News – Page 8 – Penn Points Online

Do you Klout? We Do

By Taylor Goldberg –

Do you Klout?

“Cloud?” asked Penn Manor senior Jade Hess.

Not quite. It’s called Klout.

Klout is a social network that assigns people a score based on how influential they are on the social Web. Klout collects its information about people from public sources such as Facebook and Twitter.

It asks 2 questions: How many people influence you? And, how much do you influence them?

Your score on Klout ranges from 1 to 100, and is relative to other peoples’ internet influence. For example, your friends on any social website will affect your internet influence and vice-versa.

Eric Schlotzhauer's Klout score after creating a Twitter account. Photo Credit: Taylor Goldberg

Eric Schlotzhauer experiencing Klout. Photo Credit: Tim Harris.

Monday November 14, Penn Manor senior, Eric Schlotzhauer created a Klout account. Schlotzhauer is very consumed with Facebook. His first score was 20. The next day when Schlotzhauer checked his score, it went down by 10 points. That score remained at a 10 for the following two days.

“What does this mean?” asked Schlotzhauer. “Do I now have less power on the internet?” The answer to his question would be yes. The lower your score the less of an influence you as a single person have on the internet.

After Schlotzhauer created a Twitter account his Klout score went up tremendously. His Klout score was 42.

CNN mocks the social webiste by contradicting its purpose, “Is this number any less indicative of your actual online popularity than Klout’s scores? As far as you know, no.” On November 15, CNN.com said that Klout scores could possibly be labeled as “evil.” They figure that anyone could come up with a score rating your popularity on the internet by averaging the amount of people you’re connected with on all of your social web accounts.

Welcome to Klout, PennPoints.

PennPoints Online decided to create a Klout account to experience the site. When PennPoints first started their Klout account, the score was 1, and in less than two minutes later the score raised to 10.

In order to connect with Klout you have the option to use your Twitter or Facebook account information just to create a login. That way the site is automatically connected to every linking account in your name.

Klout can connect with the following:
Twitter
Facebook
Goggle+
LinkedIn
Foursquare
YouTube
Instagram
Tumblr
Blogger
Wordpress
Fast.fm
Flickr

On the Klout homepage, it shows a large red bubble on the top let side of the screen that displays your latest Klout score. The site allows you to review your experiences on the website and invite other friends from other social wed accounts to join Klout. Klout does not allow you to post any pictures of yourself. However you are able to create, yet, another online profile that helps people to identify you.

In the middle of the screen you have an image of a graph where Klout shows you what your score analysis is. Penn Points’ score has been at steady 10, so the graph shows a strait line. You can create lists and enroll yourself under different topics to help people find you.

Bill Gates has only 76 as a Klout score, Justin Bieber has the full 100.

Habeas Corpus Lost for U.S. Citizens Suspected of Terrorism

By Adam Rohrer –

The National Defense Authorization act is set to to be signed into law Thursday. The bill will allow for the removal of due process of American citizens who have been accused, without evidence, of being a suspected terrorist.

Not everyone at Penn Manor, or the country for that matter, has been following the issue but those that have, have strong opinions.

Penn Manor junior Haley Smith said “Every person deserves a fair trail, If you’re an American in America you should have your right to a fair trail.”

The National Defensive Authorization Act would give the U.S. military the ability to detain and arrest American citizens on U.S. soil indefinably without due process if someone is suspected of involvement in terrorism. The U.S. government believes that those deemed as “terrorists” are “special cases” and cannot be given due process which is why they were kept in Guantanamo bay. With this bill passed, nothing technically could stop the government from labeling someone a terrorist, arresting that person and putting him or her before a military tribune.

In other words “guilty until proven innocent.”

Penn Manor Junior Ben Murphy said “If they’ve done nothing wrong they have nothing to be afraid of” in regard to the possibility that these new powers might be abused.

The part of the bill in question can be found in section 1031 where it defines the entirety of U.S. territory as a battleground. While the wording in this section is vague, near the end of the bill it comes back to the issue and confirms US citizens are included in the bill. In essence the bill states that any US citizen accused by the White House of being a suspected terrorist will be subjected to military law.

