I The Behrend Beacon
Man acquitted after charges of bombing Sears Tower
MIAMI, Florida Lyglenson Lemorin was acquitted of charges of planning to blow up Chicago's
Sears Tower on Thursday. Lemorin and six others were arrested in June 2006 for conspiring to destroy
the Sears Tower, the FBl's Miami headquarters and other sites. A federal jury was unable to reach a
verdict of the other six potential conspirators, but the U.S. Attorney'S office announced their cases
would be retried starting January 7.
Out of the seven men accused of the crime, five were American citizens, one was an illegal alien
and the last was a resident alien. The group has been nick named the "Liberty City 7" because they
operate out of a warehouse in Miami's Liberty City area.
The men were caught after they encountered a government informant posing as an Al Qaeda
informant. Federal sources claim the men weren't actually members of Al Qaeda but were possible Al
Qaeda wannabes.
Five of the group members are part of an organization called "Seas of David." The group claims to
he a peaceful organization with no ties to any terrorist group. Seas of David claims to be a religious
organization that blends the teachings of Christianity and Islam.
Students cry foul over deceptive recruitment of Vector Marketing
By Connor Sattely
entertainment editor
cisso6oo psu edu
With a Google search for "Winter Break Work," students can find a myriad of
opportunities presented for short-term jobs. Often, the results of this search will
lead to a company called Vector Marketing, which advertises rates of $l4/hour to
$ 18/hour, notes its flexible hours, and assures applicants that no experience is nec
essary.
It truly does sound like the perfect job to hold over winter break, or even for a
few months over the summer. College freshman Shane Conrad discovered Vector
Marketing through posters that were displayed all over the Indiana University of
Pennsylvania, where he attends college.
"There were really bright posters everywhere advertising 18 dollars an hour for
a flexible job. all majors accepted," Conrad recalls. "I was really, really excited
about it at first. and I went online and filled out an application."
After Conrad filled out an application, he was called back within 15 minutes of
hitting submit. "That kind of struck me as odd at the time, but 1 set up an inter
view anyway. - Conrad recalls.
His "interview" consisted of being asked a few questions such as "On a scale
of one to 10. rate your own ability to communicate."
Conrad and the other five people in the Vector Marketing office were then told
what their job would he - selling CutCo knives. Those who would sell these
knives for Vector Marketing would set up appointments with family and friends,
and he paid on an appointment basis.
"The knives looked really sweet," Conrad says. "The lady that showed them to
us cut a penny with them, and showed how other knives weren't as good."
He was handed a pre-made acceptance letter, and notified of a starting date for
"I was really excited, and felt pretty proud, since I got this great job for winter
break." Conrad says.
He then contacted a friend to let him know about the opportunity. His friend
immediately warned him to do some more research before he took the job. What
Student grows during classroom continued from page 1
sensitivity, or they were being treated differently when wearing the triangles.
However. there were a number of interesting stories. Corty recalls reading one young
woman's story who went to church, and the priest asked her why she was wearing
the triangle. She told him it was for a class, and the priest said "good, I was worried
about you for a while!" Corty says, "Someone also told her the seat next to them was
taken when she tried to sit down for mass. There is supposed to be a Christian envi
ronment in church, and people were not very kind." The student claimed the assign
ment was eye opening.
Some students didn't notice anything when wearing the triangles and some also
decided not to wear them. Andrew Moszculski did not wear his triangle, but wrote an
essay which Corty said was powerful. Corty says the essay struck him because "the
student grappled with his own feelings about homosexuality. He was sad— not both
ered by homosexuality. It was a personal, but very difficult experience for him."
Moczulski explains, "One of my best friends in high school was homosexual. It
wasn't until we had been good friends for six years that he came out of the closet,
and when he did it, he couldn't even tell me in person. He had to write me a letter."
He says it wasn't until he put on the homosexual symbol that he realized why his
friend was afraid to tell him. "I used to think this was a neat assignment, and that I
could finally begin to see the world through my friend's eyes. The more I thought
about it, however, the more I realized how he felt when he came out of the closet."
