Vegetarians and Vegans fight for more options on campus
By FARISA PARVEEN
Staff Writer
nPSOO9@PSU.EDU
The common misconception
about vegetarianism is that it is a
religious obligation, which is true
for some people. Nowadays it
has also become a dietary, health,
personal, and/or moral issue.
Vegetarianism 'is rising among
students and facility at Penn State
Harrisburg too.
While there are many reasons
for doing it, Kathy Brode, a
writing tutor at the Learning
Center explained, “It was just
a personal choice; even as a
small child, I didn’t like the taste
and texture of meat, so I have
always preferred not to eat it.”
While most people may not be
aware of the difference between
vegetarians and vegans, there is a
distinct difference. Vegetarians do
not eat any meat or fish and often
Gun control debate rages on in Pennsylvania and beyond
By FRANK MAGNI
Cap Times Contributor
FJMSO36@PSU.EDU
In the backdrop of the shooting
deaths of three Pittsburgh police
officers, the gun control debate
rages on in Pennsylvania. Six
Pennsylvania cities have passed
similar gun laws, requiring the
reporting of lost or stolen fire
arms, while the legality of the
municipalities’ actions are heard
throughout the state’s appellate
and supreme courts. A governor
also works rigorously to pass leg
islation to curb straw purchasing
against a state house fighting to
keep gun laws from affecting a
diverse population.
The issue of gun control has
many different angles and top
ics for debate. At its essence, the
gun debate always relates back to
2nd Amendment of the Constitu
tion, and its interpretations in the
form of contemporary legislation.
Along with a laundry list of U.S.
Supreme court decisions, each
facet of every proposed gun law
is looked at from two ends of the
spectrum.
On the one side of the gun con
trol debate are cities experiencing
increases in violent crime. On the
other side of the issues are pre
dominately rural and suburban
populations holding on to deep
traditions threatened by state and
federal legislation. In the middle,
gun sales sky rocket, while sher
iff and city police departments
any animal products. Vegans on
the other hand do not eat anything
derived from animals including
dairy products. There is a general
increase of vegetarianism among
students and faculty on campus.
Vegetarians face many problems
with the limited variety of
vegetarian options. For Brode
and most vegetarians on campus,
ordering lunch is often a problem
because there are so few
vegetarian options.
In an email between Brode and
Capital Times, Brode stated “Yes,
often ordering lunch is a problem
because there are so few veggie
options (although Stacks is doing
MUCH better than they used to!).
Some days it seems like there is
nothing to eat. Often I solve the
problem by simply bringing my
lunch from home.”
Assistant Director of Housing and
Food Services, Greg Schiavoni,
said that he has certainly noticed
are flooded with applications for
carry and conceal permits.
The rise in gun sales and Penn
sylvanians exercising their right
to carry a concealed weapon is
no surprise to John Hohenwarter,
National Rifle Association Penn
sylvania State Liaison. “On a na
tional level people see the change
in administrations and they are
concerned about a change in gun
laws,” Hohenwarter said.
In Pennsylvania alone, sale and
transfer of firearms have increased
dramatically in recent years, ac
cording to Pennsylvania State
Police Annual Firearms reports.
The sale and transfer of firearms
rose more than twenty percent
from 2007 to 2008. While total
firearm reports from 2008 and the
early portion of 2009 are still not
published, preliminary informa
tion released by Corporal Linette
Quinn, Pennsylvania State Police
Public Information Officer, shows
a more than a 28 percent increas
es in gun sales from the first quar
ter of 2008 to the first quarter of
2009; tracked by the numbers of
background checks conducted by
the state police’s Pennsylvania
Instant Check System.
The PICS is an instant back
ground check conducted each
time a legal gun transaction takes
place in the state. The PICS uses
comprehensive statistics gathered
from multiple criminal, juvenile
and mental heath databases, along
with federal files containing over
51 million criminal history re-
this increasing vegetarian
population, and is attempting to
address this problem. He said
that even though Stack’s is the
only food provider on campus,
he wants to satisfy every group
without excluding any, no matter
how small they may be. In fact,
one of Stack’s major agendas is
to “satisfy” every customer at
PSH, by thinking outside the box.
Last month, they had a “vegan”
burger, which, according to
Schiavoni, sold a lot more than
he had expected, and that was
delightfully shocking to him.
He said being involved with
vegetarians himself he can relate
to their problems, and therefore,
tries experimenting with more
vegetarian options.
Schiavoni also said, “We
are planning on doing some
vegetarian/vegan option once a
week, at least for now, as long
as it does not compromise with
cords, according state police fire
arms reports.
