The Behrend College
C t" o 9 1998
eaAND COUJESE
0 llegrilMan.
Thursday, February 5, 1998
INSIDE...
News
Alternative Spring Break
...page 2
Calendar
"Blacks and science: ancient
page 3
Editorial
and modern"
Room for improvement at the
Behrend book store ...page 4
Campus News
Big Macs cause controversy
in Malaysia
World & Nation
Clinton job approval soars
Features
Cast chosen for Pirates of
Penzance ...page 7
Sports
Men's basketball wins seventh
straight ...page 9
SGA listens to requests for
activity fee allocations
by Joet Kolano
staff writer
SGA held their second Student Fo
rum this year last night. During the
hour long meeting, ideas about the
Student Activity Fee, parking, and
general improvement suggestions
were discussed.
The first suggestion of the night
was from Julie Cain 08, Applied
Mathematics. She thought that with
the 50th Anniversary of the college
coming up that we might have a for
mal ball. This hall would be in me
moriam of Mary Behrend who had
wanted there to he a ball. If a ball
could not be coordinated, another
suggestion was to have ballroom
dance lessons. These lessons would
be free to Behrend students (others
would be welcome for a small fee).
The most discussed suggestion of
the night was from Mike DeSantis,
06 MIS, for a new campus radio sta
tion . Key arguments for the station
were: lack of communication of on
campus events and that the station
would be good experience for com
munication majors. Dr. Chris Reber,
the Dean of Student Affairs, gave an
inside point of view concerning cost,
availability of spots, and why we do
Students get their
on sand
hands
by Mark Greenbank
stuff writer
When you open a can of mixed
nuts, why are the bigger nuts always
on top? Those who attended the lat
est presentation by the School of Sci
ence last week discovered answers to
questions like these and many more.
Last Thursday, Dr. G William
Baxter, assistant professor of physics,
presented "Sandbox Physics-the
Physics of Granular Materials" to a
gathering of young and old. Baxter
explained that granular matter has
been studied for a number of centu
ries, but due to recent successes in
experimentation, even more questions
H&SS to hire seven new faculty
page 5
page 6
The Academic Building, where offices for seven new faculty will be located next year
The School of Humanities and Social Sciences will be hiring new professors in Inte
grative Arts, History, Political Science, and Music, and three people in English.
not play music on the radio station
that we already have. He said that
the minimum that a new radio sta
tion would cost is $50,000. We do
not play music because the station
has a commercial licencse and is set
up with a business, news and sports
format. He said that another radio
station is possible but it will take a
lot of effort and money.
As expected, many issues concern
ing snow removal and the addition
of paths and staircases were brought
up. John Ream, the Director of Op
erations, was not available to reply
to the comments and questions. He
is expected to be at the next SGA
meeting on Wednesday February 11.
One complaint that was able to be
discussed was from Shannon Jones,
the President of MCC. He com
plained about the potholes in the
parking lots and Dr. Chris Reber
comfirmed that they will be repaired
as soon as the weather is better.
The Spirit Committee suggested
that the Student Activity Fee be used
for free "mocktails and coffee" as a
nonalcoholic alternative for the
weekends along with Bruno's attrac
tions.
For the science department, G
have arisen leaving scientists with
new puzzles to solve. Baxter devel
oped the scientific and industrial rea
sons for studying granular materials
while incorporating a bit of historical
research, as well as a multitude of
demonstrations.
Baxter provided a large amount of
information relating to granular ma
terials and the contributions they
make every day. Also Baxter used the
perfect level of technical and scien
tific information, pleasing the scien
tists in the audience, and without los
ing the rest of the crowd. A large num
ber turned out for the lecture, and all
were instructed to sit as close to the
Scott Moore, 06 Physics, suggested
that there be improvements made in
the astronomy division. He brought
up issues of safety, the age of the
equipment, and the effects that it
would have on divisions other than
astronomy. The telescope that they
already have is around 40 years old
and the steps and ladder that you
must use to get to it are steep and
dangerous. The astronomy depart
ment has sponsored open houses and
their turnouts have been so large that
they cannot open up the observatory.
He asked for a new telescope (for the
third, unused mount that we already
have), a C.C.D. camera, and a laptop
computer that would project images
from the observatory telescope to
Science room 101. Moore said that
these improvements could be used
by the physics department and it
would possibly give an opportunity
for more courses to be offered.
Shawn Goodwin, an SGA Sena
tor, suggested a way to keep or bring
students back to campus might be to
buy more bleachers for sports events.
