Somali Pirate Attacks

Pirates in Somalia have had major advancements so far in 2011. Since 2008, pirates have been hijacking vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean. They target wealthy families who are travelling by sea on yachts. The pirates threaten people with weapons and give the travelers no chance to negotiate before capturing them and ransoming them for up to millions of dollars before releasing them.

Pirate’s demands for ransom payments have increase drastically over past years. According to The Maritime Reporter, in 2009, $150,000 was demanded which is a small amount compared to 2010’s $5.4 million demand.

Video one: Deanna's Interview

Who are these pirates and where did they come from? According to a website about Somalia Pirate History, the average pirate is between 20-35 years old. They come from Puntland, which is in Northeast Somalia. There are at least five pirate gangs and over 1,000 individual pirates.

Businessman Mark Mulcahy is disappointed by the United States’ lack of control over the situation.

“I am absolutely appalled that a group of unsophisticated barbarians could get away with this in this day and age. It all stems from a country’s in ability to maintain control and order. The attacks affect us by serving as an example of what can go wrong when order is not maintained. It’s disturbing that with all the technology we have and the money spent globally on making the world a safer place, Pirate attacks can still happen,” Mulcahy said.

Now the US military is patrolling the seas and working to protect these travelling Americans. Fifteen neighboring countries have worked to patrol these pirates but none have been successful. Recently, a Pirate was tried and sentenced to thirty-three years in prison. In retaliation, pirates are letting Americans know that they will leave every hostage from here on out dead, unless we agree to free the Somali’s we imprisoned.

On Feb. 22, 2011, Somalia pirates killed four American hostages. The pirates fired a grenade at the yacht carrying two couples, one of which had been traveling around and handing out bibles since 2004. According to The Huffington Post, a pirate named Muse Abdi explained that from now on, all hostages will be killed and rescuers will only find dead bodies. Pirates currently hold 30 ships and 660 hostages. Pirates win millions of dollars in ransom money for releasing their hostages. They spend the money on alcohol, drugs and prostitutes. Two days later, on Feb. 24, 2011, pirates captured seven more people, three of whom are children. The U.S. military is currently monitoring the situation and doing everything in their power to prevent the hostages being taken to land.

Picture taken in Feb. 2009 by the U.S. Navy of suspected pirates.

Mulcahy has the funds to travel but when planning this year’s vacation, he will steer far away from these pirate infested waters.

“I would be intimidated to travel there. It seems like one is tempting fate and unless you are a thrill seeker, I would not put myself or family in harm’s way. The east coast of Africa is like the wild, Wild West, only it’s 2011. I am sure it’s a relatively small number of pirates compared to the masses in general (one bad apple scenario) but there is too much uncertainly, unrest and lack of due process that makes this area not desirable to travel to,” Mulcahy said.

Why do these attacks keep occurring? There’s no government in Somalia and basically nobody fully controlling that area of the world. Therefore, there has been nobody to govern the pirates and no way to bring them to justice. Furthermore, Somalia is also an extremely violent country.

In the beginning of April, 50 year old Mohammad Shibin was captured on land by the FBI. He was the first pirate to be caught on land. After capturing him, the FBI brought him to the United States where he was prosecuted.

Although small steps are being made in the right direction to stop pirates from destroying the lives of American travelers, the United States government and military are still far from putting a complete halt to the hijackings.

People on a yacht that was taken hostage by Somali pirates. Photo taken by U.S. Navy

In fact, some people even believe that these cases of hostages relates to other matters of terrorism.

“This is the same thing as terrorism. They’re small group of radicals that seemingly play by their own rules without consideration for human life. Just like terrorist, pirates have a safe haven that that does not condemn their actions but actually condones them. The only difference is that terrorists can strike anywhere, pirates can only strike on the coast of Africa,” said a pre-med major, Alvin Thomas.

Berks County women hope Planned Parenthood will persevere

Women’s health advocates rejoiced last week after the legislation to cut all federal funding to Planned Parenthood was rejected by Senators. The budget bill that would cut Planned Parenthood funding passed through the House, but it was rejected by the Senate.

