2 I The Behrend Beacon
Civil war refugees living on floating islands
KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo: Thousands upon thousands of people in antral Africa
have taken to marooning themselves on floating islands on the country's large lakes to avoid wide
spread rape, murder and pillaging by rebels and government forces.
Although the war has officially been over for nearly three years, the violence and fighting are still so
widespread that over 120,000 people have escaped by casting themselves adrift.
"In and around Upemba there are thousands of people living on floating islands because it is the
only place they feel safe," said Daniel Augstburger, the head of the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination
of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Congo. "There is systematic sexual violence. Hundreds of women
have been treated for rape."
The eastern part of the country, known for its rich mineral resources that are rate in Africa, is still
controlled by roaming gunmen as government forces brutally execute anyone they suspect of sympa
thizing with the rebels.
"Both sides are living off the backs of the population -- there is total impunity. There are attacks,
murders, mutilation and pillaging," Augstburger said. "We are trying to get more humanitarian actors
into Katanga. Congo provides us with an enormous list of crises. We can't be evetywhere as we don't
have unlimited resources."
Humanitarian organizations are asking for $6Bl million in aid for what they ate calling the worst
humanitarian situation since World War 11. An estimated four million people have died in the region
due to starvation and war since 1998.
Sheep theft thwarted
LITTLE ROCK, Arkasas: A homeless man wasn't just counting sheep one night in the Little Rock
Zoo, police reported. He was trying to steal them.
The man was arrested on several felony and misdemeanor charges after staffing a sheep into an
empty garbage can and trying to make off with it on Tuesday night.
Upon being confronted by police, Grady Carnahan insisted that he was a dactor and was taking the
sheep, who he claimed was sick, to a veterinary clinic. The police did not agree and there was a short
fight before Carnahan was apprehended.
Authorities are still unsure what Carnahan planned to do with the sheep. The animal has since been
returned to its pen in the zoo.
The Behrend Beacon is looking for a new
Editor in Chief for the 2006-2007 school
year. If you are interested in applying, please
submit a cover letter and resume to Annie
Sevin at the Beacon office, located in the
basement of Reed before March 31, 2006.
( of the ;\lost i..vpc, tenced
( innnal Defenv- t rial
(Nowt s in I ite ('ounti:
Thousands of Cases. Hundreds of Trials!
• DUI • Rapes
• Drugs • Sexual Assults
• Assaults • Homicides-Murders
Keith H. Clelland
Attorney At Law
337 West Sixth St., Erie, PA 16507
Pione: (814) 459-7754
Police and Safety
2/15/2006
Complainant reported finding questionable material stored on a computer that
the department was servicing. More info will be forthcoming.
2 / 1 8/2006
Observed vehicle on College Drive slow down to turn into the Reed Lot, then
speed up and turn in order to hit the traffic cones blocking entry to the lot.
Driver was cited for disorderly conduct.
2/19/2006
Reported a student who had been thrown out of a party at the Sigma Kappa Nu
house at 0030 hours was missing and could not be located.
2/21/2006
Resident reported that the window in the security door was broken by a bottle.
Talked to resident in Tiffany he admitted that he broke the window by accident
while playing around with a friend. Duty coordinator will refer him and also
clean up glass.
P k p , _,ign
but once. Any y to e therefore that I
can do, or any kiridness I can show to
any creature, let me do it now."
Stephen Grellet, French/American reli
gious leader (1773-1855)
E vik v
Opening doors with campus tours
By Annie Sevin
editor in chief
ams 63 I @psu.edu
The annual search for Orientation
Leaders (OL) has commenced once
again. Orientation Directors Meredith
Straub and Jennifer Haight as well as
Coordinator of Student Involvement
and Leadershippevelopment Chris Fox
are preparing.: for the upcoming
Orientation Leader selection process.
Each year 50-60 students are chosen to
be representatives of Behrend.
Any Behrend student can apply
there are no prerequisites. The OL
application was placed online last year
and can be accessed at http://pennstate
behrend.psu.edu/orientation. The
application deadline is March 17. Fox
said they currently have about 34 appli
cants. Last year they viewed over 80 Above: A group shot of last year's Orientation Leaders
applications.
Immediately following the deadline.
the selection process begins. The direc
tors and coordinator will look over all the
applications and ask prospective OL's to
have an interview. "We're trying to build
on last year's success, and hopefully this
Seek help for social anxiety disorder
She sits looking at her feet while answering general questions
about herself. At first, this young Behrend student, who asked
not to be identified, looks out from under the brim of her hat as
if trying to reassure herself that her answers are being taken seri
ously. She plays with her hair and attempts to sink into her
chair. Every time someone walks by she lowers her voice in
response to a subconscious reflex. Occasionally she laughs
nervously attempting to hide her discomfort. Still, she is upbeat
and relaxes gradually and cautiously. She says somewhat sadly
that about a year ago she was diagnosed with social anxiety dis
order and has struggled for a long time to comfortably interact
with people.
