Friday, September 17, 2004
By, Teresa Nicolia
How is the Internet connection in your dorm?
"The Internet service in my
dorm is horrible. It doesn't
work yet. I registered about
nine days ago and talked to
three different people. They
all tell me it's just going to
'turn on'"
Jon Dunbar
BIOBD, 01
Police and Safety anticipates need for staff additions
By Bryan Spry
staff writer
Each year, Penn State Behrend
continues to grow and develop. With
the expansion of the college campus,
the size of the Police and Securities
staff at Penn State Behrend remains
the same.
As the campus continues to increase,
the lack of Police personnel in propor
tion to the size of the student body,
faculty, as well as the size of the
Behrend campus overall, could
become an issue of concern for the
nearly 1,500 full-time resident students
as well as their parents.
The campus at Penn State Behrend
employs six full time Police Officers.
The Police staff consists of one swom
MO2 Buffalo Rd, Erie
899-2313
Oine-in, Carryout & Delivery
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on dine-ln, carryout, or delivery orders. Up to 4 orders per
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■ valid only with current student ID. fj?*'
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5 6.99
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_ on dine-in. carryout, or delivery orders. Up to 4 orders per I on dine-ln, carryout, or delivery orders. Up to 4 orders per
I person. $l.OO delivery charge may apply Umited time oiler person. $l.OO delivery charge may apply Umlted time oner PSSP
■ valid only with current student ID. only with cunent student ID. '
• "My roomate has it but I
• don't. I've registered multiple
• times and talked to two techni
• dans and they said it's a
wiring problem. After they
tear through the wall and re
wire it, I'll have to register
AGAIN. It's a burden upon
my soul."
Chris Groesch
MEDVL, 01
manager, five swom police officers,
and two property protection guards
who all rotate shifts, but are on duty
twenty-four hours a day, seven days a
week.
All of these police officers are
trained and certified through the state,
giving them the same authority as the
municipal police. These officers are
also given in-service training to
maintain their certification.
James Amann, the head of the Police
and Securities services at Penn State
Behrend, has been aware of the
growing size of the Behrend campus
and the steps the Police and Securities
services, as well as the administration,
are going to have to take to compen
sate for the continuing growth and
expansion.
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825-7872
Offer available on Pan and Thin'n Crispy oust Offer available
on dine-in, carryout or delivery orders. Up to 4 orders per
person. $l.OO delivery charge may apply. Umited time offer PjTTp
valid only with current student ID. ' fJJJ*-"
"I
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5 6.99
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NKWS
"It sucks. I'm not getting any
response from the computer
center. They are giving me the
run-around."
Lisa Miller
PSHBA, 07
Have a suggestion for Question of the Week? Email your question to us at: behrcoll2@aol.com.
When asked if he thought the Police
and Securities Services were at a staff
shortage due to the size of the Behrend
campus and student body, he said, “I
think you could always use some more
officers, but due to the restraints in the
budget, it is just not possible right now.
All the needs [of Behrend] have to be
balanced out, and when the money
becomes available to us, it will
happen.”
When asked if the administration
was concerned about this matter, and
what the plans were, if any, to increase
the Police and Securities Service’s
staff, Amann said, “The administration
is very aware of this situation and they
are supportive of the staff increase.”
“Hiring has been discussed, but due
to the budget it, just can’t happen right
now.”
Creative Writer Series
starts with Evenson
First author of three at
the Smith Chapel
"It works whenever it feels
like working. It's not a big
problem to me, though,
because I'm not in my room
For now Amann and his officers are
pleased with the improvements that
have been made to the campus, such as
the newer Police and Securities
Service’s facility in Erie Hall.
Behrend students seem to feel
generally at east on campus. Engineer
ing student and resident, Jeremy Craig
said, “You constantly see the campus
police driving around and it makes you
feel good about the safety on campus.”
While the Penn State Behrend
campus has an excellent security staff
for now, something must be done to
prepare itself for the future. In this
time of uncertainty about our safety,
measures should be taken now, and at
any cost, so the safety of the students
and faculty at Behrend is not jeopar
dized.
