Although Gordon and Trivedi have not been able to match the campaign support that Pike has earned through grassroots contributions, Gordon insisted a politician’s ability to connect to voters and stand on principles that are clear and well-articulated will result in a political victory without the support from contributing organizations and individuals.

In an interview on Tuesday, Gordon spoke extensively about his Democratic principles, and applied his experience in public office to answer questions specific to the people of Berks Co. affected by the economic recession and an unemployment rate that increased by 2.8 percent since 2008.

President Obama is right on track, said Gordon, who also credited the administration’s multiple stimulus packages and industry bailouts with helping to stall the unemployment rate from the Canadian border to northeast Pennsylvania — not just Detroit.

Gordon stressed the importance of carefully spending federal money on long term investments, including education, infrastructure, and alternative energy research. When you invest in people, you increase the wealth of the nation. According to Gordon, allocating federal money to fund alternative energy development at universities (such as wind turbines and geothermal technology), a budget would exist for graduates and entrepreneurs seeking to expand the product line within a 50-mile radius, spawning local enterprises and increased employment opportunities.

To ensure the creation and security of potential employment opportunities, the U.S. must save the next industry from foreign investors most importantly, nations who do not share our same environmental, safety and labor standards. Although he acknowledged that American consumerism was partly to blame for U.S. outsourcing, Gordon placed the majority of the blame on legislators who are not responsive to market actions.

Perhaps the most significant policy difference to be displayed this election season between Gordon and the defending Republican incumbent Jim Gerlach (besides Gordon’s devotion to a healthcare bill that includes a public option), is environmental advocacy. As Town Commissioner, Gordon’s policies have included separating paper from recycling and increasing the number of recyclable plastics, while opposing the industrialization and selling of raw materials, which was supported by Gerlach.

Gordon also offered a solution for individuals in Berks Co. exposed to various sources of lead emissions, calling on the Kutztown community to develop a range of options to eliminate emissions in the most cost efficient manner. Though government subsidies for maintaining a healthier emissions standard would likely be considered if unnecessary military expenditures were cut from the Federal budget, Gordon acknowledged it is the “role of the government to protect the well being of the people.”

Although the primary candidate was unable to speak extensively on the state budget shortage that has left many public institutions scrambling to supplement the lost funds, Gordon cited Pennsylvania’s rising prison populations as a possible catalyst for budget deficiencies and said a sentencing reevaluation is necessary for the state to ensure quality education.

The event is taking place with the help of KU’s Rohrbach Library, the Geography and Biology departments, the Pennsylvania Institute of Children’s Environmental Health (PICEH), and the Advanced Education Advisory Board (AEAB).
The purpose is to “stimulate awareness of land use, food safety, childhood nutrition, and [agriculture] policy issues that affect us all,” according to the library Web site.

The speakers include a Pennsylvania State Representative, a senior agriculture educator, the owner of Oley Valley Organics, the associate director of Allen Center for Nutrition, and the author of the book Heirloom: Notes From an Accidental Tomato Farmer.

“One of the speakers declined her honorarium because she wants the [money] to finance the work that PICEH does on behalf of our kids and us,” said Bruce Jensen, the Information Commons Librarian of the Rohrbach Library.

Food Inc. was directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Robert Kenner, and seeks to show the hidden side of our nation’s food supply.

The movie shines a negative light on the industrial production of meat, grains and vegetables, as well as the abuse of power of major food companies, like food libel laws, which make it easier for food producers to sue their critics for harmful published words.

More information at: http://libguides.kutztown.edu/food

Students and faculty joined members of various state institutions on Wednesday afternoon for what Leah Harris, deputy press secretary for Rendell, described as a “statewide town hall-style meeting” in KU’s Alumni Auditorium. Attendees were encouraged to respond to Rendell’s videoconference discussion on the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, a $6 billion economic stimulus investment that was initiated in February 2008.

Budget discussions were originally scheduled for Feb. 11, but were canceled due to snow.

According the Reading Eagle, Woodward died “peacefully in his sleep, at the tender age of 24.” As of press time, the cause of death is still unknown.

The service consisted of 40 friends and family, some of whom recounted their fond memories of the late student.

Many commented on the variety of skills that Woodward possessed, such as his musical and artistic talents. In an e-mail to the Keystone, Woodward’s mother, Patricia Woodward, wrote, “There are not too many people whose brains can [balance] complicated math skills and artistic and creative ways for illustration with the love of composing music and playing instrumentally. It’s like every part of his brain worked overtime.”

