National
Seagulls get bling
According to the Quebec
Media Inc. Agency and Sun
Media, seagulls have been no
ticed and even photographed
with what appears to be a col
lar around their neck made
from beer cans in their area.
What look like neck rings,
similar to those worn by Kay
an women in Burma, except
with empty beer cans instead
of gold, have been spotted on
seagulls in the bays of San
Francisco.
Wildrescue, an animal res
cue organization in the area
has been receiving informa
tion from birders and the
surprised public eye via their
blog. Along with the Interna
tional Bird Rescue Research
Center, a $l,OOO reward has
been issued for the "arrest
and conviction" of the person
responsible; neither group
believed it was the bird's own
doing, stating that whoever
was catching these animals
was causing them serious
harm and breaking the law.
Around the
World
Naked students
clean for cash
CZECH REP Crazy Clea
ning is a new business, dreamt
up by a 21-year-old student
in the Czech Republic, Katka
Kopecka, who was looking for
some extra cash in the bleak
economy. The innovation was
bred out of the simple idea,
which almost always rings
tN, liate Vkasan, but
lavge a.e•a: is na
ked bod
Made into a simple reality,
Crazy Cleaning now employs
15 students from whom the
customer can pick and the
rate of pay is $240 an hour
(completely naked). The cus
tomer can also decide what
amount of clothing his clean
ing service will wear, rang
ing from pants with no shirt,
just underwear, panties only,
or nothing at all. Kopecka
maintains that the service her
company provides is not pros
titution, but instead a reliable,
eye-appealing option for in
home cleaing.
Car catches fire
TOBY KELLER
assistant news editor
On Oct. 22, at around mid
night, Chad McDonough, a
junior Plastic Engineering
Technology major, and his
friends were walking through
campus when they saw what
they described as "a huge
cloud of dark smoke coming
from under the hood" of a
car parked in the driveway to
Senate.
"We looked to see if any
one was in the car, but there
wasn't," McDonough said.
"We all could smell gas and
immediately backed away.
Within seconds of mention
ing that the car looked ready
to explode, it was engulfed in
Though this blaze is brilliant, the incident was handled effectively with no reported injuries
USC offers Gaga sociology course
AMBER MILLER
contributing writer
Lady Gaga has made quite
the impression in the pop cul
ture scene since her debut in
2008 with her award-winning
music, suprising performanc
es, and unmatched costume
designs. However, no one
could have guessed that Gaga
would soon make her debut
in the academic world.
Dr. Mathieu Deflem, a pro
fessor for the University of
South Carolina's sociology
department, has garnered
some attention of his own
with his upcoming course
"Lady Gaga and the Sociol
ogy of Fame," to be taught
for the first time during the
College
A look at what's up at c
niversity
flames."
The owner of the car, ac
cording to Jim Amann, Man
ager of Saftey and Security
at Behrend, had parked and
went up to his room. Mc-
Donough and his friends re
acted quickly, sending Chris
topher Cavi (sophomore
- math) down to the police
station on foot because he "is
in the navy and is incredibly
fast."
McDonough searched for
an Emergency Beacon but
was unable to locate one.
His two other friends,
Mark McDonovich (sopho
more - mechanical engineer
ing technology) and Eiso
Gressian (freshman - ac
counting), documented the
spring semester of 2011.
How, one might ask, can a
respectable academic course
at the college level & based
on a pop star? It is 4nple.
"We're going to look at
Lady Gaga as a social event,"
Deflem said. "So it's not the
person, and it's not the music.
It's more this thing out there
in society that has 10 mil
lion followers on Facebook
and six million on Twitter. I
mean, that's a social phenom-
enon "
The course description,
found on Deflem's student
pages, says that special atten
tion will be designated to the
many dimensions of fame,
with respect to Lady Gaga as
a case study. Dimensions in-
mpus Connection
The college's board
trustees then voted in a
port of the administrat
looking into university
tus requirements in Jam
2010, which led to a mee
with the PDE in March.
The PDE representat
responded positively
gave approval to mate
appal:ad:km.
Soon after this
the trustees voted in June
prepare the application, and
work toward completing the
forms has continued since
then.
The application was com
piled by many people across
campus, including President
Dr. Thomas Gamble, Dr. Hei
di Hosey and several other
trustees.
"It could never have come
about, however, without
many, many people acron
all of our campuses and
lo
cations, in positions from
maintenance to vice presi
dent, answering questions
and providing information,"
Danzer said
near Senat Hall
incident by taking pictures
and videos, which can be
found at YouTube.com, and
calmed the public by singing
"Burning Up" by the Jonas
Brothers. McDonough called
upon his volunteer fire fight
ing knowledge when the heat
was on.
"I was screaming to warn
people about the fire and get
them away from the vehicle
in case of an explosion," Mc-
Donough said. "With flames
15 feet high, I knew the im
portance of getting people out
of the potential danger zone,
but it was extremely difficult
to persuade students, some of
whom were completely intox
icated, and a confrontation al
most escalated into a brawl."
clude, but are not limited to,
business and marketing strat
egies, the role of old and new
media, gay culture, religious
and political themes, and sex
uality.
One will also find that
this course is a 300-level
class with an abundance of
required reading, including
three books, nine scholarly
articles, and a collection of
media sources, as well as a
rigorous course schedule.
