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Page 2, News OP/ED

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News OP/ED, Page 2

World’s First Air-Powered Automobile Makes a Splash

India’s largest automaker began producing the world’s first commercial vehicle that runs on nothing but air. The “Air Car”, first developed by ex-Formula One engineer Guy NËgre, uses compressed air to push the engine’s pistons instead of gas-and-oxygen explosions of internal-combustion models. It may seem a little extreme, but some six thousand zero-emissions Air Cars already hit the streets of India last August.

In Paris, a Luxembourg-based Motor Development International has scheduled the launch of the Air Car in France next year. Called the MiniCATS, the car is a three-seater and one of two models the company hopes to sell. A commercial version of a prototype of the compact three-seater showcased at the 2002 Paris Motor Show and was priced at $9,850, while the six-seater sedan will retail for $16,000. “It’s safe, doesn’t pollute, doesn’t explode, is not poisonous and not expensive,” said MDI representative Sabastien Braud.

The way it works isn’t rocket science, either. An electric pump inside the car compresses the air into the tank at a pressure of 300 bars. Years-old, off-the-shelf technology uses the compressed air to drive old-fashioned car engine pistons instead of combusting gas or diesel fuel to create a burst of air to do the same thing. The pump plugs straight into an ordinary household socket and takes four hours to complete the recharge… much more than your cell phone would. The Air Car’s pistons are pumped by the escaping compressed air that can take the car up to 70 miles per hour. It can travel up to 50 miles at top speed with a full tank, or further at lower speeds, and the only exhaust that comes out of the tail pipe is cold air. The modern and much pricier hybrid cars achieve higher speeds and longer ranges by running on a combination of compressed air and gasoline, or bio-fuels derived from organic matter. MDI claims that the air-only car models meet the needs of most urban drivers who average just eleven miles a day.

However, even environmentalists are wary about the Air Car’s claimed “benefits”. Converting energy from electricity to compressed air is inefficient, says Karsten Krause of the European Federation for Transport and Environment. Krause claims that by consuming more energy from the power plant than it delivers on the road, it could do as much environmental damage as a gasoline-run vehicle. Basically, there is no pollution being exhausted from the car itself, but the electricity used for upkeep of the vehicle might be just as much an environmental burden.

The catch, of course, is that the car itself is hideously ugly. However, if you are one of those people who can put “saving the environment” (that is, if it does what it claims) before fashion, you might be able to put the box-like appearance of the car behind you. The vehicle itself looks like a Playschool Power Wheel, and whether or not this Air Car will be a success in the gas guzzling and fashionable culture of America in 2010 is questionable. High gas prices make this idea a little more persuasive, but only time will tell in 2010.

Letter: Keep up the Theatre Coverage

As a representative of the Theatre Department, I wanted to thank you (and by extension, your staff) for your recent coverage of happenings with Arcadia Theatre. We put a lot of work into what we do, and the Tower hasn’t always been so keen to cover it in years past, so it was great to open up recent issues and read a thorough description of the season (although I already knew what it was) and a great, thoughtful review of Rocky Horror. I hope you plan on continuing in your trend of reviewing the productions.

Overall, great work with the Tower this year – being a Senior, I have seen where the Tower was, and I’m glad to see where you’re taking it.

-Steve Carpenter, Class of ‘09

From the Editor’s Desk…

To Our Faithful Audience,

Alright everyone, I know you are excited about Thanksgiving and so are we. That is why we at, the Tower, will be taking the Fall break that Arcadia isn’t giving anyone else. What I’m trying to say is that there will not be an issue for next week. So that means you’ll have to enjoy this one twice as much.

I think we put together an excellent issue this time around. We hope that our feature is timely and something that matters to you. We also took a break on covering President-elect Obama. I think if we ran anymore after the marathon we’ve been doing on the election, I might have had a serious Barack Attack (and not the good kind).  So you’ll have to settle for Sarah Palin this time around.

Also, we have two exciting things to mention. We received our first letter to the editor this past week, and it was positive as an added bonus. On top of that, last week’s issue was the first in recent Tower history to be completely sold out. I know they’re free,but usually we have a decent amount left over. This time there is only the handful we keep for our archives. So thank you for picking up The Tower and for your feedback. This is your student newspaper, and it doesn’t mean anything without your interest.

Tyler Peckham
Editor-in-Chief

Corrections:

The web address given in last week’s ad for our website was incorrect. The correct address is:
arcadiauniversitytower.wordpress.com.

