| The Behrend Beacon
Say ‘CIAO’ to new
club on campus
by Lori DeFabio
student life editor
Interested in Italian culture? Want
to meet to some new friends? Join
the newly formed Collegiate Italian
American Organization.
The idea to form a club promot
ing Italian culture came from Nick
LoGalbo 06 FNC. He approached
Jenna Boazzo with the idea and the
two began recruiting members and
developing the club constitution un
der direction of the club's faculty
advisor. Dr. Mark Bestoso.
“There are a lot of Italian-Ameri
cans on campus that were not being
represented by MCC and Italian cul
ture is not just for Italians; it’s for
the world,” said LoGalbo,
The Collegiate Italian American
Organization (CIAO) began recruit
ing members last semester but is cur
rently not an approved Behrend club
because SGA has yet to vote. SGA
should be voting on CIAO’s pro
posal within the next few weeks.
Unlike most clubs on campus,
CIAO will not be collecting dues
from its members. “No dues will be
collected because this club is more
than cultural diversity; we’re mainly
interested in doing community ser
vice,” said LoGalbo.
CIAO will begin its community
service projects Monday by volun
teering at St. Paul's Soup Kitchen
and a Bocce tournament for charity
is being planned. CIAO members
have also been discussing co-spon
soring activities with other Behrend
clubs, including Matchbox Players
and Screen Visions. Activities such
as a picnic with bocce and flag foot-
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CONTRIBIITr-D I’HOTO
The newly formed Collegiate Italian American Organization will be meeting on
Wednesdays at 7:00 p.m. CIAO is planning many community projects and ways to
promote Italian culture.
ball games, spaghetti dinners and
poker tournaments are also being
discussed
CIAO currently has about 16 ac
tive members, including President
Nick LoGalbo, Vice President Jenna
Boazzo 06 MANGT, Treasurer Dom
Caimano 08 ND and Secretary
Lauren Breskovich MANGT 06.
Officers were elected last semester
and elections for next year’s CIAO
officers will take place later this
spring.
Boazzo chose to accept nomina
tion of vice president because, like
many other Italian-Americans on
campus, she thought that CIAO
would he a good way to promote
Italian culture.
Cam
us Activiti
“Heritage is a big part of my life;
I’m 100 percent Italian. When we
started, we were small and I thought
it was a good idea to promote Ital
ian heritage on this campus,” said
Boazzo.
The club is open to everyone re
gardless of whether the person is of
Italian heritage.
“Even though I’m not Italian, I de
cided to join CIAO because many of
my friends are Italian and I wanted
to learn more about their heritage,”
said Jess Gogal 08, BECON.
CIAO will hold its next meeting
on Jan. 19 at 7:00 with location to
be announced. For more informa
tion, contact Nick LoGalbo at
nxl9o4@psu.edu or x 2082.
Behrend Students
get 'Reality Check'
by Crystal Chisholm
staff writer
Reality Check is a service organization
on campus that pledges its time to helping
people whose lifestyles are drastically dif
ferent from many of our own. During the
course of every school year Reality Check
offers students the opportunity to travel to
various cities in the United States during
either Spring or Winter break as volunteers,
and this year, the club traveled to New York
City.
On Jan. 2, Penn State provided a bus for
official members of the club, as well as
other students in the Behrend community,
to travel to New York City for a six day,
five night experience unlike any other.
Though the group stayed in a hostel in
Manhattan, the real work began in a to
tally different area of New York City. [lur
ing their week long stay, the club worked
with another outreach organization on
Statten Island called Project Hospitality.
Project Hospitality is a non-profit organi
zation that serves as a soup kitchen, food
pantry and shelter for abused women.
Stephanie Kencht, a sixth semester Bi
ology major, and member of Reality Check
said that it was an experience she will never
forget. “What made the trip so valuable
for me was the interaction with people, and
with the volunteers. Working with Reality
Check gives you the chance to meet people
from all over the world, and in turn helps
you to become more aware of the world -
more than just what’s in front of you,”.
Oftentimes, people have the mindset that
serving others is a hassle, and are usually
made to feel guilty or called lazy because
they choose not to participate. However,
the members of Reality Check view their
Next week will
u u Words," a
Friday, January 15, 2005
Usually when students here the phrase
“service project,” they immediately think
of the community service requirement they
needed to fulfill in high school in order to
graduate, but Reality Check is about more
than just spending an hour at a soup kitchen.
What makes Reality Check so special is that
it gives students the opportunity to experi
ence reality not through their own under
standing, but as it is for those without a
voice; people who have been easily forgot
ten and overlooked by society.
“Community Service projects such as
this help people to realize their role not just
in a small community like Penn State, but
their role in the world as well,” said Kencht.
Ultimately, by volunteering their time, stu
dents gain new found knowledge about
themselves and have a better appreciation
for those they aid in their communities.
If you would like to attend the service
project Reality Check in planning for their
upcoming spring break trip to Baltimore
and Jacksonville, FI., you can contact
De’Adra Walker, president of the organi
zation.
service projects in a totally different light.
They realize that because they share their
time with others, their perception of the
world changes because of the encounters
they have with people they wouldn’t nor
mally associate with. One of the biggest
misconceptions about people who come to
soup kitchens or clothing drives is that they
are either lazy and don’t want to get a job,
or have had an addiction they couldn’t over
come, causing them to turn to outreach or
ganizations such as Project Hospitality.
Most times, Kencht says, “The people that
come to the shelters are people with good
lives that have been interrupted by an un
fortunate event.”
roject
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