I Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2010 Man sentenced to prison PHILADELPHIA A Philadelphia man convicted of rob bing nine elderly people, most of them women who were also seriously beaten, has been sentenced to 63 to 126 years in prison. Common Pleas Court Judge Susan Schulman called 35- year-old Christopher Russell “the very essence of a predator” as she imposed the sentence Monday for aggravated assault and related charges from September 2008 to March 2009. Schulman said the sentence amounted to a life term, and that was appropriate. Russell told defense attorney Thomas Moore 111 that he wanted to appeal. He has said he had been wrongly charged and convicted of some crimes because he is a black male. Assistant District Attorney Caroline Keating said Russell robbed elderly women on their way home from grocery shop ping and pummeled them. She says one victim had all of her teeth punched out. Police: Robber says she was threatened BETHLEHEM Authorities in eastern Pennsylvania say a woman accused of robbing a bank while wearing a clown costume has told investigators that she was forced to act as she did by an unknown man who threatened her children. Police say 43-year-old Carolyn Anne Williams of Bethlehem Township was arrested about five minutes after a woman threatened Bethlehem bank tellers by saying she had a bomb and fled with more than $7,100. Police say officers caught Williams nearby changing out of the clown suit and wig in her car. According to court records released Monday, the robber told tellers that her two children would be killed if she didn’t bring back enough cash. Williams was charged with felony bank robbery, theft by unlawful taking and receiving stolen property. She remains in custody and it’s unclear whether she has an attorney New gas well control company to open HARRISBURG Pennsylvania environmental regulators say they will tap the expertise of a Texas company to help con trol blowouts and other accidents at natural gas wells. Environmental Secretary John Hanger announced Monday that the state will use Cudd Well Control to assist with emergency response. He says the Houston-based company is opening an office in Bradford County, in the heart of Marcellus shale country. Previously crews had to fly in from Texas to help deal with accidents at Pennsylvania well sites. On June 3, a well blowout in Clearfield County spewed gas and wastewater for 16 hours until a crew arrived from out of state to bring it under control. Hanger says Cudd’s presence in Pennsylvania means that emergency crews will be no more than five hours from any natural gas well in the state. Pa. Medal of Honor man dies WEST CHESTER The Congressional Medal of Honor Society says medal recipient David C. Dolby has died at the age of 64. The society says Dolby of Roversford, died in Spirit Lake, Idaho on Friday. Friends say Dolby had been in the state for a gathering of veterans. A cause of death has not been announced. The Medal of Honor is the nation’s highest military award for valor. Dolby received the honor because of his actions in Vietnam, where he was credited with saving the lives of fellow soldiers on May 21,1966. Dolby, who served five tours there, was was assigned to the Ist Cavalry Division, Company B, Ist Battalion (Airborne) Bth Cavalry He received his medal from President Lyndon B. Johnson on Sept. 28,1968. Pa. man may avoid death penalty YORK A man charged in the shooting death of a 9-year old girl in south-central Pennsylvania may avoid a death penalty case by not having a jury trial. Senior York County prosecutor Seamus Dubbs says 20- year-old Nigel Maitland of York will petition to have a bench trial, and prosecutors will take the death penalty off the table in the May 2009 death of Ciara Savage. The Lancaster girl was visiting an aunt in York when she was killed in what police called a gang turf war. Maitland has also withdrawn his petition to have the homi cide charge dismissed on the grounds that his right to a speedy trial was violated. Co-defendant Fernando Valentin Jr. last week withdrew a similar motion. A third man, Skyler Handy, pleaded guilty in March to attempted homicide and was sentenced to 7 1/2 to 15 years in State prison. Follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-moment news. www.twitter.com/dailycollegian W The Daily Collegian Collegian Inc. James Building, 123 S. Burrowes St., University Park, PA 16801-3882 The Daily Collegian Online, which can be found at www.psucollegian.com, is updat ed daily with the information published in the print edition. 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On the World Wide Web Fax: (814) 863-1126 Board of Editors Board of Managers LOCAL, STATE & NATION Crab BARATARIA, La. To assess how heavy a blow the BP oil spill has dealt the Gulf of Mexico, researchers are closely watching a staple of the seafood industry and primary indicator of the ecosystem's health: the blue crab. Weeks ago, before engineers pumped in mud and cement to plug the gusher, scientists began finding specks of oil in crab larvae plucked from waters across the Gulf coast. The government said last week that three-quarters of the spilled oil has been removed or naturally dissi pated from the water. But the crab larvae discovery was an ominous sign that crude had already infiltrated the Gulfs vast food web and could affect it for years to come. “It would suggest the oil has reached a position where it can start moving up the food chain instead of just hanging in the water," said Bob Thomas, a biologist at Loyola University in