Both positive and negative
feedback has presented itself
with the introduction of this
course. However, Deflem is
reassured by the support of
his collegues and students
from around the world. Some
of Deflem's favorite com-
ses at Erie's other colleges
Safe network unveiled
ABBY BADACH
Editor-in-chief
Gannon University is tak
ing steps to improve the
climate for lesbian, gay, bi
sexual, transgendered and
transsexual individuals on
campus with the introduction
of the university's Safe Net
work, unveiled at last week's
Vigil to End Hatred.
"It's a way of saying we will
not accept abuse, discrimina
tion or harassment of any
kind on Gannon's campus,"
said the Rev. George Strohm
eyer, university chaplain and
vice president of mission and
ministry. "It's more painful;
sometimes, when it's aimed
at gays and lesbians who are
having a difficult time, any
way, finding their place. It's
pitifully painful."
The network connects
trained individuals, tailed
"allies," with members of
the Gannon community who
identify themselves in the
sexual identities listed above
- Or who are questioning their
mind identity - to enter into
McDonovich was able to
calm the more unruly stu
dents down before a poten
tial fight erupted and before
anyone had a chance to be
pushed into the fire or to be
subdued by the police.
Cavi was able to retrieve
the police in an relatively
short amount of time, before
the tires exploded on the car
or the drunken witnesses
started a riot.
The officers attempted
to reduce the flames with a
fire extinguisher, but the fire
overwhelmed them. The fire
department arrived shortly
after and handled the situa
tion with no further complica
tions.
It was a strange night for
McDonough and friends, but
thanks to their quick think
ing, immediate action and
situational intelligence Penn
State Behrend was saved
from the possibility of a Hol
lywood-like car explosion
with a real chance of injury.
However, with the number
of cars on campus, it is likely
that this occurrence will not
be the last of its kind.
"We have so many cars on
campus, thousands, so it's not
unusual for us to deal with
one or two car fires a year,"
Amann said. "It's not a com
pletely unknown occurrence.
Usually the owner reports
noticing an unfamiliar smell,
probably gas or hydraulic flu
id that drips onto a hot mani
fold, which can ignite."
ments can be found in The
Harvard Crimson's article
about his Lady Gaga course.
At one point in their. ar
tide "Gaga for Gaga: USC's
upcoming course promises to
engage students," the writer
states, "Ultimately, 'Lady
Gaga and the Sociology of
Fame' has the potential to be
a unique course-the kind of
class that students will be ex
cited about out of a genuine
interest in the subject matter."
While there is a small class
size limit, future students
of USC can rest easy as the
professor hopes to teach this
sociology course for many fu
ture semesters.
a non-judgmental, confiden
tial and supportive relation
ship through dialogue, con
versation or other activities.
Curren* 20 faculty and
staff members have complet
ed the training and have cho
sen to identify themselves as
official program allies. Ward
McCracken, dean of student
development and a facilita
tor of the Safe Network, said
there has been a lot of inter
est from the Gannon commu
nity to hold another training
session so more people can
become certified.
Offidal allies display the
Safe . Network logo - an up
side-down rainbow triangle
in a grey oval - in their offices
so interested persons know
they are safe and supportive
people to talk to about sexual
identity issues. Brut McCrack
en clarified that the term ap
plies to more than just the
officially trained faculty and
staff members, and also in
cludes anyone who supports
and stands up for the rights
of LGBT people.
rata we hope is that ev
POLICE
REPORTS
On Nov. 3, there was a report
of theft from a motor vehicle
in the F lot on College Drive
at 4:00 p.m.
A few minutes after midnight
on Oct. 30, officers were noti
fied of a possibly intoxicated
student who was arguing with
RAs in Lawrence Hall.
The burglar alarm for the
Glennhill Farmhouse went off
at 6:00 p.m. on Oct. 28.
On Oct. 21, officers respond
ed to the Burke Center on
Jordan Road where a victim
reported stolen property.
Contact us
Our offices are located in the
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from the mailroom.
Tel: (814) 899-6488
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corn
Fact of the
Week
The Popsicle was invented
by an 11 year-old, Frank Ep
person in 1905. He left his
drink outside with a stir stick
in it and he noticed that it
had frozen. He applied for a
patent in 1923 and named it
"Epsicle." The name was later
changed to Popsicle.
ideafindercom
eryone is an ally in the end,"
he said.
McCracken added that
the Safe Network will serve
as an outlet for students to
participate in the sexuality
arm of Gannon's UFECORE
program. McCracken and
Strohmeyer both encouraged
students, faculty and staff to
pick up pledge cards to sign
to affirm their commitment
to support the healthy discus
sion of sexual identity issues
on campus and eliminate
discriminatory language that
promotes hate and violence.
"Just to recognize they're
here is a form of saying, 'Wel
come,'" Strohmeyer said.
"'We recognize the beauty of
your life, your goals in life.
You're a human being. Your
soul is beautiful in God's eyes.
Welcome - welcome home.'
That's very important."
Editor's note: Ward Mc-
Cracken serves as bust
ness adviser to The Gannon
Knight, but does not assign,
edit, approve or otherwise
oversee any of The Knight's
editorial content.