"The right way is not always the popular and easy way. Standing for right when it is unpopular is a true test of moral character"
By Erik Lacitis
The Seattle Times | Posted: Sunday, September 20, 2009 12:00 am
The crew of the Victoria Clipper, the ferry that makes round trips between Seattle and that city on Vancouver Island, frequently sees the effects of Canada’s strict driving-under-the-influence laws.
During the May-to-September peak tourist season, four to five passengers a week are turned back by Canadian border agents at the Victoria dock.
Amends Titles 18 (Crimes & Offenses) & 42 (Judiciary) further providing for expungement of criminal history record and for juvenile records; and providing for expungement fee.
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Sara Ganim and Anne Danahy Centre Daily Times
STATE COLLEGE — The night that freshman Joseph Dado was found dead at the bottom of a campus stairwell, Penn State’s vice president for student affairs, Damon Sims, says he made a conscious decision not to have a knee-jerk reaction.
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In taking leadership stand, we must welcome students
Elizabeth Goreham
From its beginning State College has been a college town welcoming students and embracing their traditions. That is why our fraternity district was built within a neighborhood where professors and their families lived, frequently with student tenants. Our downtown grew naturally across the street from Penn State.
Over time the increase of students outpaced the population of the town and now students outnumber permanent residents. This makes the once easy connection with students more difficult, sometimes impossible. Still, just about everybody who lives here has a proud connection to Penn State.
Student life commonly includes drinking. In the past few years, however, dangerous drinking has accelerated. Issues related to alcohol abuse threaten the high standard of living neighborhoods have traditionally enjoyed.
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2008 STATE COLLEGE RIOT
Parks Miller dropping case of photographer
Sara Ganim
BELLEFONTE — District Attorney Stacy Parks Miller will not pursue a criminal case against a student photographer charged with ignoring police orders to leave the 2008 State College riot that he was covering for the Daily Collegian newspaper.
In a prepared statement Thursday, Parks Miller said it’s in “the interest of justice” that she not continue the appeal started by her predecessor Michael Madeira.
Madeira had approved charges of inciting the crowd of thousands that gathered in Beaver Canyon after Penn State’s football team beat Ohio State that year. Police also charged photographer Michael Felletter with not leaving when police ordered.
Felletter was on assignment for the Penn State student newspaper. Police said that by taking pictures with large equipment, he was encouraging the crowd to act more rowdy.
The charges were thrown out by a judge, but Madeira appealed the case to the state Superior Court in August. Thursday, Parks Miller sent a letter to the Superior Court saying she will not continue the appeal.
“I’m really proud of him for fighting this fight and for not backing down and for understanding,” said Felletter’s attorney Andrew Shubin. “It shows a level of sophistication for a college student to understand the level of importance for fighting this fight and not giving in. I really do think that Michael understood he was fighting this not just for his own career but for the principles.”
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FOCUS ON EXCESSIVE DRINKING
Community must find solutions together
Damon Sims and Tom Fountaine
One irony about the problem of dangerous drinking among Penn State students is that it can be either a wedge dividing town and gown or a common cause that binds our community as one.
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The Pennsylvania Superior Court dismissed a Montgomery County Underage Drinking citation where the Commonwealth relied on PBT results as the primary evidence of a sixteen year old’s guilt and introduced no evidence that the device had been calibrated as required by Pennsylvania law.
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Penn State University said nearly 30,000 individuals may have had their Social Security numbers exposed because of a privacy breach caused by infected university computers.
Proposed act unconstitutional, group says
Mike Joseph
STATE COLLEGE — A proposed borough ordinance to curb the impact of rowdy parties by holding hosts responsible for the illegal activities of guests has come under fire from a national organization that advocates individual rights.
The American Civil Liberties Union told State College in a letter Friday that the borough’s proposed “nuisance gathering ordinance,” which is scheduled for a public hearing Monday night, violates the U.S. Constitution.