Vol. 47 No. 2
By RABYIA AHMED
Staff Reporter
RZAIO9@PSU.EDU
His career as a professor began
with an ‘l’ll try it, I guess’ kind of
attitude. He resisted at first, telling
his friend that he really didn’t want
to teach a class even part time, as
he was offered, because it was not a
career he had originally thought of
doing. But when he stood in front
of that classroom, ‘BOOM!’ he fell
in love with it.
“It was an amazing feeling that
I got when I stood there in front
of those students,” said brand new
Penn State Harrisburg professor,
Patrick Burrowes. He decided then
that he wanted to teach as his
career. He originally planned on
majoring in business because of
family influence.
Burrowes’ father owned a coffee
roasting business and he had a
farm that supplied the beans. So,
everyone assumed that he would
learn about business in college and
take over. At first, Burrowes was
up to it.
In fact, he enjoyed most of
the courses he was required to
take. But then he had to take an
accounting course, which made him
change his mind about the whole
business thing. So, he thought
about writing and journalism as a
better career path. His high school
teachers often told him that he
should pursue a career in writing
because he was good at it.
So, one day, he decided to let his
family know that he had changed
his mind about taking over the
family business, which turned a few
heads in his home.
“They really expected me to take
over the family business,” said
Burrowes in his naturally soft
spoken voice. “Not doing so was a
huge surprise for them.”
Still, he ended up getting a
bachelor’s degree in journalism
from Howard University in
Washington, D.C. Burrowes
came to the United States from
Liberia, where he was bom and
raised, specifically for college, and
quickly learned that it was indeed a
different world. His anthropology
and philosophy classes in college
helped him come to terms with this
new culture.
“Those classes helped to process
what I was living,” he said.
He soon realized that the more he
learned about the world of media
and communications in the United
States, the more it interested him.
A lot of his interest resulted
from living in public suppression
when the military took over the
government in Liberia. Now, he
believes that communications is
essential to the human experience.
“It’s in our lives everyday and
media is obviously all around us,”
Please see BURROWES on page 4
INDEX:
italTi
Club budgets a comp
By WILLIAM POWELL
Staff Reporter
WMPSOO6@PSU.EDU
The distribution of money to
clubs is far more complicated than
it appears to be. The club budget
process, which is overseen by the
Student Government Association,
is a long and tedious process
involving looking at the complete
budget and amount of money the
SGA can give to certain clubs.
Currently there are 43 active
clubs and organizations at Penn
State Harrisburg, and for multiple
reasons many of them need
funding. However, part of the
problem lies in how much certain
clubs get and whether they even
get money.
As per SGA regulations, all clubs
and organizations must meet a
Spring deadline for registration.
All clubs are required to have a
member of their executive board,
that is not a member of SGA,
meet with the Vice President
at least twice a semester.
All clubs must have a member of
their executive board attend two SGA
meetings within the first four SGA
meeting sessions of the fall semester
and one of the final four SGA meeting
sessions in the Spring Semester.
Clubs that do not meet these
requirements will have their funds
frozen. What this means is that
while they still have the money in an
account, they cannot access it. All
clubs and organizations also have
to register their budget requests in
August so that the SGA Treasurer
can review them. Patrick Sease, the
current Treasurer of SGA, said the
Wireless versus land
line speed explained
By MICHAEL ALBRIGHT
Staff Reporter
MBAI33@PSU.EDU
Most people are aware of the
wireless network on campus.
Whether using it to just surf the
Internet for funny new videos or
to reluctantly research a paper on
16th century literature, the wireless
network is undeniably being used,
sometimes at very high capacities,
other times not.
However, some students have
stated that the wireless network is
actually faster than the traditional
wired network on campus (all
those blue cables you see in
the labs, also known as CATS).
After speaking with Mr. Robert
Brinkley, Director of Instructional
and Information Technologies,
here on campus, that statement can
be both true and false. The wireless
network is a “shared” network.
