2 I The Behrend Beacon Russia tests "dad of all bombs" MOSCOW, Russia: The Russian titilitary has successfully tested what may be the most powerful non-nuclear bomb ever pro duced, Russian television and news sources report. The unveiling of the new weapon comes about a year after the U.S. unveiled its Massive Ordinance Air Blast (MOAB), which was subsequently nicknamed the "mother of all bombs." The new. Russian weapon is the explosive equivalent of 44 tons of TNT, more than four times as power ful as the U.S. weapon, even though it is , somewhat lighter that the American version. Russian officials claim that the drastic new increase in yield is due to the thermobaric nature of the weapon, which means that it disperses finely powdered or liquefied explosives into the air before detonation, allowing the fuel and oxygen to mix and causing a very rapid and powerful explosion. They also claim a new, classified explosive material. Behrend new nursing degree By Michelle Quail staff writer mlssool psu.edu It may appear as if some students on the Behrend campus are already exhausted. This may have something to do with the new, rigorous nursing program that Behrend added to its cur riculum for the fall semester. The birth of a new nursing pro gram has attracted 41 of "best and brightest" here at Penn State Behrend. An excited Joanne Carrick, Nursing Program Coordinator, reported that students enrolled have already received impressive results from their National Academic Profile Test, as Behrend stu dents as a whole scored over six per cent higher than the average score of the already existing nursing programs. Carrick, who is in her 19th year with the Penn State Nursing Program came to Behrend from the Shenango campus, and has waited two years for the pro gram to get started here. She noted that our very own Behrend campus was the winning candidate to receive the program due to the strong Science and Humanities departments, persistent community requests, and general suc cess as a branch campus. The program currently consists of four semesters and ends sending each graduating student off with an Associate Degree and a Registered Nursing License. The program is also expected to offer Baccalaureate Degrees, which will only include 28 more credits in the program and some general education courses. The nurs ing students are expected to have at Source: ClkiN.an, YEftvi News now offering least a 3.0 GPA for entry, and continue the program with a very competitive approach. They also need to partici pate in Clinicals, which are hands-on hospital jobs. Each student is to attend Clinicals two days per week for four hours, beginning at 7 a.m. The combi nation of long days of Clinicals and heavy work loads leave many nursing students looking noticeably spent from all of their arduous efforts. April Glasser, a sophomore in her first year of nursing, said, "I love it and hate it at the same time. Nursing is my dream and I am motivated to work hard and achieve my goals, but the program is so demanding. I often have to make a choice whether to go to bed early so I can perform my best at clinicals or go out with my friends." Carrick is certainly looking forward to offering a half million dollars worth of the newest technology for the stu dents to utilize for practice. "Since we are a brand new program, we have brand new dummies to practice on, and I am really excited to start working with them. They are like people and can do pretty much anything but walk and talk," said Carrick. The program is expected to grow immensely within the next few years with a predicted 100 new students enrolling each year. Carrick, as the coordinator, is encour aging any students who are interested in the program to stop by the Career Center in the Reed Union Building and see Terrie Mando-Smith about the pro gram enrollment process. The resulting weapon, though non-nuclear, is so powerful that it levels structures and forms its own mushroom cloud, but does not have the long-term environmental effects of radiological weapons. "The tests have shown that the new air delivered ordnance is comparable to a nuclear weapon in, its efficiency and capabil ity," said Colonel-General Alexander Ruloshin, a member of the Russian General Staff. the American weapon, it is also delivered wittily by modem bomber craft. "We have got a relatively cheap ordnance with a high strike power," said Yuri Balyko, head of a Defense Ministry's institute in charge of weapons design. Russian officials have not yet released the real name or other specific data about the bomb. r7l \/7 General Patraeus: drawl possible by By Scott R. Muska student life editor srmsoB2@psu.edu David Petraeus, the United States Army General in charge of the war in Iraq, began his long-awaited testimony on Sept. 10 in the nation's Capitol. He necessary. was to give a progress report on Iraq, tration." "There is in some corners a belief with a focus on the possible withdraw- Democrat Senate Majority Leader, that we can simply turn the page in al of troops and a timeline in which it Harry Reid of Nevada, voiced his opin- Iraq, come home, and move on to other would happen. ion on the war. "Our enemies around things. This is dangerously wrong. If Petraeus made the claim that troop the globe gain great advantage by hay- we surrender in Iraq, we will be back withdrawals were indeed possible, and ing the United States mired in an Iraqi —in Iraq and elsewhere —in many civil war," he said. "The longer we more desperate fights to protect our his testimony contained a plan to possi keep over 130,000 troops in Iraq, the security and at an even greater cost in bly withdraw up to 30,000 combat troops by July of 2008. He was American lives and treasure," * , McCain said, "I believe we cannot hesitant to commit fully to his plan, afford to choose to lose the war in though, saying, "I would be doing a Iraq, and I will do anything in my disservice to our soldiers if I set a power to give the commanders the definite timeline for withdrawal." 