Monday, March 7th 2011
Penn State’s World Campus | University Park, Pa.

Penn State Public Broadcasting’s third installment of the Geospatial Revolution Project deals with the technology in relation to privacy and how geospatial information affects law enforcement, war and diplomacy.

– As police departments around the country consolidate and face tough decisions on how best to use limited resources, geospatial technology has proven to be an asset. Geospatial technology allows law enforcement officials to identify crime hot spots in the communities they serve, so they can dedicate the necessary resources to these areas, thus maximizing efficiency.

Penn State Public Broadcasting’s four-part online video series, the Geospatial Revolution Project, explores the way geospatial information—such as geospatial information systems (GIS), global position systems (GPS), and digital mapping—enhances the lives of individuals as well as the efficiency of institutions like police departments. Episode Three of the series, available now, also focuses on safety, privacy and the use of geospatial technology in warfare and diplomacy.

“A surveillance society is not only inevitable and irreversible, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s irresistible—and it’s not government doing it to us, it’s us doing it to ourselves,” Jeff Jonas, member of the board of the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation, said. “The more data that is available to us, the more transparent the world becomes.” (more…)

Cliff White and Wildamie Ceus
February 27, 2011
Centre Daily Times

STATE COLLEGE — Clad in green and blowing vuvuzelas, thousands of young people swarmed downtown State College on Saturday to celebrate State Patty’s Day, a student-created holiday centered on drinking.

Despite efforts by local officials to tamp down this year’s festivities, State College police Lt. Chris Fishel reported there were more people in town and more crime than last year’s event.

Police responded to more than 110 incidents in a 24-hour period through Saturday morning, about three times as many as a normal Friday night, Fishel said. During the entire State Patty’s Day weekend last year, State College police responded to about 365 calls related to the event, most of them alcohol-related.

Fights, false identification, and public urination and intoxication represented a majority of offenses committed by Saturday afternoon, Fishel said, adding that he expected the revelry to continue until about 4 a.m. today.

A spokeswoman for Mount Nittany Medical Center reported more than 40 people had been treated for alcohol-related injuries and conditions from 9 p.m. Thursday through 9 p.m. Saturday, some with severe injuries. (more…)

By Kristina Bui
February 9, 2011
Arizona Daily Wildcat

You know that photo of you, bleary-eyed and smiley, red plastic cup in hand? You know the one. You look like a hot, drunk mess, your friend keeps tagging you in it, it’s on Facebook for the whole Internet to see? That one. I bet you’d be having words with your tag-happy little pal if the UA administration were keeping tabs on your profile.

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, much of the discussion at the National Conference on Law and Higher Education centered around issues presented by Facebook, Twitter and other social networking sites. These issues have colleges wondering if there is a need to police the Internet in order to monitor what their students and faculty members are doing or posting online.

In May 2006, Stacey Snyder was a student at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, just days away from her graduation at the time. Then the university denied her a teaching degree. The university claimed it was because a photo on her MySpace profile. Remember, it was 2006 and people still used MySpace. (more…)

by Sara Ganim
Centre Daily Times
October 13, 2010

STATE COLLEGE — Every Tuesday for the first 12 weeks of the fall semester, police officers and Penn State and borough officials meet to digest the weekend happenings in the four neighborhoods near campus where town-gown relations are often strained.

The group — dubbed First 8, or F8, when it started in the fall of 2007 — tries to get to student and non-student residents early in the academic year, giving them information about what’s expected of them when they live in State College.

“Data that we’ve looked at historically are that the largest number of issues that occur in the community occur during the first few weeks of the fall semester when classes start up and students return to campus, it tends to be a busier time,” said Borough Manager Tom Fountaine. (more…)

September 28, 2010
By Brendan McNally and Emily Battaglia

Penn State freshmen gathered in the HUB-Robeson Center auditorium Monday night to learn about the Office of Judicial Affairs’ Code of Conduct — and some said they were surprised by what they learned.

Assistant Director of the Office of Judicial Affairs (OJA) Gary Miller led an hour-long presentation covering some of the most common violations of the university’s Code of Conduct — a set of rules that Miller said students are expected to follow both on and off-campus.

Miller, who spoke to a crowd of about 40, said that academic integrity problems, copyright violations, drug and alcohol abuse, sexual misconduct, and harassment are some of the most common violations his office deals with. (more…)

By: Courtney Nickle
The Online Rocket
(Slippery Rock University’s online student newspaper)
9/24/10

This semester, two programs will be implemented to help prevent and reduce binge and underage drinking among freshmen.

The programs are part of a new statewide initiative set forth by PASSHE (Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education) targeting first-year students. SRU was awarded a two-year, $500,000 federal grant in October 2009. The other 14 state system schools were also awarded money.

The overall goal of the grant is to reduce binge drinking by seven percent, according to assistant professor, Alcohol and Other Drug program director and representative for SRU Chris Cubero. (more…)

By Tricia Pursell
The Daily Item

September 22, 2010

A state senator wants to decrease underage drinking by increasing fines.

But university and borough officials in the Valley don’t think a higher fine in itself would make much difference.

State Sen. Jake Corman (R-Benner Township, Centre County) introduced three bills Friday that would increase the maximum fine for underage drinking and public drunkenness to $1,000, make repeated underage drinking a misdemeanor, and would allow university towns to charge an additional $100 fee for alcohol-related convictions. (more…)

Friday, September 17, 2010
University Park, Pa. — The fall 2010 semester marks the renewal of a sustained, broad-based campaign to reduce the negative consequences of alcohol in the Penn State community, according to Damon Sims, vice president for Student Affairs, during a presentation today (Sept. 17) to the University’s Board of Trustees.

“The challenge of dangerous alcohol misuse among college students reaches nationwide and is far from new,” said Sims, who also co-chairs The Partnership – Campus and Community United Against Dangerous Drinking with Borough of State College Manager Tom Fountaine. Sims and panelists Fountaine; Linda LaSalle, University Health Services’ associate director for educational services; Joe Puzycki, Student Affairs assistant vice president; and Max Wendkos, Interfraternity Council president, outlined the campaign’s efforts during their presentation. (more…)

September 14, 2010
by Adam Smeltz for StateCollege.com

Leaders spanning the public and private sectors converged Monday in State College to endorse tougher penalties for underage-drinking and public-drunkenness offenses in Pennsylvania.

A two-hour hearing by the state Senate Majority Policy Committee convened inside the borough municipal building, drawing testimony from representatives of three college towns — including State College; from two Penn State student representatives; and from two bar-and-restaurant operators.

Nearly all of those testifying gave unqualified endorsements of three bills introduced last week by state Sen. Jake Corman, R-Bellefonte. One bill would raise the maximum fines for summary underage-drinking and public-drunkenness offenses to $1,000, up from the current maximum of $300. The current maximum was set in 1972 and no longer serves as an effective deterrent or covers law-enforcement expenses, officials testified. (more…)

Sara Ganim
August 30, 2010
STATE COLLEGE — Two weekends into the fall semester, State College police say they are seeing a higher than normal number of alcohol-related calls downtown.

“This is a non-football weekend, not a special event,” said State College police Lt. Chris Fishel. “And we still had 88 people cited for various offenses.”

It comes as university officials are imposing harsher penalties for excessive drinking.

Vice President for Student Affairs Damon Sims said Monday that this year for the first time, any student cited for underage drinking will now have to go through the university’s judicial affairs process, along with paying the criminal fine. (more…)