Freddie Heinemann, a sophomore Biology major, has spent his life making people laugh whether it be on stage or just his off-hand comments. Heinemann improved when his favorite teacher in high school helped and inspired him to share his life experiences on the stage. From that point in his life, he has taken comedy seriously by practicing for approximately three hours, three to four times a week.

Having only started performing in May of 2009, he has grown not only enjoy this venue due to heckling. This is when Heinemann decided to try performing for the Millersville Comedy Club, and had his first standup comedy performance on campus just last week. Heinemann loved his first performance saying, “I was nervous and embarrassed but there was a great crowd here and it went really well.” He discussed his humorous personal experiences and stories which the crowd really enjoyed.

Millersville’s Comedy Club is open to new members by audition at the beginning of each semester. The organization can be reached through Facebook or by contacting the Directors Bob Grube and Jeff Wafthal directly. Auditions are open to everyone regardless of major and last semester forty percent of students who auditioned made the group. Look for a new group on campus called the Theatre of the Oppressed which deals with serious improv.

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The first authorities on the scene were the Millersville Police, who also identified the lingering smoke smell as a potential fire in the building. The next authorities on the scene were the Millersville Fire Company, Fire Chief Keith Eshleman, two fire engines. According to Fire Chief Eshleman, the cause of the fire was a washing machine malfunction, and was a minor event. No injuries were reported.

The firemen entered Harbold Hall through the rear main exit, and descended into the basement as soon as the smell was identified to be from the lowest floor of the building. The firemen examined the entire washing room for any more malfunctions, and to also make sure that the building was again safe for returning Harbold students. The students were evacuated for 30 minutes from when the fire alarm first sounded.

Christine Mease, a resident of Harbold Hall, said, “Evacuation was good. Everyone was calm, and there was no mass hysteria.”

Even though the evacuation process was good, students were upset over the wait for such a minor event. At the very least, Harbold students will get one new washer due to the incident.

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The trip will take place from December 29, 2010 to January 13, 2011 and will cost approximately $3,250 per student. This cost includes fees for air fare, hotel accommodations, travel in India, admissions fees, and some meals. The cost does not include MU tuition, ISIC cards, passports, travel insurance, and personal expenses. Dr. Schreiber and Dr. Witmer will be taking approximately 25 students on this trip, so space is limited.

The trip starts with three nights in New Delhi, which is India’s capital and home to 5000 years of rich history. Some activities offered in New Delhi visits to the lofty Red Fort, Humayuns Tomb, Jama Masjid, ChadiniChowk, QutabMinar, the Lotus Temple and the Laxminarayan Temple. Students are offered the opportunity to explore the Lodhi Gardens, the National Museum, the “Thieves Market” and more. Students will be able to see how the Indian people ring in the New Year in New Delhi.

Upon arrival in Agra on January 2 students are given the opportunity to enjoy a decorated Tonga ride through the city. Other places to visit in Agra are the Tomb of Itmad-ud-Daulah, the Agra Fort, and Mathura. Students are also given the chance to visit what many believe to be India’s most popular attraction; the Taj Mahal.

The next three nights are spent in the “rose pink” city, of Jaipur. Jaipur is the capital of Rajasthan, and was painted entirely pink when the Prince of Wales and Edward VII visited on two separate occasions. Attractions in Jaipur are the City Palace, the Palace of Winds, Albert Hall, and the Jaigarh and Nahargarh Forts. There will also be local artists and teachers to meet.

Starting January 6, students will stay in Jodhpur for two nights exploring the 500-year-old city, which is also called the “Blue City.” Jodhpur is known for its people and sculptors. Students can also visit the Mehrangarh Fort, the Jaswant Thada and the Umaid Bhawan Museums while riding camels. Jodhpur also offers a glimpse into the hidden elements of desert life.

The second to last stop on the visit is Ranakpur and Kumbalgarh. These quaint twin cities are testaments to Rahasthan’s history. These towns are evidence of brilliant architectural genius with the Jain temple. The Jain temple has 29 halls and 1,444 unique pillars. Students can also take a day trip to the Kumbalgarh Fort.

