4 I Tuesday, Nov. 9,2010
Club to bring clean
water to Honduras
By Kathleen Loughran
COLLEGIAN STAF WRITER
Penn State students Michael
Hemy and Anthony Ricco are giv
ing people in Honduras what
many people in the United States
take for granted: clean water.
Henry (sophomore-immunolo
gy and infectious disease) and
Ricco (sophomore-premedicine)
are the two founders of the Penn
State branch of Global Water
Brigades, an organization that
travels to Honduras to help bring
clean water to communities.
“Water Brigades is an organiza
tion that is part of a larger non
profit organization called Global
Brigades,” Ricco said. “They want
to have a holistic approach to help
ing the Third Worlds with sustain
ability.”
At Penn State, four of the eight
total brigades exist Water,
Medical, Public Health and
Business. But the duo hopes to
see the other four brigades form
within the next year, Ricco said.
During spring break, members
of Penn State’s Global Water
Brigades with the aid of stu
dents from the University of North
Carolina will make their first
trip to help build a pipeline in a
small rural community in
Honduras, Henry said.
As students hoping to go into
medicine, Henry and Ricco said
they decided to become active
members of Global Medical
Brigades last year, where they
learned about Global Water
Brigades.
After going on Global Medical
Brigades’s trip last year, Henry
said he realized how important
potable water is to a community.
“A lot of people are sick because
of parasites and where the para
sites come from is having unclean
water,” he said.
Organization looks to raise HIV AIDS awareness
By Julia Anselmo
COLLEGIAN STAFF WRITER
New Penn State organization
Keep a Child Alive is attempting to
raise funds and spread awareness
about the epidemic of HIV and
AIDS in Africa and India.
The chapter at Penn State,
started by a group of friends, is
new to campus this semester, part
of a greater world organization co
founded by singer Alicia Keys that
has raised millions of dollars for
children with HIV and AIDS.
The Penn State chapter has
Exhibit to
By Kristin Stoller
FOR THE COLLEGIAN
In a field primarily dominated
by men, women are being recog
nized for their work and writing in
architecture in the Architecture
and Landscape Architecture
Library at the Stuckeman Family
Building on campus.
The “Write Women” exhibit,
which runs until Dec. 31, features
books by many women writers
and architects who have influ
enced the design profession.
Student project aims to prove global warming is occurring
By Christine Cooke
FOR THE COLLEGIAN
A recent project conducted by
Penn State students proved that
humans contribute to global
warming, contrary to the belief
some have that it’s just a natural
cycle of weather changes.
Amy Beatty (junior-supply
chain and information) said the
project originally started out as a
judgment paper for her ENGR 408
(Engineering Leadership
Principles) course, where stu
dents had to prove the credibility
PNC Bank to stop financing mountaintop mining for coal
By Dylan Lovan
ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOUISVILLE, Ky. PNC Bank
has announced it will stop financ
ing projects that extract coal using
a controversial form of surface
mining known as mountaintop
removal.
The Pittsburgh-based company
is the latest of a group of major
commercial lenders that have
backed away from underwriting
mountaintop removal projects
after pressure from environmen
tal activists.
PNC said in a statement it will
not fund individual projects or
“provide credit to coal producers
whose primary extraction method
is” mountaintop removal
The surface mining practice
Ricco said a pipeline was
recently finished in one of the
rural areas, arid the high incidents
of diseases related to parasites
have already dropped down to
nearly zero cases.
FUndraising chairman David
Martino said he decided to get
involved with the organization
because he was passionate about
helping people obtain clean water
in high school.
“I have had a lot of education on
Third World countries, but I’ve
never been able to experience it,”
Martino (freshman-energy engi
neering and material sciences)
said.
“There’s only so much a text
book can teach you, so I’m excited
and passionate to help people.”
Some of the events Martino said
he is looking forward to planning
include selling water bottles with
facts about potable water on. the
label and hosting a blood drive.
Though brigades only need
about eight people to participate,
he said, Penn State’s Water
Brigades is currently working on
recruiting more people, since it is
a newly formed organization.
