Safety dance

Students offer advice for traveling safely Madison Dennis Editor in chief Although spring break is meant to give students a break from homework and classes, some students still found opportunities to learn life lessons. A common spring break lesson? How to travel safely. Kelsey Kraemer, freshman in nursing, learned this lesson from experience. Kraemer traveled to Cancun, Mexico, with two friends. However, she found that maintaining a good vacation took more work than expected. “We did everything we could to make sure we stayed safe,” Kraemer said. “We took the bus, never taxis, and our No. 1 rule was to travel in a pack.” This helped Kraemer and her friends avoid perilous situations, but mere…

Creating a new age for higher education

Caitlin Taylor Collegio Reporter Millions of students study overseas and according to a PSU guest speaker on March 30, this signifies more aggressive recruiting from international universities. Ben Wildavsky, senior fellow in research and policy for Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, lectured about what he refers to as “global universities” at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the Crimson and Gold Ballroom, and said that despite the common belief that large universities only care about making their own statistics better, this “unprecedented academic mobility” is making higher education a worldwide phenomenon. “It creates opportunities for fostering innovation and talent,” Wildavsky said. Wildavsky says that this phenomenon shows the mobility of research, campuses and students worldwide. “There is a…

SGA considers fee proposals

Whitney Saporito Managing Editor SGA members took a first look at proposed increases to student fees at the Student Government Association meeting on Wednesday night. The combined increases total $26 per student for fiscal year 2012.  The highest increase, $9 per student, was recommended by the Athletic Fee Council and would bring their total to $130 per student. Senators Jared Wetzel and Austin Osborn, who both sat on the council, said the increase is intended to cover increases in tuition and housing for athletic scholarships. The Student Health Fee Council, which funds the Bryant Student Health Center, recommended an increase of $5 per student, bringing the total to $91 per student. Brandon Mills, SGA president,…

Anything nature does, we can do better

MIT breakthrough in solar tech to yield artificial leaf Bartholomew Klick Copyeditor Scientists at MIT have created a device that mimics photosynthesis. This is not a quaint “so what?” moment in science. Green plants convert sunlight and water into energy – most of us learned about photosynthesis fairly early in our educations. What we probably didn’t learn is that scientists and engineers worldwide have long dreamed of devices that can efficiently mimic this. To be sure, this isn’t the first artificial leaf, but its predecessors have all been made from expensive and hard-to-find materials.  The catalyst in this new device — the part of the leaf that breaks water into hydrogen and oxygen so that…

‘America, in general, is uninformed’

Students respond to being called ‘foolish’ Luke Pryor Collegio Reporter College students are “foolish,” vote as liberals, lack “life experience,” and “just vote their feelings,” according to New Hampshire Speaker of the House William O’Brien, in a recent speech. O’Brien, a Republican, was speaking to a Tea Party group regarding proposed legislation in New Hampshire that would place more restrictions on local voting, and could potentially affect college students’ right to vote in the state. A video of the speech was taken by a staffer from the Democratic Party and later posted to YouTube. Among the projected bills in New Hampshire is a statute that would only allow college students to vote in the town…

Professors hold Middle East discussion

Luke Pryor Collegio Reporter A round-table discussion of the crises taking place in the Middle East, with faculty from Pitt State presenting material and answering questions from those in attendance, was held by the history, philosophy and social science departments, along with the international studies program and the Pitt State ROTC on Thursday, March 10. The speakers included Steve Harmon, associate professor of history, philosophy and social sciences; Paul Zagorski, professor of history, philosophy and social sciences; Khamis Siam, professor and chair of the chemistry department; and Maj. George Johnson of the military science department. The speakers addressed topics and issues regarding the recent revolutions in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya, as well as potential for…

Fair promotes cultural exchange

Adriana Perez Collegio Reporter Kristen Humphrey enjoys the annual Food and Culture Fair so much that she brought her whole family to the event. “I love coming here every year, and bringing my children, my aunt and my dad,’’ said Humphrey, assistant professor of social science at Pittsburg State University. This year the fair, held Saturday in Memorial Auditorium, featured food and performances from a total of 33 countries, from Africa to Brazil, from India to Korea. “We had a really good turnout this year,” said Meron Garerdew, nursing student from Ethiopia and president of the International Student Association. “The students put a lot of work to make this event possible and they got to…

Kill shot

Student’s talents noticed by Outdoor channel Kacie Cooper Collegio Reporter On March 6, Pitt State student and avid hunter Nathan Oehlert, senior in communication, gained national airtime on a show that ran on the Outdoor Channel. The show, titled Mathews TV with Dave Watson, aired a video sent by Oehlert, which took viewers along for one of Oehlert’s hunts. Oehlert’s submission was picked out of a nationwide competition where contestants were asked to send in their “Matthews Moment.” The Matthews Company produces hunting bows and sponsors the contest each year. “I was pretty nervous to see how it (the video) would actually look,” Oehlert said. “I didn’t get to see a final copy before it aired.”…

Tweets or just twits?

Todd Miller Collegio Reporter Daniele Cunningham, graduate student in English, uses Twitter to follow @samuelpepys, an account which posts tweets from the journals of a 17th-century diarist by the same name. Because it’s an open ID source, which means she can post comments on sites like Slate.com using her Twitter account name, rather than her real name, Cunningham says she can participate on news sites and blogs without compromising her identity the way other social networking sites would. “If potential employers Google my name, they wouldn’t find my Twitter account and see it full of web-arguments,” Cunningham said. On May 4, 2009, Pittsburg State University began using Twitter. Michael Fienen, director of Web Marketing, says…

Getting around the old fashioned way

Students abandon cars with gas prices on the rise Ted Thompson Collegio Reporter As gas prices continue to increase, Pittsburg State University students are starting to notice the effects on their wallets. Tyson Letourneau, junior in construction management and delivery person for Papa John’s Pizza, drives a 1995 Cadillac Deville and fills up often. “Well, because of my job, I’m forced to drive,” Letourneau said. “So I ride my bike to class to save money.” If gas prices continue to rise in the coming months, more students will find themselves in Letourneau’s situation; forced to park their cars and find other ways to get to class. Though a simple solution to high gas prices would be…