The last stop of the trip is in Udaipur, which is positioned in the forested hilly region of the Aravalli Ranges. Udaipur has an impregnable citadel and an impressive royal lineage. The unique experience here is to go boating on Lake Picchola to Jagmandir.

To apply for this trip contact Dr. Lisa Schreiber of the Communication and Theatre Department at either (717) 872-2277 or lisa.schreiber@millersville.edu.

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According to the British Medicine Journal, every cigarette decreases your life by eleven minutes, which seems like an awfully expensive price to have to pay. Of the three deadly habits in smoking, drinking, and drug abuse, they decide to choose the one habit that makes the least sense? Alcohol and drugs have possible health side effects but also produce a “buzz” or “high” in their respective roles, while smoking cigarettes has the most severe health related side effects while producing neither a “high” nor a “buzz.”

It just blows my mind watching the smoking commercials on TV trying to sell their product, but required by law to include a message at the bottom, stating something along the lines of “Indulging in our product leads to a variety of potentially life ending diseases, smoke at your own risk.”

Do the students think that this message is a joke? May be these students who continue to smoke cannot read these messages, or just think that they are smarter than the experts in their field of study.

As if smoking cigarettes was not stupid enough by itself, they overcharge you to pay for these disease-inducing products. According to Health.com, the average price of a pack of cigarettes is more than $5, which seems like it would put quite a dent in a college student’s wallet, as most of them do not have jobs for a steady income.

So now we have a college students who are not only killing themselves, but are spending most of their money doing so. Maybe it is because that is what the cool kids do? Wrong. Even those old reasons that inspired our elders to smoke no longer apply. They used to smoke because it was what the cool kids did, and that was how the national media trained them to think.

Now, you find that most of them are trying their hardest to stop smoking, with the growth of all these new products to help them accomplish that goal. I would find it hard pressed to find anyone who views smoking as cool anymore, and in a way society is starting to show this trend. For example, Millersville University only allows smoking in designated areas, they formerly allowed it throughout campus.

With all of these reasons listed, it becomes hard to find any real reason why college students smoke. Are they trying to be rebellious, or are they just plain stupid? Either way I do not know why these kids are allowed into college because there are clearly smarter kids out there.

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Dr. Scott is a professor in the Educational Foundations Department at Millersville University and supervises student teachers while teaching classes in Comparative Education, and Issues in Secondary Education. Dr. Scott is originally from Belfast and personally witnessed this “peace process” transform the conflict riddled countryside of Ireland into the peaceful community it now is today. Dr. Scott feels that there is something unique witnessing this process of shared government and peace-building and would love to share this experience with the students of Millersville. Dr. Scott brought his first group of students to Ireland in 2005 and has brought a group every year since.

The trip begins with three days in Belfast where the peace line exists, and you are introduced to grass root peace builders, who were former paramilitaries. These paramilitaries are the same people who were at war trying to kill each other 15 years ago but are now working together for the benefits of their communities.

The students listen to the personal stories of transformation and growth as they tour Belfast City Hall, Queen’s University, St. Mary’s University and meet Belfast’s Lord Mayor. The students get to experience how a community is responding to the challenges of post-conflict reconstruction through their political wall murals on both sides of the newly formed community. The students also get to experience how the new community has fun by learning Irish dancing and intermixing with the locals.

The next stop on this tour of Ireland is the town of Donegal in western Ireland where you learn about the struggles of rural people after going hill walking and swimming in the beautiful local bay. The rural people the students meet had relatives that came to Lancaster County in the 18th century, and will share how they survived in their isolated region of Ireland during times of conflict.

Derry City is the next stop, and is the best example of a walled city in Europe. The students tour the walls as they learn the great historic significance of Derry City to nationalist and unionist communities.

The trip is topped off with a visit to the most tranquil spot of the whole visit in Corrymeela Peace Community Center, which is perched high above the sea looking out to Scotland.