Mozculski adds that he wishes society were more accepting, "We are still pretty
intolerant society. We hide it well, but I know people would want to hurt me if I wore
that triangle deep down. It is definitely something that we need to work on as a soci
ety."
Moczulski adds that he feels ashamed for not wearing the sticker, but he does not
regret it. "I'm glad I didn't get hurt by anyone," he says. Cony has been giving the
assignment for several years. "I absolutely plan to use it again. It is a
Source: CNN
NE W.
Conrad found was thousands of stories, warnings, and signatures on petitions to
stop Vector Marketing.
"My friend told me it was a scam, and after doing some research, I found that
very few people were actually able to make money with the company. - Conrad
says.
What he stumbled upon was PetitionOnline.com, a site dedicated to hosting
user-made petitions which viewers can sign. A petition called "Stop the Scamful
ways of Vector Marketing" now has over 7,100 signatures.
Like thousands of other college students, Conrad found that he would end up
paying money for his newly found job. A charge of $l2O is assessed for appli
cant's demo knives, and employees are directed to attend conferences which often
include an entrance fee.
Some students have found success with Vector Marketing. Overall. what the job
amounts to for many students is telemarketing. After setting up appointments with
family and friends, employees are directed to ask for other contacts that they can
set up appointments with. Scattered amongst the warnings on PetitionOnline are
several success stories of students who have worked with Vector.
Most, though, have found that the hidden costs of the job were too merlin han
dle. Gas for trips to appointments is not paid for, and time setting up appointments
is also not paid for. What many employees of Vector find is that within a few
weeks, they have actually lost money. A study of 940 Wisconsin Vector Marketing
recruits found that nearly half of all recruits either lost money or earned nothing
while working for Vector.
Vector has a history of deceiving recruits as well: the company admitted to
fraud in settlements with the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission
in 1999, the Wisconsin Consumer Protection Department in 1994, and the Arizona
Attorney General in 1992, reports Spamlaws.com.
Conrad is grateful that he had a friend who was able to warn him away from a
situation in which he could have actually lost money. He urges those who are con
templating a job from Vector marketing to do Internet research before attending
training or accepting a job.
"If it sounds too good to be true," Conrad says, "it probably is."
great assignment," he says. "From my perspective, it was meaningful and
thought provoking. it makes students learn things that are hard to learn"
This is Moczulski's essay:
"I tried. I really did. I mean, probably my best friend from high-school
was homosexual, and I figured this was kind of a neat opportunity to see
how he saw the world.
But then I remembered something else about him: He didn't go
around announcing he was gay to the whole world. Whenever I looked
at that triangle and pictured it on my arm, all I could picture was some
jackass following me out to the parking lot at the mall and smashing my
head in with a baseball bat. I realize that the odds of something like that
happening in Erie are pretty slim... we are, at least in my experience, a
fairly tolerant community. But dammit, people like that ARE out there.
That's the reason that actual gay people only walk around wearing gay
pride items when they're in large groups! Because out there in the
world, there are people who will beat the crap out of a person just for
being gay. And sometimes, they'll do worse.
It didn't help when I described the assignment to my parents, just to
see what they thought I should d 0... and my dad looked me right in the
eyes and told me, "Don't be an idiot. You've never even been in a fight,
and if some jerk decides to kick your ass, he's probably going to be able
to do it. Homework isn't worth going to the hospital over."
So that's why I didn't go out wearing the sticker. Fear, plain and sim
ple. I completely chickened out. I wanted to do it... I feel bad that I
DIDN'T. But I'll admit that I gained some insight into the gay mindset,
even though I didn't wear the sticker. I was afraid to go out in public
wearing a sticker that proclaimed, really, only my SUPPORT for homo
sexuals. People who are actually gay... they must live with fear like that
all the time. Fear that someday, they'll be out and they'll walk by the
wrong cluster of people, and that's all she wrote. And then there's the
`lesser' consequences... being ostracized by the community, being aban-'
doned by their friends, even being looked down on by their own fami
lies sometimes.
And I was afraid to put on a sticker for a couple of hours.
I feel really pathetic."