“Why would you accuse your own people of terrorism?” asked Penn Manor Junior Emily Stotoft.

The NDAA was a bill drafted in a private session not open to the public by several U.S. senators. It has already passed the Senate, 86-14 and in the House, 283-136.

Obama had previously promised to veto the bill but sources indicate that he is now going to sign it. A veto from the president would not be enough however as the Senate would be able to override the veto with such overwhelming bipartisan support.

“By signing this defense spending bill, President Obama will go down in history as the president who enshrined indefinite detention without trial in U.S. law,” said Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch. “In the past, Obama has lauded the importance of being on the right side of history, but today he is definitely on the wrong side.”

Obama has taken heat from civil liberties groups for his support for the indefinite detention of Bradly Manning without trial or due process. Bradly Manning is known for leaking classified documents that provide evidence of war crimes committed by U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan to Wikileaks.

Republican Presidential candidate and long time Libertarian Ron Paul have been one of the only influential public figures to attack the bill for its violation of civil liberties.

“This is a giant step – this should be the biggest news going right now – literally legalizing martial law,” said Paul.

“This is big,” emphasized Paul, adding, “This step where they can literally arrest American citizens and put them away without trial….is arrogant and bold and dangerous.”

While many Americans and students at Penn Manor may think that this does not effect them, and that suspected “Terrorists” do not deserve a fair trial or human rights. These people may be interested in the fact the the U.S. Department of Defense lists “protests” as an activity that warrants suspicion of low-level terrorism. With this law you can be arrested and indefinitely detained without due process or a fair trial for protesting in the United States of America.

Some fear the new law would correlate with events that led up to Nazism in Germany.

“First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out because I was not a Jew. Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak out because I was not a Communist. Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak out for me.” – Martin Niemoller – Holocaust survivor on the silence of Germans during the rise of Nazi Germany

Cell Phone Ban a Possibility for Drivers

By Chris Fleming –

You turn your car off and check your phone, two missed calls and three missed texts.

The National Transportation Safety Board has recommended that drivers should not be able to access their phones while driving.

Penn Manor students feel differently.

“It’s easy and safe unless you’re dumb,” stated senior Nick Zell.

“I never text when I’m driving because it’s hard to do and I know I’m not as focused,” said senior Brian Le,” but answering a phone is different, I can drive the same with one hand and talking on the phone is just like talking to some one else in the car so I don’t really see the big deal.”

“I rarely use my phone when I drive because I drive stick, my one hand that I could be using to talk on the phone is already busy so I don’t use my phone much when I drive anyway,” said senior Alex Sorce.

“I use my phone only at stop lights to text because I don’t feel safe doing it while I drive,” said senior Skyler Major,”but I do talk on the phone when I drive.”

“I don’t text while I drive but I will answer the phone if someone calls,” said Ryland Overly.

Many states already have bans on hand-held phone use when driving and have been compared to nearby states without that law. The results have shown that there is no change to the accident rate, according to the Insurance Institute.

Deborah Hersman, chairwomen of the National Transportation Safety Boards, was concerned with the new phone technology allowing people to access their email, watch movies and play games on their phone.

“Every year, new devices are being released,” Herman said,” People are tempted to update their Facebook page, they are tempted to tweet, as if sitting at a desk. But they are driving a car.”

She acknowledges that it’s going to be hard to try and change how people drive by simply telling them to put their phone away for, in most cases, short distant drives which severely increase their unawareness while behind the wheel.

“We’re not here to win a popularity contest. We’re here to do the right thing. This is a difficult recommendation, but it’s the right recommendation and it’s time,” she said.

People know that using their phone while they drive is dangerous, but they seem so addicted to update a social network or extremely tempted to see what their friend said back to a text.

Texting while they drive. Image courtesy of jalopnik.com

If people know it’s dangerous to distract them self on purpose, then why do they do it without thinking twice about it?