Ireland is a magical, mystical place with a charming and warm friendly atmosphere. The Irish people are very engaging and knowledgeable about U.S. history. The lessons the Irish have learned from bringing their community back together are valuable lessons for the rest of the world to take to heart.

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I happened to be walking back from my afternoon class one day, and an attractive girl caught my eye as she pranced by. Now, when I say this was an attractive girl my description of her is made purely by the amount of guys who were staring at her, for I have a girlfriend myself. She was wearing a very short skirt and a low cut top, which is probably the cause of so many guys walking into each other, and as I moved on past her I did a double take.

Then I realized that may be the reason people were staring at this girl was not her good looks, but her ridiculous attire in this cold weather (the temperature was hovering a tad below freezing at this point.) Then I got to thinking to myself, “What would possess someone to so scantily dress themselves in this cold weather? Are you that desperate to draw attention to yourselves, or are you just mentally challenged?” I hope the next time you venture outside in below freezing temperatures and so little clothes on you realize how ridiculous you look.

My next thought closely correlates to my previous thought in the paragraph above, but in this case it focuses on men. I have to chuckle to myself when I see these guys, which we will refer to as “Tools,” walking by in the same below freezing temperatures as the previous girl was walking in. These “Tools” are sporting their muscle t-shirts, and trying to pretend that they are not freezing. Here is a news flash: Muscle shirts don’t attract girls, and then if you wear them in below freezing weather, you’re not attracting girls and you look stupid. If you continue thinking that because you are showing your muscles (which many guys wearing muscle t-shirts don’t have) then maybe you could join that group that thinks it is cool for guys to wear earrings.

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Apparently some males have come to the unlikely conclusion that wearing earrings makes them appear “cooler” or a “hard ass.” What happened to the old day “hard asses” who were the cool guys like Mike Tyson, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzennegger, Mike Ditka, the Philadelphia Flyers Dave Schultz, Chuck Norris? Do you ever see them wearing earrings? They would have laughed at the idea if suggested they sport anything made for a woman.

Now, don’t get me wrong I do not mean to criticize the people who have ten earrings on their face along with twenty tattoos scattered on any piece of flesh on their body. These people fall into their own category as “slightly mentally disturbed,” and that is a topic for another day. We are focusing on the kids who you see walking around campus sporting the earrings and the muscle t-shirts, apparently trying to project a tough guy appearance.

The earring used to be an accessory only worn by women, and it was to make them appear prettier and attract guys to them. It would appear that wearing muscle t shirts and women’s jewelry would form a contradiction with each other. If you are going to sport one women’s accessory and appear cool, it is only logical that you should be able to swap any item a woman wears and appears cool too.

Does a guy appear cool wearing a dress? How about a bracelet? How about some high heels? If we can not appear cool wearing those, then I don’t think we should be able to appear cool wearing earrings. If you want to figure out who are the “cool guys and hard asses” of all men, you must simply turn to the sports world for your answers.

The roughest guys in the sports world are by far the hockey players, who you would be hard pressed to find one with their full set of teeth. The coolest guys in the sports world have to be football players, and very few of them actually wear earrings either. The only football players who wear earrings are usually the wide receivers, who are the ones who complain and are afraid of getting hit. Case in point is cry baby Terrell Owens.

The time has come for those of us wearing earrings to realize that they were made for women, and if you continue to wear them maybe you are a woman yourself.

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First, I believe that the fans are starting to really see what NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has been striving for; an NFL where any team has a legitimate chance to win any game.

Secondly, the Saints, Colts, and Vikings are not the untouchable god-like teams many analysts portray them as. Between these three teams, they have had ten games in which they have won by less than five points (six belonging to the Colts).

Thirdly, my dark horse team to watch out for is the Denver Broncos who play a relatively easy schedule and have a good chance at reclaiming the division lead.

Fourthly, the Dallas Cowboys will continue their tradition of collapsing in December.

Lastly, watch out for the two hottest teams playing their best football at the right time: The Philadelphia Eagles and the Green Bay Packers.

Going into week 14, the teams remaining in playoff contention are split into the two conferences by their standings.

