Friday, November 9, 2007
The Clarks entertained students with a free concert in Erie Hall. They played hits from their whole catalogue
Behrend nursing program to hold information session
By Molly Bonavita
staff writer
mahs3s6(a psu.edu
The nursing program at Behrend is a two-year
Associates Degree. This program consists of liberal
arts, science and a focused nursing program that
prepares students for jobs in hospitals and long
term care facilities. After earning their degree, stu
dents can take the NCLEX, which is the exam
where students can earn their licensees. The
National League accepts Penn State Behrend's
associate degree for Nursing Accrediting
Commission and the Pennsylvania State Board of
Nursing: graduates are eligible to take the national
registered nurse licensing examination administered
by the National Council of State Boards of Nursing.
This program can he completed by full time and
part-time students with 68 credits of course work.
The program, due to it being a two-year program.
is intensive and demands effort. A freshman in the
program. Ashley Gazdak. says. "The program is
hard and requires intense studying, hut as long as
you work hard, the program can he accomplished."
She also adds that the professors are vey helpful and
they soon hope to extend the program to a 4-year
associates degree. "Many of the students work at
clinical sites and hospitals, so you get real-life expe-
ImaginePlastics.com spotlights Behrend plastics
By Marcus Yeagley
contributing writer
mjyso I 2 0' psu.edu
Matthew Yeagley was once a student at Penn
State Behrend. Graduating with a degree in Plastics
Engineering, he would go on to become a Product
Engineer for International Automotive
Components. "My education and experience at
Behrend helped me jump right into my job design
ing plastic automotive components." says Yeagley.
reflecting on his time in Erie. "Many of my co
workers were surprised by how much I knew."
The Penn State Behrend Plastics Department
where Yeagley learned the skills to help start his
career is one of the most highly developed of its
kind in the United States. So much so that the web
site ImaginePlastics.com has done a profile of it.
ImaginePlastics.com, which was created with a
grant by the President's High Growth Job Training
Initiative to the U.S. Department of Labor's
Employment and Training Administration, is a
Flash page containing many videos and links to
information about various plastics engineering pro
grams. It was founded to help encourage students
and parents to think about, consider. and explore
working in the plastics industry one which is
growing at a substantial rate.
In a video targeted at parents visiting the website,
Todd Kennedy, the President of McClarin Plastics,
Inc., describes the kinds of people he believes are
fitted for the industry: "...[T]hey have a curiosity.
They see things and they think to themselves,
'Wow. I don't understand how that could possibly
be made. What are the methods? What are the
processes? How does this apply to my life?' And
they had an instinctive interest."
On the website, five students and alumni from
Keegan McGregor/THE BEHREND BEACON
rience. - Gazdak states. If vou are a hardworking
student and nursing is what you dream of. then this
is the program for you. It may he time-consuming.
hut it prepares students for the work and gives them
hands-on experience in hospitals in the community.
There will he an admissions information session
on Nov. 12 for those students who are interested in
the program. The event will he in the Otto Behrend
Science Building Room 101 at 6 p.m. There will he
faculty from the Nursing program available to
answer questions students may have about the
application process, prerequisite coursework. and
scheduling options. At the beginning of the pro
gram, there will he a short presentation that will
give an overview of the program. After, students
will he able to meet with faculty to discuss timelines
and answer any questions students may have. There
will also he a tour of the program's nursing tech
nologies and patient simulation laboratories.
"As a student. I think this information session is a
good opportunity for students to meet with profes
sor. learn more about the program. and ask any
questions they may have, - says Gazdak. T h e
program is free to all students. hut registration is
requested. This can he done by phoning the Office
of Admissions at 814-898-6 I Oft
Penn State Behrend, along with three from the
Pennsylvania College of Technology, are inter
viewed about their interests in, enthusiasm for, and
professions within the field of Plastics Engineering.
An alum of Behrend, Jason Williams. talked
about his company K-Developmental, which he
founded, and how his experiences as a child and as
a college student helped shape him into a successful
plastics engineer. "Growing up I was always a tin
kerer taking things apart," said Williams in his
video on the website. "Both my brother and I were
the same in that regard. I had model trains growing
up. I built a lot of plastic models growing up. I was
always building, building something or creating
something. And it's just kind of an extension of
that."