A shared network is j ust that, shared
by all users who can access it. One
of the major downfalls of a shared
network is that the speed depends
on how many users are on it at once.
This same property is sometimes
a positive because if only a few
users are on it, those users will
experience higher transfer speeds.
What this means for students is
that they may notice the wireless
network being faster at certain
times, while the wired network is
Police Report.
Opinion
PSH
Mid
fo
fe
October 9, 2006
Photo by SUPAT KANCHANASAKUL/The Copik
jbers of the Black Student Union executive board meet with members of the Student Gov
mnent Association executive board to discuss budget allocations the did and didn't receieve
process involves 5 people: himself,
a student, a club president, a senator,
and an executive member of SGA.
This group decides how much
they would like to recommend
be given each club in respect
to their individual requests.
Sease does not vote in the process,
unless there is a tie. The decision
is then taken to the Senate and
reviewed. In this stage, the funds
can be approved, amended, given
more and even not funded at all.
With 40 plus clubs to fund and
limited amount of money, it is
obvious some clubs are going to get
the short end of the straw. “There
inherently a faster network. Even
though modern wireless networks
on the G standard (used at this
campus) run at 54 Mbps, the CATS
network running in the labs is rated
at 100 Mb (faster than the wireless-
G standard). Brinkley suggests that
the users be aware of the speeds
they are seeing on all networks.
Computers in the labs are
equipped with a program called
NetPerSec. Users can download
this to their own machines
by searching for it online and
installing it to their own machines.
Using this tool, users can see
transfer speeds for their session.
Since the wireless network is
shared, Brinkley also suggest that
users be conscious of wireless
speeds for other users sake.
If while surfing You Tube to view
one of Brinkley’s favorites (search
You Tube: “funtwo canon”),
they notice slower speeds, they
should logoff and use one of
the lab computers to perhaps
free up wireless speeds for
students needing to perform
classroom activities.
Most students are unaware of their
options as far as networking on
campus. There are five networks
on campus, four of which are open
to students. Mobility, wireless,
academic, and the housing
Please see NETWORK on page 4
is only $36,000 for club budgets,”
said Sease.
Sease said that in regard to
selecting how much clubs should
receive, he follows “guidelines”
that help with deciding whether
or not to fund an organization.
According to him, he looks for
whether they attended conferences,
what activities they do, such as
whether or not they will help the
school and student body on a
whole; and a clubs own income,
which is based on fundraisers.
While some clubs don’t have
as many opportunities as others
for making money, they can still
Curfew laws still in quesiton
After the August shooting of
Dae’Shaun Auter, a 14-year-old
Harrisburg boy, who had been
outside of his foster mother’s
home at 4 a.m., the communities of
Harrisburg and surrounding cities
are questioning the effectiveness of
curfew laws. Some people blame his
foster mother, while others blame
law enforcement.
“Why did his foster mother permit
the child to leave the home?” asked
Deborah Williams Jones, a 40-year
old Harrisburg resident and mother
of three. “At the same time, if police
had seen the child, they could have
sent him home. They should have
been there to enforce the law.”
Williams Jones is familiar with
Auter’s story, and she knows his
biological mother. She said she’s in
the middle regarding whether his
foster mother or po lice are more to
blame in the prevention of his death.
Her own children are 16-years-old,
12-years-old and 19-months-old.
This is not the first time the area
has questioned curfew laws. The
first time juvenile curfew laws were
questioned in federal courts started in
Middletown, Pennsylvania in the case
Bykofsky v. Borough of Middletown
in 1975. Both parental and children’s
rights were questioned. The court
ruled in favor of the curfew.
As of now, Middletown’s juvenile
News 4 - 5
Club News 6 - 7
By JORDAN WISKEMANN
Staff Reporter
JLWIO62@PSU.EDU
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
Health Services takes care of PSH
Blood drive preview
Benefits of being an alumni...