AFC: Current Records Remaining Games
Indianapolis 12-0 DEN, @JAX, NYJ, @BUF
San Diego 9-3 @DAL, CIN, @TEN, WASH
Cincinnati 9-3 @ MIN, @SD, KC, @NYJ
New England 7-5 CAR, @BUF, JAX, @HOU
Denver 8-4 @IND, OAK, @PHI, KC
Jacksonville 7-5 MIA, IND, @NE, @CLE
Baltimore 6-6 DET, CHI, @PIT, @OAK
Miami 6-6 @JAX, @TEN, HOU, PIT
NY Jets 6-6 @TB, ATL, @IND, CIN
Pittsburgh 6-6 @CLE, GB, BAL, @MIA

NFC:
New Orleans 12-0 @ATL, DAL, TB, @CAR
Minnesota 10-2 CIN, @CAR, @CHI, NYG
Arizona 8-4 @SF, @DET, STL, GB
Dallas 8-4 SD, @NO, @WASH, PHI
Philadelphia 8-4 @NYG, SF, DEN, @DAL
Green Bay 8-4 @CHI, @PIT, SEA, @ ARZ
New York Giants 7-5 PHI, @WASH, CAR, @MIN
Atlanta 6-6 NO, @NYJ, BUF, @TB
San Francisco 5-7 ARZ, @PHI, DET, @STL

Here is how I see the playoff picture panning out:

AFC: Predicted Records Reasons
Indianapolis 14-2 Too many close wins, lose NYJ and in JAX
San Diego 11-5 Hot and cold teams with losses to DAL and TEN
Cincinnati 11-5 Defense helps them win against MIN and KC
New England 10-6 Get road win in Buffalo but still lose in Houston
Denver 11-5 Have easy remaining schedule, can’t beat IND
Jacksonville 10-6 Ends Indy’s bid for 16-0 season
Baltimore 10-6 Go 4-0 but still not good enough for playoffs
NY Jets 10-6 Go 4-0 also but share Ravens futility
Miami 9-7 Can’t beat JAX to make playoffs
Pittsburgh 7-9 Can’t stop their slide and miss playoffs

NFC:
New Orleans 15-1 Lose CAR with starters sitting for rest
Green Bay 12-4 Hot streak drives them to the division crown
Philadelphia 11-5 Eagles offense gets hot at the right time
Arizona 11-5 Offense not good enough for Packers defense
Minnesota 11-5 Brett Favre chokes in December
New York Giants 10-6 Can’t win big divisional home game against PHI
Dallas 9-7 Dallas chokes as usual, Tony Romo possibly cut
Atlanta 8-8 Without Matt Ryan they stand no chance
San Francisco 7-9 Offense cannot help out defense

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As the Boston Globe reports, the CRU has had thousands of private emails and documents leaked from their computers. The CRU is one of the main facilities whose data is used to support the Global Warming argument, and is the workplace for several well-known climate scientists.

These leaked e-mails show evidence of CRU scientists suppressing data that does not agree with global warming and also readjusting the peer review process by which research is submitted to such famous scientific journals as “Climate Research.”

The reason the anti-global warming climate scientists’ research has been hidden is because for research to be considered legitimate in the scientific community, the research must fit in these scientific journals. An excerpt of an email from CRU Director Phil Jones to Penn State University scientist Michael Mann shows the efforts to adjust the peer review process by not allowing two anti-global warming scientists research to be published.

Here is the excerpt from their e-mail, “I can’t see either of these papers being in the next IPCC report,” with IPCC standing for Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “Kevin and I will keep them out somehow- even if we have to redefine what the peer-review literature is!”

Another interesting fact is that around the time of “Climate Gate,” it was discovered that all of the raw data from CRU (that many of Global Warming claims are based upon) has been destroyed.

