National Insecurity: John McCain
By MARTIN SANTALUCIA
Columnist
MFSSO7S@PSU.EDU
Those who remember the
brief news coverage the 2008
presidential race received several
months ago will recall numerous
reports of John McCain's political
death. He was roughing it on
commercial airliners and carrying
his own luggage. Late night
comedians joked that the Straight
Talk Express, McCain's campaign
bus, had been downgraded to
a rusted tricycle with a torn
cardboard sign taped to the front.
While no race has ever been
decided that early, other candidates
who appealed to a much deeper
Republican base were rising to
stardom and building up the steam
that they hoped would carry them
to the following November. Once
again, the Republicans were
going to unite behind a ridged
conservative and run head-on into
the unfortunate soul the Democrats
had convolutedly deemed to be
the least qualified or least likable
candidate for the presidency.
In the lock-step world of
Republican politics, McCain
simply was not going to
cut it. Since then, however,
something strange happened. The
Republicans, in perfect accordance
to the Democratic playbook, broke
rank and began eating their own
Univeristy Park verses Commonwealth, the debate rages on
By PHIL HARSH
Columnist
PSNSOOI@PSU.EDU
Maybe I've been a bit
desensitized by Main campus,
maybe I just haven't found the
right parties yet, but it feels that
The Penn State Harrisburg campus
is surprisingly dull at times. It is
as simple as women's basketball
compared to football in Beaver
Stadium; PSH is boring.
Penn State Harrisburg enrolls
roughly 4,000 students. Compare
that to an estimated population
of 38,720 (as of 2007) up at the
University Theme Park and its
surrounding area, and you end up
with one Hell of a difference.
The college world I became
accustomed to at Main is a world
Ten ways to save money on gas
By LEE F. BARBER
Staff Reporter
LFB 1 1 @PSU.EDU
As gas prices continue on the
rise, college students at Penn
State Harrisburg who commute to
campus (and even those who don't)
are subject to this costly epidemic.
The following are a few things to
keep in mind to put less strain on
your wallet and keep more money
in the bank.
isn't as bad as
I.Air C
you think
Many believe that A/C will eat
away at your gas mileage and
drive with the windows down as an
alternative to staying cool. While
this can be true, it's not always the
When you're on the highway,
driving at high speeds with the
windows down causes a great
resistance pushing against you,
taking away from your car's
aerodynamics.
This puts more work on your
engine which in turn causes more
consumption of fuel.
The alternative is driving with the
windows closed and using the A/C.
On the other hand, driving with
the windows down without A/C in
stop-and-go traffic is ideal.
uids to
While your windshield wiper fluid
by putting up an unlikely nominee
that half the party hates. Enter the
recently re-animated corpse of John
McCain.
With wins in all three of last
week's primaries, McCain
ensured that the nomination of
his Republican opponent Mike
Huckabee was about as likely as
Creationism (thank God for ironic
miracles). Within this headlining
revelation, however, is the much
larger mystery of what happened to
the previous frontrunners that had
the nomination in their grasps, but
let go too soon.
First in line was Rudy Giuliani.
Since his lost bid to become
Emperor of New York City,
there had been mumblings of a
presidential run. Right off the bat,
he was the Republican frontrunner.
The conservatives loved his close
ties to Bush during the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks in New York City.
Moderate Republicans were drawn
to his "kick some terrorist ass"
approach to foreign policy. The
country knew and respected him
for his handling of the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks in New York City.
What better candidate to carry on
the Bush torch than the man who
single-handedly caught Osama
Bin Laden and paraded his body
through the streets of America than
and then he dropped out.
For many presidential candidates,
the most unfortunate part of
where the weekend starts on
Thursday nights, where Halo
Studies 101 is a mandatory first
year seminar, where post-game
riots are a very real possibility,'
where jungle juice flows from
magnificent fraternity-owned
waterfalls by which the indigenous
`sorostitutes' play, and where
vomit on the street on a Saturday
night is as common as a cool
autumn breeze. A savage, brutal
land of flat-brimmed hats and beer
funnels. I've been known to remark
to fellow students the following
quote: "Nothing surprises me
anymore after living in State
College. I wouldn't be surprised to
see a camel walking down College
Ave." But here in Harrisburg I've
actually seen people reading in
public! What sort of combination
will not affect your gas mileage,
fluid levels on other parts of your
car will help keep your car running
effectively and prevent costly
repairs
The most common of these that
is often disregarded is oil level.