“I don’t know why I do, when I drive and notice I have a message, it’s just instinct to check my phone without checking my surroundings,” said Bobby Warfel.

“It can really distract me sometimes if I’m waiting for a certain text or something,” said Ashley Richards.

Joe Simitian, State Senator of California, succeeded in getting a law passed in 2006 that bans drivers from talking on a hand held phone, said the board’s recommendation is “a wake up call about the dangers of distracted driving.”

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, nine states currently have the ban of hand held phones when driving and 35 states ban texting when driving.

If the ban becomes true for all states, that could affect car manufacturers in the way they set up newer cars to have Bluetooth already installed. Bluetooth lets the driver answer their phone while driving by the press of a button, sometimes the button is on the steering wheel, making the driver still able to talk and drive and hoping that it doesn’t take away from their awareness of the road.

The ban is also receiving some attention world wide.

Ban Ki-moon, secretary general on the United Nations suggested to end multitasking behind the wheel. 30 countries have a few limitations when the drive and Germany and Portugal have complete bans when they are driving.

Bella Dinh-Zarr, road safety director of international road safety with the FIA Foundation said,”More and more countries are going to be looking at it.”

Returning to the Old Days, Students Tire their Legs Walking to the Bus Stop

By Alicia Ygarza –

Parents and grandparents often recall how back in their day, they had to walk five miles to school every day. They sometimes walked through snow, and it was uphill both ways.

Many of today’s Penn Manor students will have similar tales to regale their own kids and grand kids. Bus stops in the school district are becoming a little stranger and a lot further from where they used to be.

Sue Kelshaw, Penn Manor transportation coordinator acknowledged that budget cutbacks have made many bus stops less convenient.

“Penn Manor, along with most other school districts, are experiencing reduced funding from the state. As a result, even though district costs have decreased, Penn Manor along with most other districts have streamlined their bus routes in an effort to reduce overall district expenses,” said Kelshaw. “Reducing the number of stops and the distance the buses have to travel, reduces the cost of the buses.”

“I hate walking to my bus stop, it’s so far away,” said one student.

“Last year, it took me ten minutes to get to school, and now it takes me 35 minutes,” said student Dimitrius Dennison.

According to Kelshaw, bus locations have been relocated in order to make it an equal distance for each student. They have also been relocated to find “safe locations and walking areas” for the students. She said in some cases buses are not traveling as far into housing developments as they used to, which now require students to walk to a common location near the entry of the development for pick up and drop off.

“I don’t like my new bus stop location because I have to get up earlier than I had to last year,” complained Cody Rebman, a student at Penn Manor.

Distance is not the only issue being addressed by these students, safety is also a problem.

“My bus stop is more dangerous than others because it’s at an intersection,” said Rebman.

A happy Dimitrius Dennison, when he is not riding the bus to school. Photo taken by Alicia Ygarza

Barbara Trostle, Penn Manor librarian said, “When I was young I didn’t walk very far, but the location was very dangerous. My kids have the same bus stop now, and I get worried for them because it’s on top of a hill, and cannot be seen very well.”

“When I was in high school I walked half a mile to my bus stop on a dirt road. There wasn’t much traffic, but there was a man that people considered dangerous. He would show up at bus stops in the country and pull his pants down. After that my mom began walking with me to my bus stop with the huge dog we had. She saw him once and sent my dog after him,” said Dr. Jan Mindish, former principal at Penn Manor.

“I did receive some complaints about the stop changes,” said Kelshaw. “The superintendent had input on the changes and followed up by visiting some of the changed spots to evaluate the safety of the walking path to the stop and the actual stop location. Two stop locations were changed based on the superintendent’s input.”

Now, students who live across the street from each other have to walk all the way to the end of their developments to catch the bus.

“Many districts have done the same this year,” said Kelshaw. “Districts like Solanco (largest district in area in the county) have never gone into developments and have always picked up at the development entrances. This year Penn Manor has shortened bus routes in an effort to reduce transportation costs by picking up at the entrances of some developments rather than driving through the main street in some developments rather than traveling up and down the side streets,” said Kelshaw.

