The Behrend beacon. (Erie, Pa.) 1998-current, April 09, 2010, Image 4
4i Behrend Beacon April 9, 2010 I www.thebehrendbeacon.com LOCAL NEWS At least 16 workers from the North East manufacturing plant and one medic were hos pitalized after a chemical spill on Thursday. The spill occurred when one employee poured a mixture into a container drum,causing a chemical reaction. A reactive substance may have already been in the con tainer. The mixture, which con sisted of nitric acid, sulfuric acid, sodium hydroxide and potassium silver cyanide, were used in a metal plating process. Workers were taken to the Saint Vincent Health Center and the Hamot Medical Center from exposure to both the chemical mixture and the gas vapor caused by the spill. MEADVILLE Philip Pandolph was named Meadville Medical Center’s new chief execu tive officer on Wednesday. Pandolph, who previously held the position of chief op erating officer, replaces An thony DeFail, who will remain the president of the hospital. Meadville Medical Center spokeswoman Eliza beth Atwell stated that the move was simply “a leader ship change, and that it doesn’t mean that anyone retired or resigned.” Pandolph, a registered nurse, started his career as a charge nurse at McKeesport Hospital in McKeesport. ERIE Erie citizens will be able to offer their viewpoints on area code changes for phones during a public hearing on April 20. The Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission must make a decision on what course of action should be taken in response to the shrinking number of avail able area code 814 phone numbers, which is predicted to run out by Oct. 2012. One solution is to split up the area codes into different geographic regions, which means that residents in 32 counties could be assigned new phone numbers. Four other plans are also being considered. FAIRVIEW A man was rescued from a large bin used to store shelled corn after he fell into the bin on Wednesday. Res cue crews responded to the call of entrapment at 12:10 p.m. and arrived at a farm in Gerard Township at 1:50 p.m. Rescue workers carried the man out strapped to a back board to an ambulance which took him to the Hamot Medical Center. The man became en trapped when he tried to break up a clog in a machine that was used to transport the corn from the bin to a truck. The man was later re leased from the Hamot Hos pital at 4:00 p.m. later that day. POLICE REPORT - A report was received that an individual had vandalized the ground floor of the Stair Tower at 8:30 a.m. on March 30. - The Behrend Police were no tified that the COLLEGE DRIVE/JORDAN ROAD street sign post was down at 1:30 a.m. on April 1. - A burglary was reported at Ohio Hall at 8:30 p.m. on April 1. Earthquake shrike* Indonesia SUMATRA, Indonesia - A 7.7-magnitude earthquake hit the islands and coastal cities of Indonesia early on Wednes day. The earthquake triggered two tsunamis and injured six people. The people were injured on the island of Simeulue, just off the coast of Banda Aceh, a city near the northern tip of In- donesia’s Sumatra Island. The tsunamis were reported to have only been a foot high, re sulting in no damage. NATIONAL MILITARY U.S. starts to reduce After years of negotiations and debate, world powers, including the United States, have taken another step closer to a nuclear free world. The United States will no longer create new-generation nuclear weapons and will take a stance not to use existing nuclear stockpile against countries that have agreed to help stop the manufacturing and distribution of nuclear weapons, according to a statement given by the Obama admin istration on Tuesday. This comes in response to the govern ment’s shifting viewpoints on nuclear weapons during its Nuclear Posture Re view, when the U.S. Department of De fense reviews its strategy in the use of nuclear weapons for national security. It is believed that the new stance on nu clear weapons will be an incentive for other countries to follow the guidelines of the 1968 Nuclear Proliferation Treaty. Defense Secretary Robert Gates stated the new stance will “provide a road map to help achieve Obama’s long-term goal of a nuclear free world.” However, Gates also made it clear that any country that produces or uses chemical or biological weapons could be subjected to a massive conventional response by the U.S. “The purpose of the new strategy is to prevent nuclear terrorism and the spread ing of nuclear weapons,” according to a NATIONAL POLITICS Uprisings MARCUS YEAGLEY head copy editor Opposition leaders in Kyrgyzstan formed a new acting government Thurs day after a day of