CThe Behrend College m Q
ollegiaft
Thursday, April 30, 1998
photo by Jason Blake
Erie’s Bicentennial Tower rises above a warehouse on
Erie’s Presque Isle Bay (see story page 10).
SGA hears budget appeals
by Joet Kolano
staff writer
The Student Government Associa
tion wrapped up the year with the fi
nal budget allocations for next year.
Trigon members disapproved of the
allocation that they received which
fell short of their request of $4747.50.
Trigon’s purpose is to educate the
community about gay and lesbian is
sues. It is a lot harder for students to
be open about their membership in
this club because as Assistant Coor
dinator of Residence Life Dan Merson
said, “People don't risk physical vio
lence by coming out for the engineer
ing club or choir."
Trigon asked for money to provide
“brochures that will provide those
who are afraid to step forward with
information.” The brochures will be
Collegian names new
editorial staff
by Andrea Zaffino
editor in chief
The year is winding down now and
as students, faculty, and staff are get
ting ready to fulfill their summer
plans, many of the student groups on
campus are looking ahead to the Fall
semester. Just last week the new
members of SGA were confirmed and
have begun the planning for next year.
Much of the same is going on with
the student newspaper, The Collegian.
The first and most prominent
change that most will notice is the
name change of the paper to the Be
hrend College Beacon. The new edi
torial staff for next year is completely
in place. Anne Rajotte, who was the
Managing Editor for the past two se
mesters has been officially named as
the Editor in Chief, and will pick up
on her duties with an orientation is
sue at the end of August. Rajotte is
excited about her position for next
Fall and plans to continue in the spirit
of change that took place over the past
year. “I plan to continue many of the
changes started in this year’s Colle
gian,” she said.
for the students here at Behrend as
well as prospective students, high
schools, community centers, and
youth groups. Trigon President Chris
Caraballo said that his organization
wants to “create an environment
where (gay and lesbian) students feel
safe to come to.”
When it came time to decide
whether or not to grant Trigon the
$150.00 needed for their brochures,
the Greeks came to the rescue. In or
der to keep the budget balanced, the
money was taken from the “High on
the Hill” Tau Kappa Epsilon and
Theta Phi Alpha Co-sponsorship al
location. Chris Rizzo, Director of
Student Activities, said that he would
reimburse “High on the Hill” with
money from his office account.
Thanks to him, a lot of headaches
Rajotte’s previous position of Man
aging Editor will be filled by Ayodele
Jones, who was a general assignment
reporter this past year. "Ayodele is a
hard worker and will be a great asset
to the ‘Beacon’,” Rajotte says of
Jones. Jones is pleased by the chal
lenge she will be faced with next year.
Of this she said, “This is a great op
portunity for me to learn leadership
skills and to gain managerial experi
ence.”
There will be two News Editors in
place. Ik Chan Kang, who picked up
the position earlier this semester, will
be joined next year by Will Jordan
who was a beat reporter covering
weekly events this semester.
The Associate Editor, Brian
Ashbaugh, who was in charge of the
Calendar section of the paper, will be
replaced by Mark Greenbank a beat
reporter who covered articles on aca
demic programs for the paper this past
semester.
The Features Editor, Jon Stubbs, the
Sports Editor, Dylan Stewart, and the
Photography Editor, Jason Blake, will
all be resuming their current positions
Sen. Rick
hall meeting on
by Anne Rajotte
managing editor
US Senator Rick Santorum visited
Behrend on Monday morning to hold
a town hall meeting concerning so
cial security reform.
Many students and faculty plus a
few area senior citizens turned out to
hear Senator Santorum’s own ideas
for a different social security system.
Santorum, a Penn State alumni, is
preparing to introduce a bill to the
Senate that would drastically change
the social security system in the
United States. He asked the audience
if they thought that social security
would still be paying benefits when
they were ready to retire. He noted
that none of the students raised their
hands and commented, “It’s hard to
be upbeat in context to a government
that seems indifferent to your needs.’’
Santorum went on to give a brief
history of social security and why the
system needs to be changed. He em
phasized that the percentage that
people pay to social security has risen
from about $3O per year when the pro
gram began to 12.4% of income to
day.
“The temporary, but serious glitch
of the baby boom generation,” is a
were spared. Had it not been for his
offer, the Budget Committee would
have had to make many changes in
order to find funding for the new al
locations.
Trigon was also unhappy that they
were not provided with the money
needed for speakers. They had re
quested to have gay and lesbian
speakers but were told to look to
Multi-Cultural Council or the Speaker
Series, neither of which mentioned
any such speaker. MCC said that they
would look into having a joint speaker
with them, and Trigon seemed eager
to discuss this possibility.
At the close of the meeting, SGA
President Mike Zampetti said, “I’d
like to applaud the budget committee
for all their efforts.” He also thanked
everyone else for a fun and exciting
year.
for next semester’s Beacon . Layout
Editor Nathan Mitchell will be as
sisted by newcomer to the paper Rose
Forrest. Mitchell is confident that
Forrest will work out well for the up
coming semester. “I think she
(Forrest] will work out very well and
the help will surely be appreciated.”
The Editorial section will be en
hanced with six additional columnists
above the current three. Staying on
as Advertising Manager will be RJ
Frelin, who will be joined in his du
ties by Erin Edinger and Carey Smith.
Jaime Davis has been named as next
year’s Business Manager.
With everything in place on the
editorial board, the staff’s current
mission is recruiting competent re
porters to help cover important events
and issues on and around the campus.
Returning Features Editor Jon
Stubbs is looking forward to his po
sition next year, “I’m excited about
writing and editing for the paper next
year.”