The Tower’s weekly round-up of quirky, interesting and mildly relevant news.

Man Escapes Prison in Box

According to the BBC News, a 42-year-old Turkish citizen had escaped a German prison by mailing himself out: Express. The convicted drug dealer had been serving a seven year sentence in the prison. He too soon decided to make a mad dash for it out! A manhunt is underway in western Germany for the man who escaped unnoticed.

The BBC discovered that the convict had been making stationery with other prisoners destined for the shops and, at the end of his shift, the inmate climbed into a cardboard box and was taken out of prison by express courier. The escapee cut a hole in the box and jumped out of the truck that was carrying packages. The driver alerted the police after he noticed the box flapping in the breeze!

Today, his whereabouts are still unknown. Chief warden of the prison, Beate Peters, told the BBC, “This is an embarrassing incident. He must have had accomplices outside the prison. We have no idea where the fugitive is hiding. We assume that he is still in the country and is lying low before making his move.” Employees at the prison have been complaining for the past few years that they need to beef up security and that the government needs to provide them with guards. For now, the prison will have to deal with one of their prisoners literally being shipped out!

-Elishia Peterson

Blue Man Group Opens School

Looks like the famous “Blue Man Group” is doing more than painting themselves in shiny blue paint, miming, and playing instruments. The performance artists Chris Wink, Phil Stanton, and Matt Goldman, who have made a name for their troupe worldwide, have since decided to take their off-Broadway stardom and go back to school.

According to The New York Post, the Blue Men have opened a private elementary school in the East Village of New York that uses black lights, yards of plastic tubing and a padded “wonder room” with a light-up floor to stimulate thinking. “It isn’t that we just think that teaching the arts would be nice. What all the professions out there need are creative thinkers and good collaborators,” said Chris Wink.

He and the other Blue Men occasionally come to the school as instructors and teach the kiddies to be creative problem solvers. There are certified teachers who instruct the students but don’t wear the blue paint. Though they do encourage their students to say good morning in foreign and fictitious languages when they come to school! The blue and bald men, along with their wives, started the Blue School back in September, with 61 kids in kindergarten and early-childhood classes. The New York Post reported that the independent school is set to grow by a grade each year through fifth grade.

But get this: tuition for the whole year is set at an astonishing $27,300 for kindergarten and first grade students! That’s a college education right there. With 27G’S, I bet the parents will be feeling “blue” by the end of the school year.

-Elishia Peterson

Man Arrested for Stealing Communion Wafers

A Connecticut man allegedly tried to steal communion wafers during a service. 33-year-old Samuel Ricci of Canton grabbed a handful of wafers from the priest during communion at St. de Porres Catholic Church in Jensen Beach. He was cornered by fellow churchgoers and the police were called. Deputies showed up and arrested Ricci. He was charged with theft, disruption of a religious assembly, and two accounts of simple battery as two churchgoers received minor injuries during the scuffle. He was being held at $2,000 bond at the Martin County Jail. The motive for trying to steal communion wafers remains unknown, but one can bet the Lord wasn’t pleased.

-Gina Merlino

Free Viagra for South of the Border

Viva Viagra! That is what men are saying in Mexico. Viagra and other impotence drugs are being given out for free in Mexico City to men 70 and older. Mayor Marcelo Ebrard says that sexuality “has a lot to do with quality of life and our happiness” and is therefore implementing the plan. On December 1st, the government will start handing out doses. There will be three centers where the pills will be distributed and men will be examined before receiving the pills. These centers specialize in sexual health for the elderly.

-Gina Merlino

Page 3, News OP/ED

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News OP/ED, Page 3

Opinion: Forget the Sexism, Palin Simply Was Not Qualified

In politics, there is much going on with Barack Obama and him transitioning to the White House. At this point, it is obvious to everyone that Obama will be the face of the Democratic Party for at least the next four years. But what about the GOP? Sarah Palin has emerged as the new face of the Republican Party.

From the time she was announced as John McCain’s running mate to now, there has been a lot of curiosity about the governor of Alaska. Along with this curiosity came the other unavoidable side of politics: criticism.

Her wardrobe, her family, her accent, and her experience as an Alaskan governor were all scrutinized soon after she accepted the offer to become the first female vice-presidential nominee of the Republican Party. The Republicans that remained faithful to Palin have complained that the treatment she received from the press has been sexist. To them and others it seemed like the only reason Palin was treated the way she was is because of her gender.

