Many people have heard stories about arranged marriages in most parts of India where parents believe it is their responsibility to decide the fate of their child. The parents take care of their children from birth and the children obey their parents. Since marriage is one of the most important decisions an individual will ever make, it is crucial that the marriage decision is carefully thought out. Parents deem it as their duty to find a bride/groom acceptable enough for their child. If you reckon this to be totally objectionable, boy oh boy, you are in for a rude awakening.

The Kyrgyz Republic, commonly referred to as Kyrgyzstan, is located in Central Asia. It is one of the former Soviet states in the region that gained independence in 1991. Bride kidnapping (”ala kachuu” in Kyrgyz), is the tradition of kidnapping women for the purpose of coercing them to marry, is a practice that is increasingly prevalent in Kyrgyzstan. Some of these kidnappings are merely playful rituals, where the bride is engaged to the groom and consents to the kidnapping, but many are not.
In most cases, the kidnapping takes place without the consent of the bride-to-be. The groom sets out the day of his wedding to ‘pick’ a bride (sometimes the groom decides on the bride a few days in advance). Once the groom finds someone suitable or ‘likes what he sees’, he sets out with a few of his friends to ‘kidnap’ the unsuspecting girl. The girl is then taken to the groom’s house where a crowd awaits her arrival. The women of the groom’s family then tries to convince the girl that this is in light of her future and sometimes the consent of the girl’s parents is sought.

Initially, the girls struggle and wail but eventually most of them give up and accept the marriage scarf which is placed on their head. Tradition states that once the bride accepts the ceremonial scarf, the matter is settled and the wedding can begin. In some cases if the girl is not willing to get married she is set free, unfortunately this occurrence is rare. Petr Lom, a professor at Central European University in Budapest decided to explore this strange local custom. He encountered first hand incidents of this practice. In a documentary with PBS Frontline, he shares two startling incidents. In the first incident a girl is picked and dragged to the groom’s house where she is eventually persuaded into marriage. Lom finds that after a few days the girl is happily living with her husband and does not regret being kidnapped. The second incident however paints a different picture. The groom sets out to kidnap a girl he was keen on marrying, but in lieu of not finding her, he decided to kidnap another girl. In this situation the girl is reluctant to get married and is set free in spite of countless hours of persuasion by women of the village.

Bride kidnapping is one of the most important human rights issues in present-day Kyrgyzstan. The tradition of bride kidnapping was made illegal while Kyrgyzstan was part of the Soviet Union. Though it remains illegal in the Kyrgyz Republic, bride kidnappings appear to have risen after independence and continue to stay on the human rights agenda.

References:
Human Rights Internet, Canada,
PBS Frontline,
The Straits Times

In 1791 Samuel Miles and John Patton, two Revolutionary War officers from southeastern Pennsylvania, established the Centre Furnace Village in the iron-ore rich Nittany Valley. A self-sufficient community developed around the iron-making operation, with the furnace and ironmaster’s mansion at its center. Approximately fifty years later two local ironmasters, James Irvin and Moses Thompson, took over the ownership and operation. Thompson and his family became the mansion occupants, living there until 191.

The Centre Furnace Mansion, furnace stack, and surrounding eight acres constitute what remains of the Centre Furnace Village. This National Register site represents a small portion of the iron-making village once located here.

This year, the 10^th Annual Plant Celebration will take place at the Centre County Historical Society on Saturday, May 7^th. The day’s activities will include a plant sale of native and non-native plants that have been donated by local growers and grown in the new Centre Furnace Mansion cold frame. Garden enthusiasts will be able to choose from annuals, perennials, trees, herbs, shrubs and specialist wetland plants among many others. At noon, the festive Maypole dance will take place.

Maypole dancing is a traditional form of folk dance from Western Europe, especially England, Sweden, and Germany. Young children dance in a circle each holding a colored ribbon attached to a central pole, which can be over 10 feet high. Swaying and dancing with the ribbons to the live music, the children intertwined and plaited the ribbons either on to the pole itself or into a web around the pole. At the end, they retrace their steps exactly in order to unravel the ribbons.

The Centre County Historical Society also boasts an extensive museum, archival, and photographic collections. A few exhibits currently on display include “Hajjar Heritage: A Centre Region Treasure”, “Exhibit of Early American tools,” and “Centre County’s Iron Industry”. The tools were a gift to the Historical Society from the private collection of Penn State American Studies Professor, Richard W. Pencek.