The bill, backed by Republicans, was penned in an effort to curb abortion services. The trouble is, Planned Parenthood provides services that reach far beyond abortion, and Planned Parenthood doesn't use federal funds for abortions. In addition to abortion services, Planned Parenthood is used by men and women for services like STD/STI testing, prenatal and pregnancy care, pregnancy testing, sex counseling, contraceptives, menopausal management and even general health care in some locations.

The majority of the services provided by Planned Parenthood are contraception, cancer screenings, and STI/STD testing.

For Douglassville residents Caitlin Benne, 26, and John Stipe, 29, Planned Parenthood proved to be the best place to go when Benne suspected she was pregnant. Benne said that she did not have health insurance at the time, and Planned Parenthood was an affordable alternative to her regular doctor.

Caitlin Benne and John Stipe discuss their reasons for using Planned Parenthood's services.

Benne and Stipe’s reasons for going to Planned Parenthood are quite common as many men and women lack health insurance because of their limited income. Birdsboro resident Janine Glassmoyer, 25, goes to Planned Parenthood for birth control and routine gynecological exams, because she doesn’t have health insurance. As a somewhat recent college graduate, Glassmoyer has limited income due to her mountain of college loan debt. Planned Parenthood offers services to Glassmoyer at a discounted rate based on her income.

Janine Glassmoyer gives her opinion on the possibility that Planned Parenthood might someday lose federal funding.

The same stories can be heard from women across the country who simply can’t afford health insurance and can’t afford to pay full prices at the doctor’s office. Planned Parenthood is sometimes the only place where women can turn to for women’s health services. But do the congressmen who back Planned Parenthood cuts truly understand what their proposal would accomplish?

Sure, Planned Parenthood provides abortion services as the congressmen who back the funding cuts say. But congressmen like Senator Jon Kyl (R-AZ) may not have done their homework to find out what exactly they are trying to rid the world of. In an address to congress April 8, Jon Kyl said that 90% of what Planned Parenthood does is provide abortions. The number seems to have been pulled out of a hat or something, because Kyl provides no reference for the statistic. Planned Parenthood says that 3% of what they do is provide abortion services.

According to Planned Parenthood, 3% of services provided are abortions despite the much higher number given by Senator Jon Kyle (R-AZ).

And even if all funding to Planned Parenthood was cut, abortions would still happen. That’s the sentiment from Albright College senior Sarah Conrow Bear who worries that women would still find less sanitary ways to terminate unwanted pregnancies if Planned Parenthood shut its doors. Bear is an advocate for women’s rights, and she helped to coordinate the newly founded Albright Gender Resource Center.

Illegal Immigrants: Deserving of Education?

In recent years, it seems the issue of illegal immigration in the United States has reached a fervor. The state of Arizona has become notorious for cracking down on immigration, and an article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette from May of last year talked about how Pennsylvania legislators are hoping to mirror Arizona's immigration bill. This would give police more power to arrest and deport foreigners who have entered the state illegally without proper paperwork.

What the article also mentioned is that State Representative Daryl Metcalfe believes that at any one time, there are about 140,000 illegal immigrants in PA. Thousands of these immigrants are children, and many are currently enrolled in the state's public schools.

How are they allowed in public schools? It is because under law, public schools are obligated to educate any student, without questioning their immigration status. This legal obligation has impacted Reading schools in particular as they educate a growing number of students who have no legal status in the U.S. Many students who enter elementary schools in Reading speak little to no English, and growing numbers of these immigrants are causing adjustments in the Reading school system.

"Reading, according to a public school teacher I know, faces huge demands on schools since many people of Caribbean origin now living in Reading return from their holiday breaks with other relatives and enroll them in school," said Albright political science professor Theresa Smith.

"Some of these kids speak no English or Spanish; some only speak Haitian Creole. We have very few speakers of Creole to teach them, and class sizes are becoming unmanageable."

Christopher Tadley, an Albright Education major who is a student teacher at 13th and Union Elementary School, can back up the claim proposed by Smith.

"Although there is no way to identify illegal immigration students, I hear some students talking about moving back and forth between Reading and countries like the Dominican Republic," said Tadley. "It's known that many students in Reading classrooms have no legal status."

He also admits that difficulty arises in teaching these individual students because they rarely speak in class. Dual-language students usually translate for in school, including translating their answers to the teacher. The presence of students from other countries also makes learning go at a slower pace for English-speaking students.