Powerful typhoon hits the Philippine coast
MANILA, Philippines 12 people were killed in the Philippines on Tuesday after a powerful Typhoon
hit the coast.
The typhoon eventually weakened into a tropical storm named Mitag and changed course. Most of
the fatalities were due to drowning, and four people remain missing. Two villagers went missing the
day before the Typhoon hit when extreme river currents swept their home away.
After the storm hit land it moved into nearby mountain provinces, where thousands were evacuated
from fear of landslides.
50 villages were flooded in the province of Isabella which has over a million residents. In the
provinces capital city, Ilagan, 10 houses were destroyed from the increased size of the village's river
due to the typhoon. In Cagayan, a nearby province, two villagers were drowned and strong winds
knocked over trees and power lines, causing the entire province to he powerless. Governor Alvaro
Antonio claims the province's rice industry was affected. He told the Associated Press "We were just
one or two weeks away from harvest time. I'm afraid we've lost everything to the flood and strong
winds."
In Pagudpud, a nearby resort town, a landslide rendered a nearby road unusable. No traffic was able
to pass through and the military was deployed to clear the road.
The Agriculture Department estimate losses at $2.5 million so far, which pales in comparison to the
$246 million worth of damage incurred during last year's typhoons.
Friday,December 14, 2007
Gamer 's
Club offers
fun for all
By Erik Holman
staff writer
eth50290 psu.edu
Freshman Jessica Fleger is straining as she
fights and struggles to get to her destination.
First she screams of agony w henever she feels
defeated and then roars in victory at her winning
moment. Aber viewing a projector brightly
shining on the classroom walls, one can easily
realize Heger is playing bowling on the fiuuous
Nintendo Wii. :I liked it. I nrver played a Vsli
before. " states Fleger, who's taking a well
deserved break after going for 10 rounds on the
virtual lane.
Ladies and gentleman. what had occurred w as
the evening event of Garners Night last Friday.
Happening once each semester, people are gath
ered around in the upper floor of the Reed
Building to live up to their digital fantasy by
having an all-night console hash. Each of the
rooms on the Reed Building contained different
consoles varying from current-gen to last-gen.
One room contained the Wii and a PS2 reserved
for Guitar Hero competitions. Another room
contained the Nintendo 64 where die-hards
could play classic multi-players games such as
Mario Kart 64, Goldeneye. and Super Smash
Bros. The third and final room is darkened for
the light-up controllers used for the original
Xbox. Many Halo/Time Splitters 2 tournaments
happen there as one would compete to become
the ultimate gaming master.
While the place seemed full of people,
Garners Night founder Kyle Zaffino said. "Well.
there's normally more people here than a hand
ful."
Many people wouldn't be able to show up
with their busy schedules or working at Bruno's.
Junior Derek also agrees as he says. "It was a tot
bigger [at the last event] than this one. But this
one is still fun, nonetheless." Many state those
reasons were because of comedian Jim
Gaffigan's appearance on the Behrend campus
as he gave his comedy show at the Junker
Center. As the hours went by, however, each of
the rooms was becoming full as people started
to come after Gaffigan's performance. Although
the rooms were full, most were coming in the
first room to get their chance to play with the
Nintendo Wii.
Many brought their own board games to kill
time as well. Dungeons and Dragons, Risk,
chess, checkers, and Monopoly were all brought
by those who would rather play strategic games
than video games to challenge their arsenal of
cerebral control. Gamers Night had it all for
anyone who is curious to how certain games are
played or worked and also a cool place to create
new friends. Gainers Nights will be held next
semester on Jan. 18, Feb. 8, Feb. 29, March 21,
and April 11. They're all on Fridays and Garners
Night is welcoming those who want to exceed
their video game obsessions, challenge any
gamer to their superior level, or just want to
have fun.
For those who want to know further informa
tion, Zaffino announced on his Gamer's Night
board there is a board game tournament at
Phoenix Games on Friday Night to benefit for
Toys for Tots. Entry fee is a one brand-new
unwrapped toy. This event occurs from 5 p.m.
until 9 p.m. and Zaffino welcomes anyone inter
ested in coming.