The society provides a great way to reconnect with our roots through its events and exhibit. To learn more about the Centre County Historical Society visit them at http://centrecountyhistory.org/

The Dave Matthews Band, caught in the middle of a winter tour spanning 13 shows, set up camp in the Bryce Jordan Center on the eve of December 6th: intending to combat the cold weather outside by performing a warm, entertaining show inside. They succeeded.

Boy, did they succeed.

After an enthralling opening act from Soulive, a funk/jazz/hip-hop trio out of New York City, Dave Matthews (acoustic guitar, lead vocals), LeRoi Moore (saxophone), Carter Beauford (drums), Boyd Tinsley (violin), Stefan Lessard (bass guitar), and Butch Taylor (keyboard) made their way to the stage, much to the delight of the thousands of fans in attendance. Many in the crowd have probably been followers since 1991, when Dave Matthews and his fellow musician friends would play small Charlottesville, VA venues and earn the amount of money that could be stuffed into a hat passed around in the audience at each show. Now, almost 15 years later, each one of those fans would probably tell you that they continue to perform at arenas and pavilions with the same zeal and high-energy that was exuded at such small clubs like Eastern Standard and Trax, located in Charlottesville.

After a stunning start with “Rapunzel,” a tune from the band’s 1998 studio release, “Before These Crowded Streets,” Dave wandered into mainstream listener territory with his smash single “Crash,” followed by a fan favorite, “When the World Ends.” The rest of the show was littered with a mix of songs off of the band’s newest album, “Stand Up,” as well as other’s from their extensive back catalog.

Ian Gerg, junior in Music Education, stated that “The show had a great feel to it. I particularly enjoyed the extended jam at the end of “Seek Up,” where each band member really showed their musical prowess.” Christie Bankovic, sophomore in Finance, said that “Even though I’ve been to three other shows prior to this one, there were only two or three songs that he played that I’d heard at previous shows,” paying tribute to the amount of diversity that The Dave Matthews Band puts into setlist selection.

To celebrate the holiday season, Butch Taylor snuck in a piano outro reminiscent of Vince Guaraldi’s classic “Christmas Time is Here.” In addition, Dave began his band’s encore performance with his simple “Christmas Song,” which melodically retells the story of Jesus’ life.

The show concluded with a fan favorite, “Everyday”: the title track off of the band’s 2001 studio album. It was an incredible ending to a show that ran for almost two-and-a-half hours. As Carter Beauford left the stage, he tossed out his half-dozen drumsticks to eager audience members: honoring their support throughout the show. Actions like these make it clear to see why The Dave Matthews Band remains one of the most beloved bands in the nation; because for them, it’s still all about the fans… just as it was in the early 90’s, on those cold winter nights playing in tiny clubs back in Charolettesville, VA.

With the ever-increasing gasoline costs and the constant turbulence in the Middle East, people and governments alike are searching for ways to reduce their reliance on petroleum products.  Over the past few years, gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles have been making their way into popular markets and finding a home among both the environmentally conscious and the ultra hip.

The first gasoline-electric hybrid vehicles can be traced back to the late 1800s.  Dr. Ferdinand Porsche developed a hybrid that used a gasoline engine that spun generators to provide power to electric motors in the hubs of the wheels.   In 1905, a patent was filed by an engineer named H. Piper for an electric motor-assisted gasoline engine which could reach speeds of 25 miles per hour.

In 1997, the first mass produced hybrid vehicle, the Toyota Prius, went on sale in Japan.  The Toyota Prius gets over 60 miles per gallon of gasoline in city driving. The demand for these cars right now is so high that there is up to a six month waiting list to purchase one.  Estimates say that by 2007 there will be at least 20 new models and sales will jump to over 400,000.

The concept of hybrid vehicles has been around for hundreds of year, but the technology used in the current line of cars is still new and being re-developed constantly. There are two main ways that hybrid vehicles work.  First, the “mild” hybrids use their electric motors to give the combustion engines a boost when accelerating or climbing hills.  The vehicle is never powered solely by the electric motor.  The electric motor is used to recharge the battery during braking, capturing energy that would normally be lost as heat.  This technology is used in the Honda hybrids like the Insight, Civic, and Accord.

The other type of hybrid vehicle is a “full” hybrid.  These vehicles are powered solely by the electric motor at low speeds and in stop and start traffic.  The batteries are replenished by the combustion engine when the car is braking or coasting.  When the car hits a certain speed, the combustion engine automatically starts and takes over the propulsion of the car.  This technology is used in the Toyota Prius and the Ford Escape Hybrid.