21% time that they say they need." The testimony immediately 7 7 4 • There have been speculations sparked a great deal of controversy „ix that Petraeus' report on the war in the Senate between the was influenced by the Bush admin- Republicans and Democrats, who , both have had opportunities to grill istration, namely the President himself and Vice President Dick the General and to speak out on a , Cheney. There was a full page how they feel about his testimony. advertisement in the New York There has already been a great deal Times that attacked the general's of disagreement, with some liberals intergrity and credibility, alleging voicing their dissatisfaction with that he was doing the bidding of the delay in troop withdrawal, and the President. It was posted by Moveon.org, an anti-war group. Petraeus defended himself by maintaining that all of his deci sions and opinions included in his their overall opposition to the war in any respect. They focused large ly on their opinion that very few the goals have been achieved dur ing the war, and that victory is not Tort were come upon independ plausible. ently. "I wrote this testimony The House Speaker, Nanci myself. It has not been cleared by Pelosi, said in a statement, "Today, nor shared with anyone in the despite overwhelming evidence Pentagon, the White House or the that neither goal has been achieved, Congress," he said. General Petraeus testified that the surge would last at least until next Duncan Hunter, a California Republican Representative, came summer. This is simply unaccept to Petraeus' defense saying that able." She went on to say, "The Petraeus "is going to testify with President's strategy in Iraq has :0 an independent, candid view, the failed. It is time to change the mis sion of our troops to one that will General Patraeus speaks to an audience in one of his one thing we expect from all of promote regional stability and many press conferences. our military officers." He went on combat terrorism, so that the num- to verbally attack Representative Ike Skelton of Missouri, who had open bers of our brave men and women in uniform in Iraq can be reduced on a much more aggressive timetable than the one outlined today by General Petraeus." Illinois Senator and presidential hopeful Barack Obama also voiced his disapproval of the continued troop surge and pushed for an abrupt end to the war. "There are no good options. There are only bad options and worse options," Obama said to Petraeus dur ing the second day of hearings on Sept. 11. A large focus in Obama's campaign is the conclusion of the war and an r`J Powerful earthquake rocks Indonesia JAKARTA, Indonesia: City buildings and homes were evacuated Wednesday after an earthquake with a magnitude of roughly 8.2 caused the ground to shake noticeably in Indonesia. Government officials in Indonesia and India were also quick to issue tsunami warnings in a region that had already be devastated previously by the infamous 2004 earthquake and tsunami incident. However, the otherwise massive quake only produced a two-foot wave, sparing many areas of the Indian and Pacific oceans from renewed flooding and loss of life. The epicenter of the quake was detected in Sumatra, about 375 miles northwest of Jakarta. The origin of the quake, near a landmass instead of deep water, is thought to have helped reduce the magnitude of the following tsunami. Many workers in Indonesia stayed in their swaying high-rises and office buildings until evacuation orders were received from govern ment officials. "I was up on the 16th floor of a skyscraper. heard the blinds flapping and the windows first improved foreign policy that will result in peace and stability. He also said to General Petraeus and The US, ambassador of Iraq, Ryan Crocker that, "This is not a criticism of efther of you gentlemen. This is a crit icism of this President and his adminis- less incentive Iraqis have to engage in the needed political reconciliation and the longer we avoid dealing with sever al pressing threats to our national secu rity, namely that Osama bin Laden remains at large." His standing is often mirrored in a country where over 60 percent of the nation doesn't support the war, according to a recent CNN poll. The Republicans were also able to use this platform to reiterate their stances on the nation's involvement in Iraq. They expressed that there should be no timetable for withdrawal and that there could still be a definite victory in Friday, September 14, 2007 and the chairs were shaking and everything," said John Aglionby, an employee of the Financial Times. "I realized that we had to get out." John Applegate of the United States Geological Survey said that the depth of the quake, which occurred only 19 miles below the surface, can have a large effect on the impact of the quake. "With a deep earthquake, the waves have to travel through a lot of the earth before they reach population. A shallow earthquake means the local population is right there," Applegate explained. "It also means that it is more likely to rupture the surface, and with this being a sub sea earthquake, that means there is the tsunami potential." Geologists are now closely monitoring the sit uation for aftershocks and the possibility that the first quake could trigger other earthquakes or increased volcanic activity. troop with- July 2008 the war Presidential hopeful and Arizona Senator John McCain severely con trasted the comments made by the Democrats by agreeing with Petraeus and Crocker. He feels that the war is ly questioned Petraeus' honesty. "We've asked you for an independent assessment, and frankly, Mr. Chairman, the idea that we have spent the last week prepping the battlefield by attack ing the credibility of the messenger is something that I think goes against the tradition of this great House," he said. Bush is expected to take the advice of Petraeus and announce a troop with drawal of about 30,000 troops from Iraq by next summer. This will put an end to the troop surge that he ordered in January to help stabilize Iraq.
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