THE BEHREND BEACON
Friday, April 28, 2006
Student vandal caught on security Tamera
Above: A moment by moment account of vandalism was reportedly committed by an individual Saturday, Oct 1. Below: Vandal leaves about a three foot hole in the wall beside the campus elevator.
By Justin DeSantis
staff writer
October 7, 2005
Vandals have hit the Behrend Campus again.
Janitorial staff reported damage done in the bottom
of the stairwell. Campus police say that a large
hole was punched into the wall near the elevator.
Damage estimates weren't immediately available.
The damage will not be attributed to any one resi
dence hall due to the fact that the stair tower is
maintained by the entire campus. In fact, the only
way the campus pays for the destruction is through
the inability to use the area.
There is an on-going investigation to find out
which individual was responsible for the damage to
the wall.
Vandalism on campus is a frustrating prospect
for the Maintenance Department. They handle all
forms of vandalism done to the school that is not
covered by Housing and Food Services.
Although the problem is technically an issue that
is handled by Police and Safety, Randy Geering,
The
Behrend
Beacon
Staff
Wishes
lEveryone at
Behrend a
Happy
Summer!
Contents
News 1-4
Editorial 5-6
Student Life 7-9
Sports 10-12
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the Director of Housing and Food Services, gave
some of his own opinions on this broad issue. He
thinks that the damage appears to have been done
by a student who got a "little zealous" and he sus
pects the damage was furthered by other students.
Geering made the assumption by looking at the
hole but was unable to positively determine how
the damage was caused.
At this time, Police and Safety has said that a
student has been apprehended in connection with
the crime. There are also some suspects that have
been questioned. Police and Safety speculated that
there may be more students involved as well. The
department wouldn't make any further comments.
The Stair Tower is a part of the academic cam
pus, a broad term that refers it to the area of cam
pus not monitored by Housing and Food Services.
Placing security cameras seems to be an answer
that always comes up as a solution, but Geering
obviously wants to be able to trust the students of
the resident halls. "We don't want to create a
police state," said Geering.
Even in commonly targeted areas, the installation
Behrend student aids with Katrina clean-up
As the terrors of Hurricane Katrina hurtled towards New Orleans, the citizens of
Louisiana were warned and given orders for immediate evacuation, but no one could
have predicted the amount of damage that Katrina was about to bring. Many locals
chose to ignore the suggestions to seek safety.
Today, more than a week after the horrific storm erased what was notorious to the
New Orleans region, the problems of clean, drinking water, food, adequate shelter and
the accountability for missing persons still continues to plague locals. Once again,
Americans have underestimated the powers of foreign invaders and this time, the
forces of nature reigned supreme. Will the American government be able to rebuild the
New Orleans region so that the thousands of victimized individuals will be able to
regain the life they once knew?
Men and women from all across the nation are being sent to Louisiana to help with
clean-up efforts and their attitudes about it are nothing short of inspiring. There were a
number of students from our Behrend community that were sent to join the enormous
task of restoring peace to a devastated land. One student in particular, Adam Gorniak
of Wattsburgh, PA, was more than willing to recall his experience in the New Orleans
Faculty upset
By Christopher LaFurls
sports editor
March 24, 2006
The Penn State Senate Committee on Faculty Benefits
is releasing its summary on faculty salaries for the 2005-
2006 academic year. With the circulation of this summa
ry, Penn State is publicly announcing some of its exter
nal and internal reviews on salary issues for this academ
ic year. In addition to the release of reviews, for the first
time Penn State is releasing the ranks and salaries for the
divisions of schools at each individual campus.
With the disclosure of the figures, many faculty mem
bers who have expressed concern over some of the salary
disparity disclosed in these documents. The main area of
concern is a table detailing the differences in pay from
other divisions of Behrend and other campuses. The
release of the salary data has left many professors in
Humanities and Social Sciences wondering why they are
paid so much less.
