Brown and White Vol. 118 no. 19

              By JACK POTASH
Pi Kappa Alpha fraternity, known as PIKE, was a fixture at Lehigh for decades until 2001. Now, after a year as a non-resi­dential fraternity, it is returning to the university with an official charter, thanks to the efforts of alumni and current brothers who have worked hard to bring it back.
On April 9, the Lehigh Colony of Pi Kappa Alpha was re-chartered as Pi Kappa Alpha’s Gamma Lambda chapter.
PIKE’s history dates back to the 1920s. For decades, it was a part of the Greek life structure for which Lehigh is well-known. However, in 2001, it was sus­pended because of rush and pledging violations. While the violations alone were not serious, the fraternity repeated them, lead­ing to its suspension.
In the fall of 2004, alumni worked tirelessly toward ensuring the return of the fraternity to the university. At the time, Lehigh was in the middle of a major process to overhaul the Greek system. Therefore, there was no immediate return of PIKE to Lehigh.
The Greek system needed to be stabilized first before new or returning fraternities and sorori­ties could be considered. Work continued on PIKE’s re-coloniza­PIKE
frat receives official charter
See PIKE Page 2
Printers in dorms ousted to go green
By ERIC FEATHER
In an effort to create more cost-friendly and “green” policies, Residential Services decided it would be in the best interest of the school to elimi­nate all printers within student residences and Greek houses.
“We have found that a ma­jority of our students already have their own printers, which are equipped to meet their needs,” according to Ozzie Breiner, director of Residential Services. “We also note that most of the laserjet printers currently provided in the resi­dence facilities are not housed in a climate-controlled envi­ronment, and high humidity causes them to jam frequently and break down.”
Residential Services insists a more reliable level of printer productivity is available at Fairchild-Martindale Library, Linderman Library and all other computer rooms.
“Our review clearly indi­cates that our current approach generates an enormously high level of waste,” Breiner said.
The printing of non-aca­demic materials, multiple cop­ies of documents, uncollected papers and theft of computer paper occurs on a regular basis within the residences.
Lehigh decided it will eliminate all printers in stu­dent housing in August. The
See PRINTERS Page 2
By BRENT LAMAIRE
The capacity of electronics to foster sedentary lifestyles is increasingly being viewed as detrimental to personal health and well-being. Food is no longer the scale culprit in the fight against obesity.
There are consequences involved in using certain elec­tronics. Microwaves may cause cancer. Staring at a televi­sion or computer screen for too many hours a day may hurt your vision and may lead to obesity. Even the pollu­tion from creating these devices is hurting our lungs.
Today, ways to combat the dangers of an increasingly sedentary lifestyle are more understood than ever before. Even so, obesity rates remain high, at almost 34 percent.
“Obesity can be combated with a healthy diet and adequate physical activity,” said director of Health Promo­tions Rajika Reed. “The key to healthy weight loss is to expend more calories than you are consuming.”
A study by the Ball State University Center for Media Design found TV is the most pervasive form of media ac­tivity in the U.S., followed by computer screens, then radio and finally print media.
The same study found those living in the U.S. look at a screen on an average of eight-and-a half hours a day. Straining your eyes is only one of the associated hazards of looking into a screen for extended time periods.
A new study published by the International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity found watching more than three hours of TV per day has a positive corre­lation to obesity, particularly in children. As children grow up, their sedentary habits stick with them and are increas­ingly being seen through higher obesity rates in adults.
A study analyzing correlations between certain elec­tronic devices and adolescent sedentary behaviors, pub­lished by the Official Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics, concluded “sedentary behaviors are likely to continue to be pervasive in technologically developed societies.”
This does not have to be a death sentence. There are dozens of ways to adapt to the new conditions electron­ics have created in order to promote personal health and well-being.
“Anytime you do something that requires physical ac­tivity, you benefit more than taking the easy way out,” said
Several studies link usage of electronics to obesity
See ELECTRONICS Page 4
Vol. 118 No. 19
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
‘All the Lehigh News First’
THE BROWN AND WHITE
Lehigh University’s Student Newspaper Founded in 1894
SPORTS
Basketball standout
honored
Page 16
ONLINE
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A deadly
necessity
Page 7
LIFESTYLE
B&W photo by STEVE BALTER
President Alice Gast took time out of her schedule to eat and answer questions with students at Lower U.C. last Thursday. If you missed out, you can join her for lunch at Upper U.C. next Tuesday.
Pow-wow with the president
Desktop app allows for easy transfer of files
By ELAINE HARDENSTINE
Using flashdrives or e-mailing attachments to personal inboxes are the go-to methods of transpor­tation of files on campus.
For awhile, the partners at Gigmax.com LLC, a student-run storage Web site, offered a simpler option: Upload all files to their site, and access them online anywhere, anytime.
But as of early March, that pro­cess got even easier.
David Gerlach, ’10, the lead programmer in the Gigmax team, developed a unique software that allows users to transfer and store files by simply dropping them into a desktop folder. Then, the file, along with any of its changes and updates, is available both on the site and on a user’s personal computer.
“Think of it like your My Documents folder,” Gerlach said. “You place your document in or save your file to the folder, or hit Ctrl+S, and then it is automati­cally uploaded to your Gigmax account in real time.”
The software is designed to overwrite any files with identical names, saving users the hassle of deleting old versions of text or deciphering which file is the most recently updated one.
The software is free for users and available for download on the Gigmax site. Although it is cur­rently only available for PC users, the team is working to develop an app for Mac computers too.
Gigmax also recently launched a Groups tab, an application which allows an “administrator” to create a folder within his or her individual account that anyone “invited” to can access.
“This new feature is great for student projects,” said Matt Kenig, ’10, Gigmax CEO. “Now you
See GIGMAX Page 5