Hybrid vehicles do have a few issues, however.  The biggest problem with hybrid vehicles has been their stigma as slow and small.  Many people compare them with electric cars, not realizing that they are, indeed, fast and sporty.  The Honda Civic and Accord hybrids, for example, have almost the same performance and feel as their all gasoline counterparts.

The world faces a lot of problems today, climate change, air pollution, and oil dependence. In the coming years, hybrids will play an important role in addressing these issues. Whether this new technology will deliver what it promises or whether it become a quandary for automakers, consumers, and policymakers — We’ll just have to wait and watch.

“An eye for an eye only leaves the whole world blind”.

I am always startled every time I think of the essence of this statement and of the astounding strength of a simple man who not only transformed himself into the Mahatma, but also helped force the British Empire out of India without firing a single shot. In the military age, he proved that the powerless had power and that force of arms would never prevail against force of spirit. I am talking about Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi; popularly know as Mahatma Gandhi.

India is known to have a rich culture. When the British Empire took control of India in the 17th century, the face of the country changed forever. The atrocities of the British trampled ancient traditions in an attempt to “civilize” the natives of India. As you can well imagine, Indians suffered greatly for hundreds of years. Nobody was able to push the British out of India. This changed when a small man, born on October 2nd, 1869, stood up and said “Enough!” This man became known the world over as Gandhi, the mahatma or “Great Soul” of India.

Gandhi was married at the early age of 13. In 1888, he set sail for England, where he had decided to pursue a degree in law. At the age of 24, this shy young lawyer moved to South Africa with his wife. One incident which had a major impact in his life was when he was thrown out of a first-class railway compartment, though he held a first-class ticket. It was then he learned the terrifying force and fury of European racism, and how far Indians were from being considered as human beings. He assembled the local Indian population and encouraged them to take a closer look at the conditions they were living in. One protest meeting after another led him to gain their confidence. He recognized violence to be a never ending downward spiral for nations. Hence, he organized campaigns of “passive resistance” to protest against mistreatment by whites and finally gained a few civil liberties for Indians which at first seemed impossible. It is in South Africa that he first coined the term “satyagraha” to signify his theory and practice of non-violent resistance.

Gandhi once said, “Truth is my religion and ahimsa is the only way of its realization.” “Satya” which means truth in Sanskrit implies love, and “Agraha” implies firmness. He thus called the Indian movement– Satyagraha– which meant the firmness of truth and love or non-violence. Part of his inspiration for this method came from Russian writer Leo Tolstoy and American writer Henry Thoreau.

After 21 years of practicing law in South Africa he returned to India at the age of 45. To experience the oppressive conditions of villagers, he traveled around in India. He traveled third class in trains frustrated by their rudeness, dirtiness, and ignorance of his fellow passengers. With his continued efforts he learnt to live among the villagers as one of them.

In a meeting with the legendary poet, Rabindra Nath Tagore, he was addressed as Mahatma, “a great soul,” and since then the Indian population called him by that name. Following World War I, he spread his policy of non violence throughout India gaining millions of followers. His interventions earned a considerable reputation, and he rapidly ascended to the helm of national politics.

Many may wonder why he plunged into politics leaving his successful practice. He once stated that he is a seeker of truth and is am impatient to reach self-realization, to attain moksha in this life, to be in the Kingdom of Heaven. He claimed that his national service is part of his training for freeing his soul from the bondage of flesh. Thus he considered his service to be regarded as purely selfish.

Gandhi was powerfully attracted to the texts of the major religious traditions; and it is in London that he was introduced to the Bhagavad Gita -- the religious text of the Hindus. He believed that the killing of man or beast is an unforgivable sin. He taught that the weapon that could be used was the conscience of the aggressor. These teachings have rooted from Hinduism. Hinduism teaches to stay away from temptation through various exercises that test one’s ability to perform a difficult task; this devitalizes a person and causes him to act on a non-violent level. Hence, non violence is, to some degree, in the tradition of Hinduism.

Gandhi himself once stated, “Mere knowledge of right and wrong will not make one fit for salvation…the Gita says: ‘No one has attained his goal without action…’” Acting well on his principles, Gandhi called upon all Indians to engage in non-violent disobedience against the British Government by withdrawing from government jobs, schools, and colleges. The magnitude of this act was seen when many cities were held at a standstill as the governmental system was unable to act. Such was the power of non-violent protest. Gandhi himself was arrested shortly thereafter, tried on charges of sedition, and sentenced to imprisonment for six years. However, owing to his bad health he was released from prison earlier.

