Editor's Comments
By Sharon Furfaro
Assistant Editor
srfl7l@psu.edu
There has been quite a buzz on
campus for the break from
schoolwork, but I would like to
divert our attention to the
upcoming holiday season. In the
public sector, it is taboo to say
anything other than a generic,
safe, "Happy holidays!" for fear
of offending someone who does
not believe in or celebrate your
holiday. What about people who
are offended by the word holi
day? Maybe America should cut
it down to "Happy day!"
Just kidding.
But seriously, the personal sig
nificance of the upcoming vari
ous holidays has been, in my
opinion, diluted. Offices, malls,
schools - around the nation,
people walk on eggshells when
it comes to decorating. "Is this
nativity offensive because it is
specific to Christmas? Is this
menorah offensive because it is
specific to Hanukkah? Is this
kinara offensive because it is
specific to Kwanzaa?"
The holidays mentioned above
are only three of many religious,
spiritual, ethnic or reflective
times celebrated by millions of
people. For many, these "holi
days" are more than an excuse
to receive presents, they are
rooted in deeply held beliefs.
If someone wished me a
"Happy Hanukkah," I know I
would not be offended, even
though I do not celebrate this
holiday. In fact, I would be hon
ored that someone is sharing
the spirit of his or her holiday
with me.
Often, people forget that these
holidays are not in competition
with each other. Kwanzaa does
not have the potential to
"replace" Christmas, nor does
Christmas nave the potential to
"replace" Kwanzaa. So why -
instead of seeing each holiday
as a separate entity - do we as a
society deem them to be threat
ening? By lumping all into one
big "season's greetings," we
have started to destroy the sig
nificance of each holiday.
I do not think the best way to be
tolerant of someone else's holi
day is to forget the meaning of
your own.
To everyone on campus, as
these holidays rapidly approach,
take the time to discover why a
holiday or holidays are spe
cial to YOU; do not let politics
water down anything important
to you or your family.
Accounting prof. breaks the mold
PROF continued from 1
ed to the position of program
coordinator for PSH's account
ing program and also serves as
internship coordinator. Buttross
participates in the faculty college
senate at PSH and is the senate
liaison to the International and
Intercultural Affairs Commission.
Buttross was born in Natchez,
Miss. and educated in the south
ern states. He received his
Bachelor's Degree from
Mississippi State University.
After entering the accounting
field, Buttross found that it was
not what he had expected it to
be. He decided to return to
school for his Master's Degree at
Louisiana State University in the
hopes of finding a more suitable
field. During these years, he
accidentally discovered his pas
sion for teaching when a friend
asked him to cover one of his
classes. As Buttross stood in
front of the class, he realized
that was where he was meant to
be.
His educational path later
EXECUTIVE BOARD-
Assistant Editor:
Kelly Nagurny
Copy Editor:
Maruja Rosario
Sharon Furfaro, assistant editor
Now I am going to say some
thing very politically incorrect.
Please realize that what I am
about to say is not from The
Capital Times, but from me. I
say this in respect and love: as
we approach the break, I'd like
to wish everyone a "Merry
Christmas!" Whew! Now, that
wasn't so hard. I should not feel
a need to apologize for celebrat
ing Christmas. It is a time when
I reflect on the birth of my
Savior. I realize that many do
not share the same belief, but I
am not forcing my religion on
anyone. I should not ever feel
ashamed of my religion and
neither should anyone else.
If you want to send a holiday
specific card to someone you
love, you should be able to do
so without guilt. Tolerance
should mean respect. Respect
others' religions, customs, and
ethnicities, but don't forget to
respect your own, and respect
yourself. I hope all who have a
special holiday truly have a very
warm, happy, joyful, merry,
cheery, wonderful one!
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brought him back to Mississippi
for his Ph.D. from the University
of Mississippi. His Ph.D. allowed
him to pursue his love of teach
ing.
During his undergraduate stud
ies Buttross met a professor and
advisor, Bill Cross, who was very
influential to him in his life.
In addition to his domestic
teaching positions, Buttross has
also had the unique opportunity
to teach abroad. Over the
course of two summers he has
taught English in Peking and
Chinese in Beijing. Buttross said
these experiences were very dif
ficult but rewarding.
Additionally, he is an avid inter
national traveler and has been to
places such as Mexico, Beijing,
Hong Kong and Canada. While
backpacking in Europe, Buttross
visited 13 countries and 39 cities
in only 40 days. South America
and Alaska are among the other
locations he would still like to
visit.
During one of his adventures,
he met his future wife Nancy,
who was a Vietnamese refugee.
Business Manager
Dan Berger
STAFF-
Editor in Chief
Kathryn Herr
Director gives inside look at Hollywood
FINN continued from 1
each of the three directors
brought something unique to the
film industry that makes them
stand out.
"Schumacher is more of an
ensemble director who makes
films about particular groups of
people. Cameron is more of a
visual director who wants the
specific look and feel of a partic
ular person," said Finn, "and
Curtis Hanson is a director who
is engaged in the look and feel of
the particular film. He directs
dense films with lots of atmos
phere to them."
Finally Finn was asked about
his favorite and least favorite
films to his credit that he cast.
"Wonder Boys. I loved the script
and I loved Michael [Douglas]
and Toby [Maguire] and Robert
Downey, Jr.," said Finn. "Now
the least favorite, it's got to be
Super Mario Bros. There was so
much potential in the original
script, and when they went to
'soften it up' totally lost any
potential the film originally had,"
said Finn.
Finn concluded the interview
laughing about an audition for
Super Mario Bros. that was held
by Father Guido Sarducci of
Saturday Night Live fame. "He
stood there reciting a scene, and
then went on this long tangent
Wonder Boys, starring Tobey McGuire and Michael Douglas, is one
of the many movies cast by Finn.
