CThe Behrend College ollegian Thursday, April 2, 1998 Students discuss campus issues with Dean Lilley Pro,yost end F.,),? R rA,„.k2t1, 9 , Housing problems, Homecoming debated at SGA open forum by Joet Kolano staff writer After the disappointing turnout at last month's SGA Student Forum, the turnout at last night's meeting lifted the members' spirits. SGA President Mike Zampetti expressed his grati tude by saying "Thank you for com ing out of the kindness of your hearts... or because your sorority forced you to." Senate member Allison McNutt started the forum by bringing up the infamous potholes in the upper park ing lot. Paul Moore, Interfraternity Council President, quickly defended the maintenance crews by stating that they are supposed to be repaired this summer. Zampetti also aided Moore by saying the reason that the potholes have not been fixed is due to the planned construction of Ohio Hall that will cause the parking lot to be a mess anyway. In an update from Zampetti about the letter that was sent to all of the professors concerning the book prices, he said that he had received mixed responses. Some of the pro fessors were annoyed that SGA had the nerve to criticize them for their book selections. On the other hand, some seemed to be sympathetic to ward the students. One suggestion was to send out a letter to all of the elected officials in the area about the controversy and then post how they respond to the situation. Then, when the time came for them to be re elected, the Behrend students could take into account how the officials re sponded to the price of books. Ac cording to Zampetti, the main prob lem concerning the book prices is that the publishers have a monopoly on the books. Also, the bookstore is sup- Happy April Fool's! The Collision is an annual April Fool's edition. To the best of our knowledge, all of the articles within the 10 pages of the real edition of The Collegian are accurate, and all ads are real. photo by Jason Blake posed to sell books at the list price recommended by publishers. How ever, there have been instances where the amount has exceeded that and a professor has made the bookstore re imburse students. Next, Kris Motta, Assistant Direc tor of Student Activities, asked for any and all band suggestions. Small or large, she wanted to know what the Behrend students wish to have come entertain them. Motta said that there would be a committee to find out what kind of music, specific bands, and how much students would be willing to pay to hear a particular band. From the students at the forum, there was a consensus that no one wanted to see a country band perform. "How do you feel about Homecom ing?" Zampetti asked. The reply from Kerry Hinkson: "It sucks!" which was followed by a burst of laughter from everyone attending the forum. Zampetti thought that maybe a "Re venge of the Nerds"-type Greek Olympics would be a good idea. This would not be limited to Greeks only. It would be a team oriented event. Secretary of SGA Michelle Benjamin said that there needs to be more par ticipation of all the students, not just the Greeks. This comment was quickly followed by an outburst in the back of the auditorium that, "Greek participation is what Homecoming is all about! We do need more involve ment with the Greeks." Then, every one was on the defense trying to cor rect what they had said so as to not offend anyone. The general feeling was that we need more participation in Homecoming from everyone, Greek and non-Greek alike. SGA continued on by Andrea Zaino editor in chief Last evening at 7:00 was the April Ist edition of the Coffee with the Pro vost. To begin the meeting, Provost and Dean John Lilley went around in the circle of students and asked them to introduce themselves and give their major and where they were from. As Lilley put it, "I like knowing all about you [the students]." Next he asked each student to name their favorite pro fessor. Some of those named were Dr. Pamela Botts, Dr. Eric Corty and Dr. Robert Speel. Lilley said that the students attend ing the forum were acting as sort of a focus group for the campus. Next he asked each student to name what their favorite thing about Behrend is. Most Campus catering by Damion Miller staff writer "What stinks is... we never get an estimate or cost per item list," said Jennifer Fontecchio, 06 History, sec retary of the Multicultural Council. Complaints about the true "Penn Stateopoly" have risen due to the pro cedures that need to be taken in order to serve food. President of the Multicultural Council, Shannon Jones, 08 Psychology, stated that the policy was that clubs or organizations can only get food from an outside ca terer if there is a donated 1 million dollar insurance policy and if the food is cheaper. Jones said, "Housing tries to cut deals and compromise but the prices are still expensive." Policy numbers AD26 and AD27 reserve the right for the dispensing of food on campus to Housing and Food Services. "The reason for that is li ability," stated Ed Mulfinger, Head of Housing and Food Services. Mulfinger said that Housing and Food Services cannot allow the distribution of food that might spoil by anyone without an insurance policy. In order for off-campus caterers to serve food on-campus, they must first fill out let ters of insurance and liability forms in order to release Penn State from Profile: Student by Scott Warotka staff writer You have undoubtedly seen him on campus. You have probably seen him in the Reed Union Building. He regu larly attends meetings for various stu dent activities. But who is the "guy with the goatee?" What is his job? His name is Chris Rizzo and he is currently the Director of Student Ac tivities at the Reed Building here at Behrend. In this position, he oversees all programs that help to support the growth of students through various co-curricular activities. These activi ties range from advising the Inter Fra ternity Council and Student Govern ment Association to serving on the committee that allocates funding from the Student Activity Fee. With such a broad range of activi ties, Rizzo works longer than the typi cal nine-to-five schedule. Many, if not most of the clubs and organizations on campus conduct meetings after business hours. However, he does not view this has a negative. Rizzo says, "That is the nature of the position. I get great satisfaction from the posi tion because it is so eclectic." Matt Erie, PA 16563 Published weekly by the students of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College Volume XLVI. No. 23 people said they liked the scenery and individuality of the campus the most. Ron Slomski, 04 Political Science/ History, said, "I like the people in general the most, and as far as pro fessors, I've never had any trouble getting extra help." Andy Grupp, 06 Biology, said, "I walk around this campus and easily know most of the people I see, also I like the Professor/ student ratio." Later in the meeting students in quired about the multi-purpose build ing that is planned for the year 2000. Roxzana Kelly, 08 Psychology, asked, "What will happen to Erie Hall after the multi-purpose building is in use? - Lilley answered that it is not entirely clear but the bottom floor may be used for classrooms and the top floor will groups want more options liability. "It's not just a Behrend thing, it's university wide," said Fontecchio. "At the Commonwealth Campus Stu dent Government all campuses have expressed how they have been hav ing problems with the housing and food services," stated Fontecchio. Dr. 