New Orleans. “Something likely will eat those oiled larvae ... and then that animal will be eaten by something bigger and so on.” Tiny creatures might take in such low amounts of oil that they could survive, Thomas said. But those at the top of the chain, such as dol phins and tuna, could get fatal “megadoses." Marine biologists routinely gather shellfish for study. Since the spill began, many of the crab larvae col lected have had the distinctive orange oil droplets, said Harriet Periy, a biologist with the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast Research Laboratory. Essays From Page 1. but never to the extent that emerged in 2009-2010. “We think of it kind of as the per fect storm of plagiarism." Marcinkevage said. Marcinkevage said the MBA pro gram admissions will use Turnitin for Admissions for the upcoming 2010-2011 program year. Even though the Turnitin aca demic program which is used for class papers has received some criticism from students about its reliance on computers to check the papers for matches. Marcinkevage said the final deci- Onorato From Page 1. he serves as Chief Executive, are calling upon new technologies to keep operations running smoothly. “This is a company on the fore front of doing a lot of technology for the military and for technology based industries" Onorato said of his decision to visit the RTD facility. “These are good paying jobs, these are Pennsylvanian jobs and these are people in here with high school degrees and with advanced degrees.” Julie Harris McCrey, government and industrial liaison to the compa ny, was among those leading the candidate through the RTD site. She echoed Onorato’s statements about the potential for small busi nesses to have a big impact on the Calder From Page 1. store offers a lot of clothing for younger women. Another business that will be starting up in the downtown location is Logan’s Grill, 334 E. Calder Way. psucollegian.com Construction on the new restau rant started a few weeks ago and is expected to be completed within two months if all goes accordingly, Downtown State College Improvement District (DSCID) CoiDett From Page 1 followed by a 30-minute stion and answer session, CCAP Dii tor of Publications Debra Tingley sau’ Corbett spokespeople did no return calls for comment by press time Monday. The conference usually invites gubernatorial candidates to address the county officials who attend, and the event itself provides an opportu nity for officials to share ideas, attend educational sessions and establish a platform of what to focus on in the coming year, Tingley said. .Elizabeth Murphy Alex Weisler lared Shanker Katie Sullivan Edgar Ramirez Kevin Cirilli Laura Nichols Chris Zook .Bill Landis ....Andrew Robinson .Heather Schmelzlen Jenna Ekdahl Steph Witt “Officials learn lot of information they garner here that fhey’re able to take back and apply to their own counties,” she said. “ And a lot of [the platform issues for next year] will come forth during the annual business meetings where the attor ney general is speaking.” •Kelsey Thompson Alissa Nemzer ....Julia Brondani ....Brittany Thrush ...Danielle Meyers industry suffering in Gulf By John Flesher ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER Today: Tonight: Tomorrow: ca "“^!c«n High 90 / gpfjb Low 67 High 87 Courtesy of Campus Weather Service “It would suggest the oil has reached a position where it can start moving up the food chain instead of just hanging in the water.” “In my 42 years of studying crabs I've never seen this,” Perry said. She wouldn't estimate how much of the crab larvae are contaminated overall, but said about 40 percent of the area they are known to inhabit has been affected by oil from the spill. While fish can metabolize disper sant and oil, crabs may accumulate the hydrocarbons, which could harm their ability to reproduce, Perry said in an earlier interview with Science magazine. She told the magazine there are two encouraging signs for the wild larvae they are alive when col lected and may lose oil droplets when they molt. Tulane University researchers are investigating whether the splotches also contain toxic chemi cal dispersants that were spread to break up the oil but have reached no conclusions, biologist Caz Taylor said. If large numbers of blue crab lar vae are tainted, their population is virtually certain to take a hit over the next year and perhaps longer, scientists say. The spawning season occurs between April and October, but the peak months are in July and August. How large the die-off would be is unclear, Perry said. An estimated 207 million gallons of oil have spewed into the Gulf since an April 20 drilling rig explo sion triggered the spill, and thou- sion on application essays will always be done by actual people checking the essays. While the TUmitin for Admissions program charges a fee based on the number of applications processed, Marcinkevage said Turnitin waived the fee for the first year to get Penn State involved with the program. Jeff Lortin, Turnitin for Admissions product and business development manager, said the admission version is different from the academic edition of Turnitin in that it was specifically designed to check over application essays. Lortin said the program checks essays against Internet content, major library databases, textbooks, encyclopedias, 130 million student- economy and the range of back grounds of the employees at the RTD. “You have mothers who people would probably dismiss as, ‘Oh, she's a housewife’ —but she’s in there protecting our fighters with her