Change your oil every 3,000
miles—or else.
As personal testimony, I recently
pushed the limit and neglected my
oil change until 4,000 miles later.
As a result, the inside of my engine
was lined with a gummy deposit of
oil known as "sludge" that will ruin
your engine.
The engine had to be flushed and
cost my typical oil change to be
more than necessary.
Another thing to keep in mind is
that an oil change is a quick and
easy process that you may even be
able to do on your own instead of
paying for the service.
If you don't know how to do it,
ask around, send me an e-mail, or
simply search the internet for a
wealth of knowledge.
Consider our dail
If you take on a daily epic journey
to school or work, spend the time
to figure out the best route without
iieavy traffic or other interferences.
While the highway may be seem
faster, the act of stop-and-go traffic
will ruin your gas mileage and
ultimately take you longer to get to
where you're going.
campaigning is the tendency for
the frontrunner position to act as
the world's largest X-ray machine.
Several aspects of this device killed
Giuliani; the first and possibly most
prominent was everyone realizing
how damn annoying it was to
be constantly reminded what his
role was in the terrorist attacks of
2001. While it is important to base
a presidential campaign on your
strongest quality, one should avoid
pointing out that it is also your only
quality.
At almost the exact same moment,
the tide of the election shifted away
from his pet topic of terrorism and
toward the economy. To remedy
the situation the Giuliani campaign
took an arrogant and stupid trip
south to Florida, insisting that
any damage previously done to
his campaign would be repaired
by the political literacy of the
Floridian electorate. After nearly
being beaten out of third place
by Mike Huckabee in the state,
Giuliani collapsed and backed John
McCain.
While Giuliani sank toward
the end of his run, one candidate
thundered onto the polls before
even declaring his candidacy. This
Republican Godsend from Reagan
himself was none other than Fred
Thompson. For Thompson, the
frontrunner position was probably
most devastating as it instantly
brought attention to the fact that
monastery and public library have I
wondered into?
However boring it may be at
times, there are several benefits
to, attending a small cop . ege. The
energy is completely different
here. The students are certainly
nicer and more approachable here
on average, possibly because they
don't have as far to walk between
buildings. Class sizes can get
massive at Main, whereas I haven't
seen a single auditorium class here.
While this does in fact cause the
grading curve to be nowhere near
as steep, but does allow for a closer
student-teacher connection. Here
at the Capital campus it's much
easier to become involved in a
group or educational organization
Not to mention the fact that the
gym services are free, where as
Even though you may have to
travel further, finding another route
that is less congested will keep
you moving and save money at the
same time.
4.Avoid idling
Letting your car run without
moving is the biggest waste of gas
ever. Don't waste time waiting in a
drive-thru line.
You're better off parking and
going inside to order your food.
You'll most likely get faster service
and end up leaving sooner than
you would have in the drive-thru
anyway.
s.Use the Cruise Control
A common feature on most every
car today that is often not used
is cruise control. Take advantage
of this gas saving option by
utilizing it on highways or other
less congested roads. The concept
here is to prevent your car from
accelerating when not needed
and keeping your car's cylinders
rotating at a steady RPM (Rate Per
Minute).
6.Gas Octane
Many people don't understand, nor
do they need to understand, what
gasoline octane is.
For most cars it is unnecessary to
purchase premium fuel unless your
car manufacturer recommends it.
Premium fuel can cost up to 15%
many of his staff members were
more excited about his campaign
than he was. The anticipation of his
belated campaign kick-off aided
in possibly making his run one
of the most disappointing events
of the election for his supporters.
