page 2 - The Behrend College Collegian. Thursday, February 12, 1998 continued Association requested $70,000 to al locate to Behrend clubs and organi zations. This is up from $50,000 last year. This money is used to support the approximately 80 clubs and orga nizations on campus. It was decided to start off at $50,000 and add more if there was extra money at the end. A major source of discussion was the funding of more activities on cam pus on the weekends. Behrend would like to bring in a well known band, on the same level as the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, which Gannon had last semester. Reber stated, "We need more large scale, fun activities, espe cially on weekends." Behrend stu dents would be able to buy tickets at a discounted rate: around ten dollars. There would also be smaller, lesser known bands such as the Gathering Field, which was here last semester, on weekends for free. Rizzo would like to see, "something big happen ing all of the time." There were tenta tive plans made to fund the large con cert and about five smaller, free con certs. There was discussion about having the Health and Wellness Center open for a walk in clinic on Saturdays. The Center proposed that it be open from 9 am to 1 p.m. This was tried several years ago, before the suites were built. The service wasn't used very much and wasn't cost efficient. It was pro posed by Brian Streeter, Director of Athletics and member of the commit tee, to reduce the hours from 9 am to 1 p.m. to 11 am to 1 p.m.. This brought up the concern of finding a nurse will ing to work for only two hours on Behrend to provide for the disabled By 1k Chan Kang staff writer Practically every door on campus is designed for disabled access. Most students might not have thought that much about the importance of this due to fortunate physical circumstances, but for disabled students such as Michael Nadolny, a sophomore stu dent majoring in mechanical engineer technologies, it is definitely one of the essential elements in his daily life. Beginning in 1990, the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) and Act 504 required institutions of higher education to modify facilities so that they are accessible to the disabled. As this new requirement was established, the Behrend administration immedi ately took action. Most students might not be familiar with the Office of Op erations and Human Resources, but they are the department that is fully in charge of the physical plant, large projects occurring in our own campus. As requirements from ADA were established, Behrend initially began with the basics, but the most signifi cant part of the program was the in stallation of the automatic doors to the buildings. Even though the law re quires administrations to "make rea sonable accommodations", there weren't specific standards nor regula tions provided, other than requiring a door with a force less than 8 lbs. photo b) ison Blake Entrances to buildings such as the Glenhill Farmhouse are now accessible to the disabled Saturdays. It was decided to ask the Health and Wellness Center for an other proposal. The weight room and equipment were a priority for discussion. Sev eral pieces of equipment need repairs, Streeter stated, "we need to maintain it [the equipment], I have tried to build it into my budget." Streeter also felt that the weight room should be open all of the time. As of now, the weight room is periodically closed to give sports teams sole access to the equip ment. Streeter commented, "When we close, we are saying something to the students." Tentatively, $4OOO was al located to the weight room for repairs and new equipment. The issue of activities for students on campus was discussed at length as were several events, such as tailgate parties in Bruno's for Penn State and other sports. Also there was a discus sion on possible formal dances and ballroom dancing lessons. Rizzo em phasized the importance of, "special events where you can do something out of the ordinary." The committee met again last Sun day to make further decisions on the suggestions. According to Reber, the preliminary decisions on where the money would be allocated were made. They came up with a budget of $189,000 that has to be reduced to $159,000. The committee will meet one more time tonight at 7 p.m. The decisions made at this meeting will still be pre liminary and students are still wel come to make suggestions, as the bud get at this point is flexible. The meet ings are open to.the public. attempts Therefore Behrend had to set a stan dard of their own by asking the ques tion, "what accommodations do we need'?" and deciding for the worst case scenario The major installations that were done in relation to the requirements were automatic doors to the buildings, restroom adjustments to proper heights of equipment, sidewalks, and signs for the handicapped. These in stallations were measured and in spected by the federal Office of Civil Rights. According to the Director of Opera tions and Human Resources, John Ream, "It is an ongoing project that began in 1986. When a request comes in from a disabled student, we jump right in. That is the primary source. About three years ago, one student raised an issue about the installation of the automatic door at Hammermill. We then made accommodation that was thought reasonable for his con cern. This is the reason why it is con sidered to be an ongoing project." Disabled students play very active roles in establishing their correspond ing needs. There are also surveys that are given to disabled students by the Associate Dean of Student Affairs, Ken Miller, concerning their needs. According to Nadolny, "There