Local 1. "Red Sludge" toxic spill reaches Danube River A chemical spill from a Hungarian factory poisoned eastern European rivers and killed entire populations of fish early this week. On Thursday, officials announced that the red slick of chemicals had reached the Danube River, igniting concerns in nearby Croatia, Serbia, and Roma nia. Tibor Dobson, a disaster official, said that all life in the Marcal river, which leads into the Danube, had been "extinguished," the BBC Re ports. LOCAL NEWS Erie casino fined slsk for underage gambling State regulators fined Presque Isle Downs & Casino $15,000 for two counts of un derage gambling. The Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board issued the fine, saying that a 19-year-old played on slot machines on two separate occasions be tween April and May. This is the first time in the casing's three-year history that it has been cited, reports the Erie Times-News. FACT OF THE WEEK I i The largest num- ' ber of children born to one woman is recorded at 69. From 1725-1765, a Russian peasant woman gave birth to 16 sets of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets. http://www.cs.cmu .edu/-bing bin/ NNON scipl i ne system rev JA OB TARR minor offenses, such as hay assistant news editor ing pets in rooms, smoking Gannon Knight in dorms or apartments and possession of alcohol if un derage. There are different sanc tions that will be enforced for these infractions. If a student reaches ten points in the sys tem, for example, the student could be suspended or ex pelled depending on a review by the Student Conduct Of fice and Dean of Students. Sue Majocka, the Student Conduct Officer and Har borview Resident Director, who is in charge of the new system, said the point system has been a success so fat "So far it seems to be working," she said. "Most students that I've dealt with haven't had a negative reac tion." Gannon University now disciplines misbehaved stu dents on a point system. Up perclassmen are exempt from the system, but subse quent freshman classes will abide by it. However, Student Living has allowed upperclassmen to use this new system if they chtX)se. ut. past years, students -,awe disciplined on a three strike basis, ff he or she corn '', *Wed three infractions, they 4100ropot on probation. Not only does the new point system cover alcohol and drug infractions, but it also covers conduct and be havior infractions, fire safety infractions and household re lated problems as well. Some of the major offenses include: public drunkenness, which constitutes four to six points; selling and distribut ing drugs, which constitutes ten points; drinking and driv- Ing, which would constitute ten points; and sexual as sault, which constitutes ten points as well. Additionally, there are also National News 2. Peruvian Mario Vargas Llosa wins Nobel Prize Mario Vargas Llosa, one of the Spanish-speaking world's most ac calimed writers, has won the 2010 Nobel Prize for Literature. The Swedish Academy, which awards the Nobel Prize, said that Llosa won the award for "his cartog raphy of structures of power and his trenchant images of the individual's resistance, revolt, and defeat." Llosa will travel to Stockholm, Sweden to receive the prize on Dec. 10 - Nobel Day - from the hands of the country's King. Haiti "still CONNOR SATTELY ,o,u)r-m-( htf Nearing the ten-month an niversary of the earthquake which devastated Haiti, non governmental organization Refugees International (RI) says that the country of Haiti is "still trapped in the emer gency phase." Much of that is due to the emergency camps set up in January, RI reports. "Living in squalid, over crowded and spontaneous camps for a prolonged period has led to aggravated levels of violence and appalling stan dards of living," says a report by the organization released Wednesday. The report also details prob lems faced by refugees in the country who are still dis placed after the disaster. Landowners and gang leaders are intimidating the displaced; sexual, domestic, and gang vi olence in and around the camps is rising; and many cit izens forced to leave a camp simply form new camps with Majocka said that students now have more understand ing as to what they need to do in order to avoid adding points to their name. "The point system helps to make things a little more concrete for students," she said. "Be fore we just had our discipli nary statuses with a warning, official warning, probations and suspensions." The point system has ten World News International Federation of the Red Cross / Flickr Creative Commons Millions of Haitians have taken shelter in emergency camps,' over 3,000 lived in this temporary camp. little or no humanitarian sup port. The situation requires a more coordinated and effi cient response, the report says, from the UN system in the country. These inefficiencies are par tially due to the overworked Humanitarian Coordinator, who is responsible for "in creasing effectiveness of hu Campus Connection at what's up on the campuses of Erie's other colleges sited A brief look concrete points and students clearly will understand what level they are on, she said. Although resident assis tants