By Brian Mitchell
staff writer
Slow but steady wins the race. Many people
have heard this from Aesop, a famous storyteller
in the ancient time,
Now Brain Evenson teaches us moral values in
his writings. Evenson, however, writes for adults
rather than kids, with lots of humor, violence and
darkness.
Evenson, the author of seven books including
“Wavering Knight,” will open the Creative Writer
Speaker Series by reading from his works on
Thursday at 6 p.m. The event will be held in the
Smith Chapel, and it’s one George Looney,
assistant professor of creative writing, is looking
forward to.
“I have seen him present before, and he has
done it very well,” said Looney. “He is the kind
of figure who embodies his work.”
Evenson will not only read from his own works
but also explain how he sees the evolution of his
short stories as a form and medium of what things
can be done that have not been done before and
shed boundaries in terms of expectations.
“I am hoping he reads something new because
I like it when writers speak about something that
no one was able to read,” said Looney.
Looney believes people will leam about the
way they view things; they will probably think
they did not have the complete take on things
before the reading.
“His stories make you see things that are
around you all the time that you do not know,”
said Looney.
According to Looney, Evenson’s works are not
only entertaining, but he presents them very well
and thoroughly. One of his stories, “Barco
Jesus,” deals with guys who are slightly “off’ and
take fundamentals of Christian beliefs and use it
to their advantage. This results in blowing up
Wal-Mart to prevent Christians from spreading
the word.
“His stories are literally laugh-out-loud, fall
down-to-your-knees funny but at the same time
disturbing due to the violence,” said Looney.
Evenson is an ex-communicated Mormon due
to the violence in his writings and the recent
divorce of his wife.
a lot."
Erin Hilla
EKED, 04
The Behrend Beacon | 3
" It's alright. It's an
inconvenience with it
always turning
off...luckily I don't need it
that much. ”
Anna Sims
MRKTG/COMB A, 05
Can you hear me now?
By Leah Burfield
contributing writer
So you just bought a new cell phone a
few months ago from Cellular One. You
signed a two year contract and love your
phone. Only you find out that they are
switching their towers to a new line of
service which will only be offered on up
dated phones which sell for more. Sound
familiar? Welcome to the world of tech
nology!
Recently, many people have been
complaining of horrible cell phone ser
vices, not just here on campus, but all
over the city of Erie.
Many situations involve not being able
to dial out or hear the person on the other
end even if your phone displays full re
ception. Checking voicemail and receiv
ing calls are just other inconveniences
added. So what is going on?
We introduce you to GSM; a new Cel
lular One Plan which is supposed to be
the best that’s yet to come. It offers ev
erything the other plans don’t along the
lines of updated free call waiting, mo
bile to mobile, roadside assistance, and
now the wireless internet. In English, the
phone has a lot of things on it, as it did
before, but has additional fun.
However, there is a downfall to this
so-called happy story. The old services
stink and to get the new plan means you
will need to open the root of all evils:
your wallet.
“In order to get the new GSM plan,
you will need to purchase a new phone
which is already updated with the net
work,” said an employee of Cellular
One. They have asked to have their name
unmentioned. “I knew in the beginning
that it would upset people and create
problems but knew I would have to deal
with it. This is my job.”
Working at a cell phone company may
not be the easiest thing to do especially
when it comes to an event like this.
“I have been called every name in the
book that I think is known to mankind.
People get upset because their phone
service is horrible. We understand
everyone’s concern which is why we are
switching towers.”
That so called tower has to do with
Dobson Tower Company. As a leading
telecommunications tower management
company, Dobson Tower works to help
expand wireless broadcast signals in a
cost efficient and productive manner al
though some customers, if not all, may
disagree.
There are 600 tower locations across
the United States. The fact that the tow
ers are now being switched over to GSM
interferes with the old networks which
then create the problems that people have
been witnessing with their phones. Com
panies such as Nextel, T-Mobile,
Cingular, AT&T Wireless work with the
Dobson Tower which may also explain
why other cell phone providers such as
these have been having the same issues.
“People complained before about the
past services, which is why we are try
ing to put a stop to it by switching over
to a better line of service,” said the em
ployee. “You have to realize that tech
nology grows more and more everyday
and to keep updated with it you have to
accept the challenge of changing with it.
Technology may change but either way
we are always here to help our custom
ers in any way possible.”