Reactions to “Climate Gate” have been scarce due to the absence of the major networks reporting on this issue. MRC (Media Research Center) has reported that NBC, ABC, and CBS have yet to report on “Climate Gate,” except for one brief mention by ABC. MRC’s Free Market Project discovered that in the four years leading up to the Kyoto conference (a climate change conference) only five percent of the global warming stories on ABC, CBS, CNN, and NBC mentioned the arguments of global skeptics. Also, as critics of George W. Bush pushed for him to ratify the Kyoto agreement, only three percent of the stories on all of these networks even mentioned the research of climate skeptics.

One of the few reactions to “Climate Gate” was an article by Scholar Dr. Jerome Ravetz and Professor of Climate Change Mike Hulme of BBC news. In this article they raise interesting points such as, “It is possible that some areas of climate science have become sclerotic, that its scientific practices have become too partisan, that its funding-whether from private or public sectors-has compromised scientists.” Also they suggest that some emails “suggests a form of social organization that is now all too familiar in some sections of business and government”. There is a solution proposed by Dr. Ravetz and Professor Hulme though, who believe that science must improve by engaging with expertise outside the laboratory and becoming more responsive to natural skepticism and scrutiny by the public.

The New American reported that shortly after “Climate Gate” that CRU Director Phil Jones stepped down from his position as director of CRU. They also stated that an independent review board is being launched into a full investigation of “Climate Gate” and CRU.

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“Outside/Inside,” is a film attempting to give people an inside look into the world of Autism. The film was made in 2002, has received four awards, and is shown at many colleges across the United States. “Outside/Inside” has even earned the high recognition of being showed at Disabilities Festivals across the World.

Pentzel lives outside of Philadelphia and is currently pursuing a Communications Major at Delaware County Community College. Although he is affected by his affliction of autism, he was still able to communicate to the audience through the use of Facilitated Communication (FC), which is where Pentzel has an assistant hold a board with letters and key phrases in front of him. Pentzel has his assistant hold back his hand for him so he will put a lot of effort toward which letter or phrase he desires to press because a common obstacle for anyone suffering from Autism is that their body does not always follow the directions passed down by their mind.

Pentzel shed some light for the audience into the mind of someone with Autism through the two films he presented and his Powerpoint presentation that provided some background for the audience to set up the two videos.

The first thing that is essential for any comprehension of living with Autism is the definition of the actual disability. Autism is a spectrum disorder that affects people differently and inhibits or enhances their specific abilities in different ways. Autism affects their sensations, motor control, volition, focus, and the processing of input and output.

Most people battling Autism have a higher level of anxiety and have difficulty placing items into the background. Pentzel has developed two coping strategies for this problem.

The first coping mechanism is refereed to as “Spotting” and is when they move their head back and forth from left to right quickly, but focusing on one object.

The second mechanism is where they use their peripheral vision to look at the object they are trying to focus on. A good video that demonstrates the difficulty that Autism afflicted people have focusing is the video “How to Boil Water the Fast Way” by Amanda Bags on Youtube. After the power point presentation was over, “Outside/Inside” made its premiere at Millersville University. “Outside/Inside” is trying to provide insight into Pentzel’s life as someone who is mute and suffering from autism.

The problem that many autistic afflicted people encounter is that the world treats them as though they are children, and as their bodies still may resemble children, their minds are just as capable as a full grown adult, and often times smarter than your average adult.

People with Autism react differently to situations than many people would due to their body not correctly responding to their mind. Pentzel wants to eventually become a writer and advocate of Autistic people across the world, and to spread the message that Autism is not the person, but merely the filter through which he sees life.

The second video is called “Autism is a World” written by Sue Rubin and directed by Gerardine Qurzburg. Rubin is majoring in history at the age of thirty one. Her parents presumed she was retarded until she was thirteen and received her first Facilitated Communication Device. Rubin exhibited a lot of abusive behavior towards herself when she was younger, but as she got older she grew out of her abusive behavior.

Rubin was very well treated and accepted in society, and with the help of a constant helper, she is succeeding in life. Rubin has created this video as an inspiration for people dealing with autism all over the world that they too can succeed at life. In the end, Pentzel wants to spread the message that autistic people want to be considered competent until proven otherwise.

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