are surveys that are given, but I usually go directly to a eaker continued ease 2 butted this with the fact that there is proof such as the maps of the Egyp tians that came before Christ. Dr. Van Sertima furthered this debate by say ing that it's hard for people to accept the fact that the so called "primitive people" did something before the Europeans. After the speech, Rene Mascoll, 08 psychology, stated, "He was very knowledgeable about African Ameri can history in regards to various in ventions that we use today and take for granted. He reminded those who knew about these inventions of their roots and enlightened those who didn't know." Shannon D. Jones, President of the Multi-Cultural Council commented, "He spoke on some controversial is sues that are still being debated by scholars all over the world. However, whether you agreed with him or not, he did spark a chord in you to want to do your own research and become more familiar with what you believe concerning that subject. The major thing that sticks out in my mind is how he spoke about in the past the inven tions of many African Americans have been disregarded or other people have taken credit for their contributions. Dr. Van Sertima stressed that he was not trying to say that one group is su perior and another group is inferior, he was simply sharing evidence that he has found, that leads him to believe that ancient people of Africa were more advanced than what the schol ars and history books of today give them credit." Jones went on to say, "I was ex tremely disappointed that a member of the staff became hostile towards the speaker because they had different views on some of the issues which were spoken about. I was enraged that shortly after commenting, that indi vidual stormed out of the lecture hall. I was also embarrassed that another member of the staff was sleeping dur ing the presentation. The purpose of the different speakers that MCC in- one on one basis in requesting some thing. Inadequate service is a concern, I would have to say that the majority of it is (adequate], but there are still a little few things I wish they could change ... such as changing the en trance to the computer lab. I know it is acceptable by the ADA, but it is still somewhat inconvenient. But in most cases, I have to admit that I am served adequately. For example, since I live in Almy Hall, the only residence hall that possesses ch• acteristics catego rized under ADA, whenever I need to come down to the campus, I either call Police and Safety or other local orga nizations for transportation who all try to come as promptly as they can." Since creating facilities for disabled students is an ongoing project, the to tal cost of these installations can only be approximated. According to the Office of Operations and Human Re sources, the costs of any projects within the campus are divided into two categories: the minor projects (cost ing under $30,000) and the major projects (costing above $30,000). For the past 3 years, the combined total cost of these projects was approxi mated at $157,500. It is the administration's job to pro vide students with the facilities, but it is the students' job to let them know what is needed. As Ream states, "Handicapped or any students should make themselves known to the office, and we will certainly make accommo dations for their needs." News vites to the college is not to change people's thinking but to challenge them to think on their own and be come aware of how they feel about controversial issues. Ido think that Behrend has a long way to go before it accomplishes the goals that have been set up by the Diversity and Edu cational Equity Committee. The col lege needs more faculty and staff who promote and develop an appreciation for differences in race, ethnicity, gen der, age, physical ability, and sexual orientation. When Behrend does ac complish these goals, that is when I will believe this campus is free of barriers, both physical and attitudinal, which are discriminatory." the University in regards to the type of development that may occur. They do not want anything to detract from the look of the campus. Ream said that for the Eastside Highway plan it would run "from Shannon Rd., across the Gorge, along the north side of the fields, circle around and come across the home plate of the now girls' softball field, south of the entrance to the school and just south of the interchange of Jordan and Station roads, parallel to Station, through the middle of the Child Care Center, and back to Sta tion Rd." The Child Care Center would have to be moved to a better, more acces sible location, as the current location is in the path of the planned highway. A long term goal is to make Jordan Road a link to Knowledge Park and keep traffic at a minimum. Ream said that it is preferable that there not be any vehicular traffic on campus so that Behrend stays a pedestrian campus. Penn Dot plans to start ac quiring property in 2-3 years, begin ning with the area from the Bayfront to Sixth St. then from Sixth to Twelfth St., and finally from the in terchange to the land across from University property. Two current main concerns about traffic in this area include Station Road's danger ous curves and the difficulty of get ting in and out of the campus. Im proving on these two aspects would improve safety immensely. Behrend on White House scandal by Jon Tatalovic staff writer By now, everyone in America has heard about the Clinton sex scandal. In the early stages of the sex scandal, there was much talk about a possible impeachment. However, despite the current accusations, President Clinton appears to be gaining supporters. A Wall