Modem dance sons for locals
apply to the
Student
Activities
Fee Committee
for more money,
However, as Sease put
it, with money needed from SGA
for other things such as the recent
Middletown Fall Fest, “...everyone
took cuts.”
According to the SGA Constitution,
which is available to all students and
faculty alike; A set of Guidelines
to be used as exceptions to [club
representatives attending meetings]
shall be written by the Vice President.
curfew ranges based on age. The
nighttime cut-off is 10 p.m. for
children 11-years-old and younger,
10:30 p.m. for children 12 to 13-
years-old, and 11 p.m. for children
14 to 17-years-old. Minors are not
allowed back outside until 6 am.
According to Middletown Chief
of Police, Keith Reismiller, on the
first offense, the police either take
the child to the station for their
parents to pick them up, or the
officers just take them to their homes
and send them a warning letter.
After the first offense, guardians of
the minor receive a fine that starts at
$25 and increases by an additional
$25 for each subsequent offense. If
the guardian fails to pay the fines, he
or she may have to spend up to 10
days in the Dauphin County Prison.
“Some kids we find at 3 am are as
young as 10 or 11,” said Reismiller.
“What could a kid possibly be doing
at 3 am? There’s nothing good on the
streets that late at night.”
Reismiller believes the curfew law
has fair guidelines as it is written.
He said there are also exceptions to
the law such as a minor driving from
work or a school function, such as
prom, directly home.
“We’re not looking to fine people,”
said Reismiller. “We just want them
to be safe and grow. Our main focus
is to make sure nothing happens to
the juveniles.”
Harrisburg’s curfew law is similar
to Middletown’s. The cut-off time is
10 pm on week nights and midnight
Campus Calendar.... 7
Sports 8 - 9
Cj\at e Harr,
#
° v ernmen' **
In an email sent to Craig Dewalt,
SGA . Community Liason, he
responded: “I usually base my
decision off of a few things. First
of all, I check to see if the club
complied with all of the proper rules.
Was the budget in on time,
did they attend the proper SGA
meetings, things like that. The next
thing I look at is the purpose for the
funds. I look to see if the purpose is
beneficial for club growth, or to get
the entire student body involved.
Those are the two most important
things. The third thing I look for
is to disperse the funds fairly. If
all of the clubs have their budgets
in on time and have complied with
all of the rules, then I feel as
though we must equally
distribute the funds.
on our behalf
to give one
organiz-ation a
lot of money,
and another
organization
very little
money.” So all in
budget
seems
and fair.
At an SGA meeting on
September 14th, for example, their
was a debate about funds to give to
the Lion Ambassadors. Apparently
the club needed a sign as well
as funds for a club trip to a Penn
State Conference at University
Park, which would include food,
lodging and other necessities.
Please see BUDGET on page 4
on the weekends. According to Patty
Kim, the Chair of the Public Safety
Committee on the Harrisburg City
Council, the police goal is not to
look for children past curfew, but
to use it as a tool for safety reasons.
Kim recalled a time she was
out with other officials in an
unmarked police car and saw a group
of kids standing on the street. One of
the kids offered drugs to the people
in Kim’s car.
“Kids aren’t out that late to go to
the library,” said Kim.
While some people argue that curfew
laws interfere with parental rights,
Williams Jones is glad curfews are in
place to act as a deterrent. Reismiller
said most parents are thankful for
the laws.
“Parents are usually appreciative
we picked their children up off the
streets at 3 am,” said R.eismiller.
While curfews may prevent juvenile
offenses at night, they don’t cover the
after-school hours. According to the
article The Proliferation of Juvenile
Curfews by Robert E. Shepherd, Jr.,
on the American Bar Association’s
website, the time most juvenile
offenses occur “are in the hours
immediately after school lets out.”
Williams Jones believes parents
should find things to occupy their
child’s time. Her daughter is enrolled
in an after-school program, provided
by Harrisburg elementary schools,
where certified teachers stay after
Please see LAWS on page 4
Entertainment... 10 -11
11
Games
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It is unfair
process
reasonable