'Chrisßelxr, Dean orStu4ent Affairs, said that throughout Penn State qual ity control was an issue. "Any food served on University property must be safe and high in quality," pointed out Reber. Reber did not deny that the prices were sometimes high but said it was only to ensure quality. "What is served must be up to par," said Reber. Fontecchio said, "As far as quality, the food is good but not for the price." However, Michelle Benjamin, 06 BLASC, secretary of the Student Government Association, didn't feel that the food was always up to par. Benjamin said that SGA only had open forums, but at the fo rums cookies and juice were served. "The cookies are stale and the punch is weak, hopefully new businesses will clear up the problem, because there's nothing that we can do about it now," said Benjamin. SGA has a new program called "Charge 1," which will try to attract Chris Rizzo, Director of Activities Bouts, 06 Communications, is the former president of IFC. Boarts said that, "Chris devotes countless hours to IFC alone." Rizzo believes that the best aspect of his position is working with students. He enjoys helping stu dents' plans go from "...creation to execution." He hopes to "... encour age students to get involved and to stay involved." Rizzo says that there are not many aspects of his job that he dislikes. He does say that it is frustrating that some of his other responsibilities detract from the time he can spend working with students. Rizzo came to Behrend in 1992. Initially, he held the position of Co ordinator of Residence Life. In the fall of 1994, he assumed his current posi tion. Since arriving, Rizzo believes that Behrend has made many changes for the better. In addition to the ad vancements in service programming and support for organizations, Rizzo says the Reed Building itself has changed. "The growth of the Reed Building has led to it becoming a con ference center." be for intramural sports. Then Kelly asked if the new complex would bring a wider range of sports teams, in par ticular swimming. Lilley answered that yes, with the addition of a new swimming pool a swim team will surely develop. Some students brought up inquir ies that were addressed at the SGA fo rum which occurred earlier that night. One suggestion was for the apart ments to be identified differently. Ed Mulfinger, Director of Housing and Food Services, talked about lighting the names of the apartment buildings and numbering each apartment I -8 so that students referred to them by name instead of by number. Another complaint was brought up about a policy against writing on the businesses closer to campus when the new Penn State road and land devel opment starts. This will stop the mo nopoly of housing and food services with the new eateries. Mulfinger is aware of how housing and food is known as a monopoly but it was pointed out how the billing structure for student or RA events is cheaper than for the staff. Housing and food services doesn't lose money; instead they break even in order to give as much possible to the students. "We are here for the students," stated Mulfinger. The main problem that the organi zations find is that, "We'll tell how much money we have ahead of time and they still charge more," stated Jones. "If we knew ahead of time the price of items we can make adjust ments to stay in the budget," said Fontecchio. Benjamin stated an ex ample of the problem when MCC was quoted one price but when the dinner came there was another price. "If or ganizations wait for the last minute to tell about the event it costs more," stated Mulfinger. Mulfinger and Reber both pointed out why the cost of catering events would go up. "There are outside costs. That is a rea son it costs more," stated Mulfinger. Chris Rizzo sidewalks with chalk. Dean Lilley said, "I didn't know we had a rule against chalk. - Dr. Chris Reber, Dean of Student Affairs, said there was a chalk policy because, "It can he very unsightly and maintenance can he difticult." Another issue was the computers in the dormitories. Lilfey explained that soon there will no longer be any use for modems in the dorms because every room will have automatic ac cess to the ethernet and all students will have to do is call housing and request to be set up. Toward the end of the meeting a lot of the students made complaints about the housing situation and how diffi cult it is to get into the suites and apartments. There was also discus sion about where to put the freshman. Housing and food services makes bids for food purchases at the end of each week in order to have the cheapest price for the food. When companies send their prices back to Housing, they use the cheapest retailer. How ever, when requests for dinners are brought to Housing late, the only choice left is to pay the retail price at the supermarket, instead of buying hulk. The cost of the catered event will then reflect the cost of buying the items from the supermarket rather than by hulk. Other expenses include: labor (paying workers overtime), transportation (bringing the food to the event), linen (expensive), and fur niture. Reber pointed out that in order to cut cost the organizations could do things themselves. For example past groups have worked overnight to set up for the event, prepared certain foods themselves, and have even transported the food themselves. To cut cost, housing will also use things that were already planned for the menu. "Our catering can do a wide range of things," said Reber. In order to satisfy both ends of the stick, Reber states. "Plan ahead and work with Housing and Food." photo by Jason Blake
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