Mr. Etown Nominees Chosen
‘From Up Here’ Comes to Tempest
Campus Life, Page 6
Features, Page 4
Blue Jays Suffer Tough Loss Against Lycoming Sports, Page 10
townian E Elizabethtown, Pa. 17022-2298 On the Web: www.Etownian.com
The
One Alpha Drive
Elizabethtown College
February 16, 2012
York County
on campus
Autumn A. Steel Staff Writer
Austin M. Whitlock Staff Writer
Since 1904
Volume 108, Issue 15
Club XS loses liquor license, gives Strikwerda talks plans free alcohol to all legal customers for student growth
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lub XS, in North York, has begun serving free drinks after losing its liquor license earlier this month. A commonwealth court has upheld the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board’s (PLCB) decision to take away Club XS’s liquor license. The PLCB cited several fights that took place outside the club as its reasoning. Joel Weinstein, the owner of Club XS, believes that the court misread the facts. Weinstein was shocked that the court upheld the PLCB decision: “[Club XS has] been here for five-and-a-half years, and I’ve been in this business for 22 years and I’ve never had problems like I’ve had with the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board.” He maintained that his club has never had any more problems than any other busy club. He is asking for reconsideration, but until then, he has been forced to change the nature of his operation. A liquor license is not required when giving away alcohol for free. Giving it away to people of the legal drinking age is not illegal as long as the alcohol is truly free and there are no conditions in order to get it. Weinstein is unsure of how long he plans to run his business in this fashion, but he does not see it changing any time soon. “This is the way the business will operate unless something changes, whether we get reconsideration, or we get a new liquor license when we qualify to apply for one,” Weinstein said in a phone interview. “For the present and for the near future, and I would say certainly for the next year, I anticipate this is the way that we will operate.” So far the new business plan
Photo: York Daily Record/Sunday News
Club XS inYork, Pa., recently had its liquor license revoked due to a June 2010 shooting as well as a fight on NewYear’s Eve. The club is now giving away free alcohol to all customers but is still charging an entrance fee.
is working well for Club XS. “We were very well-supported last week, with this new concept. We had good attendance, everyone was very supportive and I think we made as much or more money than we would have selling alcohol,” Weinstein said. The new business plan is still in its early stages. Weinstein mentioned that there is a possibility that nights when the club is less crowded could turn into bring your own (BYO) nights. “It’s been less than a week so it is kind of hard to know what our business plan will be. As I say, we’re going to see where the people walk and then build the sidewalk.” All drinks are free, including alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, the only exception being Red Bull. There is no limit to the amount of free drinks each person can receive in a single night; guests can drink as many complimentary drinks as they want from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Of course the bar does reserve the right to refuse
to serve someone who appears to be physically intoxicated or who is causing a disturbance. Club XS has made one additional change in order to allow them to continue serving free drinks. “We now charge an entrance fee solely to come into the club to participate in the entertainment,” Weinstein said. “Most people seem to have come in, had a good time and not minded that we’ve had to up the cost to actually come into the club.” Everyone must pay the entrance free, whether they are drinking or not. The entrance fee ranges from $15 to $20, depending on the event taking place. Regular events include college night every Thursda, and karaoke night every Wednesday and Sunday night. Special events include swingers night, Latin night and drag shows. All the shows, events and DJ’s are the same as when the club had a liquor license, the only difference being that the entrance fee is higher and the alcohol is free.