Interested members can obtain
more information by e-mailing
psugwbta gmail.com, Ricco said.
Throughout the year, Henry and
Ricco said they plan to organize
fundraisers to aid members’ trip
expenses, in addition to spreading
the word about the help that is
needed in Third World countries.
“We’re thinking about teaming
up with a lot of similarly-minded
focus groups not just brigades
... maybe Engineers Without
Borders to spread the truth in
the Third World and how other
people should care,” Ricco said. “I
think it’s something often over
looked in the developed world.”
To e-mail reporter: krislo6@psu.edu
already held fundraisers and
hopes to continue raising money
for children affected by AIDS.
KCA Public Relations
Representative Joanna Reissman
(junior-elementary education)
said the club will continue to raise
money throughout the year and
send it directly to needy children.
“A big problem with HIV in
Africa and India is that people’s
parents become infected and pass
away—what happens is there are
so many orphans as a result,”
Reissman said.
“Our money goes to orphanages
celebrate women in architecture, design
The exhibit focuses on the areas
of feminist space, historical criti
cism, urban design and environ
ment impact.
The exhibit is an original idea by
the architecture and landscape
architecture faculty, Arts and
Architecture Librarian Henry
Pisciotta said.
“I remember one staff member
said to me, ‘l’m assigning that stu
dents study a modem house, but
I’m really concerned because all
of them are designed by men,’ ”
Pisciotta said. “People want to see
of a number of peer-reviewed
sources related to climate change.
David Leaf (junior-civil engi
neering) said the class polled a
number of random students and
50 percent of them said they did
not believe in global warming.
Their assignment gives stu
dents the facts about climate
change, and the project affects
students because of the universi
ty’s large population, Beatty said.
“The class found more than
enough evidence to prove global
climate change is occurring and
humans are causing it,” Beatty
has for years attracted the ire of
activists and Appalachian resi
dents, who say it contributes to
environmental degradation and
water pollution.
In June, a group of 50 activists
gathered at a downtown PNC
bank branch in Lexington to
protest the bank’s alleged lending
to mountaintop removal projects.
“We’re definitely seeing this as a
victoiy and looking at who’s next,”
said Martin Mudd, a member of
the group Kentucky Mountain
Justice, which helped organized
that protest.
But coal operators will simply
find other ways to fund mountain
top removal projects, an industry
supporter said.
“I think (activists) are success
ful in this instance, but I do not
LOCAL
PIE IN THE SKY
Joe Germano, manager of Sarina's 11, hard tosses his homemade pizza dough m the air to make a
pizza pie on Monday afternoon. Sarina's h is located at 220 W. College Ave.
to keep kids off the street and to
prevent them from becoming chil
dren soldiers, which is a reality for
them.”
Club president Erica Dreibelbis
(junior-community environment
and development) said the organi
zation has done “the typical"
fundraising activities, but also
plans on branching out and doing
larger events to raise funds.
The big event planned for KCA
is a mock “Black Ball," which will
be held on Dec. 2 with Delta Tan
Delta fraternity.
This fundraiser will replicate
diversity in they way they art
being taught as well."
While Pisciotta was away.
Architecture and Landscape
Architecture Building Library
Assistant Tim Auman took over
the project.
“It covers a broad spectrum of
writers, some that the average
student has already heard of. like
Denise Scott Brown," Auman said.
“There are also some that I've
never heard of before."
Auman said Brown's firm
designed the Executive Education
said, referencing her project
Rick Schuhmann. director of
engineering leadership develop
ment, gave the students several
sources for researching, including
United States Senator Jim Inhote.
who said in a speech that global
warming, is a “hoax" and was
proven to be a hoax by the nation's
top scientists.
Schuhmann wanted his stu
dents to make their judgments on
facts, not beliefs.
“Science and engineering is not
about beliefs it’s about empiri
cal evidence and judgement based
think it will reduce the amount of
mountaintop mining that occurs
in Kentucky,’' said Bill Bissett.
president of, the Kentucky Coal
Association.