The benefits to these new locations are that they are helping the school save a lot of money. Also, the students are getting a good morning workout.

“Penn Manor has saved approximately $110,000 in transportation costs this year,” Kelshaw noted. “This cost reduction was a direct result of changing bus routes, bus stop locations, and by eliminating midday kindergarten transportation and evening activity runs.”

“I’ve heard both sides of the story. I’ve heard students say they like their new bus stop locations, and students say they don’t like their new locations. Although I think the school should relocate many of the stops I’ve seen, I think too many students take their busing transportation for granted,” said Trostle.

“The school needs to make a compromise for the bus stops. They need to make the bus stops an equal distance for each student, and also locate them in a safe environment,” said Mindish.

Brains Change After Violent Video Games

By Chris Fleming –

Playing violent video games might be fun, but a new study indicates it may not be harmless fun, after all.

For years now plenty of different researchers have been trying to analyze the affect of violent video games versus the brain. Finally, the researchers at the Indiana University School of Medicine in Indianapolis discovered signs through magnetic resonance imaging that the brain is affected, according to a published report in USAToday.

Some gamers who go to Penn Manor have seen similar results.

“Once I start playing a game I can notice that I get angry faster,” said Alex Sorce, senior at Penn Manor,” but I leave my anger at my Xbox once I turn it off.”

According to the study done in Chicago, researches took 22 healthy men ages 18-29 and split them up into groups of 11. One group was assigned to play a violent first person shooter game for 10 hours a day for one week and then not play at all the next week, while the other group was told not to play video games at all for both weeks.

After the first week every one got an MRI brain scan and were told to do specific tasks to see what changes took place. After the first week the group playing video games had less activation in the left inferior frontal lobe while doing emotional tasks and lower activation in the anterior cingulate cortex during counting tests compared to their results previous to video game playing and to the other group which did not play video games at all.

After the second week’s MRI scan took place, the group playing video games results were disturbing.

“The activation returned toward baseline but did not completely normalize. We don’t know how long the effect lasts for those who play longer,” said study co-author Dr. Vincent Mathews.

A well known violent video game, image coutesy of gallery.neoseeker.com

Yang Wang, a professor in radiology and imaging and lead author of the research done at Indiana University School of Medicine said, “These findings indicate that violent video game play has long-term effect on brain functioning.

“The part of the brain that the group that played video games changed in ” is involved in inhibition and emotional modulation,” said Mathews, “(Other researchers) have shown an increase in aggression after playing violent video games. We suspect our findings may be a physiological explanation for this.”

The Center for Successful Parenting supported this research, they argue that there should be less video games and other certain media that young children have access to that they don’t necessarily need , according to the USAToday story.

Mathews suggests to gamers that they should “be aware that playing violent video games has an effect on the way the brain functions and consider this when you choose how to spend your leisure time.”

According to a few students at Penn Manor, these results don’t match up to how they feel.

“Well of course I get angry sometimes when I play a certain violent video game like if I lose or something, but I doubt that it really affects the rest of my day, or life, according to the long term effects you said it gives us gamers,” said Bob Warfel.

“I’ve been playing street fighter for a long time, I haven’t noticed any changes yet. I do get mad sometimes but it’s over dumb stuff so I feel like it doesn’t really effect me at all because it’s just a game,” said Brian Le.

Many recommended a new study be done again but on a larger scale than just two weeks and with a larger group or people.

School Board Members Visit High School

By Becca Frankford–

Dr. Mike Leichliter and four other school board members visited Penn Manor this Thursday for a perspective on what Penn Manor students are thinking.

Penn Manor's school board members visit the high school

The meeting took place in the chorus room, with the nine school board members. After being introduced, the board members split up to talk with members from the various clubs that meet throughout the school. Every club was represented by at least one person, whether it was the president of the club or just a member. Some clubs there included NHS, student council, Do-Something club, journalism, chorus, band, FFA, and more.

“What are some strengths of Penn Manor?” Rich Frerichs, the head of the school board asked the students.