lizabethtown College’s strategic plan, a five-year overview of what changes need to be implemented both on campus and off campus in connection with the school, has been dissected and debated by over 500 faculty, staff, students and alumni since the end of August 2011 and is now in the stages of a first draft. One particular topic of interest is whether or not to increase the size of the student population from about 1,800 undergraduates and 30 graduates to a larger number. Many of the schools near Etown have populations larger than that of the College, such as Franklin & Marshall College (over 2,100 undergraduates), Messiah College (almost 3,000 undergraduates) and Millersville University (almost 8,500 undergraduates), and many have plans to increase their enrollments. It seems that 2,000 students is the number for which the College will be shooting. “We think that if you look at a lot of the other colleges that we’re competing with, more of them have over time moved up to be a little bit larger,” President Carl Strikwerda stated. “At the 1,850 we’re at now we’re probably a little bit smaller than a lot of the other institutions. I think growing would give us a little bit more ability to be a stronger institution.” Other than the fact that residence halls will have to grow, the campus is able to support an increase of 150 undergraduates, and with the hiring of more faculty members, still retain a student to faculty ratio of 12:1. While the general campus facilities should be able to handle the increase of students, one factor that could hinder growth is major-specific facilities and resources. Some majors are constrained by what space they use. If the College allows for too large of an increase in the number of students with a specific major, it could be a problem. This is because the College wouldn’t be able to support enough students with the proper resources. In addition, there most likely won’t be any new majors added in the near future. The reasoning behind this is that there are already many majors listed and these already could use enrollment in their program. There are plans to increase the enrollment of international students as well, through communication between the College and foreign countries and an increasingly concerted effort to recruit students through pipeline programs. Other ways to increase the international presence will be done by making sure the school has a solid online profile and that the school offers more teaching of English as a second language. While increasing the number of students enrolled in the College is seen as important it is also a concern that quality is maintained. “I think we’d rather [increase the number of students] incrementally because the other concern that we have is that we keep quality. We’re not trying to grow in quantity by lowering our standards; if anything, we’d like to raise standards even more if we could,” Strikwerda said. Specific numbers have been laid out for accepting students in order to maintain quality. The first draft of the strategic plan states that no more than 60 percent of first-year applicants will be admitted, while at least 30 percent of an incoming class should be first-generation students and 40 percent should be top ten in their class. The College is very close to all of these numbers already. When Strikwerda first applied for college presidency, he had thoughts to increase the size of the campus in order to keep it competitive. After the first few months on the job he had a change of heart and realized that increasing the size of the school is not as important as maintaining quality. “I would say the strategic planning process for me has been one where over the last couple of months it’s had an impact on my thinking. I’ve probably changed my thinking on this more than anything. Now I’m back to the position where a little bit of growth can be a good thing.”
food quality
Forty sick after drinking milk from farm in Chambersburg, Pa. Stacey N. Kreston Staff Writer
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wo Lancaster County residents experienced stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting after drinking raw milk distributed by Your Family Cow farm in Chambersburg, Pa., in January of this year. They were diagnosed with Campylobacter illness, a bacterial infection. These two people, who both live within a short drive of Elizabethtown, were not the only ones in the area to be diagnosed. 38 more cases of Campylobacter have sprung up in Pennsylvania, as well as in a few surrounding states. Every person who wound up with the sickness had one commonality: they all drank the raw milk from Your Family Cow farm. Fourth-generation owners of Your Family Cow farm, the Shank family was in high hopes during the extensive testing of their raw milk,
which began at the end of January and stretched into the start of February. They did not want to believe that their product could have made their loyal customers sick, said Edwin Shank, the primary owner. The entire goal of their raw milk is to offer people “the opportunity to experience fresh, organic raw milk just as if they had their own family cow.” The Shanks wanted to offer unprocessed foods because they believe the consumption of these all-organic foods can make people healthier. Yet, to their dismay, on Feb. 3, they were forced to officially admit to the public that a batch of their raw milk from January had tested positive for Campylobacter. They immediately had to pull all of their raw milk from the shelves in stores and stop production until the Pennsylvania Department of Health (PDH) and the PA Department of Agriculture (PDA)
conducted further investigation. Though they were never able to pinpoint exactly what allowed this bacterial infection to grow in their milk, it is suspected that the source could have been the Shanks’ hot water system which is used to wash out the milk tank, milking system and bottler that are used during the milking process. The water heater in the system was only brining the water to about 140-150 degrees, while the more sanitary heat of 160-170 is preferable. Shank said they used their “down time” productively, to make renovations which have replaced the old system with “a high tech, computerized tank-less system that constantly delivers 180-degree water or hotter if we wish.” Shank said they are also “outfitting [their] own laboratory,” so that the farm SEE MILK PAGE 3
Photo: yourfamilycow.com
An employee at Your Family Cow farm in Chambersburg, Pa. gets milk ready for distribution. The farm now has a lot to prove after 40 Pennsylvania residents were diagnosed with a bacterial infection.