2 I The Behrend Beacon
Iceland continues plan to
phase out fossil fuels
Reykjavik, Iceland: The isolated nation of Iceland
began the process of eliminating the need for fossil
fuels in that country almost 50 years ago, and expect
the plan to be completely successful within 50 more.
By taking advantage of every renewable source of
energy in the country, Iceland has already complete
ly eliminated the use of carbon-heavy fossil fuels for
power generation. In fact, the network of wind tur
bines, solar plants, geothermal energy stations and
hydroelectric dams produces so much surplus elec
tricity that the government is moving ahead with
plans to used that energy to separate hydrogen and
oxygen from water.
Iceland and its population of over 300,000 plan to
become the first country in the world to be totally
independent of fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and nat
ural gas, with all electricity gathered from renewable
sources and all vehicles powered by clean hydrogen.
"Iceland is the ideal country to create the world's
a rallies formed in sup-
port of the "Jena Six" and the
fight against racial inequality
By Lenny Smith
news editor
1r550460 psu.edu
Six black teens from Jena, Louisiana
have become the focus of a modern day
civil rights fight, according to Martin
Luther King, 11l
Thousands
angry activist ha'
flooded the stre
in support of "TI
Jena Six, - as the
are being caller
The six teens ai
being charged wit
the Dec. 2006 beat
ing of one of thei
white classmates.
Initially, the s,
teens were chargi
with
degree attempt,
murder. Five
the teens' charge
have since bef
reduced to bate: .
while one teen has
A speaker talks to a group of people about
yet to be
freeing the "Jena Six" in Louisana.
arraigned. When
Rev. Al Sharpton arrived at the court
house steps in Jena with the parents of
the teens, the crowd erupted into chants
of "Free the Jena Six."
Major controversy is brewing over the
fairness of the southern judicial system.
In Aug. 2006 three white students from
the same high school were accused of
hanging multiple nooses on a giant oak
tree in the town. The three white stu
dents were never legally charged, but
were suspended from school.
Three months later, the "Jena Six"
were arrested and charged for the beat
ing of another student. Now, thousands
of protestors are calling for justice.
Sharpton said, "This is the most blatant
example of disparity in the justice sys
tem that we've seen. You can't have two
levels of justice."
The protestors wore black and
marched to the local courthouse and
..41L
likv
d jr,
••
"A kin d' wor
spring day."
Source: CNN.com, Yahoo! News
through the park where the nooses
where once hung. Throughout the
marches crowds yelled, "Black power"
and "No justice, no peace." King spoke
to a crowd as well saying that punish
ment for the six may be necessary, how
ever, "the justice system isn't applied the
Le to all crimes
all people."
Tina Jones, a
Attorney Reed Walters is prosecuting
the teens and denied that racism had any
bearing on his decision to charge them.
The three white teens were never
charged for hanging the nooses because
Walters couldn't find any Louisiana law
that said it was illegal.
During a press conference, President
Bush was asked about the protests in
Louisiana, who said that the events sad
dened him. "All of us in America want
there to be fairness when it comes to jus
tice," he said.
For those who couldn't attend the ral
lies in Jena, support groups like
"Support the Jena Six" and events were
formed on popular websites like
Facebook.com. Events formed on the
site asked students all over America to
wear black on Sept. 20 in support of the
Russian
Janet Neff Sample Center
for Alannerr 6' Civility
first hydrogen economy," said Bragi Arnason, a
retired professor from the University of Iceland. His
work in pioneering the clean-energy plans has
earned him the nickname "Professor Hydrogen" in
Iceland.
The country is already taking steps to update its
infrastructure, installing 15 new hydrogen pumping
stations around the country. About 50 hydrogen cars
will be on the road this year, and most major auto
companies such as Toyota, General Motors and
Mercedes-Benz. Hydrogen-fueled vehicles produce
no pollution, with the only thing coining out of their
exhaust pipes being liquid water and water vapor.
"We are a very small country but we have all the
same infrastructure of big nations," Amason said.