This fear of interaction kept this young woman from enjoying
her first couple semesters at Behrend. "I stayed away from
Bruno's and just ate in my room," she says. This made it hard
for her to meet new people and make new friends. She says she
walked around keeping her eyes glued on the floor hoping that
by doing so she would somehow become invisible. Still she
could feel the eyes of those around her piercing into her, and in
her mind she believed those stares were judging her. She was
certain that she could hear mocking laughter echoing in her ears,
and she knew that she probably deserved to be criticized. She
was homesick a lot, but she had a few friends here on campus
that helped her get through those difficult semesters until she
was diagnosed.
According to Sue Daley, the director of the Personal
Counseling Office at Behrend, this woman's experience is com
mon for those suffering from social anxiety disorder. The
National Institute of Mental Health estimates that over 19 mil
lion Americans are affected each year, making it the number one
:rica Daley said that social anxiety dis
ts to miss out on a lot of college life.
suffering from this disease cope with it
ions or worrying too much about what
Administration approves port sales
WASHINGTON: The Bush Administration is approving a deal made by the United Arah Fairates to
acquire six major U.S. ports, including New York and Miami, despite protests from both patties' in
Congress.
'the company, Dubai Ports World, which is at least partially owned by the UAE goveMment, is
acquiring the former owner of the port, the British firm Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation
in a fairly routine business transaction and claims that very little would change.,
"If it was an African country or a European country or an Asian country, it would not have been
subjected to this kind of scrutiny," said Abdel Khaleq Abdullah, a professor at UAU University who
believes that the current opposition is nothing more than political bigotry "But since this is just,pure
ly an Arab country, I think it just stopped some of the lawmakers who are making a big deal out of a
purely legitimate business transaction."
Critics of the ownership transfer have pointed out that the UAE has a record of dealing with and
supporting certain terrorist groups, and that the change in ownership could open the way for new ter
rorist attacks.
"At a time when we're faced with this terror threat, we should not be surrendering any port to any
foreign government, let alone the UAE," said the mayor of Baltimore, Maryland, Martin O'Malley,
whose city is one of the ports involved in the transaction.
President Bush maintained that there was nothing wrong with the deal.
'People don't need to worry about security," Bush said Thursday. "This deal wouldn't go forward if
we were concerned about the security for the United States of America."
The UAE, however, preferred not to take its chances and hired former U.S. Senator Bob. Dole to
lobby on behalf of the UAE government to make sure the deal goes through. Dole's wife, Elizabeth,
is currently a senator for North Carolina.
By Jordan Gilmore
staff writer
jtgl7B@psu.edu
Source: CNN.com, Yahoo! News
year will be even better," said Fox
All OL's who are selected will attend a
workshop on April 26 to get to know one
another. At the end of the summer, the
OL's will return to Behrend a week early
to train for the three-day Orientation
weekend.
Orientation weekend is Sept. 1 - 4 and
will end on Labor Day. Fox said they
would be implementing some new pro
grams to coincide with Labor Day, but
other than that, there won't be too many
events out of the ordinary.
people think about them.
The Personal Counseling Office here at Behrend is available
to help any students who may suffer from this disease. Daley
said that her office holds mental health screenings every semes
ter. The results of these screenings show that this disease is
common among students here. Daley says about 70 percent of
the nearly 300 students who have been screened tested positive
for anxiety. "Mental health is the same as everything else: get
it checked. These are treatable issues, and it doesn't make sense
to not seek help. Support can go a long way," Daley said.
For the young Behrend student who said she has struggled
with social anxiety disorder, getting help has proved to be a life
saver, and she said that getting help from the Personal
Counseling Office was able to help her in ways her friends
couldn't. "Until you go through it you can't understand what it
is like no matter how sympathetic you are," she said with a
twinge of sadness in her voice.
She said it wasn't easy for her to seek help. "It is hard to get
help because people have these preconceived notions about peo
ple with anxiety or depression being psychos," she said angrily.
Daley says that people's attitudes towards mental illness are
changing. "People are becoming enlightened," she said reassur
ingly. Daley stresses that self-monitoring is very important. If
you know that you are having difficulty dealing with anxiety or
stress, stop into the Personal Counseling Office in the Reed
Union Building Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.
The services are offered for free, including appointments with
Behrend's visiting psychologist, Dr. Dave Tobin, and are crisis
oriented to make sure they get you in quickly if you are in great
need of help.
Although the young woman said she still feels uncomfortable
in some social situations, she is much more at ease around peo
ple. She lights up as she reveals that she now eats at Bruno's.
"Now I can walk around campus with my head up and a smile
on my face," she said with a sly grin. As she walks off, she
stops to say hello to some people. Her cheerful attitude and
bright smile are evidence of her new outlook on life.
Friday, February 24, 2006
The new Orientation Directors are very
hopeful that this year will be successful.
"It's a great way to meet new people, to
build your resume, encourage leadership
and improve your leadership skills," said
Haight.
Haight and Straub have been trying to
remind students that volunteer
ing to be an Orientation Leader
will have more benefits than just
looking good on a resume. "It's a
good chance to be mentors for
the new students," said Straub.
Even SGA President Alexander
Henderson has been encourag
ing students to become OL's say
ing, "It's a lot of fun."
Straub points out a very impor
tant fact, "There are a lot of fun
group activities and the meals
will be paid for."
Anyone that has ques-
tions about OL's or is interested
in being an OL can contact Fox at
cdfl3@psu.edu. His office is also locat
ed in the Student Activities office in the
basment of Reed.