“I like the amount of diversity… there is so much to offer,” one senior said.

“Our school has so much to offer, and when the middle schoolers come in, there is something for them,” another junior added.

A question was directed by Frerichs toward sophomores to find out if Penn Manor did well getting them ready for high school and how the school can better prepare them for their future.

The students in the group said they really enjoyed the opportunity of being able to be in a club of their choice and meeting every week.

“Do more to advertise the clubs,” one sophomore suggested.

They all agreed that when the eighth graders come to the high school orientation they are told how they are going to be prepared for the 21st century, the dress code, teachers, core classes, and sports teams, but there is hardly any information on clubs they can join.

The students also thought that if they had a representative from every club go to the middle schools and inform middle schoolers on what different clubs are offered that can benefit their high school experience. Suggestions were made to include the lists of clubs and activities that are offered and include contact person, email, blogs, etc. in the course selection books that are given out each year.

Underclassmen take a benchmark test which decides whether or not they must go into remediation or enrichment based on their scores. The issue of our school failing and not making adequate yearly progress struck a debate on whether or not the school should get rid of enrichment.

“I am really strong on academics. It really breaks my heart to not make AYP,” Frerichs said.

“The reason our school is failing is because of the various sub groups that are held to the same standards as the rest of the student body and when they fail the PSSAs everyone is affected,” students said.

“It wasn’t taken seriously… seniors are losing time doing enrichment,” a Penn Manor junior commented on enrichment schedule and classes.

A student council member mentioned that all the enrichment schedules are messing up with the chances to meet for student council. Other comments were made that when students are in a club but have enrichment, they can’t go to club. More concerns were directed to the loss of homeroom and the benefits it had to completing make up work and homework.

“There’s people all over the place.. its ridiculous,” a student commented on how math teachers are covering English classes and vice versa.

“A lot of flaws in the current system… a lot of flaws,” one junior said.

In the attempt to understand and connect with Penn Manor students, Frerichs asked, “If you’re running the schools, how do I make it better?”

Students suggested that there needed to be more consequences for their actions.

“Remediation should be a consequence,” a girl said.

Suggestions varied from having teacher evaluations, to having designated enrichment and club days. When voting on the teacher evaluation, there were 11 yes and 1 no.

The chance of cutting down classes for a dwindling budget was considered. Cutting out classes from each area of academics was thought to be a good consideration so no one area is cut more then another. No classes have been cut as of yet.

PETA Even Gets its Paws on Mario

By Julia Norton –

Mario is an amusing video game character created by Nintendo that has been around since 1981. He can be seen in over 200 video games today and has served as harmless entertainment for people of all ages. However, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has begun to see it differently.

Mario wearing a bloody tanooki suit on PETA's website. Photo courtesy of: exophrine.com

PETA is more than disgruntled with the recently released game, Super Mario 3D Land for the Nintendo 3DS, where the popular character can be seen wearing a tanooki suit.

Tanooki are Japanese raccoon dogs that are commonly hunted for their fur. Mario wears the skin of a tanooki in order to fly throughout the game.

On their website PETA explains, “When on a mission to rescue the princess, Mario has been known to use whatever means necessary to defeat his enemy – even wearing the skin of a raccoon dog to give him special powers.

“Tanooki may be just a suit in the game, but in real life tanuki are raccoon dogs who are skinned alive for their fur. By wearing a Tanooki, Mario is sending the message that it is OK to wear fur,” says PETA.

A graphic and alarming video can be seen on their site of multiple tanooki being beaten, tortured and killed. By posting this video, PETA hopes to enlighten people about how these animals are treated and that it is unnecessary to kill them. They want people to understand the severity of this issue and realize that it is not something that should be joked about in a video game or anywhere else.

Also on the website, PETA has created a graphic version of the Mario game where the character can be seen wearing a disgusting, bloody suit with the head of a dead tanooki. The tanooki can be seen running after Mario, hairless, attempting to reclaim his fur. Anyone can go onto the website and play the fun, yet terribly disturbing, game.

