank you letter stating that her hair has been accepted. Once her hair has been added to other donations, she may receive a photo of the recipient of her hair, but this step is not always possible due to the privacy laws of minors. Locks of Love accepts hair dona tions from men, women and children of all ages, hair color and race. However, donations made by children who want to help other children make up nearly 80 percent of all donations. Classifieds "Real generosity is doing something nice for some one who will never find out." Frank A. Clark Janet Nett Sample Centrr By Ashley Bressler contributing writer arb27 I @psu.edu Getting a refreshing, new hair cut can be a thrilling change in some one's life. But, by donating that hair to Locks of Love, an additional thrill can be experienced by the children who suffer the unfortunate shame and discomforts of medical hair loss. Without non-profit organ izations like this, most children experiencing long-term hair loss would be denied the comforts and joys of having a full head of hair to play with and identify themselves with because the retail value of a customized hair piece starts at $3,000. Fortunately, worthy children can be nominated to receive a free, donated hairpiece that is cus tomized for each child. The nominee must provide two letters of rec ommendation, a diagnosis, a photo and a copy of their guardians' most recent tax return. If the child is accepted by Locks of Love, he or she is sent a mold ing kit, which includes an explanatory video and the necessary mate rials to make a plaster cast mold. The child is then sent a trial fit cap to insure an accurate fit, and from here, he or she can choose the color and length of the hairpiece. Eight to ten weeks are needed to complete the hair piece, but once it is finished, it is shipped all one length to the anxiously awaiting child. The hair piece can be taken to a salon by the child to further customize the hair style. Every eighteen months, a recipient can reapply for the program, and each child is permitted up to five hair pieces as he or she grows and changes styles. If any individuals are not interested in cutting their hair or if it is too short at the moment but still wish to contribute to a life-changing organization, there are other options. Financially contributing to Locks of Love is always accepted by the organization as money is needed to fund the processing of the hair pieces, shipping costs, etc. All financial donations can be mailed or faxed to Locks of Love or they can be processed online at the Locks of Love website. If donat ing money isn't preferred, donating one's time is also greatly appreci ated. There are possibilities for church groups, mitzvah projects, service clubs or any community service project to organize an event to raise money for the children of Locks of Love. To get involved in an organ ized charity event, simply go online and download the Locks of Love Volunteer Kit, which can be found along with any additional informa tion at www.LocksofLove.com . For those of you like Meeghan Hollis Interested in writing for the Behrend Beacon? How about just submitting an article idea? E-mail any ideas or articles to editorinchief@psu.edu. If you're interested in how the newspaper works, check out a Thursday night layout. r I Glacial melting increases ST. LOUIS, Missouri: Scientists monitoring the activity of glaciers in the northern hemisphere have noted a steadly increase in both glacial melting and movement speed as overall earth surface tempera- tures continue to increase In particular, the glaciers of Greenland have the attention of many climatologists. While Greenland glaciers have typically dumped about 22 cubic miles of melting ice into the Atlantic Ocean per year, since 1996, that figure has steadily increased to over 54 cubic miles in 2005. Eric Rignota scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, said that such an increase of ice melting and entering the ocean worldwide contributes greatly to climate and rising sea "The behavior of the glaciers that dump ice into the sea is the most important aspect of understanding how an ice sheet will evolve in a changing climate." Rignot said. "It takes a long time to build and melt an ice sheet, but glaciers can react quickly to temperature changes." Scientists claim that the increase in global temperature has an accelerating effect and that the more ice that melts, the faster it melts as it flows toward the ocean. The new research is published in the journal of Science. France declares Iran's claims of peaceful nuclear research false PARIS, France: The French government has declared that Iranian nuclear research must be for military purposes, and Iran must comply with UN resolutions banning nuclear refinement and research. "No civilian nuclear program can explain the Iranian nuclear program. It is a clandestine military nuclear program," French Foreign Minister Phillipe Douste-Blazy said on France-2 television Thursday. "The international community has sent a very firm message in telling the Iranians to return to reason and suspend all nuclear activity and the enrichment and conversion of uranium, but they aren't listening to The latest response is the firmest yet in statements from the U.S. European alliance seeking a swift conclusion to the crisis in Iran. "Now it's up to the Security Council to say what it will do, what means it will use to stop, to manage, to halt this terrible crisis of nuclear proliferation caused by Iran," Douste-Blazy said. Iranian officials continue to insist that their renewed nuclear research is for purely civilian purposes, despite appearances to the contrary "We want civilian nuclear energy, we don't want to have the bomb," said Iranian negotiator Ali Larijan in a radio statement. "Concerning nuclear arms, we are a responsible country. ... We want to be in this camp [of countries that have nuclear energy technology, but no nuclear weapons], such as Brazil and Japan." U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said that the United States would continue to "walk a fine line" of negotiations and punishment on the matter. Source: CNN.com, Yahoo! News who have a desire to help fulfill the dreams of a child by dramatically improving his/her self confidence, get active in the Lock of Love organization and donate some hair, money, or time to make the world of a child shine a great deal brighter. Locks of Love is an organization that provides custom made hair pieces to children suffering from long-term medical hair loss. Friday, February 17, 2006
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