I The Behrend Beacon Upstate New York blasted by snow OSWEGO, New York: While many states in the northeast region have been dealing with well below average temperatures and frequent winter storms this year, the city of Oswego in upstate New York has been the recipient of more than its fair share of snow. Oswego, a snow-belt town along the shore of Lake Ontario, has received over 72 inches of heavy lake-effect snow by the last measurement on Thursday and forecasters expect the town to receive another 20 to 28 inches through the weekend. City officials have declared a state of emergency and struggle to keep main roads and fire hydrants open for emergency vehicles as the the snow continues to fall in bursts as heavy as five inches per hour. "We're just trying to keep on top of digging out the hydrants," said Oswego Fire Chief Ed Geers "When you get 5 feet of snow in 24 hours, it's tough." The winter storms and arctic cold temperatures covering the region have been officially blamed for at least 20 deaths, and while temperatures are starting to inch upward again, it is of little comfort in Oswego, where there is already too much snow to know what to do with and no end in sight. "We're just trying to keep up. It's almost an unreal amount," said Oswego Mayor Randy Bateman. "We catch up when it stops, but then it just comes again, even heavier." Behrend hosts Random Acts of Kindness Week in February By Yvonne Folmar contributing writer Penn State Behrend's Sample Center for Manners and Civility will be partici pating in Random Acts of Kindness Week, which is held from Feb. 12-18. The goal of Random Acts of Kindness Week is to get more people involved in the kindness revolution. e random act of kindness act 4xerformed by someone you know or some one you don't know to either help or cheer up, for no rea son other than out the kind ness of one's heart," Dr. Rod Troester, Associate Professor of Speech Communication said. "It's important because it reminds us of what humans are like at their best.- Random acts of kindness give people the chance to put someone else's needs ahead of their own. The idea of a Random Acts of Kindness Week began 25 years ago. In 1982, a missionary named Ann Herbert penned a special phrase. "Practice ran- dom kindness and senseless acts of beau- wonderful feeling inside. It is as though ty." This message traveled across the something inside your body responds United States from friend to family to and says, yes, this is how I ought to "Note how good you feel after you have- encouraged someone else. No other argument is necessary to suggest that we should never miss the opportunity to give encourage rent." Janet Neff Sample Center C for Armen 6' N.. stranger. During the Gulf War in 1991, when people were feeling disconnected about the growing violence in the world, Conari Press collected stories of random acts of kindness that demonstrated the transformational power of simple kind ness. Because it spoke out for the need "When you carry out acts of kindness feeling InslAW! - Harold Kushner and student organizations around cam pus, including the Lion Ambassadors and the Student Government Association, have agreed to serve as "kindness police" and issue "tickets" in the form of Bruno Bucks to those observed committing random acts of kindness. As Harold Kushner once said, "When you carry out acts of kindness you get a - George 13wton Adams of a less violent world, the random acts of kindness movement was born. In February 1995 the first Random Acts of Kindness Week, took place, and since then, the movement has grown creating an annual awareness each February. Twenty-five offices Source: CNN.com, Yahoo! News continued from page I be taken for a full recovery, but without regular pap smears, the signs could go unnoticed until it is too late," said McMahon. Promoting women's health has been a great concern for Behrend's Health and Wellness Center, and reaching college women has been less than easy for the staff since they received the drug in August of 2006. However, due to the national pub licity, television commercials and Texas' new law, many stu dents and their families have become interested in receiving the vaccine at Behrend, says McMahon. "We have had a lot of interest about the vaccine from both students and families. Now our goal is to get the word out more, and let women know they can receive it here, or if they have already begun their six month process, they can finish it here too," said McMahon. The vaccination process takes six months to complete, where women w hiledo .. ll " . „given a l t9tal,4 tutee shoti The first Apj,i,s4ixt4,,,tilen two months afterwards the second is given, and then six months from the first shot, the third is given. The cost of each immunization at the Health aria Wellness Center is $l3O, but most insurance companies are now covering it. McMahon said, "The shots are highly effective and act just like any other anti-viral vaccine, but there are a few requirements. Women cannot be pregnant when receiving the vaccine and they should wait a few months after receiving their last shot before becoming pregnant." Some other ways women can protect themselves from cervi cal cancer are to always use condoms during intercourse. McMahon recommends using a non-spermicidal, plain latex condom because the condoms with spermicide have been known to cause more damage then good. She also recommends using spermicidal foam, (which is applied to the female geni talia) along with a non-spermicidal, plain