“When people learn that millions of innocent animals are beaten, boiled, hanged, and electrocuted for their fur every year; that each fur coat, each piece of fur lining or fur trim, and each fur cat toy represents the intense suffering of dozens of animals; and that furriers intentionally mislabel the fur of cats and dogs as fur from other species or as faux fur—then every decent human being will want to go fur-free,” the organization writes on the controversy of wearing fur.

While PETA sees this as a totally legitimate thing to make an issue out of, some people see it differently.

“I think PETA is filled with [idiots],” said one Penn Manor senior who wishes to remain anonymous. “They probably have good motives with everything they do, but they definitely tend to cross boundaries and exaggerate everything.”

Whether people view this as PETA taking it too far or not, the skinning of tanooki is not an issue that should be taken lightly.

Holiday Weekend Looks to Be the Best it Has in Years

By Kevin Holton –

Besides eating turkey and stuffing, there’s not much more to do on a rainy and cold Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Luckily, this year will not be that way.

Those stuffed with turkey and mashed potatoes will be able to take a leisurely walk or play a game of football to work off the extra calories.

According to the The Weather Channel, Thursday through Saturday will offer a stretch of beautiful weather for late November with temperatures rising high into the 50s.

Millersville University’s Meteorologist, Eric Horst, believes its going to be even warmer than that for the holiday weekend.

“If everything lines up, it could get up to the 70s this Thanksgiving weekend,” said Horst.

A beautiful thanksgiving day only brings joy. photo from wallpapertimes.com

This kind of warm weather is very unusual for this time of year. But this has been a year for unusual weather.

“I looked through the records and 2001 was the last time we had a Thanksgiving this warm,” said Horst.

Penn Manor students couldn’t be more excited about the weather turning out this way.

“I’m gonna be tearin’ it up everyday on my quad,” said Penn Manor senior Dylan Tremellen.

Students plan to soak up the warm weather since it is usually quite scarce at this late in the fall.

“I will be playing a lot of basketball and also playing football with my friends,” predicted senior Reagan Forrey.

Senior Alex Cummins also plans on having a good time with family this year, outside.

“I’ll be eating a lot of food for Thanksgiving and then probably going to my cousin’s lake to hangout,” he said.

“I would love to go outside and play with my dog Bronson and take him for walks in the warm weather,” said senior Matt Noll, who was savoring the sunny forecast. ” Also I’d like to go to the beach and see the ocean.”

Everyone should enjoy the summer-like temperatures when they can because it won’t be long until winter sets in and snow begins to fall. However, Horst said the winter of 2011-12 may be a mild one without much of the white stuff that has plagued the region for the past two winters.

“This winter looks to be an ordinary one with not too much snow,” said Horst. ” So for all you big snow lovers out there, sorry.”

Sandusky Dirties the Lions’ Paws

By Cheyenne Weber

Happy Valley isn’t very happy anymore.

Not the Penn State students on campus nor the alumni who teach here in the high school.

Former Penn State football defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky has been charged by the state Attorney General with sexually assaulting eight boys over a 15-year span. And those charges and suggestions of a cover-up have painted a broad brushstroke of shame over the entire administration and the football program.

In the wake of the sex abuse scandal, long-time football coach Joe Paterno and university president Graham Spanier were fired Wednesday night by the university’s board of trustees.

“Joe Pa is this god-like icon and he just did enough legally but not morally,” said Penn State graduate Lisa May who teaches English at the high school.

Mrs May — Lisa May, a Penn State graduate and teacher at Penn Manor. Photo Credit Cheyenne Weber

Several other Penn Manor teachers who graduated from Penn State said they were too upset about the scandal to give a comment.

The central issue is why university officials who were informed of Sandusky’s assault of a young child in the Penn State locker room in 2002 did not report the incident to law enforcement.

“My question is why they kept silent so long,” pondered potential Penn Stater Penn Manor senior Alex Cauler who is considering the school for his engineering degree. “It will hurt their reputation and they will have to work to fix it.”