Tiffany Beers, who received a B.S. in plastics
engineering technology from Behrend in 2002. tells
the site of her love for her job title of "Innovator"
for Nike, Inc. "I loved this title when I got it
because it's not just an engineer, it's not just a
developer, or it's not a designer. It's a combination
of all three." She goes on to tell of her involvement
with an interchangeable airbag system for shoes.
Echoing Williams and Beers are Alicyn Rhoades,
a researcher for Southern Mississippi University,
who tells of her involvement with materials
research for plastics, Mikael Wagner. an undergrad
uate student here at Behrend, who talks of his par
ticipation in a racecar project. and lastly Lynzie
Collard, a junior, who interned at Bausch & Lomb
to help improve contact lens.
The Penn State Behrend plastics department is
located in the REDC, along with the Black School
of Business. Behrend offers seven baccalaureate
degrees and three associate degrees, along with one
minor in the Engineering field.
iN N W
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Student-run recycling program cleans up campus
By Rachel Reeves
staff trrifet
rc r 5 05 7 (a psu .ed u
As an adult student and a com
muter. the parking lots were
something that Cronmiller saw
each and every day. One trou
bling thing that he began to notice
was the amount of lit-
ter. and the lack of
means more
waste receptacles.
('ronmiller than just con-
Cronniiller observed eniencc for garbage
that the nearest trash laden commuters. "Em a
bins were a long walk 28-year old freshman. - he
away, and as a result explains. "I have a lot of
students dropped their years on people in seeing
garbage on the ground what's happening in the
or just left it in their ens ironment. - He has
cars. Especially since noticed that usually no
the weather turned. no
Cron miller's program hopes to reduce trash on campus action is taken against, lit
trek ter until it becomes an
eyesore. and he doesn't want to
see that happen at Behrend. He
has also observed that young stu
dents at Behrend could have a lit
tle more foresight. "It's just
something so easy to deal with. It
does not take a lot of effort to he
responsible of what you dispose
of and how...
across the parking lot
just to dispose of their empty cof
fee cup. The bins that were clos
est did not even separate trash and
recyclables. "The parking lots
take up such a great area. and
there's no way to get rid of things
[right now': Cronmiller says.
Cronmiller is part of the civic
responsibility freshman interest
group. His professor, Dr. Troester.
assigned a sustainahility project
for the semester. and Cronmiller
saw it as an opportunity. Along
with the rest of his group. Cori
Learn, Jessica Quiggle, Sameria
Hassan. Christian Davis and
Steven Naponic. and. with help
from campus maintenance.
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For morc inlortimtion wykw.passitonstuth.corn
Cronmiller set up 16 reocling
and trash receptacles throughout
the lower Reed parking lot.
Cronmiller said that he had had
the idea hefre. hut through the
FIG his project could get tinan
cial hacking from the campus. lie
plans to monitor the hins with his
group and account l'or how 11111C11
waste is collected by the end of
the semester. Since Oct. 28. when
the hins were set up. over 200
pounds of trash hav e heen collect
ed. So far. the project is working.
"A lot of students are actualk
becoming more responsihle in
using them. - Cronmiller says.
"I Now I it's as easy to recycle as it
is to litter.-
Cronmiller hopes that the v aste
can he turned in for profit. The
whole idea for the parking lots
bins k to take what used to he
waste. and turn it into something
the school can monitor and man
age. If. at the end of the semester.
the bins prove to he effective in
We are always looking for new talent!
The Behrend Beacon I
keeping the parking lots cleaner
and bringing in some money,
Maintcnance will take over the
project and place hins in every
parking lot. He would even like to
some hins down by the apart
ments. L‘ en though they are off
campus. the apartments produce a
huge amount of waste.
So. the next time you are
trekking through the Reed park
ing lot and finish off your coffee
or NlcDonalds. take the few extra
steps to a garbage bin. Not only
will it keep your car cleaner, but
also our campus. and ultimately.
our \\ orld.
This project