Director of Athletics Brian Streeter
said that for next year five sets of
bleachers will be purchased and the
fields will have a stadium effect.
front as possible because of the large
number of demonstrations that would
be taking place. Those who arrived
late and were seated further back were
pleased to see that Baxter utilized a
camera that caught all the demonstra
tions, and projected them onto a large
screen at the front of the room. The
"hands-on" participation also aided in
the educational process, and created
a fun atmosphere that further im
pressed Baxter's points upon the au
dience. While a few of the demon
strations required special equipment,
most were simple and could easily be
and continued on sage 2
Erie, PA 16563 Published weekly by the students of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College Volume XLVI. No. 16
Scott Moore also complained
about the daycare hours. He said that
the Penn State daycare is only open
Monday through Friday until 6:30.
There is no childcare during the
weekend so if an off-campus student
were to want to come to a campus
event, they must find a babysitter.
Although the campus does not have
childcare during the weekend, there
is a list of babysitters available.
With the renovation of the Reed
Commons in March, Charles
Testrake an SGA Senator questioned
whether or not the Studio Theator
would be enlarged or put in a larger
building.
The Student Activity Fee Commit
tee will be meeting over the next two
weeks to discuss the topics that were
brought up at the Student Forum.
After that time, they will notify the
student body what they decided.
Many interesting ideas were thrown
around at the meeting. Mike
Zampetti, SGA President, an
nounced that SGA plans to hold open
forums on the first Wednesday of
every month due to their success so
far.
Gretchen Kline elected Faculty
Senate Representative
by Andrea Zaffino
editor in chief
At 2:00 yesterday afternoon, the
results were in for the Faculty Senate
elections, naming Gretchen Kline, 08
Psychology, the winner. Geoffrey
Pieper, 06 Political Science, and Jon
Crowe, 02 Computer Engineering,
also ran for the position.
Kline's term as a Faculty Senator
will begin in September '9B, however
she'll attend her first meeting at
University Park this coming April,
for the experience. As of now, Kline
is unaware of which committee she
will be serving on, she said, "I don't
think they tell you until you get down
photo by Jason Blake
Dr. Chris Reber, Dean of Student
Affairs, is excited to have Kline
reprsenting the Behrend campus,
saying, "Gretchen is an outstanding
choice as an upper division student,
she's had a lot of experience at
Behrend and can reflect that in her
discussions with colleges particularly
in the committee to which she'll be
appointed... She is articulate and
understands the needs of students,
two attributes that are important in
this position."
As of now, Kline's approach to the
postion will be to, "Go and see what
by Mark Greenbank
staff writer
The Humanities and Social Sci
ences (H&SS) school will be adding
seven new faces for the 1998-1999
academic year. While the interview
ing is still in process, and no official
announcement has been made regard
ing whom the new faculty will be, the
seven positions hoping to be filled
have been posted. The areas in which
new faculty will be placed are Politi
cal Science, Music, History, Integra
tive Arts, and English.
The school will be adding one as
sistant professor in the area of Politi
cal Science, as well as one new lec
turer in Music. Also due to a year long
sabbatical by Dr. Ralph Eckert, a new
faculty member will be added to the
history department. Additionally, one
lecturer will be added in Integrative
Arts who will add a new line and ex
plore new ways of teaching the Inte
grative Arts. "The addition of lectur
ers in Integrative Arts and English
represent an effort to replace part time
people with full time instructors,"
said Dr. Roberta Salper, director of
Humanities and Social Sciences.
The largest changes are going to
occur in the area of English. One
Assistant Professor in English will be
Dr. Roberta Salper, Director of The School of Humanities
and Social Sciences
there and then they assign you to
committees."
added who will specialize in creative
writing, as well as fiction and litera
ture. Two new lecturers will also be
added to the school with the one mem
ber specializing in English composi
tion and global literature. The other
lecturer will specialize in English and
multimedia technology. Developing
from this could be one or two new
courses, and while they will be avail
able to all H&SS students, these
courses will specifically target the
areas of English, History, and Com
munications. Many of the details are
still being worked out, but these
courses are going to deal with Web
Publishing and Desktop Publishing.
Dr. Salper also stated that "We are
looking to infuse the appropriate tech
nology into the teaching of the Hu
manities and Social Sciences."
All of the new faculty will be full
time, and the school is ensuring that
they possess an ability and a willing
ness to advise students. Finally, the
Humanities and Social Sciences
school is proposing a new Master's
degree in Applied Psychology with an
initial emphasis on Industrial Orga
nization. The University hopes that
these changes will properly benefit
the school, and meet the needs of the
students for the coming year.
photo by Jason Blake
it's like and bring back information
from meetings to Behrend and get
information and opinions as to what
I should be taking back there... to
carry the majority Behrend opinion
to University Park."
When Kline's term begins this
September she will be replacing the
current Student Faculty Senator, Julie
Cain, 08, Applied Mathematics. Cain
is very enthusiastic about Kline's
win, saying, "Gretchen will do an
excellent, excellent job, she will be
an excellent representative of the
Behrend College."