His mother, who accepted a diploma on Woodward’s behalf from President F. Javier Cevallos, wore a tie-dyed blue shirt honoring her son’s style. People who showed up to the memorial were welcomed to don their tie-dye outfits.

The service ended with a candlelighting ceremony while Chris Rice’s “Go Light Your World” played in the background.

Woodward’s impact on family and friends was obvious as many got to share stories of their interactions with Woodward. If one thing was clear throughout the memorial, it was that Woodward was a friend to everyone he met. His mother wrote, “The other important feature of this amazing young man is once you made of friend of Andy, you were friends for life.”

Kutztown and 11 other fire companies were on the scene after neighbors and passers-by reported flames emanating from the two-story, 200- year-old building.

One Kutztown firefighter went to the hospital after reporting shortness of breath and chest pains. These symptoms are usually associated with the anxiety and stress of firefighting. He was released in good health after overnight observations in the hospital.

Kutztown Fire Company Chief Troy Arndt considered the conflagration to be a multiple-alarm fire. “It was above three-alarm fire, but we only have indicators that go up to three-alarm,” he said.

An elevated alarm number indicates increased commitment of resources because the fire has become bigger or the fire is predicted to burn long enough that firefighters on scene will need to be replaced because of exhaustion.

It took roughly 75 firefighters onscene approximately two hours to get the fire under control, and six hours of cleanup and debris clearing. Crews ran into some troubles because of the heavy snowfall, freezing water and small roadway.

Arndt said he was “on the scene within five minutes of the first alarm and the first truck arrived within eight or nine minutes of the alarm.”

The Kutztown Patriot reported the smoke was visible from the Berkshire Mall in Wyomissing.

The conference is open to all undergraduate students who would like to present academic or creative work. The submission deadline is March 19. Registration forms (along with presentation information and requirements) are available at http://albright. edu/HECBC. A record 60 KU students participated in the conference last year.

At this year’s conference, the Keynote speaker will be Brent J. Hurley, a 2001 graduate of Albright College and one of the founders of YouTube. The Higher Education Council of Berks County (HECBC) — which includes KU, Albright College, Alvernia College, Penn State University (Berks Campus), and Reading Area Community College — is the sponsor for the conference.

According to the HECBC’s Web site, students should “select scholarly or creative work that you have done in the past year and would like to share with other students and faculty. Meet with a faculty member who has helped or would help you with this presentation and who will serve as your sponsor. Work with this faculty sponsor to discuss and propose an abstract describing the work. Complete the proposal form, making sure that you include contact information for your faculty sponsor.”

Over 600 students from area middle and high schools will be competing over spring break at several locations on campus. There are currently 26 high schools and 17 middle schools signed up for the events. The competition includes a total of 46 events, which range throughout various scientific disciplines.
Students from Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties will compete in areas of science that include chemistry, technology and biology, among others during the events. Some names of the individual events include the Junkyard Challenge, It’s About Time and Egg-O-Naut.
Science Olympiad is a non-profit organization that strives to “improve the quality of K-12 science education,” according to its Web site. The goal of this national organization is to increase interest in science among all demographics to create a tech-savvy next generation, while simultaneously recognizing achievement in the field. Science Olympiad works toward this goal by holding tournaments such as the Centraleastern Regional and national events, and through a variety of non-competitive events and workshops.

KU students, staff and faculty can get more information or sign up to volunteer at this event by contacting Joann Monko, site director for the Science Olympiad, at monko@ kutztown.edu or Sara Serrano, assistant site supervisor, at sserr562@live. kutztown.edu.

Soldier of Love opening track, “The Moon and the Sky,” starts off instrumentally as the cliché opening track to a late-night adult movie you would catch on Cinemax. The soft, enchanting strums of the guitar lead into lead singer Sade Adu’s (born Helen Folasade Adu) sensually-hypnotizing sound.

The title track, “Soldier of Love,” maintains the traditional, laid-back Sade sound while incorporating an experimental combative drum line. It is the stand out track of the entire album. “Babyfather” and “The Safest Place” are also notable tracks, but aside from the switching of production from track to track, the album could be mistaken for one continuous piece, which I guess works well when you’re trying to make babies.

Soldier of Love is not anything entirely new in terms of redefining music with its mix of R&B and world ele m e n t s . The album is 10 new tracks from a group that has not released an album since 2000. If you’re a fan of Sade, you won’t be disappointed (except for the duration of the album, which is only 41 minutes). If you haven’t heard Sade before, maybe you’ll discover that you have a new favorite artist to get busy to.

