The Behrend Beacon
FROM FRONT PAGE
DINNER FOR SIX
STRANGERS
Harvest's service area, have benefited
from the bank's services.
To alleviate hunger in the area,
Second Harvest assists food pantries,
soup kitchens, shelters, and other non
profits that typically help lower
income people.
Second Harvest also helps to
prevent food waste by collecting
foodstuffs that would otherwise be
thrown away. Seggi said the bank
takes in food from all levels of food
service; manufacturers, retailers,
wholesalers, and farmers all give food
to the bank.
"People often ask me 'What's
wrong with the food?' They assume
something is wrong with it because
we are giving it away," Seggi said.
She explained the excess food is
usually the result of over-production,
packaging mistakes, or excess
seasonal production (when a product
is made with seasonal ingredients or
packaged in an obviously seasonal or
holiday-related manner).
"It's still good product and there's
nothing wrong with it the producer
Just can't sell it," Seggi said.
She added that many local
producers donate to the bank,
including Van de Kampe, Welch's,
Wegmans, Tops, Quality Markets, and
Troyer Farms.
Seggi then went on to provide some
data on the people who generally
REDC progression
on schedule
What could the governor of Pennsylvania do with 530 million? Donate it to
Penn State Behrend for the construction of the Research Economic Development
Center, and that's exactly what former Governor Tom Ridge did last December in
the largest grant in county history.
For 13 years, Penn State Behrend has been planning to add a new buildintr, to the
school. The money allocated by Ridge will pay for the construction of the 150,0(X)
square-foot building.
In an October Faculty Council meeting, Dr. Jack Burke, interim provost and
dean, put the REDC as one of the top capital projects requiring attention right now.
At an October Provost's Advisory Council meeting, Burke said initial meetings to
plan the design of the building would be held at the end of October. The REDC is
being designed by the partnership of Weber Murphy Fox, Inc. of Erie and NBBJ of
Columbus, Ohio.
This center will be the new home of Behrend's School of Business and the School
of Engineering and Engineering Technology. The vacated classrooms in current
buildings will be utilized by other academic disciplines.
The new building will be located south of the chapel, between the Junker Center
and Knowledge Park. It will house classrooms, computer labs, and offices, greatly
increasing the academic space on campus. It will also increase spa , :e for many of
Behrend's professors who have been working out of temporary trailers.
The REDC building will be available for researchers and students from the other
colleges in the region to utilize the equipment and resources as well. The main goal
of the building is to increase the space available for learning and training to attract
more young, skilled workers to this area, who will in turn help fuel new businesses
in the region.
According the John Ream, director of operations at Behrend, the design of the
building should take about 12 months to formulate, and the construction should
take up to 18 months, putting project completion somewhere in January 2004.
Ream said the building is projected to be
about 50 percent larger than the Academic/
Library building and will include many dif
ferent types of rooms such as lecture halls,
computer labs, seminar rooms, conference and
study rooms, and a plastics lab. And for those
who get hungry while they are learning, the
building will also include a food area, much
like the coffee window at Bruno's.
"All of the programs we do here are based
on what businesses tell us they want. I just
think this is going to push us to the next step,"
former Provost and Dean Dr. John Lilley, who
first proposed the idea in 1987, once said.
Lilley also said the facility fits well with the
college's goal to work with Erie-based busi
nesses to till their training needs while offer
ing Behrend students business experience
while still in college.
"If we're serious about continuing to grow
as a state, we need to attract and retain young
people," Ridge said during the grant presenta
tion. "The foundation is in place. Now we
just have to keep our young people here." The
new center is projected to help with the larger
picture of growth in Erie. Ridge said the new
center is a key piece for developing young tal
ent that will add brainpower to the existing com
panies in the area, and hopefully these talented
individuals will decide to start their own busi
nesses here in Erie.
This new REDC building will bring many
new opportunities for both Behrend and the city
of Erie. Behrend has undergone some major
changes in the last few years, and it seems there
are other major changes to come in the years to
follow. The growth and development of this
school is valuable to the students who attend
benefit from the food hank. In a
hunger survey released this week,
many surprising statistics were found.
For instance, despite the stereotype,
many people who benefit from the
food bank are not homeless or jobless.
It was found that only 10 percent of
those serviced were homeless, and
that 39 percent had one or more jobs.
Also, many of these people or
members of their families were
affected by serious illnesses. Nearly
50 percent had serious illnesses, and
about 30 percent had to forego
medical care because they couldn't
afford both food and medicine.
Other statistics Seggi provided
were related to socio-economic status.
She said more than 80 percent of
beneficiaries were white, and more
than 20 percent had had some post
secondary education. Also, only six
percent were also benefiting from
government assistance.
The most startling statistic Seggi
provided was the number of children
being served by Second Harvest. She
said 31,000 children were served
every year, which totaled nearly 40
percent of the total served. She said
if these children were to occupy every
seat in Jerry Uht Park, the Civic
Center, and the Warner Theatre, they
still wouldn't all fit in the stands --
another 5,000 seats would be
necessary
by Kristen Schrum
staff writer
Friday November 16, 2001
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