latex condom, which Students comment on White House changes Thirteen Cabinet agencies want to increase financial aid for lower-income college students. To do this, they will cut President Bush's funding request for foreign aid and closing military bases. House Republicans have scorned Democrats plans to advance the huge $463.5 billion plan through the House on Wednesday without giving Republicans or rank and file Democrats a chance to offer changes in an Appropriations Committee session or on the floor. Democrats, such as Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey of Wisconsin, fired back by saying Republicans will not make tough budget choices like this before the election. The bill would freeze most federal accounts at 2006 levels. There would be exceptions so agencies can avoid hiring freezes, and for programs favored by Democrats like health, research, and education ings suc for veterans and active-duty military use $lO to $l2 billion, which is put together by staff aids freezing other accounts. The veterans would get $3.5 billion dollars over last year, while active duty and their families will get a 6% increase. The National Institutes of Health will get a $260 million budget increase, which is about 2 percent. While the FBI, which is now facing hiring curbs, would get a $2OO million increase to its $6OO million budget already. The Pell Grant for lower-income college students would increase by $260 to $4,310, which is the first increase since r•i :.), Indonesia swamped with flood rains JAKARTA, Indonesia: The country of Indonesia is accustomed to yearly cycles of rain and flooding, but this year the rain isn t stopping. The capital city of Jakarta has been consistently flooded for a week, with its population 0112 mil lion crammed into schools and other government-opened refuge sites as the rain continues to fall and re-flood the city every time a clean-up effort is started. Some residents venture out into waist-deep mud to try to salvage anything that might have survived in their devastated homes. "We spent yesterday mopping and scrubbing and now the waters have come again," said Haji Jajan, a Health Ministry worker struggling to stay ahead of the spreading flood area. Other officials, both those in Indonesia and in the international community, are concerned that con stant poor conditions and an inability to dispose of garbage during the flood will soon lead to an uncontrollable spread of disease. "City officials have to start cleaning the debris if they want to prevent the spread of diseases," said Chef Rustam Pakaya of the Health Ministry Crisis Center. The flood has devastated over 100,000 acres of densely populated city space and neighboring farm areas around the Indonesian capital. Even the places where the flood waters have receded, they have deposited contaminated mud up to four feet deep. By Amanda Aurand staff writer Behrend students speak out: Tuzynsld, 19, nmalirement " It's not fair." Smith, 19, PR "I think that it's not fan . just because oy 40renats make enough frione**4 (SfijAfi'igi4;fititptibut the tuition vonles-fiviii6y pooket." Burcigette, 19, - auguistry,#4 It's just not fah' fgr anYoni." Governor Rick Perry's recent decision made it mandatory for school-age girls in Texas to be vaccinated for HPV. will protect against pregnancy as well as sexually transmitted diseases. "Our mission is to educate," said McMahon, and any student who wishes to receive more information about the HPV vac cine or to schedule an appointment to receive the vaccine can either stop by the Health and Wellness Center located in the Carriage House or call (814) 898-6217. There is no cost for students to simply discuss their health with any of the Nurse Practitioners, who are more than willing to secure the health of the students. People are pressing for big boosts to fight against AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis overseas, which won a $1.3 billion increase to $4.5 billion. That's enough to fund the President's $225 million ambition to fight malaria and increase the Global fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria to $724 million. Some of Bush's initiatives, Domenici won in a disagree ment over the funding to build an Energy Department plant in South Carolina to convert the excess plutonium into a commer cial nuclear fuel. The price of the project keeps rising from the earlier estimates, but the House lawmakers succeeded in delay ing disbursement of funding until Aug. 1. This has helped committees that were going to be getting cut, which now won't be because of the freezing of the 2006 salary, but has hurt projects for lawmakers' districts and states, which now have to be erased. Friday, February 9, 2007 such as a $5.5 billion request to start closing some military bases, which passed two years ago, took some heavy hits. The Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England states that this "could result in postponing scheduled redeployments from overseas sta tions to the United States." The Army plans to boost overseas deployment in smaller fighting units. They also cut $3 billion from Bush's base closing request, but may make up for the $lOO billion plus funding bill scheduled to advance in the spring. This bill has taken the Democrats many weeks to put together, with little to no input from the Republicans, but more from the old-line GOP senators such as Thad Cochran of Mississippi and Pete Domenici of New Mexico.
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