The Reading elementary schools have dealt with some communication problems by isolating dual-language speaking students with classmates who speak little English.

13th and Union Elementary (seen in two photos above) is one school being impacted by the enrollment of illegal immigrants.

"Teachers in Reading are doing the best they can with the limited resources," said Tadley. "They have to go about things in different ways, such as using the dual-language speakers as a bridge."

A full-time teacher at 13th and Union, Matthew Redcay believes the language barrier is just a new obstacle for the classroom. He also sees added benefits in these foreign-born children, regardless of whether or not they are illegal immigrants.

"Teachers are becoming more culturally aware and developing new teaching strategies," said Redcay. "And having these students interact socially with English-speaking students allows them to grow and relate to the content."

While illegal immigrants are legally allowed to enroll and welcomed by the Reading school system (as seen in door signs above), the PA state government is seeking easier ways to detain and deport these immigrants.

Despite the work of teachers to incorporate more and more illegal immigrants, at some point limited resources will begin to affect school systems like Reading. The Federation for American Migration Reform published a report in July of 2009 citing a major difficulty posed by PA's foreign-born population. The report stated "public school enrollment of students who require special instruction in English has also soared, rising by 187 percent from 1993 to 2006.

This will result in one of the following for school districts like Reading: they will have to add programs for these students, or teachers will be left with classrooms that are hard to run due to foreign-born students unable to speak English.

Existing laws say public schools must educate all students, illegal or not. However, American colleges (even public universities) are not bound by that same standard.

Kate Wilcox wrote a Reading Eagle story on Dec.29, 2010 that discussed an illegal immigrant who attended Reading High. "Carmen", as she is referred to in the article, was an outstanding high school student. However, she could not receive financial aid because of her illegal status in the country. Therefore, she could not attend colleges because they charged her international tuition. She pinned her hopes on the Dream Act, federal legislation that would provide a path to citizenship for students who completed two years of college. The bill was rejected by the Senate.

The story shows that our government allows illegal immigrants to work through our school system and receive a proper high school education. However, these same individuals have little chance of moving onto college without the backing of that same government.

The government needs to make up its mind and take one of two stances.

The first option would be to pour more funds into programs to educate foreign-born immigrants (including illegal ones) at the elementary, high school and college level. This would allow for a better learning environment for all students in school districts like Reading. In addition, legislation such as the Dream Act would need to be passed to allow individuals like "Carmen" to have a chance to get a college degree.

"It is the right of every child to receive an education," noted Redclay.

Or, the U.S. needs to change its law and allow only legal citizens to be educated in our public school system. PA legislators are working to make things easier to deport illegal immigrants. At the same time, however, PA must allow illegal immigrants to receive an education courtesy of the state.

Regardless of personal opinion, both the state and national government must stop contradicting themselves. They need to take a consistent side on illegal immigration. This will allow for a consistent school system from the elementary to college level that gives all students an equal opportunity.

Albright College Raises Tuition 3.9%

Students all over the nation are feeling the pressure of how they are going to pay for college. President Obama even notices the rising cost of college education is something that should be capped off. Students need more help to pay for college.

The letter about increased tuition, room and board students recieved in the mail last week.

Last week students at Albright College received a notice saying that their tuition would increase 3.9% for the next school year. Also, the cost of room and board went up as well.

Furthermore, because of the budget cuts in higher education that the Governor of Pennsylvania,Tom Corbett, has implemented, Kutztown University students thought they might see a 32% increase in their tuition since they are a state school.

Albright Sohpomore Courtney Baals said, "I was surprised that Albright did not raise tuition even more. I was expecting a higher increase becaue of all the budget cuts."

Albright raises tution 3.9%.

But last week Kutztown students were informed that the increase would actually be 3.7% according to The Reading Eagle in their continuous coverage of school's tuition increase dilemma.

Junior Albright student, Rebecca Woskoff, said, "I'm glad that I am going to be graduating next year. I feel like the tuition is only going to keep going up every year."

This mentality is one that is felt by many Albright Students. Tuition in continuously on the rise and students are having a difficult time trying to afford a higher education.

Rebecca Woskoff reading the letter about increased tuition.

