BEHREND BEACON Local - National News September 17, 2010 www.thebehrendbeacon.com LOCAL NEWS FAIRVIEW Tornado sightings were re ported in Fairview Township after thunderstorms passed through Erie County on Thursday night, according to the Erie Times-News. There were no reports of injury or damage, and the National Weather Service could not confirm a tornado touchdown. The Erie Times-News also talked with a 911 emergency dispatcher, who said a Tor nado sighting near Route 99 and Crate Road, just north of Edinboro in Washington Township, was reported. The Fairview tornado sight ing was reported just after 7 p.m. Many lightning strikes and heavy rain were present throughout Thursday night. Lightning postponed the North East-Fairview High School football game, which has been rescheduled for Sat urday at 7 p.m. ERIE Erie-native Jill Behm, a contestant on Survivor: Nicaragua, survived the first elimination on the show Wednesday night. Behm, a physician in Mill creek Township, is a mem ber of the Espada tribe of players older than 40. Rival group La Flor defeated Es pada in the immunity chal lenge, meaning Espada had to eliminate a competi tor. A goat rancher from Montana was voted off. Behm did not appear to be in any danger of elimina tion during the first episode, though she was only shown in a limited ca pacity. Others on her team include former Miami Hur ricanes and Dallas Cow boys coach Jimniy Johnson. If Behm wins Survivor: Nicaragua, she will win $1 million. To watch Behm in her quest, tune into CBS on Wednesdays at 8 p.m. FACT OF THE WEEK r" Did You Know? Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously. 1.. I Gannon University Gannon partners with Jordinian school BRENNA PETERS managing / news editor, Cannon Knight Gannon University is preparing for a partnership with the currently under con struction University of Mad aba, in Jordan. University of Madaba Pres ident Dr. Victor Billeh visited Gannon on Sept. 7 to talk to students and faculty about creating a relationship be tween the two schools. The University of Madaba is located four miles outside of Madaba, Jordan. Billeh said the school should be ready for classes by October 2011. Billeh said that Pope John Paul II talked with the church about setting up the school with King Hussein bin Talal of Jordan. Actual construc tion on the school began when Pope Benedict XVI vis ited Jordan in May 2009 and laid the foundation stone. The University of Madaba will be the first Catholic col lege in Jordan, as well as the first nonprofit institution. The classes at the univer sity will be taught only in English, making the univer sity the first school of higher 1. France, Germany disagree over Roma German Chancellor Angela Merkel publically declared that she does not plan to fol low France's plan of deporta tion of Roma, according to the BBC. French President Nicholas Sarkozy had told reporters that Merkel had expressed support and solidarity for the country's deportation pro - gram: however, Merkel's statement denying this has led to some tension between the two leaders. US Census Bureau reports 1 in 7 in poverty EVAN KOSER 1 'I The US government has re ported that the poverty rate has risen to its highest level in 15 years. One in seven Ameri cans now reportedly live in poverty. This marks the high est rate seen since the 19605. The information was released last Thursday by the US Cen sus Bureau and was a product of the 2010 census taken last spring. According to the study. the poverty rate went from the 2008 statistic of 13.2 percent to 14.3 percent, roughly 43.6 million people. m 2009. The report on the economic well-being of US citizens dur ing 2009, which was President Barack Obama's first year, fol lowed a recession that left millions of people jobless. The poverty line is defined by the US government as a fam ily of four living on less than s22k a year. This figure shows that the rate of poverty this last year was the highest since Dr. Victor Billeh, President of the University of Madaba in Jordan, visited Gannon on Sept. 7to foster a relationship at Gannon. education to have all English classes in Jordan. The university plans to have seven departments: business and finance; sci ence; engineering; informa tion technology; language and communications; art and design; and health sciences. The university will be small in size, but the campus is planned to accommodate 6,000 to 7,000 students. According to Billeh, the university will be the only in- World News ~°De /-- 2. Muhammad cartoonist in hiding, on FBI tip The creator of the Facebook group "Everyone Draw Muhammad" day has moved from her home and changed her name, heeding FBI advice that she was in danger, ac cording to the Seattle Weelzlv Times. The Seattle Weekly wrote in a column on Wednesday that Molly Norris, who works for the newspaper, will he going into a type of "witness protec - tion," and "going ghost" for an indefinite period of time. Flickr Creative Commons / ccomaha Increased use of food banks has become common across the country as poverty has risen. its been in 1994, but is lower than the first year poverty es timates were taken in 1959 re ports the Census Bureau. President Obama said that 2009 would he a tough year for families but that things could have been worse. "Because of the Recovery Act and many other programs providing tax relief and in come support to a majority of working families - and espe- Campus Connection A brief look at what's u stitution in the Middle East to be run on renewable energy. A geothermal system, which uses heat from the ground, will be used to power the school. There is one more way in which the University of Mad aba will stand apart from other Middle Eastern univer sities. Billeh said he wants to promote diversity among stu dents - he doesn't want the school to be made up of just Jordanians. 