Friday, November 30, 2007 Murderer escapes from Erie County Prison By Aeriale Cooksey-Kramer staff ivriter aaks 101 (a psu.cdu A 53-year-old man escaped from the State Correctional Institution at Albion Sunday. Malcolm Kysor was serving a life sentence at the prison before his escape. It began with a large gray trash barrel. Charles Robertson, a farmer collecting garbage cans of scraps for his hogs. was making his way to the cot-- rectional insti taboo as was his schedule every day. The leftover food that the prison threw Robertson used to feed his animals. As Malcolm Kysor's mugshot pulled the yellow. 32-gallon cans out of the Department of Corrections' truck, and that was when he noticed another trash can, a gray. larger one hidden in the hack. Not only was the color different, it weighed 40-gal lons instead of the regular 32-gallons, and it was stark empty. Robertson didn't think too much of the other trashcan until two hours later. when three men from the D. 0.0 were standing at his front door. They were on the search for Kysor, a convicted murderer. Numerous officers made a search through Robertson's truck, and around the area where he exchanged the trash barrels and the perimeter around his house. Kysor was last seen loading the food scraps on the D. 0.0 truck, and that was around 3 p.m. Sunday afternoon. Officers concluded, by finding a piece of cardboard from another trash can. that Kysor had another convict hold the cardboard above Kysor's head and then pile excess garbage on top of him. Security measures that were taken at the prison included thorough vehicle checks in all the cars that drove in and out of the prison grounds, as well as thorough searches amongst the prison grounds and the sur rounding area. Campus security at Behrend is not the slightest bit worried about the escapee trav eling through the area. "The prison is approximately 30 miles from (Behrend), and the person who escaped has no links to this place whatsoever. There is no information that he is coming here, or knows anybody here. In this particular case, we are not tak ing any precautions." Police Chief for the Behrend campus, Jim Amann, replied. Clmlents News.. Opinion Humor Entertainment.. Student Life Sports Contact Us Newsroom 898-6488 Fax: 898-6019 E-mail: cslsoos@psu.edu www.thebehrendbeacon.com Our offices are located downstairs in the Reed Union Building. DEtlltrilD DETICOII Continued on page 3 ...1-3 6 7-8 9-10 Student expressions Mike Sharkey/THE BEHREND BEACON Behrend student Amanda Kinross shares an original piece of poetry at Thursday night's Mic Night at the Studio Theatre. Students shared poetry. music, and other original works. Proposed increase in PA gas taxes angers students By Matthew Schwabenbauer assistant news editor mjss3B7 (a psu.edu Pennsylvania gas prices may soon he increasing by one cent per gallon, in order to repair damage to underground fuel tanks. The raise comes in light of a $lOO million loan the state borrowed from the Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Fund five years ago. Mark S. Schweiker, the acting governor at the time used the money to fill holes in the state budg et. The loan is to he repaid with interest in 2014, and since the loan has been taken out less than a third of it has been repaid. One of the ways the fund receives income is through a fuel pump tax, which is currently set at 1.1 cents per gallon. The fund's board has proposed raising this tax to two cents per gallon, as a way of paying off the unpaid loan. Ultimately, this means a $5O million per year increase in the gas tax, which comes out to nine dollars per household. Gov. Ed Rendell is opposed to the increase and has asked the board to overturn it's decision. This tax is a large concern to Behrend students, many of which are commuters. With gas prices already at such a high cost, even the smallest increase is a large expense. According to Behrend freshman Shane Eazor, "Gas prices are already at an all-time high. College students don't have very much money to begin with and usually spend most of it on gas any way. There is no reason to put more money in the pockets of the oil companies when they are already taking so much." "All this is, is price gouging," claims Behrend fresh Students favor the new, longer Thanksgiving break By Rachel Reeves • copy editor rcrsos7@psiLedu Students at Penn State enjoyed a longer than usual Thanksgiving break this fall semester. Previously at Penn State, vacations for the fall semester were set up quite differently. There would be a long weekend in October for fall break, and students would have a study day, and three or four days to get off campus and visit home. Then students would receive two weekdays off for Thanksgiving break, giving them just a four-day vacation. This system is still standard procedure at most universities. However, for this fall semester the University A Penn State Behrend Student Publication man Shane Appel. "Gas prices have gotten to a point where they are borderline thievery. An idea to increase them any more is just ridiculous." Gas prices have undeniably skyrocketed recently. A few weeks