They have now been married for
two years. Although the couple
has no children, they still have
strong ties to their large families.
Buttross considers his grandfa
ther to be a great influence on
his life.
Of all of his achievements, said
Buttross. he is most proud of
three. He takes pride in his certi
fication as a Public Accountant,
his Ph.D. and his marriage.
Outside of accounting, Buttross
enjoys a wide variety of inter
ests, including gardening and
learning to cook. Buttross' wife's
Vietnamese heritage turned him
on to Vietnamese cuisine, which
he has enjoyed since they met.
He has also learned to speak
Vietnamese.
Buttross said he sometimes
enjoys an occasional rum and
diet coke or Bourbon and diet
coke as his favorite drinks. He
also takes pleasure in listening
to music; country singer Anne
Murray's album is currently spin
ning in his CD player.
Special thanks to Dan Berger for
his assistance with this article.
Assistant Editor:
Sharon Furfaro
Photo Editor:
Jennifer Kauffman
Advertising Manager
Justin Shellenberger
News
Don Finn has cast a variety of movies, such as The Matrix, Batman
Forever and Flatliners. He recently gave a workshop at PSH.
which had nothing to do with the
scene. It was absolutely hilari-
ous," said Finn.
In his spare time, Finn tries to
devote a few weeks each year to
sailing on Lake Michigan. In
addition, when he is in Los
Angeles, he makes it a point to
attend a weekly acting class,
despite the high level of recogni
tion he has already achieved.
A key part of being a casting
director, said Finn, is knowing
who can and cannot act. Much of
Photo courtesy of Google Images
Dr. 'Thomas Buttross is an assistant professor of accounting at Penn
State Harrisburg.
Photographers:
Jennifer Kauffman, Kelly
Nagurny, Kathryn Herr
Graphic Design:
Kristen Poole
Photo by Thomas LeClair/Capital Times
this acting is learned at acting
school. However, each acting
school is different, he said. For
example, said Finn, the
University of Southern California
and the University of California
at Los Angeles both teach the
technical aspects of filmmaking
but do not include acting as part
of their curriculums.
Anyone, regardless of their
knowledge of films and the film
industry would have enjoyed the
inside look at Hollywood offered
at Finn's workshop. A close look
at what it takes to survive in the
business and the do's and don'ts
of auditioning are important to
learn for up and coming actors.
Mr. Finn gave a tremendous
workshop and it was an absolute
pleasure to meet and talk with
him.
Films cast by Mali Finn
Casting Associates:
The Client
LA Confidential
The Matrix trilogy
Flatliners
True Lies
Titanic
Batman Forever
Terminator 2
Super Mario Bros
Wonderboys
8-Mile
Photo courtesy of Dr. Buttross' Web site
Writers and Contributors:
Osman Abdalla, Jim Dougherty,
John Fox, Sharon Furfaro,
Kathryn Herr, Bill Howe,
Thomas LeClair, Nat Melnicove,
Beth Mozeleski, Kelly Nagurny,
The Capital Times
Film industry
files lawsuits
By Gary Gentile
AP Business Writer
LOS ANGELES - Following the
lead of record companies who
curtailed rampant Internet pira
cy by targeting even small-time
file swappers, Hollywood stu
dios have launched a first wave
of lawsuits against people who
allegedly downloaded recent
films such as "Spider-Man 2"
and "Troy."
The seven major studios filed
the lawsuits for federal copy
right infringement on Tuesday
in Denver, New York City, San
Francisco and St. Louis.
Lawsuits may have been filed
in other cities, but the Motion
Picture Association of America,
which represents the studios,
declined to say how many were
filed and where.
"It's not important," said John
Malcolm, senior vice president
and director of worldwide anti
piracy operations for the
MPAA. "It doesn't matter if it's
10 lawsuits or 500 lawsuits.
The idea here is that there is
no safe harbor."
Three lawsuits, obtained by
The Associated Press, were
filed in federal courts in Denver
and St. Louis. Two lawsuits
were filed in Denver against 22
defendants, while the one in St.
Louis targets 18 individuals.
The St. Louis lawsuit is
brought against "John Doe"
defendants, including four peo
ple who are allegedly in pos
session of one pirated film
each. Some of the Internet
addresses for the defendants
can be traced to high-speed
Internet connections made
available by Charter
Communications, a cable tele
vision company based in St.
Louis.
The defendants are accused
of offering the movies over
peer-to-peer file-sharing pro-
grams
Like similar lawsuits filed by
the record industry against
downloaders of music files, the
studios say they will be able to
identify the individual defen
dants later.
Each of the lawsuits lists only
a handful of films allegedly
offered for downloading online,
including "Troy," from Warner
Bros., "Spider-Man 2," from
Columbia Pictures and
"Confessions of a Teenage
Drama Queen," from The Walt
Disney Co.
The lawsuits seek injunctions
against the defendants.
Copyright law also provides for
penalties of up to $30,000 for
each motion picture traded
over the Internet, and up to
$150,000 if such infringement
is shown to be willful.
Malcolm said more lawsuits
would be filed in additional
cities if the current legal action
does not stem illegal down
loading.
The MPAA is running the risk
of being seen as too heavy
handed, especially by suing
people who have downloaded
a single movie, said Wendy
Seltzer, a staff attorney at the
Electronic Frontier Foundation.
"We don't think for any indus
try that suing its fans is the best
approach to new technolo
gies," Seltzer said.
As part of its larger effort to
combat piracy, the MPAA also
said it would step up its educa
tional campaign and offer a
free computer program that
sniffs out movie and music files
on a user's computer as well as
any installed file-sharing pro
grams.
The MPAA said the program is
expected to be available for
download within a week.
Herb Smith, Christian Torres,
Elizabeth Wingate, Kellye Way