have the ability to re port infractions to Student Living, Majocka said she will be the only one to add points to a student's name. Majocka also said that other universities use this point system. She said that Bucknell University was one of the first schools to imple ment this system in the early 2000 s. Students have varying opinions on this topic. Alyssa Perkowski, a freshman nurs ing major disagrees with it. "I think it's nice to keep people in check but I also think it's a little harsh," she said. "I think there should be more ways to lower your points once you have accu mulated them." "Personally, I'm not real big on going out anyways just because there are lots of risks, but I think people are willing to break the rules," she said. "But it kind of sucks that we're in college and were getting treated like little kids again. People come to college to have freedom and grow up." 3. Pakistan urges U.S. to stop drone strikes A U.S. drone attack in Pakistan on Thursday has Pakistani officials calling for the end to the program. The attack is the latest in a month of high activity in drone strikes. More than 150 militants and civil ians have been killed in the last month by the program, BBC reports. BBC also quotes Pakistani foreign ministry spokesman Abdul Basit as saying the drone strikes are "coun terproductive and a violation of our sovereignty." He also said he hopes the U.S. will "revisit its policy." state of emergency" manitarian response and de lively," according to the re port. This person also "plays the role of the Resident Coor dinator and Deputy Special Representative of the Secre tary General of MINUSTAH - the UN peacekeeping force." "Given the competing de mands of these various roles, the coordination of humani tarian activities has suffered," New lab one of two Freshman forensic anthropology major Tess Allen uses a microscope to sort pieces of lithic, shell, and limestone rock in Zurn Hall's newly renovated Processing Laboratory. This week, Mercyhurst College will com plete construction of the R. L. Andrews Cen ter for Perishables Analysis and the Mercyhurst Archaeological Institute Process ing Laboratory. While the renovations will affect only a small percentage of the student population, the construction represents Mercyhurst's ded ication to providing quality education and re- 4 / 11 k4) ti,Z . t . . z. , ..1 `,. • A , "..: - 0 7 _ C 7 .' 4. Philippines to "ban im proper singing" of anthem A bill in the Philippines aims to make improper singing of the na tional anthem a federal crime. The bill, which has passed through the House of Representa tives but has yet to go though the Senate, puts strict restrictions on the performance of the country's anthem. Among the restrictions are desig nations on the anthem's tempo (100 to 120 beats per minute). It also states citizens must "stand to atten tion and sing with fervour." the report said. "There is still no effective protection and as sistance delivery system in place." Sexual violence and crime is also prevalent in the camps. The report cites service providers which have seen an increase in "street abortions" in girls as young as ten, and extremely high teenage preg nancy rates within the camp. Ethan Magoc / The Merciad JENNIFER MCCURDY stall writer, Mercyhurst Atter( lad JOINING THE BEACON The Behrend Beacon offers far more 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 editor@ 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 «1 gmail.com search opportunities Contractors started construction in Zurn Hall in June. The projects cost approximately $870,000. The R. L. Andrews Center for Perishables Analysis, commonly referred to as the basket lab, is one of only two laboratories in the world that analyze perishable artifacts. The other laboratory is located in Holland. Dr. James Adovasio, Director of the Anthro pology and Archaeology Department at Mer cyhurst College, is one of the world's leading authorities in the analysis of basketry, textiles, cordage and other plant fiber-derived arti facts. In a recent press release, he said, "Perish ables analysis is a small and relatively arcane specialization. Typically what we have learned about prehistoric civilizations comes from the study of durable materials, like stone and ceramics, when, in fact, 95 percent of what people manufactured prehistorically was made out of perishable materials." The newly renovated lab was equipped with modern technology. This includes microscopes connected to high definition video screens for viewing and measuring artifacts, and printers for image capture and the capability of immediately for warding specimens to the conservation lab. The forwarding allows for a better interface between labs. Many anthropology and archaeology stu dents receive their first hands-on experience in this lab. Lab Supervisor Jeffrey Illingworth says the project is "archeology's turn" after a project began eight years ago to renovate labs. CONTACT US TEL: (814) 899-6488 FAX: (814) 899-6019 The Behrend Beacon 4701 College Drive Erie, PA 16563 Room 10H editor« , psu.edu keds2ll(a psu.edu bmbs29o(a psu.edu ajiso27&i psu.edu sbesol7w psu.edu website/photography: stfso26((i psu.edu