Throughout the time that Palin has been a part of the election, the reasons the so-called liberal media has been hounding her with questions isn’t due to her gender. When you are running for the second-in-command of the United States, scrutiny comes with the job. The simple fact of the matter was that Palin was unqualified for the Vice Presidency. She didn’t know important facts, wasn’t prepared for important questions, and couldn’t tell you what the Bush Doctrine was.

I know it sounds good to blame the media for Palin’s short comings, but this was the same person who defended her foreign policy experience by being able to see Russia from her house. Then, in place of the real answers, Americans got Palin bragging about eating moose burgers, and stories about being the mayor of a town whose city hall looked like a laundromat. I can keep going. The main idea here is that Sarah Palin was not qualified to begin with.

The interviews and $150,000 shopping spree showed the lack of judgment the McCain campaign had. The end results are no surprise. What the future holds for Sarah Palin is uncertain, but if there is one thing she did show us, it’s that she is ambitious, and she won’t be going away anytime soon.

palin started out as a long shot to save the McCain campaign when he needed a running mate. He needed Palin to get more conservative and evangelical voters but, in the process, lost many of the moderates that Obama was able to pull over to his side.

Her failure in this election is not due to her gender; to say  that would be an insult to the intelligence of American women. We are smart enough to see that Palin was not ready for the job. She was in way over her head, and the questioning that the press did shed light into a shoddy campaign. Here is a hypothetical situation: What if instead of Obama getting the nomination, Hillary Clinton won it? How would republicans have responded?

Although McCain kept it clean, there were more than a few instances of racist remarks at McCain and Palin rallies, plus a huge among of Republicans that actually believed that Obama was a Muslim (God forbid!).

So before you jump on the liberals and, the media that they supposedly reside in, ask yourself if things would have been different, or worse, if Hillary Clinton was in Palin’s shoes.

NASA Loses Spirit Rover

The Second Phase of NASA’s exploration of Mars  is slowly coming to an end as one of the two newest rovers to roam the red planet has ceased communication.  The Spirit rover which arrived on Mars in January of 2004 has the second longest period of time on Mars behind the nuclear cell powered Viking 1.  In early November the Spirit seemingly lost ability to communicate full messages back to NASA this after a dust storm damaged parts of the rover’s solar array power source.

The Spirit has a few notable firsts while on Mars.  It explored a crater known as “Sleepy Hollow”, an area of Mars NASA had been trying to get at for some time.  Also the Spirit was equipped with a panoramic color camera.  The pictures it took of the surface of Mars are the highest resolution color photos of another planet ever.  The Spirit as well as its twin Opportunity also had a Rock Abrasion Tool used to grind and bore through rocks and sand dunes.  It was the first time a rock from mars had ever bored through.  Maybe the biggest finding on Mars at the hands of Spirit came when the rover found a volcanic rock dubbed “Mimi”.  Mimi is one of the main reasons NASA has found the possibility of water on Mars.  The rock is the equivalent of a Volcanic rock here on Earth and the crystallized crevasses lead scientist to believe the present of water on the red planet as being totally possible.

Though the Spirit rover seems to be on its last legs, or at least to be loosing the ability to communicate, NASA has not yet given up hope.  Many feel that like the other problems the Spirit has had like memory malfunctions or power cell issues the communication break down maybe something that can be worked out.

Campus Bicycle Program in the Works

“I want to ride my bicycle —
I want to ride it where I like!”

Community Bicycle Programs have been a hot commodity over in Europe for many years now; however, it’s taken us quite sometime to catch on. Thankfully it’s a growing interest of a couple of cities in the US and, just as important, a couple of college campuses. That is why, here at Arcadia, we, the Class of 2012 officers are proposing a Bike Share Program that will essentially enable you pick up a bike from any bike rack, ride it around to wherever you see fit, and bring it back when you’re done. Seems pretty simple, right? Although this has many benefits, such as convenience, little or no negative environmental impacts, and heck, it’s free, the potential problems of safety and theft are a concern. That is why we’re asking anyone interested in furthering this great program to step up and let us know! The more interest shown and the more help we get, the sooner this exciting program can be implemented. We have some great ideas of our own, and we’re eager to hear some of yours. If you’re interested in getting this program rolling (no pun intended), please contact Niquelle Gebbia, Vice President of the Class of 2012, at ngebbia@arcadia.edu.