3. Afghanistan pre pares for vote Over 2500 candidates will run for 249 seats in the Afghan Parliament's lower house Sunday. However, skep tics point to the large amount of invalid votes thrown out from last election, and claim that in less populated areas, the same problem will occur. More than 650 candidates are running for only 33 seats in Kabul. It is the more remote areas of the country, though, that have observers worried. Many suspect that vote buy ing will spread due to lack of financial campaign legisla- cially those most in need - mil lions of Americans were kept out of poverty last year," said Obama. Pail of the strain that many of these families faced were the short-lived unemployment benefits. Many workers still found themselves jobless even after their benefits ceased. However, workers are now el igible for extensions that were earlier this month passed by campuses of Erie's other colleges on the College students now have a greater op portunity to save money by comparing prices online before purchasing their textbooks at Mercyhurst College. Mercyhurst releases online book list As part of the Higher Education Opportu nity Act, all colleges are required to post a list of the books required for every class. This law took effect on July 1. The information on the list includes the title of the book, the author, edition, ISBN, new price and used price. The new law was created as a way to help students with cost, according to General Manager of the Mercyhurst College Book store Dan Cullen. "Book prices were getting out of control," Cullen said. "What we try to do, the teachers try to do and congress was trying to do is make things cheaper for the students." Junior Amanda Kocent was not aware that there was a book list online that could help save her money. "I usually buy my books from the book store," she said. However now that she knows the book list is available, she said she plans to compare book prices online before deciding where to purchase her textbooks. Cullen said he thinks adding a checkout button online will steer students to buy their books from Mercyhurst College if they can't find them somewhere else. An online check out button will allow students to add the 4. French nationals kidnapped in Niger Five French workers and two Africans working for French construction company Vinci have been kidnapped in Niger, according to a state ment by the company Thurs day. The French government has requested that the Niger gov ernment track down the cap tors. The statement by Vinci went on to say that the men were working on an earth moving operation by two ura nium mines. Congress. In conjunction with a rising poverty level, the number of Americans without health in surance also rose to 16.7 per cent from 15.4 percent. After the debacle over the extension of unemployment benefits, voters will decide in Novem ber. whether they will commit to the Democrats or if they will look to Republicans for new leadership. KELLY LUOMA managing / news editor, A„fercyliurst Merciad JOINING THE BEACON [he Behrend Beacon offers far rpore opportunities than just giving clips to prospective journalists. We employ over 40 students from various ma jors and backgrounds. If you are a physics major and want to cover physics, let us know, and you can cover news in which you're inter ested on our Science page. It doesn't stop there - we have students from every major on campus covering news that's important to them on our award-winning School Pages. If you are interested in ad vertising or sales, we employ student advertising account executives to handle advertis ing accounts with local adver tisers. We also employ website technicians in our web depart ment and marketing special ists in our marketing department. Both have the ability to separate you from others in your field when you search for a job. Positions are limited. Not all positions are paid. The best way to get involved is to take the first step, even if it's terri fying, and try something new. No experience is necessary. To inquire about open posi tions, contact the editor at editora psu.edu. Our offices are located in the bottom floor of the Reed building, in Reed 3, right next to the Personal Counseling Office and just down the hallway from the RUB desk and student lounge. If you have a news story for the Beacon or want to submit feedback, e-mail editor news opinion: sports: culture advertising and business: behrendbeaconads gmail.com Tyler Stauffer / The Merciad Students hear the new speaker system as they walk to class books they want to purchase from the book store to an online shopping cart, and then they will be able to pick up the books they ordered at the bookstore. "We are trying to keep the prices down as best we can," Cullen said. "We're all about helping out the students." CONTACT US TEL: (814) 899-6488 FAX: (814) 899-6019 The Behrend Beacon 4701 College Drive Erie, PA 16563 Room 10H editono psu.edu cisso6o((i psu.edu bmbs29oQ, psu.edu ajiso27(fi psu.edu sbesol7« , psu.edu website/photography: stfso26«i psu.edu Mercyhurst University
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