Segregation of society was one of his primary concerns. He never accepted the argument that Hindus and Muslims constituted two separate elements in Indian society. Thus, over the following years, he worked hard to preserve Hindu-Muslim relations, and in 1924 he observed, from his prison cell, a 21-day fast when Hindu-Muslim riots broke out at a military barracks on the Northwest. This was to be of his many major public fasts. In 1939 after At the age of 63, this frail man with the strength of changing the fate of a country commenced the so-called Epic Fast—fast unto death, The reason — he did not want separate electorates for the oppressed class of what were then called untouchables and wanted to prevent permanent divisions within Hindu society.

On 15th August 1947, India finally gained freedom from 200 years of British rule. The Gandhian principles had won! Alas Gandhiji was not happy with the partition of India and Pakistan and this broke this tore him apart.He himself called this day as a “spiritual tragedy” and spend it fasting.

On January 30,1948 Gandhi woke up at his usual hour, 3:30 a.m. The day passed as usual, starting with morning prayers, then onto answering letters, meeting people, and so on. At around, 4:30 p.m. on his way to the prayer meetings, a stocky young man in a khaki bush jacket pushed through the crowd, and when he was directly in front of Gandhi, he fired three shots into the Mahatma at point-blank range. The Mahatma’s hands folded in friendly greeting, descended slowly. “Hey Ram” (Oh God) he murmured, and sighed softly as the frail body slumped to the ground. And as Jawarlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of India, said  “The light has gone out of our lives and there is darkness everywhere…”

Even though he is gone, Gandhi’s principles and spirit lives on. His influence certainly spreads the globe. In India, he is rightly called the Father of Nation. Without him, the Indians might still be held under British rule. Without him, many might not have been inspired to fight racism or imperialism non-violently.

In the words of Albert Einstein, all I would like to say is “Generations to come, it may be, will scarcely believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth”.

If you think the term “Identity theft” is a warning only for the rich and famous – you are wrong. Identify theft is the numero uno cause of consumer complains to the Federal Trade Commission. It occurs when someone uses your personal information such as your name, Social Security number, credit card number or other identifying information, without your permission to commit fraud or other crimes. It is the fastest growing computer security-related threat. It’s your responsibility to protect your information. Skilled identity thieves may use a variety of methods to gain access to your data. The Federal Trade Commission gives details of how identity thieves can obtain and use personal information.

Here are a few steps you have to take to avoid becoming a victim of identity theft:

On what better weekend to have Kanye West come to Penn State than this year’s Homecoming weekend? Despite the Homecoming parade and fireworks scheduled for that night, October 28, it was still wonderful to see so many Kanye fans eager to see him perform. Kanye is currently on the Touch the Sky tour featuring artists such as Fantasia Barrino and Keyshia Cole. Common is also another highly acclaimed artist on the tour but he was unable to make to it due to the fact that he is currently shooting a movie.

When the concert started, Keyshia Cole was the first artist to take the stage. Keyshia Cole, a brand new R&B artist, is said to share comparisons in her music similar to the Queen of Hip Hop and Soul, Miss Mary J. Blige. “The Way it is”, Cole’s debut album already has her up for 3 Vibe Award Nominations. From that album, she performed her brand new single, “I Should have Cheated”, “I Just Want it to be Over”, and “I Changed my Mind”, produced by Mr. West himself. Keyshia Cole provided a lot of energy needed to get everyone especially the ladies ready for the main event.

After Keyshia Cole performed her songs, it was time for Fantasia to perform. Third Annual American Idol winner, Fantasia Barrino took time out of her schedule to join Kanye on the tour. Her Debut album, “Free Yourself” was a seen a solid album in which one could reflect on their past relationships and learn how to move on. She started off with a performance of “It’s All Good,” and followed with “Ain’t gon’ beg you,” “Free Yourself,” and the soul lifting “Truth is.” But Fantasia’s biggest song was “Baby Mama.” The joyous and motivational rhythm along with a wonderful chorus was enough to keep the crowd on their feet for whom they were about to see next.