Fortunately for him, his lack of
interest in his own candidacy
probably made the event relatively
painless, allowing a smooth
transition back into obscurity.
The last frontrunner, and most
recent (as of this being written),
to dropout from the race was Mitt
Romney. Romney played the
part of president better than any
other candidate with his perfectly
groomed hair, wide smile and deep
pockets. Preceding
and during Romney's significant
and scattered wins across the
country in early primaries and
Super Tuesday states, nagging
questions about his past stances
caught up with him.
The former governor of
Massachusetts, the first state to
legalize gay marriage, had some
issues with the religious factions
of the Republican Party. Romney
also had previously been pro
choice and at one point ran as a
Democrat. This mixed poorly with
an inability to raise funds, which
resulted spending millions of his
own money to finance his run a
strategy that was barely getting
him through the primaries and
State College will charge your
bursars account upwards of $6O
per semester for it. From what
I have observed, the students
here are much more motivated,
organized and goal-oriented than
your average State College student
This is probably due to a lack of
party atmosphere and the fact that
undergraduate students have only
been allowed to attend for the last
few years.
Despite these benefits and
improvements, Harrisburg campus
just can't hold a candle to fun,
excitement and self-destruction that
Main can produce. Harrisburg is
a non-smoking campus, and, as of
later this year, a dry campus on top
of that.
"I don't think there is any
similarity," said Lee Samuelson,
more than regular fuel. By doing
without, you'll save up to $4OO per
eed limit
7.D0 the s
There are reasons other than safety
and environment protection that the
speed limit on highways is posted
at 55MPH. One of them is because
every SMPH
you travel over 60MPH costs you
an average of $O.lO more per mile!
Preventing quick accelerations and
sudden stops will also help save
gas.
B.Read
091111
You might feel compassion for
your car when starting it up at
below freezing temperatures, but
more than 30 seconds of initial
start-up idling is unnecessary.
Many have the preconceived notion
that letting your car run until the
engine's temperature gauge has
reached normal is good for the
engine.
If your car was a human and you
just woke it up from sleeping for a
"piggy back" ride to class, this may
be the case.
However, no matter how small,
keep in mind that your car is a
heavy-duty machine and within
seconds your car's internal
computer system will fire its fuel
injectors and other components
getting it ready to move.
My rule of thumb is by the time
THE CAPITAL TIMES
not boding well for the general
election. In an effort to get out
of the way of the now charging
McCain campaign, Romney
dropped out and is now backing the
new Republican frontrunner.
Worthy of at least a passing note
is Mike Huckabee who still, as of
last Thursday, had not dropped
out of the race. Huckabee, while a
victor in some states including the
all-important lowa caucuses, scares
the crap out of most moderates and
independents. Because of this, he
never ascended to national
frontrunner status and really
only serves as a reason for some
of the super-conservatives to
not back McCain. The fact that,
until recently, Huckabee was still
winning states points out the fatal
flaw of McCain: he is not the true
Republican frontrunner.
Rather, McCain serves as the
default for the Republican Party
after their first, second and third
choice candidates found their
campaigns failing on a catastrophic
level. Having said all of this, I still
maintain the promise I made to
myself to not predict
any outcomes regarding the general
election or Democratic nomination;
however, I see this obvious split in
the party playing a role in both how
Republicans will vote in
November and how hard they will
campaign for the newly crowned
frontrunner John McCain.
a student who has been to both
institutions. "You just have to look
at State College from the top of the
hill to see there's no comparison.
Our campus could probably fit
inside of Old Main!"
Simply put, our campus flat
out does not have access to the
resources, the facilities, the number
of students or the sheer size that
big brother school does, which
means there isn't much to do here
but learn.
And you can forget dating. What
with the crowd here, it would seem
that every woman is either in a
relationship they've been in since
high school or married!
So grab a diploma and get in line
folks, because it certainly seems
that there isn't a whole lot else to
do but get that piece of paper.
I've put my seat belt on and picked
out a CD, I'm ready to roll.
