Not to step on Wayde's toes, but if you have Photoshop Elements or a later version of Photoshop such as 6.0, here are some different steps to convert to black and white.

(1)Open up your picture, click on Image and Duplicate so you won't lose the orginal.  

(2)Click Image then Adjust and find Desaturate and click. You will have an almost gray tone. 

(3)Click Image then Adjust and find Color Balance and click. Just like in Wayde's Blog this acts like filters. I have found that you just have to tweek the Mid Tones and Shadows. 

(4)Click Image then Adjust and find Brightness/Contrast. Move the sliders until you get the desired effect.

If you need to sharpen your image, on the tool bar go to Filters, down to Sharpen and click on Unsharp Mask.

The picture I have used is in my opinion not the best for conversion, but the best I could locate.