Penn State Athletic Director Tim Curley and university vice-president Gary Schultz are charged with perjury for their testimony in front of the grand jury and obstruction of justice. Curley has taken a leave of absence and Schultz has retired from his temporary position at the college.

Hundreds of students rioted Wednesday night after being told of long-time coach Paterno’s firing by telephone call.

“The rioting over the incident just exacerbates things and is not constructive,” said Cauler.

“It’s sad it has to end like this,” said Emily Lyons, a new Penn Manor learning support teacher who also graduated from Penn State.

Pennsylvania state law requires sex abuse charges to be reported to the police. In this case they weren’t. Shock and outrage across the country has smothered the usual pride of the Blue and White, at least for now.

Paterno and Sandusky — Jerry Sandusky, left, charged with child sex abuse, was former Penn State football coach Joe Paterno's assistant.

But there’s not much light at the end of the tunnel for this child sex-abuse scandal for the Nittany Lions, even as they head into Saturday’s game against Nebraska without their long-respected coach at the helm.

After an astonishing 46 years with Penn State, Paterno has been the face of Penn State, but his legacy will be forever tarnished.

According to the grand jury report, A graduate assistant told Paterno of an incident he was an eye witness to in the showers of the gym at Penn State. Neither the graduate assistant or Paterno called police. The matter was referred to Curley and Schultz. Their course of action? To tell Jerry he was not allowed to bring kids on campus anymore. The “resolution” was reportedly approved by Spanier.

Sandusky, who maintains his innocence, is the founder of the Second Mile Foundation, a charity to support at-risk youth but from which, the attorney general charges, he groomed victims for assault.

Ms Lyons — Emily Lyons is not proud of the officials at Penn State who ignored charges of child abuse. Photo Cheyenne Weber

There’s even more to the scandal than meets the eye. Mike McCreary, the graduate student who witnessed the shower incident in 2002 became the assistant coach to Paterno in 2003.

Strange circumstances surround the Centre County District Attorney, Ray Gricar, who first had the opportunity to prosecute Sandusky when charges of child rape by Sandusky were brought to him in 1998. Gricar said at the time that he didn’t have enough evidence to prosecute Sandusky. The D.A. disappeared mysteriously in 2005. His car was found in a parking lot in Lewisburg and the hard drive to his computer was found in the Susquehanna River. Gricar was declared legally dead this past summer. His body has never been found.

Investigations on both the state and national level are continuing, although Paterno is not a target. The state police commissioner called his failure to contact police after being told of the 2002 incident a lapse in “moral responsibility.”

Law enforcement officials have not ruled out prosecution of Spanier.

One of the outrages against the administration is that Sandusky still had priviledges at Penn State and had used the gym, reportedly as recently as two weeks ago. This was after the grand jury testimony had been given and administration officials were clearly informed of the charges against Sandusky.

McQueary, one of the central figures in the burgeoning child sex abuse scandal at Penn State, will coach Saturday when the Nittany Lions play their final home game of the season but many are calling for his dismissal as well.

“We are….Penn State” is the long-practiced chant of pride for the students of Penn State. But whether the students and alumni can say it with pride may take a long, long time to resolve.

Cauler said if he does go to Penn State, he is not going to worry about the scandal or the possible association people might make of graduates from the school.

“I think the people who did this should be criticized,” said Cauler, “not the school or the students.”

Anonymous Threatens to End Facebook “OP_FB”

By Frank Herr –

Facebook may cease to exist if the rumors of the technology-hacking group, Anonymous, are true. Months after their warning of the destruction of the most popular social networking site for teens, November 5 may be the end of Facebook.

That’s Saturday.

A recording on Youtube of the Anonymous group threatens the demise of Facebook saying, in the synthesized voice used to release statements, “The medium of communication you all so dearly adore will be destroyed, we will kill Facebook for the sake of your own privacy. Facebook has been selling information to government agencies and giving clandestine access to information to security firms so they can spy on people from all around the world.”

Not everyone at Penn Manor believes the end of Facebook, even temporarily, would be the end of the world.

