Around the World

As we approach the season of advent, churches everywhere prepare themselves in many different ways for the nativity of Jesus. As Messiah College hold its advent ceremonies here on campus, churches across America engage in very similar traditions. According to the article "German advent mixes culture and faith" by Chelcey Adami, Salem Evangelical Lutheran Church, located in Salem Oklahoma, will be holding a German advent service for at least the 25th time.

Service conductor at Salem, Dorothy Schrader, says that this service is held in German, and consists of five traditional German hymns. According to Adami, Schrader says "It's somewhat of a nostalgic trip back in time for the Germans who now live in Oklahoma and grew up in various parts of Germany."

Adami writes that the service was written by Pastor Martin Reppenhagen, a pastor from Germany, and will be read by Prof. Karin Schestokat of Oklahoma State University. According to Schrader, roughly 85 attend the event, which is also translated for English guests.

This church, established in 1892 by Lutheran immigrants from Ukraine and Russia is working to reach the German communities in the area. This advent service "draws other German speakers in Stillwater and even from a greater radius from places around town" comments Schestokat. The advent season, however, doesn't only bring preparation for the nativity, but also preparation for an increase in burglary.

Frank Donnelly, in his article, "Federal data shows on-campus burglaries most common crime at Staten Island colleges," federal data, coupled with input from school administrators, shows that "crimes of opportunity, such as property thefts, are the most commonly reported among the 18,000 students who attend Staten Island's three colleges."

Donnelly writes that Wagner College has shown the most incidents, above the College of Staten Island, and St. John's University. Wagner reported 15 on-campus burglaries in 2008, including 5 in dorm halls. Donnelly states, "that figure represented a decrease of four from the 19 reported burglaries in 2007. Seventeen of those incidents were in residence halls."

Furthermore, data shows that Wagner reported 14 cases of assault in 2008, 13 of which were in residential halls. To combat these incidents, Staten Island colleges are working to increase NYPD presence and foot patrol, which according to Paul Murtha, CSI's Director of Public Safety, led to the arrest of a suspect in vending-machine thefts last year and several years earlier." Moreover, writes Donnelly, Wagner and St. John's are both working to install 'blue light' phones around campus, giving victims a direct line to help, and pinpointing their locations.

As we look at the changes being made in Pennsylvania's energy regulation, it is important to take note of the worldwide energy crisis. Many countries, such as Kenya, will potentially begin importing energy from other countries.

In the article "Ethiopia's low-priced power concerns Kenyan energy monopoly," John Njiraini discusses the concerns of Kenya Electricity Generating Company (KenGen). Njiraini says that the Kenyan government is currently planning to import energy from neighboring Ethiopia. KenGen currently supplies upwards of 75% of electricity consumed in Kenya, reports John Nkiraini.

Eddy Njoroge, managing director of KenGen, states that his company is "unable to compete with the imports in terms of pricing." According to Njiraini, the government plans to import 500 MegaWatt of energy. Njoroge claims that KenGen will be by affected by this "in terms of pricing because Ethiopia offers cheap pricing and has good hydro-sites."

Moreover, Njiraini writes that Njoroge, states that "KenGen is pushing for an opportunity to own an equity stake in projects aimed at interconnecting the two countries power grids being financed by the World Bank.