The Behrend
Beacon
Going once, Going twice, sold
Alpha Sigma Alpha holds date auction to raise money for charity
Behrend student Rose Forrest auctions herself off for
charity.
By Angela Rush
staff writer
“Give me sixty-nine, do I hear sev
enty, seventy going once, going twice,
sold for 70 dollars.” On September 28,
the Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority held
their third annual date auction. It
proved to be a big success, with a to
tal of $829 raised to go toward the
sorority’s national philanthropies, The
Special Olympics and the S. Jane
Smith Center for children with men
tal disabilities.
The sorority made a total of $4OO
the first year, $795 last year, and this
year saw an increase once again, at
$829. Lori Betters, 05 pyschology,
said, “I expected a big turnout.” The
highest bid for a female was $7l dol
lars and the highest for a male was
What's
Inside
Voter Registration
Police and Safety
Asleep under
truck
SPC Movie:
Armageddon
Calendar of
Events
Editorial: Baseball
America's favorite
pastime
Campus News
Teen Breasts
Border patrol
sftobtlpg
Volleyball victory
$7O dollars. The lowest priced went
for only $8 dollars.
Local businesses and companies
supplied the sorority with donations.
Among the contributors were Block
buster, Burger King, The Erie Play
House, Pizza Hut, TGI Friday’s and
the list continues on. The way the
dates work is this: everyone had the
opportunity to bid on whatever per
son they wanted a date with, the high
est bidder receiving a date with that
person. The amount of money spent
to buy the date determined how good
the quality of the date would be. For
example, if someone paid $5O for a
date, they are likely to get a candle
light dinner and a movie. If someone
paid $2O they would probably get
something like movie tickets and
some food from McDonald’s.
Greg Foutz, 05 MIS, said, “It was
Parking is the topic at
Coffee with
By Ayodele Jones
managing editor
Parking! Parking and More Park
ing! Questions and concerns regard
ing this passionate subject were ad
dressed to Dr. John M. Lilley, Pro
vost and Dean of Penn State Erie -
The Behrend College. A large num
ber of students gathered in the lobby
of Perry Hall on Tuesday, Septem
ber 29, to discuss their concerns
about various topics on campus at the
first meeting of Coffee with The Pro
vost of the 1998 academic year.
Parking and the lack of available
spaces provided and set the tone for
the conversation of the evening.
Among general complaints were the
shortage of parking spaces and the
distance that many students have to
walk in order to park their car on
campus. A parking lot on the other
side of Ohio Hall (a new dormitory
which is under construction) was
supposed to be completed before stu
dents arrived for the 1998 academic
year; completion of this alternate
parking lot is now expected before
the first snowfall.
Dr. Lilley recognizes parking as a
very serious issue on campus and
said that “parking is a really tricky
problem, when it’s a pain for you it’s
a pain for me in terms of the volume
of e-mail I receive in regards to it.”
One student concerned with
Behrend’s increasing size asked
Dean Lilley “since there is no park
ing now, what are they planning to
do when Ohio Hall is completed and
there are more students on campus?”
Lilley responded with encouraging
words: “There will be an additional
three huge parking lots on the other
Erie, PA 16563
Photo by Andrea Zaffino
an interesting experience to be up
there and I encourage everyone to be
come involved.” He was bought for
$62 dollars by his girlfriend, Jacie
Wilson, 03 Theatre Comm Art, who
said, “it was very exhilarating because
it wasn’t like I really had a choice,
and it was nice knowing that my
friends were behind my back.” One
of her friends had lent her some
money so that she could have this date
with her boyfriend.
Jessica Manno, 03 Biology, com
mented that, “a lot of people attend
because it is interesting.” Peggy
Molnar, 03 Communications, said that
she had attended the previous year,
but she said, “the participants are
looking a lot better this year, and they
Auction continued
Provost
side of Ohio Hall, there will also be
an additional parking lot across Jor
dan Road for the forthcoming new
athletic complex. Once these lots are
completed there will be more than
enough adequate space.”
Students offered various opinions
on the subject of parking. Lisa Sand
ers, 03 MIS, said “Just suck it up!
Stop bitching about it because it is
not going to change. God we have a
beautiful campus and if we keep
building parking lots all we’re gonna
see is parking lots.” One student
came up with the notion that fresh
men students should not be allowed
to have cars on campus for their first
year; this would alleviate many prob
lems and give spaces to returning stu
dents. In comparison to other col
leges Lilley noted that “Our parking
is much more convenient than other
campuses.”