“I think I would live. It’s nice to have a Facebook so you can communicate with kids from college, but I would live,” said Lauren Longenecker who communicates with her brother and friends away at school.

A Facebook spokesperson declined to comment this week on the alleged plot but information on the social networking site clearly states that it doesn’t share information with third party users that the member has not approved.

Anonymous has targeted many companies over the years. These corporations include Bank of America, Sony and various government sites. While supporting the WikiLeaks organization, Anonymous was responsible for overriding and shutting down the Bank of America. Even Oprah Winfrey’s television network was struck by the sophisticated hacking group.

The fifth of November may have been chosen because it also marks a holiday: Guy Fawkes Day is celebrated in the UK, and marks the failed plot of conspirators who planned to blow up a ship, and kill King James I. Is there a correlation? Most likely.

But why Facebook? What has it done to deserve such threatening intimidation?

Anonymous has explained that the motive for taking down Facebook is that the service is corruptly performed. Privacy settings are not as secure as they say that they are. Just the fact that some users may be able to access information that is meant to be private is not what set off the hacking group.

The real bone to be picked is simply the fact that private information is promised to be secure. Because of what it says is Facebook’s false claims of information privacy, Anonymous believes that it is worthy of being hacked, most sources say to be completely dismantled.

This attack is referred to as “OP_FB”, most likely “Operation Facebook”, to those members of Anonymous who plan to participate in the hacking activities. As of November 3, 2011, a post on piratepad.net stated, “Ideas for OP_FB. Post ideas here guides. We are more powerful than DDoS attacks, and FB isn’t going to keel over from something so small. We have more power than this, and we should utilize it.”

This statement is most likely an open invitation to Anonymous members to share their opinions on how the communication powerhouse should be brought to its knees.

Despite the massive use of Facebook worldwide, the millions of users, most of whom would admit to be dependent on the service, some people seem to believe that their lives would proceed as usual, and in some cases, be better by the destruction of Mark Zuckerberg’s brainchild.

“I wouldn’t care. I would get a lot more stuff done in my life,” said Penn Manor senior Matt Noll.

With such extensive use on Facebook, hours of free time may seem to grace a student’s busy schedule.

Ryan Martzall was not upset with the prospect of Facebook’s shutdown.

“I never get on Facebook, so I wouldn’t be heartbroken,” said Martzall.

Some people can actually see the benefits already.

“I would be pretty excited. (Facebook) is stupid. People would start communicating face to face more often,” said science teacher Erick Dutchess.

“We do not share your personal information with people or services you don’t want,” Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in an opinion piece for the Washington Post last year. “We do not give advertisers access to your personal information. We do not and never will sell any of your information to anyone.”

Anonymous is becoming better known of late as a collective of cyber hackers and politcal activists who they say are fighting to maintain internet neutrality and the free flow of information.

Because of there decentralized nature, they do not work from one location, they do not have a set of beliefs or principles and there is little accountability between members. They give all their members the freedom to act freely under the name of the “hive-mind.” However at times some members have angered others and they have launched attacks against each other in protest of their actions.

Anonymous has often worked under the radar of the major media, but after they showed strong support for the site Wiki Leaks organization whose leader Julian Assange was arrested last year. After Wiki Leaks released classified information last year embarrassing the U.S. government, there was heavy pressure to restrict donations to Wiki Leaks. The Bank of America blocked Pay Pal donations to Wiki Leaks.

Anonymous saw this as a threat to free internet speech and launched “denial of service” attacks on Bank of America.

Most of the attacks by Anonymous are against corporations that limit the free flow of information and governments that limit free speech. To some people’s surprise, their list includes targets within U.S. law enforcement and governments of Sweden, Turkey, Tunisia and Egypt.

Anonymous will at first send a warning to their next target by releasing a statement or a video that all end with there famous motto:

“We are Anonymous

We are Legion

We do not Forget

We do not forgive

Expect us.”

Expect Anonymous to make their presence known, maybe even this weekend.

Adam Rohrer, Alex Sanchez-Cruz, Amber Brenner and Eric Schlotzhauer contributed to this article.