anti-government protests left at least 40 people dead. Thousands of protesters clashed with riot police over corruption and the rising cost of gas utility bills. The police fired tear gas, rubber bullets and flash grenades into the crowds. Many men from poor villages who moved to the capital to live and work on construction sites became outraged over high energy costs. Kurmanbek Bakiyev, the president, was forced out of the capital. He has been criticized for appointing key polit ical positions to relatives. He has also been accused of preparing his son, Mak sim, for a leadership position. Bakiyev came to power after the Tulip Revolution in 2005, promising to tamp down corruption and fight poverty. Bakiyev agreed to reduce his presiden tial power in 2006 after mass protests. In July 2009, Bakiyev won a presidential election that was widely criticized by in ternational monitors. Bakiyev maintains that he is still in control of Kyrgyzstan. “I declare that as president I have not abdicated and am not abdicating re sponsibility,” Bakiyev said. Roza Otunbayeva, a former foreign World News Residents in coastal towns fled to higher ground after they were warned of tsunamis by Indonesia’s Meteorological and Geophysics Agency. 2. 115 miners res cued In China BEIJING, China - 115 miners were rescued after being trapped in a flooded coal mine in northern China on Monday. The miners were part of a group of 261 workers who were working in the Wangjialing mine when it flooded on March 28. Rescuers managed to pull ERIC PEIRCE asst, news editor senior U.S. administration official This new stance comes along with Pres ident Obama signing a nuclear arms treaty with Russia that will result in a reduction of both country’s nuclear stockpiles on Thursday. The reduction would cut each country’s stockpile by a third, limiting each in Kyrgyzstan result minister, has been named the interim government leader. “The security service and the interior ministry, all of them are already under Local/ 108 miners immediately after the flood occurred. During the week,rescuers re ported seeing swaying lights and hearing tapping noises from trapped miners. Two hun dred rescue workers are still working around-the-clock to drain water and pull out min ers. 3. Demonstrators protest in Thailand BANGKOK, Thailand - Anti-government protestors demanded that officials reopen nuclear weapons Nuclear weapons and transporters will be reduced in numbers. Kyrgyzstan houses a U. S. military base that helps transport supplies to troops in Afghanistan. National News Thursday. Red Shirt protestors were at a standoff with government sol diers after the TV station was closed down after accusations of misinformation. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejja jiva said the station was shut down “to restore peace and order and to stop the spreading of false information to the Thai public.” The emergency measures ban the publishing, broadcast ing, or spreading of informa tion considered a threat to national security. country to 1,550 strategic nuclear war heads, it would also limit the number of strategic delivery vehicles. One of Obama’s top priorities during his presidency is to reduce the threat of nu clear weapons for all nations. in new government the management of new people,” Otun bayeva said. “The interim government will remain in place for half a year, dur ing which we will draft the constitution television station on wikimedia | sports: sportsQi psu.edu and create conditions for free and fair elections.” BEACON ONLINE The Beacon website, the behrendbeacon.com, is your online source for campus news. Constantly updated with new and breaking news sto ries, the website will feature immediate coverage of events as well as an archive of past articles in the Bea con. We also offer a Twitter ac count, (a behrendbeacon, which will be used to let stu dents know of breaking news happening at the col lege: notification of impor tant events about to begin, police reports at the cam pus, or developments not yet released to students by the college. The site also offers an RSS feed, links to Erie resources, and Behrend students’ blogs. QUOTE OF THE WEEK ; \ ; “I’m sick of following my j ! dreams. I’m just going to ask ! j them where they’re going’ | | and hook up with them j Mitch Hedberg FACT OF THE WEEK It would take nine ''i ! miles of walking to burn off ! | a Burger King Double | ! Whopper with Cheese. ! randomhistory.com CONTACT US Our offices are located in the bottom floor of the Reed building, office 10H, down the hall from the mailroom. 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