PNC’s statement said moun
taintop removal “is the subject of
increasing regulatory and legisla
tive scrutiny.” Wells largo Bank
made a similar assertion in July,
when the bank acknowledged
“significant concerns associated
with this (mining) practice.”
The new PNC policy was part of
a corporate responsibility docu
ment that was updated late last
month. PNC spokesman Fred
Solomon declined to comment on
whether activist protests prompt
ed the bank to change policies.
PNC had become the top finan
cier in the U.S. of companies that
tin animal Black Bali held by K( ’A
in Xt v 'Cork City and London
m? ‘•laborate annual fundraiser
that luts raised more than $lO mil
lion since 2004.
Bui ior the founders of this new
group at Penn State, raising
awareness about the epidemic of
11IV and AIDS at Penn State is as
important as raising money for
the cause.
KCA Vice President Anna
Thomas 'junior-supply chain and
Information systems and sociolo
gy'- said she hopes the group will
make Penn State students more
Tuilding mi campus, originally
icsigned as a faculty club
Pisciotta agreed with Auman
and said the exhibit has some poo
pie who are really well known, as
well as people who are more
obscure. Auman said the exhibit
would also be educational to stu
dents not in architecture who
needed to do research.
"A lot of it has to. do with the
planning of cities, towns, and
homes, which is relevant to any
body who lives anywhere."
Pisciotta said.
upon facts." Schuhmann said.
He offered his students dinner
at Cozy Thai. 232 S. Allen Street, if
they could find more than 10 valid
sources that disproved the exis
tence of global warming. The stu
dious found none.
Lea! said any of the sources the
class found against global warm
ing were against a specific study
"Global warming is happening.
There is just confusion from unre
liable sources and politics," Leaf
said.
Beatty said students should
know about global climate change
engage in mountaintop mining,
according to Rainforest Action
Network, a San Francisco-based
environmental group.
The bank assumed the top spot
after other big banks recently
amended policies regarding lend
ing to mountaintop removal com
panies, according to the group,
which keeps a scorecard of banks
and their environmental policies.
An analysis by the environmen
tal group said PNC had an esti
mated $BO million in investments
tied to mountaintop removal in
Appalachia.
Solomon declined to discuss
PNCs investments. It was also
not clear if the company was mov
ing to dissolve its current invest
ments in mountaintop removal
companies or applying the policy
The Daily Collegian
aware ot problems in the world.
T think more than raising
monev. we want to raise aware-
ness about issues that are going
on in the world every single day
that we don't see.” Thomas said.
"Globally .speaking, there is so
much going on that the average
Penn State student doesn't know
that much about. We're trying to
get the Penn State community to
broaden their global awareness
about poverty outside the United
States."
v vp met jmas349@psu.edu
Lauren Wandei (freshman
architecture' said she passes the
exhibit every day and is glad the
librarv added it.
"1 love that our library gets into
the program, and we have such a
dedicated faculty." Wandei said,
"it gives an empowering environ
ment to women in architecture.”
Josh Staler tfreshman-architec
ture • said tlu 1 exhibit shows off the
diversity architects have in the
field of design. "Write Women” is
on display in the library at 111
Stuckeman Family Building.
because they can "work toward
sustainability and change and
have a huge impact" in the Penn
State community.
The students made a page on
Facebook about their assignment
and provided a link to the paper
they wrote lor the class and links
to various sources about climate
change.
Students interested in more
information on the project and
credible climate change sources
can long onto Facebook and
search the class's group, “Global
Warming: Know your facts."
only to future projects.
Rainforest Action Network said
other big lenders, such as Bank of
America. Citi and JP Morgan
Chase have recently amended
their lending policies regarding
mountaintop removal.
“Every time another one of the
big banks says no to the biggest
mountaintop removal companies,
that makes it tougher which in
business terms equals more
expensive for the companies to
get their financing," said Amanda
Starbuck. director of the group’s
global finance campaign.
The group has organized
protests and kept a report card of
the nation's large banks and their
business dealings with coal opera
tors that use mountaintop
removal.