Albright students are not alone in wondering how they will pay for college, many students in Berks County are unsure how a college education will be affordable now that Governor Corbett has proposed cutting the budget for higher education by $644 million, according to The Huffington Post.

The national government has talked about implementing new loan programs and scholarship programs to help relieve students of the cost of education, but there are still no concrete laws being put into effect.

President Obama's proposed plan will help with lowering the cost for future college students since it is not supposed to go into effect until 2014. These solutions include raising Pell Grants, making more investments in community colleges, and supporting more minority serving institutions. The president also plans to reform the student loans programs.

It is crazy to think about what the cost of higher education will be when the high school freshmen begin applying for college. Although there are projected ideas for alleviating the cost for those future college student, current college students are stuck with the burden of costs of higher education.

Junior Brad Epstein said, " Albright raises tuition every year. Its not a question of will it happen. The question is: how much?"

Violence in Video Games: A Closer Look

A picture of the new Mortal Kombat being played on an Albright student's TV

Disclaimer: Some of the images used in this blog post are from video games rated "Mature" by the ESRB.

At this point, most of you have probably formulated your opinion on violence in video games. Should it be abolished? Controlled? Does it really not make that big of a difference? Regardless of what your views on the topic may be, there are actions being made by a few members of the government to put an absurd amount of securities in place to prevent minors from buying violent video games. A couple members have tried already to ban violent video games outright, but it has been declared unconstitutional.

The problem that many gamers, myself included, see with the recent Supreme Court hearings regarding how easily-accessible violent video games in stores are to minors (they aren't) is that many of those weighing in their opinions have very little experience in actually playing the games in which they are deciding the fate of.

Borderlands, an M-rated title, was voted as "Game of the Year" by many video game reviewers

One example of this is the incredibly overused screenshot of the 2003 PC first-person shooter Postal 2. The screenshot depicts a rather bloody scene with the player character holding a shotgun. Repeatedly, the screenshot is shown without context, and is used to lead people to believe that every video game outside of Sesame Street is essentially more of that. The truth is, Postal 2 was a game that nobody - even gamers - particularly enjoyed in any large number, and to this day has a small cult following and little else. The screenshot (pictured below) was taken from GameSpot's review in which it was given a 4.8 out of 10, and remains a 50% average among all review scores.

The often-overused screenshot from Postal 2. (Credit GameSpot.com)

Now, I'm not trying to say there aren't violent video games out there. There are plenty. Games like Gears of War that allow players to wield a chainsaw strapped to a machine gun or Mortal Kombat in which players fight to the bloody death involve an incredible level of violence, and are well deserving of the ESRB's "Mature" rating. However, the target audience for these games are people old enough to have valid driver's licenses, which is what stores like GameStop or WalMart require in order to purchase M-rated titles.

Now, you've heard my opinion. What about other students, both from Albright and other colleges? Stephen Agnic, a senior at Ramapo College, expresses his personal opinion: "I have never experienced any increased violent behaviors, nor do I feel has it ever made me more likely to commit crime or made me feel ready to battle in war," explains Agnic, who has been a gamer since he was little. "I have never known anyone that ever tried to replicate something out of a video game, with the intention of hurting others or committing crimes. It is my belief that if a person is willing to do such a thing, they would do so with the aide of any material they have available to them as enticement."

Siobhan O'Hara, a Freshman at Albright College, does not consider herself a gamer, but is familiar with the growing popularity (or infamy) of violence in video games. O'Hara describes the rise of violence in video games as "overwhelming," she goes on to explain that "I myself do not play as much as say, the average male college student, but anyone could see that these games have become more and more malicious over the years," now, does this mean they should be banned entirely? "I wouldn't go as far as to say that," explains O'Hara. "People know what they're getting themselves into when they play these games. People should be able to censor themselves rather than have someone do it for them. Don't get me wrong, I believe in the rating system of video games, especially for younger children, but adults can make decisions on their own."

I was also able to interview Matt Donino, a game designer who worked for Z-Axis Games and Stormfront Studios, as well as worked as a contractor for a few other studios. Donino's opinions were similar to that of Agnic's: "People that have more serious mental issues are always going to have those issues and there is no way that a game, or even the ever-present violence on TV and in the movies is going to change that. The problems are already there - ANYTHING could fan the flames, real or imaginary. You can't censor life to make it more palatable for people outside the norm, they need to be helped."

