Justin Curry & Angela Szesciorka,
news editors
Question of the Week by Dana Vaccaro , features editor
Should we have had class Tuesday•
"I am a commuter. It was "It shouldn't have been can
slippery and the bus is ; celed. I think it was unneces
always late, and to stand •. sary for Edinboro to be can
outside for 20 minutes it was • celed too. I drove from there to
hard. You couldn't even see : be here on Tuesday for one
in front of you." • class my professor didn't show
• up for."
•
Chan Duop
DUS, 02
Governmental Affairs
recruiting students
by Brad Stewart
staff writer
Your tuition is rising. Last year it rose
by 7 percent, and it is expected to
increase by another 10 percent for 2004-
2005. Where does that money go?
According to the Governmental
Affairs Committee, the state of
Pennsylvania spends $3,460 on each
Penn State student per semester. Sound
good? $6,230 is spent per Temple
student and $5,030 for each Pitt
undergraduate. And here is the kicker—
Penn State students pay more in tuition
than Pitt or Temple.
So why are Penn Staters getting less
from the government when they are
paying more?
Since 1975, PSU has held rallies on
the steps of the state capitol in an attempt
to attract legislative attention to the topic
of tuition. This year the rally will be held
on March 22—and just like every other
year, students from all 19 of Penn State's
campuses will gather to protest the rise
Cavaliers tickets
by Lauren Packer
editor in chief
Students hoping to see the Cleveland
Cavaliers take on the Atlanta Hawks on
March 3 will have to wait another year,
or find their own way to Cleveland.
All 28 of the student tickets offered
by Behrend and the SAF fund have been
sold out, and it took just three hours:
Tickets went on sale Monday, Jan. 26
at 8 a.m. and by 11 a.m., the RUB desk's
supply had been exhausted.
The total cost of the trip is $lO and
includes a ticket to the game and free
transportation. Students will have the
chance to tour Gund arena, the
merchandise shop and receive a free
Leßron James bobblehead doll.
Michelle Barbich, coordinator of
student organizations and programs at
Behrend, was contacted by the Cavaliers
to take part in the group event.
"I talked to some students and staff
and asked them what they thought,"
Barbich said. "The response was pretty
positive so I thought, OK, I'll put in an
SAF proposal."
An oversight on Barbich's proposal
left the transportation funds short.
Barbich originally thought SAF would
fund all of the transportation cost. When
the proposal returned from SAF,
Barbich was funded for the cost of
tickets and one-half bus transportation.
"I was happy with the students
overwhelming response to the tickets,"
Barbich said. "But at the same time, I
was upset with myself and hadn't done
more research on the proposal and had
Jim Cole
BLASC, 08
Have a suggestion for Question of the Week? E-mail your question to us at: behrcoll2@aol.com
in tuition and unfair tuition distribution.
In the past, thousands of students came.
In Harrisburg, students will have the
opportunity to speak with state
representatives and senators. President
George W. Bush has been invited as well
as the five leading democratic
presidential candidates.
SGA senators Deepti Soni and
Kathleen Streaker are leading the
Behrend campaign to "Rally in the
Rotunda" (the Rotunda is the steps of the
Pennsylvania Capitol building that lead
into the legislative chambers).
With the help of their politically aware
volunteers, the SGA senators hope to
bring to students' attention that they can
make a difference.
"Politics affect everyday life," said
Streaker. "The government runs
everything. You have to play a part in
it." What part can a student play? Help
is needed to construct posters, send out
fliers, decorate hallways and eventually
to protest on the steps of the capitol
building in Harrisburg.
the opportunity to offer it to a bus load
of students."
To remedy the money dilemma,
Barbich decided to offer fewer tickets
and take school vans so that students
would not have to pay for transportation.
Thirty tickets were originally available
for students, but two tickets must go to
the drivers of the vans.
"The word was already out that tickets
were going to be $lO, even with
transportation," said Barbich. "I didn't
think feel that it would be ethically
responsible to go and then put those
tickets on sale for a higher price."
Barbich felt relatively confident when
the Cavaliers contacted her that students
would respond to this chance to see a
professional basketball game. "A lot of
students go to the basketball games here,
so why wouldn't they want to see a
professional game?"
Giving students a chance to get out
of Erie also weighed in Barbich's
decision to apply for SAF money.
"It's an opportunity for them to see a
different city and get off-campus,"
Barbich said. "It's also a time for them
to spend with their friends, or people
they don't know and maybe make new
friends."
Barbich said that this is the first time
that Behrend has offered students the
chance to see a professional team in
another major-city since she has been
at Behrend. And because of the
overwhelming demand and success of
these tickets, there is likely to be more
of the same events in neighboring cities
with professional sports teams.
N 7„.,
- ''... :,:,...., .
,
Friday, January 30, 2004
"1 was disturbed about the
lack of responsibility pertain
ing to the cancellation efforts.
Many lives, like mine, were in
jeopardy of driving here
because of the slippery road
conditions."
Ryan Deimel
MATH, 06
"It is important to get the word out,"
said Soni. The goal of the rally is to
gather enough support to press
representatives to notice that students are
a vital part of society. That is why the
SGA senators are also pushing voter
registration.
Currently, only a small percentage of
students vote. Streaker and Soni hope
to increase student involvement. If we
could get all of Behrend to vote we could
overpower the voters of Harborcreek
Township. We could elect who we
wanted. We could control Harbocreek
politically and force our representatives
to recognize students," Streaker said.
The SGA senators and their volunteers
plan to make voter registration forms
easily accessible and to set up drop boxes
in every dormitory.
If you would like to help in the
campaign to fight tuition increases you
can attend weekly meetings on
Wednesday at 4 p.m. at Reed 3. For more
information, e-mail Deepti Soni and
Kathleen Streaker at dusl43@psu.edu or
kes2B2@psu.edu.
sell out
"We may not offer a chance to go to
Cleveland next year," said Barbich. "If
Pittsburgh gets a new, hot recruit, we
might go to a hockey game. It's just a
chance to offer students additional
opportunities to get off-campus."
Barbich's contact with the Cays also
spurred students to have another
opportunity to see the Cays. Shortly
after Barbich confirmed the ticket sales
with the Cavaliers, she was again
contacted by the team. On Feb. 18,
Cleveland is hosting a sports career fair
with numerous professional teams
looking to fill internship, part-time and
full-time positions. One fee allows
Behrend students access to both the
career fair and a ticket to the Cays game
that night. However transportation is
on your own.
to watch Leßron James play
March 3.
"1 think it definitely should
have been. The two-hour
delay did not help me at all, I
still had to shovel the mounds
of snow off my car. The roads
were icy to the point I had to
make the decision to come to
class. It wasn't worth the
risk coming here."
Katie Morris
DUS, 02
The Behrend Beacon
"I thought it was ridicu
lous. I drive an hour and
a half to get here and it
took me two and a half
because of the snow. This
place should take into
consideration not every-
one lives on campus."
Christine Logan
METBD, 08
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