8| Behrend Beacon * October 2,2009 f 111 I www.thebehrendbeacon.com V * II I A, » » I ]/ ypf tjj SHANNON EHRIN many of the renovations that staff writer have taken place in the Reed — Union Building, there were ta- The balcony outside of bles situated on the second Bruno’s is the prime hangout floor. spot for a well-known group of Some of the tables that were students known as “the Bal- previously near the balcony conites." Even though this so- were placed downstairs, where cial group has been at Behrend the computers used to be, and for years, many students are the rest of the tables were posi probabiy unaware of them. tioned in different areas Matthew Barsody, a senior around the campus, majoring in electrical engineer- Now, there are only a few ing major and president of the small benches for people to sit Gamers Club, says that he has on and those benches cannot known of the Balconites for exactly fit more than two peo about twelve or thirteen years, pie at a time. Considering that A lot of individuals make up The Balconites are not a small this group, all with common in- group, this leaves several is terests. sues. They are chemistry majors, Many of The Balconites ei engineering majors, English ther have to stand or resort to majors, History majors, etc. sitting on the floor and making The Balconites discuss any- use of the benches as tabletops, thing from movies to video One student went as far as to games, and move a chair tutoring ses- “[The balcony] is not [oo™°™'!!]' ££ wh„ r designed for people JfS.iT £ "fec'eni.,. to hang out there...l £ w clpl use outside of OOfl t 566 WHy th©y Kris Motta Bruno’s have u 1 .1 . »» Torok, Director drawn many WOUIU GO 11131... of Student Ac more students tivities, asked to the balcony KRIS TOROK The Balconites area. Many of Director of Student Activities to move down- The Bal- stairs because conites do not find this to be a they are “obstructing walk problem and enjoy having the ways,” says Kyle Murdock, a computers in close proximity. junior majoring in political sci- However, some Balconites ence. are not so enthused. Before the “[The balcony] is not de computers, and even before signed for people to hang out STUDENT SPOTLIGHT A student's passion for the arts AARON MORELLI stall writer Allison Maino’s life is much more than academics; with a deep passion for singing, Maino is a member of Concert Choir and Chamber Singers at Behrend. As a senior, this is Maino’s fourth year in Concert Choir and her second in Cham ber Singers. “Choir has been a form of stress relief since 1 have been at Behrend,” says Maino. In High School, Maino per formed at the Carnegie Hall with her high school choir. In May, after Behrend’s Concert Choir received a $50,000 grant from a donor, Maino will be re turning with Penn State Behrend’s Concert Choir to New York to perform at the Carnegie Hall. Maino is an English literature major. To her, choir is an ex tracurricular activity and she plans her schedule around it. After college, Maino plans on becoming an English Litera ture college professor and hopes to express her belief that “English is about human emo tion and spirit, and that’s some thing everyone can relate to regardless of their major, whether it be mathematics, sci ence, or history.” She would also like to join the local philharmonic of the city that she decides to live in. Other activities and groups that Maino participates in are Tae Kwon Do, Fantasy Gamers Club, Outdoors Club, and the Matchbox Players. Maino has achieved the red belt in Tae Kwon Do. Maino also works as a Spanish and Writing Tutor in the Learning and Resource Dan Smith / The Behrend Beacon Singing has been a part of Maino's life since the sixth grade. Center. To Maino, her students, ular and well known, studies, and choir are the three One of Maino’s most memo things she values the most at rable moments from Behrend’s Behrend. One of the choir’s Concert Choir was last year in main focuses is the Young Peo- New York City. While sitting at pie’s Choir of Erie. YPC is a a Bubba Gump Restaurant, group dedicated to helping and their waitress asked them to teaching children choir from perform for the restaurant, and around ages eight to seventeen all four choral sections were represented, they all sang “In the Still of the Night.” “Through our determination, Dr. Bishop, and support from our peers, we are able to suc cessfully create beautiful music,” Maino says. choir. “On all of Dr. Bishop’s syl labi he puts, ‘Excellence is a habit.’ And I try to apply that to all my classes, tutoring, and ex tracurricular activities,” says Maino. Through the course of four years, the choir program at Behrend has become more pop- Jon Klein / The Behrend Beacon The new balcony computers are intended to be accesible to all students as a readily available source to print papers or check email. there...l don’t see why they would do that because there is no space,” Torok says. “Those tables that were out there were additional seating for Bruno’s...we felt there were plenty of seats inside Bruno’s and that area wasn’t being used as additional seating for Bruno’s all the time.” Another reason the tables were removed is “to have [the walkway] open for flow” for students going to the Academic and Career Planning Center, Torok says. Torok also notes that the benches are for