Donino offered to ask for the opinions of developers from companies like Valve or Id Software, however interestingly enough they declined, but as Donino explained to me "Not because they didn't want to, but because the legal departments at the big companies apparently don't allow, or at least sincerely frown upon, their employees commenting on violence in video games as individuals. That was actually kind of eye-opening to me."

In conclusion, the persecution of video games as a whole is really unfair in my own opinion and the opinions of others. Some attribute this to the fact that video games are the "newest thing" in terms of media, and will go through the same problems that rap music, television and even radio had before it. Personally, I just want to have fun playing video games.

Girls Rugby: Knock the Stereotypes

Albright's Girls' Rugby Team may look like girly girls and aren't the average rugby player but they can easily knock the bulky girls down to the ground. Having lost their first game, they got right back up and won their next game against Lehigh University Saturday April 9th with a score of 34-5, and injuring 3 players on the opposing team.

The players get their strength from eachother, its like a sisterhood, a sorority in itself. They not only have a strong unit within themselves but also with the opposing team afterwards but also the guys rugby team. Their like a family, the rugby guys and girls consider themselves as brother and sister.

The women of ruck also get their strength due to the intensity of practices, twice a week and the late-night conditioning from 10pm-12am. The running, passing, tackling and rucking. Yeah, girls can get dirty and tackle eachother in the dirty mud too; and they like it. The girls have a history of winning championships from about 3 years ago, when their Coach Jessica Tain, senior was a freshman. These champs barely get breaks but love to tackle those girls down to the ground because people are amazed. Look out for their next game on April 30th wearing their prom dresses!

OOOOOZZZEEEBALLL!!!!! Now people may be wondering what Oozeball is, and for a clear answer it is defined as, “volleyball in the mud”. Here at Albright College any students, alumni, faculty and staff are eligible to play in eight inches of mud! But what is different this year than any year before at Albright is that this tournament will be a two day event rather than a one day event like how its been in the past. Saturday April 16 and Sunday April 17th starting at 11 a.m. everyone is welcomed to gather at the Albright Woods to enjoy a fun day of oozeball with free food, drink and music to get the day started. Now many squeamish people might be thinking, “eww gross playing in the mud!” But once you get in the mud you tend to forget about how gross you think it is. “I first thought the idea of playing volleyball in the mud was gross, mainly because mud would be in between my toes and that just is so gross” states, Junior Alyssa Smith.

Rain or shine, the tournament will still be going on. One piece of advice I recommend? Do not wear anything you don’t care about getting muddy and ruined, and I mean anything!! Because you will be covered from head to toe in mud by the end of the day. Oh I forgot to mention! Even if you are not part of a team for oozeball your still welcome to watch, hangout with friends and drink….water that is! “I am really looking forward to Oozeball, this will be very very first one and I hope its a lot of fun, or as fun as people say it is” said David James a freshman. Other than just freshman, many Albright students will need to adjust to the two day event. Many students are very hesitant to go to oozeball this year because of the forecast. Since mother nature has plagued us with horrible cold rainy weather many people are skeptical on going outside today. “I dont really know if I want to go out this year. Last year was rainy and cold and with how the weather has been lately, I have a feeling it will be cold and rainy rather than sunny and beautiful so theres a 50-50 chance I’ll go to oozeball, if I can’t go to one day because of the rain hopefully the other day will have better weather” states sophomore Jess Meril. Well, with that said I hope Mother Nature wants to cooperate with us and give us the appropriate weather for what is now, mid April?!?! The weather feels like it’s February, can’t mother nature bring back the t-shirt and shorts weather? Either way, oozeball is a fun event held at Albright College that brings students, alumni and faculty together in the mud while eating drinking and listening to great music, so come on out it sure will be blast! “I am so excited for oozeball this year! A lot of upperclassman keep talking about it and I really am excited to see how it is and experience it for the first time as a freshman” states freshman Alyssa Hoovenmyer. Everyone especially freshman are excited to see how the two day oozeball event plays out . So my question to you is, will you go?

**Oozeball 2009, Freshman Grace Marcus (left) and Senior Brooke Rose (right)