Under inflated tires can reap you
of up to 3 miles per gallon. You're
best bet is to buy an inexpensive
tire pressure gauge and keep it in
the glove box. After pumping your
gas, it's recommended you take a
couple minutes to check your tire
pressure at every fill-up.
Your tire's recommended pressure
is clearly listed on the sidewall of
each tire. You should be safe going
5 lbs. over the recommendation just
to make sure you're meeting the
minimum.
Many gas stations now offer "free
air," Sheetz in particular. Other
stations charge around $0.50.
Remember to take your pressure
caps off before you turn the air
compressor on--this will save you a
lot of time.
s in advance
Know where you're going and
don't just buy your gas anywhere.
Don't wait until you're already
on the highway when you reach
empty. Gas stations conveniently
located directly off the highway
often charge up to $0.06 per gallon
more than average.
You can monitor current
competitive gas prices and get
more gas saving tips at www.
fueleconomy.gov.
February 18, 2008
President's
Corner
Editors• Comments: The Capital
Times gives a spot for the SGA
President in the newspaper so your
student body president can inform
you about issues regarding SGA and
Penn State Harrisburg, and does not
associate itself with the content of
this article.
Everything that is written in this
article has been written by a person
that has lost all mental sanity and
is going on abnormal amounts of
sleep. The following article may
cause mass amounts of confusion
and ulcers. Ulcers caused by the
inhibition of COX-1 enzymes
by NSAIDs... Crazy amounts of
NSAIDs. I am sorry I have nothing
to write about. I am sorry that the
sky is blue. I am sorry that I know
why the sky is blue. I am sorry that I
know the integral of log. I am sorry
that Valentines Day sucks. I am
sorry that the good ones are taken.
I am sorry that the senate leader is
no ones special guy. I am sorry that
Giant does not carry maple butter.
I am sorry that Billy's balloon is
evil. I am sorry that in "To Kill a
Mocking Bird," Scout, a girl, is not
really a girl at all but a robot guy.
I am sorry that at Giant when you
buy a bottle of spearmint water
the receipt that is given to you is
longer then the bottle itself. I am
sorry that I get less then 5 hours
of sleep a night and therefore this
article is to its greatest potential as
far as I'm concerned. Commercial
Break ---- DO you need Gratuitous
amounts of ENERGY? POWER
THIRST!! SCIENCE, ENERGY,
SCIENCE, ENERGY! Power thirst
will make you better at everything
forever! Power running, power
jogging, power sleeping, power
eating, power spawning babies!
You'll have so many babies! FOUR
HUNDRED BABIES!!!!----Now
back to the educational program.
I am sorry that Powerthirst©
doesn't actually exist. I am sorry
that Kristin is terrified of Pandas
I am sorry my spoon is too big.
I am sorry that there are people
standing outside of the SGA office
I am sorry I had a dream but I did
not sleep therefore my dream is no
longer there. I am not sorry that I
(4.1.1•114
celebrate Pi day and Mol day. I am
sorry about the rash. I am sorry that
my sister can not drive. I am sorry
for those people who do not know
that I do have a twin. I am sorry that
Christopher Walkens is cooler then
you. Commercial Break---Giant's
Organic food isle has incredible
specimens of things. Such as panda
pudding, tea that does not lie to you,
and green tea cola also the much
loved spearmint water. Now back
to the educational program. I am
sorry that Shelia is so confused. I
am sorry that gas prices are so high.
I am sorry that size does matter. I
apologize for the people who go to
class hung-over. I am sorry for the
lack of sufficient parking on this
campus. I am sorry tbr skipping
class, and being late to the classes I
do attend. I am sorry I have so little
time. I'm sorry there's nothing to
do in the HBG except write things
to be sorry for. I AM SORRY
FOR COLLEGE BEING SO
EXPENSIVE. Rally at the Rotunda
April 2" at 1:00pm. Help make a
change! help to lower your tuition.
If you are interested in attending
please email sysso33(i4psu.edu
or mfsso7s@psu.edu with you
contact information. Good luck with
the rest of you semester. Peace.
By SAHAR SAFAEE
SGA President
SVSSO33@PSU.EDU