Keystone: Is CD the only art in which you are involved, or do you work in other media?

Groya: I basically stick to CD but I branch out with it by painting graphic illustrations and screen printing t-shirts.

Keystone: When did your interest in art — and, specifically, CD — begin and when did you realize that you had a talent for it?

Groya: I’ve always been interested in art. My mom had her own art school when I was growing up so I have been exposed to it since a young age. I saw that my mom was an artist and there was a lot of feeling involved in her work, and I didn’t show the same interest as her in that I had more fun designing than I guess “interpreting feelings.” So my mom is obviously supportive of my want to be a graphic designer. My dad is supportive, too; I’m sure he would be a little more at ease if I chose a “normal” major, only for my future’s sake though. In grade school I liked doing the projects rather than the homework assignments, too.

Keystone: What do you plan to do after you graduate?

Groya: When I graduate from KU I want to go on a massive road trip around the U.S. just to see what else is out there. I mean, I do ultimately want to use my major working for a surfing company, outdoor brand or a brewery. Something with an “outof- the-box” design. I can’t wait to be done with school and get out there and explore.

Keystone: Have you won any awards/been featured in any art shows during your artistic career?

Groya: I received an honorable mention in the Skopje International Poster contest in Masedonia.

Keystone: Where do you draw your inspiration and how do you focus yourself for a piece?

Groya: When I get a project, I usually get inspiration from something that relates to the topic. Like right now I’m working on a book about Joan Jett … so I’ll listen to music like The Runaways or Joan Jett or something around the same genre. So I guess you could say music is my number one inspiration. Focusing for me is when it comes down to the wire. I have a tendency to procrastinate.

Keystone: Any other additional comments about your art/major that we haven’t addressed? Groya: My roommate jokes with me that I’m just coloring when it comes to school work, but really CD is a lot of hard work. But I for sure would much rather be doing this than writing papers for four years.

The pieces chosen were a testament to the diversity and creativity of the university’s Communication Design program. Works included a wall of posters screen printed on various materials, photographs, illustrations, product design, greeting cards, books and wall paintings. Life-size illustrations of Moody, Perez, Riedel and Katits were scattered throughout the gallery. A CMYK strip of color stuck to the edge of the bathroom door was a subtle but clever detail, obvious only to those with knowledge of the cyan, yellow, magenta and black of the digital printing process.

Pieces like Katits’ vinyl and Plexiglas prints stood out. The Plexiglas was suspended away from the wall, and the light passed through the clear plastic, giving the work a second layer of interest. Student Union Art Gallery Coordinator Laura Leinbach, a senior Fine Arts student, enjoyed Riedel’s giant Photoshop screen constructed by hand out of cardboard. Leinbach said she “enjoyed the attention to detail and the creative adaptation of a computer program into a humorous piece.” Alluding to the debate over Graphic Design’s place in the world of Fine Art, Riedel said, “I push a button and then there’s art.”

The work in “Sleep When You’re Dead” proved to many that designers are artists. The high quality of illustration and drawing skills shone through in the work, especially in the graphite works of Pietrylowski. A large drawing showed a girl’s hair morphing into a peacock with the head of the bird beautifully rendered in graphite on white paper. Adding to the interest of these pieces, Pietrylowski opted to paint the frame directly onto the gallery wall.
Some pieces drew attention to the conceptual process behind a finished piece. Alumnus Justin Graham’s preliminary drawings are works of art in themselves. Perez said his best work usually occurs during the planning stages, but those spontaneous, fresh drawings are rarely seen, simply because they are sketches. With this is mind, Perez reproduced two of his preliminary drawings of a video game heroine on the gallery wall, which gave the drawings a monumental feel.

Katya Popova, a junior Fine Arts student and the Gallery Director of Eckhaus, praised the show. She was impressed by how well the CD students collaborated while maintaining their individual styles. Popova also said she admired the amount of work put into a product as disposable as a poster or a greeting card.
Communication Design Professor Kevin McCloskey also enjoyed the work. He said there was a point in design’s recent history in which the computer made the decisions, but he said that it was clear that these students were “not on auto-pilot.” “Sleep When You’re Dead” is a must-see art exhibition that displays the hard work and originality of the Art Department’s CD students, and proves that the artists’ designs deserve more than a quick glance.