During the same time period in
the first quarters of 2008 as com
pared to 2009 PICS background
checks for applications to carry
and conceal a fire also shot up by
almost one third. These numbers
reflect a steadying increase trend
that began in 2007. In the eight
years prior to 2007 the-amount
of permits to carry and conceal a
firearm issued by local sheriff and
police department averaged less
than 105,000 per years. In 2007
and 2008 applications, increased
from this average rosp upward of
sixty percent according to state
police firearms reports.
Some advocacy groups from
throughout the state assert the
NRA at its more than quarter mil
lion state members have made a
recent effort to apply for permits
to carry and conceal as a show of
power within the state. Hohen
warter disagrees with those ac
cusations.
“Take a look throughout history
and you will see that this type
of increase in firearm activity is
nothing new,” Hohenwarter said.
“We’ve seen this type of activity
before when there is such a sig
nificant change in government.”
Hohenwarter said that the NRA
at no time has encouraged its
members to apply for carry and
conceal permits as a political
statement. “We promote the right
to cany and conceal throughout
the country and one of the goal
other major issues.” He also plans
on giving off samples of food.
Most students and faculty feel
that Stacks should offer daily
vegetarian options other than
just their salads, which also often
contain meat.
“I think that Stacks should offer
daily vegetarian options other than
just their salads, which also often
contain meat. Their ‘meat-free’
salads are very unimaginative,”
said Brode.
AnanyaDhuddu, 19,asophomore
at PSH, feels there are not enough
options on campus. “Being an
international student in addition
to being a vegetarian makes it
even more difficult with limited
funds. Food is one of the most
essential things on campus, and
when there are not many options
to choose from it only makes it
harder. Every Stack’s counter has
only one vegetarian option and
they do not even taste that good,
of the NRA is to preserve that
right.”
Joe Grace, executive director of
CeaseFirePA, said he understands
the political concerns of many
Pennsylvanians, but maintains
all the excitement is for nothing.
CeaseFirePA is one of the state
largest political action organiza
tions working to reduce gun vio
lence , injury and death.
“We would encourage people
to exhale a little bit,” Grace said.
“If you look at the actual public
statements of President Obama
and his team in the administration
it is clear that they are simply not
taking up the gun issue anytime
soon. We wish they would, but it
is pretty clear that they are not go
ing to do that.”
Despite signs from the Obama
administration that federal gun
legislation is not on the horizon,
Bryan Cutler, Pennsylvania State
Representative, 100 th Legislative
District, said many are concerned
within his legislative area because
of Governor Ed. Rendell’s recent
calls to renew the 1994 federal as
sault weapon’s ban along with the
introduction of a group of legisla
tion that was hotly debated during
last year’s legislative session.
Cutler, a leading house repub
lican for pro-gun rights, said
the house has had to work hard
to prevent Rendell’s agenda of
“anti-gun laws.”
“The governor himself actually
went to a judiciary meeting and
essentially/demanded that these
such as the pizza counter has only
the plain pizza and the vegetable
pizza. Only once a week they
offer vegetarian soup, when they
can offer one vegetarian soup and
one non- vegetarian soup every
day. Same goes for the main
entrees and the frozen section,”
she said.
So with Stack’s aiming to fulfill
the demands of the entire campus,
we can hope for more variety, and
better options. While thinking
outside the box is an excellent
idea, one of the other issues to
keep in mind is the price of these
food items.
Vaishnavi Krishrian, 19, a
marketing mqjor, said, “What
people want is food that is filling
and tasty yet feasible, and it really
is not that hard to make decent
vegetarian items. With high tuition
costs and other expenditures, the
last thing we need is to spend so
much everyday on food!”
anti gun bills be brought up and
successfully passed out of the
committee,” Cutler said. “That
is fairly unprecedented to have
a sitting governor show up at a
committee meeting to push in the
manner he did.”
Because of the governor’s bold
political moves, a standoff was
created between he and state
house of representatives.
Last year after intense debate
and concessions on both sides
Rendell, passed a crime bill that
included tougher penalties for
any person convicted of shoot
ing a police officer, and raised
the statue of limitations from two
to 13 years for prosecutions of
straw purchases, when somebody
legally buys a gun on behalf of a
convicted felon.
Included in Rendell’s crime bill
were tougher penalties for false
reports of stolen guns, but groups
like CeaseFirePA felt the bill fell
short.
Multiple sections of the pro
posed omnibus state crime bill
also failed. This included limit
ing handgun purchases to one per
person per month and allowing
cities to make their own gun laws
independently of the state.
“There was a very significant de
bate on lost or stolen handgun re
porting in the house,” Grace said.
The bill, which began as House
Bill 29, was tabled during the last
Please see GUNS
on page 7