Street JoumaU NBC News poll showed that Clinton has the highest approval rating of his presidency. Here at Behrend, Dr. Diana Hume George, a professor of English and Women's Studies said, "I'm not inter ested in President Clinton's sexual Phone registration has its ups and downs by Andrea Zaffino editor in chief For approximately the past six years any student attending Penn State Uni versity has enjoyed the convenience of scheduling their classes by tele phone registration. Under this sys tem a student can call in what courses he or she is interested in taking and know within minutes whether the class they want is full or has space available for them. It gives every Penn State student direct access to the computer on which all courses are scheduled. In the past this benefit was not available. Before telephone registration was enacted, the process was done by a scanning form through a computer which the student filled out. If a class was completely booked all those stu dents for whom there was no room were not aware of it until months later, sometimes not until a few weeks be fore the semester began. However, with the convenience of the telephone registration, comes some problems as well. A major prob lem resulting is that students no longer are under any obligation to see their Rlice And Safety • 1:2. 02/04/98 Caller from the library reported two goats wandering around the Academic Building. 02/0 6 / 9 8 Someone put about thirty beer bottles and cans in front of his door, spilled beer on the floor and into his room, spread a banana next to the door and jammed the door shut with four pennies. 02/0 7 / 9 8 Complainant reported that she was involved in an accident on Jordan Road. 02/0 7 / 9 8 Complainant reported smell of smoke in the library. Checked the building and found everything normal 02/08/98 Complainant called for emergency transport due to a front wheel falling off his wheelchair. What sports would you like to see Behrend add, why? "Football. Because Behrend just needs a football team." "Hockey." "Bocce ball. It's fun and relaxing." -Tony Pallila, 06, Accounting "Track and field. Because I did it in high school." "Football." "Swimming. I don't know why." -Brittany Hunt, 02, DUS expresses views behavior except if it is non-consensual and/or if he lies under oath or encour ages others to do so. " When asked how she felt about Clinton's high approval rating, George responded, " I think that it's fascinat ing and astonishing and it indicates either our national attention deficit syndrome, or a sensible refusal to bother with this tripe.". Some students share similar opin ions. Nick McClearn, 02 DUS, said that impeachment of Clinton is un likely, and shouldn't even be consid ered. "I think that President Clinton shouldn't even be hassled with this is- advisors about class registration so they frequently sign up for classes they do not have the required prereq uisites for. Ideally, this should not be the case, Robert Schenker, Behrend College Registrar says, "The student is always supposed to go through the advisor, it's just the way of submit ting the registration that has changed." The problem with "growing stu dents" as Schenker calls the freshmen and sophomore students, signing up for classes they are not prepared for is that they frequently get in over their heads and end up marring their aca demic records with a poor grade for a class they weren't even required to take yet. Even for students who don't wish to go through their advisors there are ways to avoid signing up for a class they lack the prerequisites for. For each semester when the schedule of classes comes out, there is a column in the last space of the schedule out line marked "note". For each class listed there is a number that represents this "note" column. In the back of the schedule book there is a listing of what all the numbers stand for. Any -Steve Fredickson, 06, Accounting -Mike Thieroff, 06, Communications -Stephanie Jones, 02, DUS -Ron Henderson, 04, MEBD sue." It seems that a majority of the nation and segments of the Behrend community support President Clinton in the sex scandal at the White House. The current scandal started on Janu ary 17th, at the Paula Jones lawsuit when President Clinton was being questioned about Jones. He then was asked about relations with Monica Lewinsky with whom he denied hav ing a sexual relationship. Now, infor mation about recorded conversations of Lewinsky talking about her sexual relationship with President Clinton have surfaced, and prosecutor Kenneth Starr has expanded his investigation. class with a number one in this col umn is stating that a prerequisite is required. The computer program that handles student registration has certain restric tions. One of those is when they built the Penn State program, it was impos sible to include a prerequisite check of students' former classes leaving course selection to basically anything they wanted, save the graduate level courses. There is also now an on line advis ing system, Comprehensive Aca demic and Advising Information Sys tem (CAAIS) to aid students in choos ing their classes and other academic needs. However, even with this new advantage, it is still important for stu dents to see their advisors, Schenker said, "Getting the prerequisite is a matter of knowing what courses have already been offered, that information is obtained through the student's ad visor. The computer won't do it all, that is the student's responsibility." Schenker added that, "The advisee advisor relationship is extremely im portant, we have to give the advisors and students new tools for this."
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers