Friday, October 17, 2008 TENSIONS BETWEEN STUDENTS AND NEIGHBORS LEAD TO NEW LEGISLATION THE RAPIDLY INCREASING NUMBER OF STUDENTS LIVING OFF-CAMPUS IN ERIE AND EDINBORO IS PUTTING /t STRAIN ON THE CITY By Rachel Reeves editor in chief rcrso?7c« psu.cdu The Trie area is struggling to accommodate the explosion of college students living off-cam pus this year. The relationships between students and other residents in the neighborhoods of Erie and Edinboro are becoming more and more strained. However, the two governments are each handling these new issues very differently. James Thompson, the water and housing authority of the Erie City Council, says that stu dent-neighbor relations are becoming an issue in the Edinboro and Erie areas. He lists loud par ties. underage drinking, and parking as the main issues for neighbors. Thompson says that this is unfortunate, because not all students are disrup tive "So many students arc good students," he says. Thompson says that the city is looking for a proactive way to eliminate this conflict. "We want to solve the problem, rather than watch it continue," says Thompson. "We want to find an Sir NEIGHBORHOOD TENSIONS on page 3 9 OiiliH'l l.iS Newsroom: 898-6488 Fax: 898-6019 E-mail: rcrsos7@psu.edu Our offices are located downstairs in the Reed Union Building. A Penn State Behrend Student Publication Debate Watch 2008 The third and final presidential debate fills Bruno's cafe with students learning about the election Students from the speech classes of Penn State Behrend pack Bruno's to maximum capacity on Wednesday night to watch the final presidential debate. Visit us on the web at www.thebehrend beacon .com KEEGAN MCGREGOR - The Behrcnd Beacon Go to page 2 for details on DebateWateh Eerie Horror Fest hosts film makers, fans, and actors Downtow n Erie had no lack of zombies, vampires and former B-movie actors this weekend as the Warner Theater hosted the fifth annual Eerie Horror Eest. It's only fitting that the event was hosted at a new, more grandiose location, as it was the biggest the festival has ever been. The Honor Fest always features an array of fright ening. funny and unique films and this year was no different. One such film, "Cheerbleeders," told the story of Penny, the least popular girl in school, and her best friend Devon, a fellow outcast. When Penny discovers a mysterious goo that gets dumped on Devon, he becomes irresistible to all the girls in school. At first. Penny and Devon use new power to get back at all the people who mistreated them, but Devon's power soon gets to his head, leading to promiscuity and lines such as, "Devon, Jamie drank all my wine. I think she needs a spank ing!" In the end. it's up to Penny to stop Devon, before he brings the whole school down with him. Edward Furlong of American History X and Tennimaor appeared in a film this year, called Dark Reel. Daik Reel utilized a morbid mix of comedy and horror to tell the story of a Hollywood scandal that had repercussions in the present. Source: Wealher.com Friday: Mostly Sunny. High 55F. Winds N/NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 20%. Saturday: Partly Cloudy. High 54F. Chance of rain 10% Sunday: Partly cloudy. High 60F. Chance of rain 10 %. By Marcus Yeagley and Emily Reiehart copy editor, skiff writer nijys()l2(« psti.edu. eerSOhXm psu.edu Behrend students are having difficulty applying for alternative loans as the national financial cri sis constricts student loan lenders. More than 70 student loan companies have either left the market or tightened their credit requirements this yettr. Key Bank. Wachovia, and Bank of America arc only a few. Campus Door. a student loan company owned by Lehman Brothers, a global financial-services firm, ceased operation on the eve of its owner’s well-publi cized collapse. “This affects college students more than they realize." says Dr. Christopher Cook, a political science professor at Behrend. Nathan Pol is one such student. A third semes ter transfer student front Duquesne University. Pol went through Campus Door last year.'Tvc gotten to the point where I don't have the credit to apply for more loans." says Pol. who found that Campus Door denied his application last August. Pol has found his financial options for this year dwindling. He has tried other loan com panies such as Citibank, but was denied due to the lack of a co-signer. He is surviving off of a three-part deferment plan. He buses table*- at the Erie Yacht Club and is looking tor a second job to help meet his upcoming financial deadlines. Other students have found their loans taking much longer to come to Behrend than expected, traveling far past Penn State registration dead- Bv Matthew Schwabenbauer news editor mjss3B7(n psu.edu There w'ere a number of foreign films at the festi val this year, two of which won awards. Eskalofrio [Shiver \n English!, got the best actor award at the fest, due to Junio Valverde's portrayal of Santi, a young vampire living in the city with his mom. who run into trouble when thev relocate. Death's Requiem, an Australian film, won best cinematography. The film told of a comic book artist given four months to live due to complica tions from lukemia, who eventually has to face the character he draws: Death himself. The scares started Thursday. Oct. 9 when the first exhibitors set up their tables and films began screen ing. There was no lack of things to do between films at the festival, as tables were set up for organ izations promoting everything from breweries, artists, t-shirt companies and tattoo parlors. "I'm all about any kind of monster stuff." said Eerie Eric, a tattoo artist at Erie's Midtown Tattoo. 'The majority of my stuff is monsters, and spooky stuff like that. Plus, Erie is my hometown. The fes tival is a perfect fit for us. We're here to try to make a name for a new shop." News 1-3 Perspectives 4-5 Arts 6-7 Sports 8-9 Local Dining 10 Vol. LV No. VIX STUDENT LOANS AFFECTED BY CREDIT CRASH See CREDIT CRASH on page .? See EERIE HORROR EEST on page J