The quality of life on campus was
also an important concern for stu
dents. The quality of programming
at Bruno's came into question when
several students pointed out that
these events are poorly attended even
though there has been an increased
amount of audience members this se
mester. Angel Moreno, 07 BLASC,
thinks that “the money allocated to
the Student Programming Council
needs to be reallocated to Hall coun
cils so that students can have an in
put on what is programmed. As it
currently stands a select few of stu
dents gets to decide what entertains
the entire student body.” Many stu
dents remarked that they return home
during the weekends due to the lack
of social life here at Behrend. For
many in attendance, the quality and
at times the absence of entertainment
is one of the main reasons for their
October 1, 1998 Volume XLVII No. 6
Director of Engineering School
to retire next year
By Andrea Zaffino
photo editor
After many years of service to the
Behrend College, the Director of the
School of Engineering and Engineer
ing Technology, Dr. Richard
Progelhof, will be retiring at the end
of the Spring semester. Progelhof
has been working in the engineering
departments at various colleges and
universities since he completed his
PhD. When he began working at
Behrend at the beginning of this de
cade, he planned at that time on be
ing here no more than six years.
Progelhof commented, “it’s time
to retire. I’ve been continuously
working since 1962, and you don’t
have the stamina anymore.”
He continued talking about his
school and the accomplishments
achieved during his time as Director.
“I’ve been able to represent a really
good faculty ... I’ve been very proud
to serve as their director.”
While Dr. Progelhof has served as
Director, the School of Engineering
and Engineering Technology has seen
substantial growth. The student body
has grown in six years from 719 stu
dents to an enrollment of roughly
1116. The School has also received
a number of federal grants to improve
laboratory equipment and to expand
the plastics engineering program.
After retirement, Progelhof has
plans to move South. “My wife and I
have bought property in North Caro-
iage 2
current discontent at student enter
tainment programming. Lilley said,
“we are consciously trying to prevent
you from going home, because there
is some educational value in keep
ing you here, you gain new friends
and experiences.”
Library facilities and the insuffi
cient availability of books was also
brought to the attention of Dean
Lilley. Lilley acknowledged “that
the book collection is very weak, but
our electronic system is one of the
best in the nation and students should
be fully knowledgeable to access the
electronic system, it’s their best bet.”
With a wide range of issues being
addressed, students were given the
chance to vent their concerns to the
Provost. “I like this program because
it gives Dean Lilley an opportunity
to hear issues directly from the stu
dents’ mouth to his ear. Student con
cerns do not to be rerouted through
other faculty and staff, said Chris
Rizzo, Director of Student Activities.
Melina Fernandez, 03 Psychology,
thinks “the Coffees with the Provost
are actually ineffective. The univer
sity is too worried with spending
money on useless things rather than
what students care about like library
facilities."
Provost and Dean John Lilley
Dr. Richard Progelhof, Director of School Photo by Andres zamno
of Engineering and Engineering
Technology
lina, and we plan to build a house
there this winter.”
Currently there is a search commit
tee in place to find someone to fill
the Director’s position. Progelhof
says he will stay on until this is ac
complished. The chair of the search
Committee is Jack Young, associate
professor of mechanical engineering.
In the coming months, an extensive
effort will be taken to find possible
SGA postpones
Freshmen election
By Ayodele Jones
managing editor
Once again elections for the open
The reason why we came
to SGA is because the
funding wasn’t available
through the Humanities
Department.
Gretchen Foust, member of the
Matchbox Players
freshmen seats on the Student Gov
ernment Association have been post
poned for another week. Elections
will be held in the Senate next week,
Wednesday, October 7. Freshmen
candidates Michael Ames, Christo
pher Buchanan and Yolayone Merced
will have an opportunity to speak on
their particular platforms. Members
of the SGA will vote and choose two
candidates for the two open positions.
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replacements for the job. Young said,
“we have drafted up advertisements
which will be appearing though Oc
tober and November in various pub
lications and have established a web
page for information on the duties of
the position and background informa
tion on the College.”
The address to that web page is
http://eetsgoB.bd.psu.edu/
Photo by Andrea Zafflno
SGA approved the supplemental
budget with two amendments to the
original copy; The Student program
ming Council will receive $2500 in
stead of the original $5OOO, and
Matchbox players will receive $lO7O
with the obligation to pay back $3OO
worth of “seed” money. Gretchen
Foust, of Matchbox Players, 03 Busi
ness, said, “the funds we’ve been al
located will go to produce a musical
that will benefit the entire campus.
The reason why we came to SGA is
because the funding wasn’t available
through the Humanities Department.”
An open forum to discuss student
concerns will be held on October 17
in Reed 117. These forums will be
held the first Wednesday of every
month. Buck Goedicke, president of
SGA, urges students interested in
joining the Computer Advisory Com
mittee to submit a brief summary of
why they desire to be on this com
mittee and their qualifications.
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