ago. the prices were hovering just under three dollars. Inexplicably. they jumped to $3.15 and sometimes even higher over the past week. If this gas tax were enacted. Pennsylvania's price-gap between its neighboring states would become even larger. Currently. all of the surrounding states have lower gas prices. Even if the gas tax were enacted, there is little proof it will have much of an effect. According to state con sultants, the Underground Storage Tank Indemnification Fund will be empty by 2015, even if the $lOO million loan were repaid. Senate Republicans have lashed out at the administration, claiming that all they are trying to do is enact a stealth tax increase. The fund is managed by the state Insurance Department. According to the Insurance Department, there is currently money left in the fund, but they claim the tax increase is still necessary. Officials claim it would be bad policy to leave the loan unpaid, because it will increase "projected" deficits. The fund board is consulted by the Milliman Co., which esti mates that the fund currently has a deficit of $374 mil lion, and projects the deficit to be $1 billion in a decade. "The gas companies don't need any more of our money," says Behrend freshman Matt Kirkpatrick. "They are already one of the biggest industries in the world so there is no reason for them to receive our tax dollars on top of that." Registrar decided to remove the fall break, but give students an entire week off for Thanksgiving. Although initially students felt that three months is a long time to go without a break. most feel that it was worth the long week in November. For most students the long break meant getting things accomplished and out of the way, and also hav ing time to relax with family and friends. "I got so much done," says Erin Cafferty, Behrend student. She mentioned catching up in her Biology class, relaxing with her family, and stocking up on supplies again. She even had time to help sheet-rock a room in her parents' nearly completed new house. Melanie Brewer, another Behrend student, was able to help cook for Thanksgiving, which had been close Students concerned over lack of lights on Jordan Road By Michelle Quail .ctuff writer 111145(H)I psi! cdti Jordan Road is the busy passage everyone drives on to use the main entrance of campus. and some are bothered that it does not have lights. The dark and bumpy road appm - Hith has become a concern of many Behrend students, especialk the ones who intend to walk on the road at night. For those who are seeking answers. Directorid Maintenance John Ream sheds some light on the Hsue. "Pedestrian safety is a large concern of ours. II thew is something we can do to improve safety we certainly want do it. - he says. The first time Ream heard complaints about Jordan Road. they were front faculty members who were surprised that students were walking along the road instead of using the paths. Ream claims Jordan Road is a concern of his, not because of a lack of lighting. but because students tend to travel along the narrow road with the cars lie say s Jordan Road was never intended as a pedestrian w alkw \ Last year after hearing concerns of the faculty. he found the best approach was to put signs on many of the walkways reminding people to use the paths. and not the main road for transportation. He says most of the walkways intersecting Jordan Road have these signs. "As far as lighting goes. - lie explains "we do have lighting close to the end of the walk ways that make the road visible at night. - Ream does not know of any injuries of students or faculty due to a lack of lighting on Jordan Road. Sophomore Behrend student Jon Lamanna says he %\ alks on Jordan Road a couple nights a week. Lamanna is con cerned with both a lack of lighting on the road. and the speed of cars that pass through the steep hill. "I think there should be a sidewalk along the road. and also more lighting. - he said. "I always look both ways when crossing. hut you can never tell if cars are coming from behind the peak of the Lamanna adds, "The walking paths around campus don't always lead to where we need to go. From University Gate Apartments, which is where I live. Jordan Road is the When students pass the Country Fair at the intersec tion of 1-90. they are reminded of the high gas prices to impossible during the shorter break. She also was glad for the opportunity to get in some more work hours, and make some extra cash. The only downside was, "It was so hard to come hack fom. After a week. I was ready to settle down for the holidays. - She was n't the only student to experience unusually persistent post-Thanksgiving break blues, but she maintains that it was well worth it. For Becky Van Neil, the long break meant being able to go home. Since her home is in New Jersey. an eight-hour drive away, a long weekend would not he worth the trip. If she did manage to get home m :1 four-day vacation, it would mean as much time spent in the car as spending at home. "If it was just a long Continued on page 2. Vol. LIV No. XIII Continued on page 2 D BEACON
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