Erie, PA 16563 Published weekly by the students of Penn State Erie, The Behrend College
Santorum holds town
welfare reform
major reason why the system should
be reformed, he said. He feels that an
optimistic estimation of when Social
Security will go bankrupt is 2029. He
stated that the way the social security
system has always been remedied was
to raise taxes and cut benefits. “That's
a problem for all of you... I don't think
that’s an idea anyone in working
America should support, “ he said.
“Social security for working people
is not a good deal anymore. It used to
be a great deal,” commented
Santorum. He went on to say, “Gen
erations of Americans got more out
of social security than they put in.”
He used the famous story of Ida
Fuller, who retired shortly after the
social security program was imple
mented. Ida Fuller paid only $22 into
social security, but by the time she
Improving
by Damion Miller
“The furniture is old and falling
apart," stated Josh Ennis, 02
Geoenvironmental Engineering.
Ennis thinks that it can be better, but
he got used to it. What is it that Ennis
got used to? The dormitories on cam
pus are what many students end up
getting used to. Students have been
complaining amongst themselves
about the quality of living arrange
ments in Behrend campus resi
dences
Some of the complaints range
from the quality of the furniture
to the ability to hear through the
walls. Ed Hanlan, 08 MIS, dis-
liked the rules and regulations
of the dorms. After getting into
the apartments, which are more
expensive, Hanlan would never
return to the dorms to live. One rea
son was that, “I like the kitchens”,
stated Hanlan. Jaime Ellis, 04 Inter
national Marketing, lives in Almy
Hall. Ellis stated, “I don’t think I can
go back and live in the dorms. We
have brand new furniture, so I can’t
complain.” Most students never
want to go back to the dorms after
they leave, even though it is more
convenient, cheaper, and easier to
meet people. Dan Denning, 02
Chemical Engineering, used to live
in Niagara Hall. Now Denning lives
in the suites and he said, “I like it very
much.” Denning was aware of the
benefits of living in dorms but it was
not enough to convince him to go
photo courtesy of Robert Speel
This year’s editor in chief Andrea Zaffino (right) congratulates next year’s editor in chief
Anne Rajotte (left).
staff writer
“Housing drives enrollment, if you
can’t live here, then you won’t
want to come here.”
died, she had received over $lOO,OOO
in benefits. However, Santorum added
that a majority of Americans support
the current system not because of the
benefits they will receive, but because
of the benefits their parents receive.
Santorum’s plan would partially
privatize social security. Four percent
of each dollar earned would be placed
in a personal account. That money
could then be invested in mutual funds
that would be approved by the gov
ernment. When a person retired, they
would buy an annuity with the money
that had accumulated from their in
vestments. Santorum argues, that even
if the investment returns 4.5%, which
is one percent less than an average
investment return, recipients will be
better off than under the current sys
tem. Also, any money in the account
dorms a slow process
Does anyone like the dorms?
Patrick Kramer, 02 Environmental
Resource Management, stated,
"Pretty good dorm. I don't really
mind it." Kramer lives in Niagara and
was satisfied with his quarters. From
a Resident Assistant's point of view,
“1 like dorms, I get to meet a lot of
people." stated Jason Ruhlman. 08
Mechanical Engineering. Ruhlman
is an R.A. for Lawrence Hall. Some
of his thoughts were that the dorms
were convenient, there is a lot of in-
Ed Mulfinger
Manager of Housing and Food Sendees
teraction, there are many people, the
furniture is terrible but you learned
to respect others' privacy. These two
individuals stand up for the rest of
students who feel that the dorms are
a great place to live.
Ed Mulfinger, manager of Housing
and Food Services, understands the
complaints about the furniture and the
walls. Mulfinger wants students to
know why things arc the way they
are. Some of the facts that he pointed
out are:
*The dorms have 25 year old fur-
niture in them
*Niagara Hall was built in 1970,
Lawrence in 1972, and Perry is the
oldest. Perry will be celebrating its
Volume XLVI. No. 27
would be given to survivors, instead
of to the government.
Another benefit of the new pro
gram, according to Santorum, is that
increased investments may strengthen
the economy by increasing corporate
profits. He stated that you can, "do
no worse, but you can do better."
There were mixed reactions to
Santorum’s ideas. Helen Brown, the
21st congressional district American
Association of Retired Persons rep
resentative, commented. "Communi
ties are beginning to talk about it.
Something does need to be done."
Christian Maguire, 04 accounting,
stated, “I think it is a good idea be
cause our generation will have social
security income when we retire as
opposed to the present system, where
we won’t
30th anniversary, it was built in 1968.
*The walls and doors are specially
made to resist fire. (They arc sup
posed to contain a fire inside of a
room).
*There are concrete walls because
they are great (or (Ire protection.
The dorms are old. admitted
Mulfinger, hut he wanted to point out
that there were projects underway to
bring the old dorms up to date. For
example:
*1995-1996, The bathroom parti
tions were put up in Ferry &
Lawrence Hall.
* 1995-1996, The lobby fur
niture of Perry was replaced.
*1995-1996. The lobby fur
niture of Niagara and the chairs
of the Apartments were reuphol-
stered.
*1995-1996.150 new mat
tresses were bought, and more
will be bought every other year from
then on.
*The heat in Perry was repiped so
that students had their own individual
regulators. Before, there were 2 regu
lators per floor in Perry. That meant
that if one student changed the tem
perature everyone could feel the ef
fect on that end of the hall.
*The lobbies received new carpets,
and 10 new carpets and 24 new doors
were put in the apartments.
Everything that housing does is
based upon its budget. Furniture and
equipment is replaced based upon
how bad and old it is. Most of the
Dorms continued on page 2