According to the chart containing the salary data,
Associate Professors in Behrend's Humanities and
Social Science division earn a median salary of approxi
mately $62,000 a year. This figure causes two areas of
concern for many professors at Behrend. The first area
of concern is the comparison of the Humanities division
to other schools on Behrend's campus. Associate
Professors in the school of Business at Behrend earn a
median salary of $lOB,OOO, which is the highest salary
A Penn State Erie Student Publication
By Ashley Bressler
staff writer
September 9, 2005
of security cameras is not an idea that Geearing
prefers
Usually, the RA's are contacted and a meeting is
formed. The residents are called together and are
informed of the problem. "The idea is for students
to understand that there are consequences to
actions and you must take responsibility for those
actions," said Geering.
It shouldn't be seen by students as a type of pun
ishment or roundabout way for Penn State Erie to
make students pay for the repairs. The idea is to
create a community of students. This would create
a community in which the students wouldn't want
to destroy the campus.
"I think that education is the best way to correct
the behavior," said Geering. It must be kept in
mind that we need to preserve the school for the
future as well as the present.
If any students have information regarding the
acts of vandalism, they can call Police and Safety.
The fundamental goal is to make students aware of
the consequences of destroying the campus without
turning Behrend into a police state.
at revealed salary disparity
for any division of any branch campus of
Penn State. The second area of concern is
the comparison of Humanities and Social
Science professors at Behrend to those at
other branch campuses is significantly dif
ferent. For example, professors of Social
Sciences at Penn State's Abington campus
earn a median salary of approximately
$73,000, which is more than $lO,OOO higher
than the salaries of the same professors at
Behrend.
While Penn State uses these figures to
assess the range of salaries among the
branch campuses, many professors at
Behrend question the reasoning behind such
significantly different numbers. According
to a Humanities professor at Behrend who
requested anonymity in fear of reprisal, "I
believe in the concept of equal pay for
equal work." This signifies the concern of
the vast difference between the
Humanities' salaries and those of Business professors
The salary summary concludes by outlining possible
reasons for the deviation in salaries for faculty. In the
executive summary, it states, "The variability in faculty
salaries is likely due to several interactive factors includ
ing but not limited to mean years in rank, within college
discipline and departmental norms, market forces, and
merit based salary increases."
area. Gorniak is a current student at Penn State Behrend and is a business management
major, minoring in economics and marketing. Gorniak is also a proud member of the
Army National Guard and was sent to the city of Alexandria, Louisiana on Sunday.
September 4. Through a phone-interview, Adam shared his eagerness to be given this
order, and was honored to help with the clean-up efforts. Gorniak said, "I am just happy
to be down here, helping in any way I can."
When asked to explain the details of his orders, Gorniak revealed that the specifics
were not assigned yet, but his mission could include anything from clearing buildings
and searching for survivors to distributing food to the recently homeless population.
Gorniak will be in the New Orleans area for approximately 30 days, in which he will
be going from the hurricane sight to his post city, Alexandria, numerous times as efforts
to improve the area are made.
The living conditions of the National Guard have been far better than those in the
Katrina wreckage. Gorniak said, "There was no damage done to the area where we are
currently located. We have clean, running water for showering, a roof over our heads
and a bed to sleep in. We are very fortunate." He also said that the temperature in
Louisiana is very hot and almost unbearable, reaching 90 degrees or above every day.
It is certain that in the next month Adam Gorniak will be doing all that he can to ful
fill his patriotic duty and will thus comfort the lives of many Americans who have lost
everything.
UMW, Sibress fur Assistant Professors at %bread
112.000
SlOOOO -
$80.007
1160.000
$2OOOO
Robert Frank / THE BEHREND BEACON
e Behrend facult are irritated b sal. discre I encies.
) I 'o6 Vol. LIII No. 29
4.l* L
Business WET BcMernce
Since the release of the salary data by Penn State,
many professors have voiced their concern about the
obvious disparity in salaries. While many Humanities
and Social Science professors are working to formulate
an explanation for such inconsistency, they conclude that
the most they can do is talk about the facts and make
these figures known to the public. This is a possible
method and vehicle for getting their concerns to be more
concrete to the public.
Annie Sevin/THE BEHREND BEACO