hands,” McCrey said, referring to the women assembling RTD part s for use in the military. “And we have people who don’t have college degrees who are engineers, then we have our CEO who has an MBA and a Ph.D." McCrey also said the company is not usually a political one, but those at RTD were impressed with Onorato's work with small business es and felt he was someone who was equipped to do similar things for the entire state. Onorato said he’s looking to build off the unique resources available in each corner of the state including Executive Director Jody Alessandrine said. Alessandrine said the grill will serve food like burgers, soups and salads. Logan’s Grill and Flesh Decor could add a lot of potential business to the area because they appeal to the student demographic, he said. The owners of the property are also in negotiations with three other businesses for the other lots avail able along E. Calder Way, Alessandrine said. The property strip contains three Penn State College Republicans Chairman Josh Crawford said he’s been happy to see politicians paying attention to the center of the state, rather than solely targeting areas around Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. “Centre County and the sur ounding counties tend to swing a li tie bit there are a group of coun ties in a voting bloc that can sort of go either way,” Crawford (junior crime, law and justice) said. “Onorato is a Penn State alum, so he sort of gets a warm welcome from a lot of people in the area ... so I think Tom Corbett needs to speak about the issues and let people know where he stands.” Penn State College Republicans Vice Chairman Anthony Christirfa agreed. “He shares a lot of the values that Centre County values,” Christina (sophomore-political science and history) said. “For the past few The Daily Collegian Bob Thomas Loyola University biologist sands of gallons of dispersant chem icals have been dumped. Scientists will be focusing on crabs because they're a “keystone species” that play a crucial role in the food web as both predator and prey, Perry said. Richard Condrey, a Louisiana State University oceanographer, said the crabs are “a living reposito ry of information on the health of the environment.” Named for the light-blue tint of their claws, the crabs have thick shells and 10 legs, allowing them to swim and scuttle across bottom lands. As adults, they live in the Gulfs bays and estuaries amid marshes that offer protection and abundant food, including snails, tiny shellfish, plants and even smaller crabs. In turn, they provide suste nance for a variety of wildlife, from redfish to raccoons and whooping cranes. Adults could be harmed by direct contact with oil and from eating pol luted food. But scientists are partic ularly worried about the vulnerable larvae. That's because females don't lay their eggs in sheltered places, but in areas where estuaries meet the open sea. Condrey discovered sev eral years ago that some even deposit offspring on shoals miles off shore in the Gulf. The larvae grow as they drift with the currents back toward the estu aries for a month or longer. written papers and Tumitin’s sepa rate application essay database to produce a similarity report with the submitted essay. Lortin said that because the admissions plagiarism program was launched in December, there are still only a few universities that have started to use the program. Still, he said, several have shown interest. Marcinkevage said the Turnitin software is the last resort as the MBA admissions program will try to educate people about the standards for plagiarism prior to the applica tion process to help prevent the problem. To e-mail reporter: prosoo4@psu.edu areas such as Centre County. “Being a graduate of Penn State and coming back here many times, it’s very clear that the university is a great economic engine,” he said, pointing to the “Innovation Park at Penn State” address sign outside of the RTD building. “This is here because of the brainpower at Penn State.” Later Monday evening, Onorato spoke live at the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania Conference at the Penn Stater Conference Center Hotel. Democratic Senate candidate Joe Sestak also spoke at the conference via video feed. Onorato’s opponent for governor, Tom Corbett, will speak at the con ference today. To e-mail reporter: cmms773@psu.edu other lots that could be used to accommodate at least one, two or three other businesses, Alessandrine said. Alessandrine said the owner of the properties did not discuss the names of the possible businesses or the nature of the businesses with the DSCID. “The last thing anyone wants to see is vacant space,” Alessandrine said. “Vacant space is the worst space.” To e-mail reporter: prosoo4@psu.edu terms he’s been a career prosecutor so if anyone’s gonna clean up Harrisburg, it’s him.” And Crawford said regardless of which candidate students support, they should be paying attention in the coming months as campaigns heat up and Election Day moves closer. He also said he and Penn State College Democrats President Rob Ghormoz (senior-political science) are forming a plan. Both presidents are trying to organize a gubernatorial debate between the candidates at Penn State, in hopes of eliciting more stu dent interest in the election. “The state government has a lot of control of the money that comes to Penn State,” Crawford said. So any student who goes to Penn Siate has a vested interest in this elec tion.” To e-mail reporter: cmms773@psu.edu
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