short-term use only, not long-term lounge seat ing. Although Torok encourages people to use the tables down stairs as a temporary hangout, there are still not enough tables and seats for a large group of people to congregate. What is also problematic is the poor cell phone reception down stairs and lack of outlets to plug in laptops. When the tables were up stairs, they not only allowed easier access to many outlets and better cell phone service, but they were also more useful for students who commute. Sydonia Ulmer, a sophomore creative writing major and president of the Anime Club, commutes to and from Behrend and feels that the ta bles had given her a place to go in between classes. “[l] can’t go to the library be cause it’s quiet there, you can’t talk,” says Ulmer. “Down there is off from everything else and up here, everything is right here. This is the best place to be.” Torok explains, though, that the lack of a lounge area has come to the attention of the Of fice of Student Activities. Plans THE PLAYLIST Indie-rock goes mai NATHAN CARTER staff writer “No recent US alternative rock band has delved quite so deeply into the world of British folk as the Decemberists, os tensibly an acclaimed indie rock quartet big on wry, book ish narrative songs,” says Alexis Petridis from The Guardian. The Decemberists work in narrative lyricism, so they thought that it was great how her album focuses on three main characters: Margaret, her shape-shifting lover William, and a rake with ever-increasing human qualities. They’ve released three full al bums through Kill Rock Stars Records [Castaways and Cutouts (2002), Her Majesty The Decemberists played at Lollapalooza this past summer along side the headlining performance, Snoop Dogg. for a new and improved lounge area have been made and ren ovations are set to begin next May, with it opening in time for the Fall 2010 semester. This lounge will be on the first floor in the back near the vending ma chines, the computers' previous site, and the cur rent location of the WPSE radio station will be the new game room “We’re not the Balconites anymore cause we’ve got no balcony.” KYLE MURDOCK junior political science major There will be six tables and While students like the new about 96 seats available, all renovations, many prefer the within reach of outlets, and location where the computers three televisions for group or used to be. The lack of space individual video game use. lead the Balconites to agree. While this proposal finally “We’re not the Balconites gives The Balconites, as well as anymore cause we’ve got no any Behrend student, a future balcony,” says Murdock. (2003), and Picaresque (2005)] before hitting it big in Oct. 2006 with the release of The Crane Wife. The band really turned the page toward indie/folk stardom with the song “O Valencia!” The Crane Wife was released on Oct. 3, 2006, and that same night, the band performed on Late Night with Conan O’Brien - choosing “O, Valencia!” as their set song. Many of the people who watched wanted to immedi ately voice their opinion on the new band performance, so they went to National Public Radio (NPR). Their albums were pur chased and their songs listened to, and at the end of 2006, NPR listeners voted The Crane Wife best album of 2006. Free • Confidential STD TESTING - WALK IN CLINIC Erie County Department of Health 606 West Second Street (Comer of West 2nd & Cherry Streets) Monday 9:ooam -11:00am Wednesday l:00pm-3:00pm Thursday 3:oopm-s:oopm Questions? Call 451-6700 ture place to relax with friends, there are still so many months in between now and the time when reconstruction will begin. Matthew Ritz, a senior envi ronmental studies major, says, “1 do not see how they think the Reed Union Building would not turn into a hangout spot. It’s the only building that has food, seat ing, and space for many people in a central loca- nstream The band rose to media star dom, reaching an appearance on The Colbert Report to settle a debate on their “O, Valencia!” music video. Colbert claimed that he was the first to come up with the idea for that type of video, and the guitarist (Chris Funk) wanted to settle it with a guitar duel. Comically, Colbert feigned a hand injury and he ordered a substitution from Peter Frampton on camera, who took over and easily won the crowd’s vote. Later, following an orchestra accompanied tour through the U.S. under Capitol Records and playing in support of Obama in their hometown of Portland, Oregon the five-some sat down to record. Their 2009 release, The Haz ards of Love, holds an interest ing story of its own. The album is a tribute to Anne Briggs and a remake of her 1966 EP of the same name The Decemberists were formed by singer and song writer Colin Meloy in Portland. After leaving his band Tarkio, Meloy moved to Portland, Ore gon, and once there, met the rest of the band around town within the first month: Jenny Conlee (backup vocals, key boards), Chris Funk (guitar), Nate Query (bass guitar), and John Moen (drums). Interestingly enough, the band adds a song in four parts called “The Hazards of Love” because there wasn’t one on Briggs’ album. This new release brings a little bit of a southern twist to The Decemberists you may be used to, but remains an amazingly “original” CD.
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