"We will be the prototype for the rest of the world."
ler of one of
"Jena Six"
"I hope that
D.A. will wake
.nd realize that
doing the
Ing thing, and
release these
" she said.
not equal.
black people
the harsher
nt of the law,
pie get a slap
the wrist per se.
it is not equal
LaSalle
Parish District
By Aeriale Cooksey-Kramer
staff writer
aakslol@psu.edu
Interviewing strategies, civility strategies, and communi
cation practices are simply a few of the topics discussed
within Cathy Mester and Rod Troester's newly published
book, Civility in Business and Professional Communication.
Mester has been teaching a course in communications and
civility for five years, and she contributed background to
their book in that aspect. Troester
has taught business and profes
sional speaking courses for
almost five years. Combining
their knowledge in those specific
fields of study, they wrote and
published a book that thoroughly
investigates Civility and
Communications, like no other
book written before. They have
both directed the Janet Neff
Sample Center for Manners and
Civility, which brought their
ideas together for the first time,
and helped conceive a creative
outlet within them enough to talk
about writing a book.
The book is primarily based
upon civility practiced in busi
nesses to help professionals
achieve their goals more effec
tively and to ultimately become
more successful. It explains and provides tips for the back
ground of civility, alongside theories and principles of com
munications that draw back into the practice of civility.
"One thing we did," Mester replied with a smile, "was
look at the list of 100 best companies to work for in Fortune
Magazine. They also put out a list of the most successful
companies and as we compared lists, what we found there
was a cross-over between many of the companies." She
went on to explain that the bosses of many of these highly
successful and 'best to work for' companies treated their
r•I
,)‘44"sial*`
Global Warming creates
"Northwest Passage"
BOULDER, Colorado: The European Space
Agency and the U.S. National Snow and Ice
Data Center have determined that the
"Northwest Passage," a water route to the
American west coast and Asia, has formed for
the first time in recorded history due to a sharp
decline in the polar ice cap.
European explorers searched for a navigable
western route to Asia for around 300 years
starting in the 1500's. Now, satellite imagery
shows that the Holy Grail of oceanic explo.
ration is a reality.
Economic opportunities aside, the magnitude
of the environmental nunifications is of great
concern to scientists and climatologists.
"It's almost an exclamation point on the pm
trounced ice loss we've seen in the past 30
years," said NSIDC senior research scientist •
Mark Serreze
The erotic ice pack has lost 20 percent of its
volume in just the last two years, and ice sur
face coverage is at its lowest point since 1978,
Friday, September 21, 2007
when satellite tracking methods first became
available. Where previous estimates predicted
that there would be an iceless summer at the
north pole in 2070, Serreze says "losing sum
mer sea ice cover by 2030 is not unreason
able."
Among the possible consequences of arctic
ice loss is a rise in the worldwide sea level by
almost a meter, which would force the reloca
tion of almost 1 billion people from low-lying
and near sea-level areas around the world.
Loss of the reflective white ice could also
speed up warming yet further as sunlight that
was previously reflected back into space would
instead be absorbed by the much-darker water.
Ecologically, the damage would be massive
and irreversible.
employees with respect. It's a simple logic that companies
seemingly pride themselves on. If the employees are happy,
they become more productive, and if they are more produc
tive, the business becomes more successful. Civility and
communications make up a large part in determining if a
business is successful or not, as both Mester and Troester
noticed.
One main feature of their book, Mester pointed out, was
that they asked a few Behrend Alumni, all rooted in differ
ent occupations, to give testimonial statements from their
workplaces that showed civility and
communication practices. There are
excerpts from their statements
throughout the book, which gives
those Alumni a "prominent place
and provides credibility that two
professors aren't the only ones writ
ing the book." Civility in Business
and Professional Communication
will be used as a textbook in
Mester's Civility and
Communications course starting in
the Fall of 2008. Troester made sure
to include that their book was not
only meant for college textbook pur
poses, but to anyone in the business
field. Mester said, "I think to anyone
who works in business or industry,
it's written in such a way that it's
simply not a textbook. Anyone who
interviews people or who works in
any kind of corporation will find
useful information in it."
Mester has previously published two informational books,
and Troester has published one. Together they have co
authored a book that provides a wealth of information, by
using what they know and have learned, and putting it to the
test among those who want to establish a successful business
corporation as well as those who attend college. "It's really
going to be useful to a lot of people, and that's really satis
fying." Mester replied, accomplishment glowing upon her
face.