sketch by Joe Lewis

Just when you thought it couldn’t get any louder, Kanye West took the stage with a strong enough attitude to get everyone out of their seats. Kanye West, a rap artist under Jay-Z owned Roca-fella Records is also known for his beats. In fact, that is what brought him into the music industry. Kanye went on to produce major beats for top artists when he dropped out of college. His current career was almost ended in October, 2001, when he destroyed his jaw in car crash. Despite this downfall, he was able to record “Through the Wire” with the metal wiring in his jaw. Kanye has grown to be the savior of hip hop after recently winning 5 Grammy awards even though some critics have harshly criticized his skills as an artist. During the concert, Kanye performed a total 19 songs from both of his multi-platinum albums, “College Dropout” and “Late Registration.” These tracks included “We Don’t Dare,” “All Falls Down,” “Slow Jams,” “Overnight Celebrity,” the ever spiritual “Jesus Walks,” “Spaceship,” “Kanye’s Workout Plan,” “Get ‘em High,” “Through the Wire,” “Heard ‘em Say” featuring Adam Levine of Maroon 5, “Touch the Sky,” “Goldigger,” “Diamonds are Forever,” “Drive Slow,” “Gone,” “We Major,” “Crack Music,” “Roses,” “Hey Mama,” “ Bring Me down,” and “Addiction.”

The amount of noise that was heard while he performed could be compared to the noise level at Beaver Stadium. Mr. West was surely surprising with all his different props and songs that everyone out of their seats. Overall, the concert was spectacular. I must say it was the greatest concert that I’ve ever been to and on that note, I would like to thank Mr. West and all his friends for blessing Penn State with his presence. And remember Diamonds are forever.

Humor is a perspective that enables one to view stress and pain with a softer edge. Though not an immediate cure for trauma, chronic illness, or emotional difficulty, humor can be a therapeutic tool. It offers relief outlets for chronically ill patients and also for stressed medical and corporate staff.

Until the New England Journal of Medicine published the Norman Cousins case study in 1979, few considered the therapeutic uses of humor. The first documented case of humor positively affecting disease was in 1964 when Norman Cousins, published Anatomy of an Illness. Medical professionals were for the first time shown that humor biologically reversed Cousins’ ankylosing spondylitis, a painful disease causing the degeneration of the spinal connective tissue. Given a one in five hundred chance of recovery, Cousins decided to infuse himself with humor treatments. With his self-designed humor treatments, he discovered that 15 minutes of hardy laughter could produce two hours of pain free-sleep. Blood samples also showed that his inflammation level was lowered after the humor treatments. Eventually, Cousins was able to completely reverse the illness.

Enda Junkins is a practicing psychotherapist and advocates the use of laughter to resolve several emotional issues and more serious depression, anxiety, and psychosomatic disorders. There is a frenzied quality about our demand for drugs on every condition, depression, even mild depression, is no exception. A society becoming more depressed needs a natural, effective-solution to combat their woes, and laughter is that solution. Unfortunately, we tend to stop laughing when we feel the blues, and when feeling really low, we stop doing anything emotional at all. We avoid laughing, crying, or even getting angry, thus getting miserably numb! Our general negative feelings in our lives are a result of anger and sadness, which we haven’t allowed ourselves to acknowledge, much less feel. Our laughter, while valued as a good thing, is unfortunately undervalued and underestimated as a natural way of taking care of us. It heals our bodies and our emotions so we can cope with life as we experience it. Why then do we persist in overlooking this natural medicine, which bubbles up from within?

According to Madan Kataria (a physician in Allopathic system of medicine), laughter therapy has several health benefits. Physiological responses to laughter include increased respiration, circulation, hormonal, and digestive enzyme secretion and levelling of blood pressure. It has been proved by psycho-neuro-immunologists that all negative emotions like anxiety, depression, or anger weaken the immune system of the body, thereby reducing its fighting capacity against infections. Laughter helps to increase the count of natural killer lymphocytes (a type of white cells) and also raises the antibody levels. It also helps increase the levels of endorphins in our body, which are natural painkillers. Blowing forcefully into an instrument and blowing balloons is one of the common exercises given to asthmatics. Laughter therapy does the same job, more easily and cheaply by improving the lung capacity and oxygen levels in the blood.

A Japanese study that was published in the February 2000 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association looked at people allergic to dust mites. When the subjects were injected with dust-mite allergens, they developed smaller skin rashes after watching the Charlie Chaplin movie, Modern Times than they had before watching the movie. When the subjects watched weather, their response was not affected.

It is a form of therapy that encourages us to use the natural, physiological process of laughter to release negative emotions of anger, pain, anxiety and fear. We are happier when we laugh; this is because every time we laugh, we heal. This is why we feel better after laughing, not before. It does not minimize the importance of our problems. Rather, it’s nature’s way of aiding our survival by giving us a new perspective so we may find ways to cope with our difficulties.