The Behrend Beacon University Faculty Senate gives students a break By Will Jordan news editor Yesterday, October 27th, the Uni versity Faculty Senate accepted the proposal of two class-free days which will be added to Penn State s aca demic calendar in mid-October start ing in 1999. The two-day break will be held on Monday and Tuesday in the eighth week ol the Fall semester, October 11th anti 12th However, with the acceptance of the proposal, the day on which classes start will be moved up one day. This means that the first day of classes in 1999 will he August 24th. The proposal for a two-day break began with students and was sent to the Senate's committees on under graduate education and University planning. The proposal involved con sultation with University administra tors, including the Registrar's Olfice, and research into the calendars of other colleges and universities. The two days are not going to he called a "fall break," however, because the addition of the two class- free days would not mean two days off for Penn State faculty and staff. The calendar change will not have Profile: SGA President Buck Goedicke By Ayodele Jones managing editor In your own words, can you please describe the main objective of the Student Government Association? SGA is there for the students. I want SGA to be as compatible with students as possible. I want them to be able to come to the SGA suites, and if they have any problems, discuss them with SGA. How do you plan to improve the re lationship between SGA and the stu dent body? I have been currently going to differ ent organizations, different meetings, asking them if they have any ques tions. So far 1 have gone to the Na- Erie, PA 16563 a major effect on the number of hours students spend in class. Since the pro posal was accepted, the University will begin its academic calendar a day earlier than it currently does. Even with the change, Penn State will still be tied for the number one spot among Big Ten universities in the number of class hours taught each semester. The proposal is intended to help re duce the stress levels of Penn State students, especially first-year stu dents, who over the years have been increasingly vocal about the pressures of classes, studying and in some cases non-academic jobs. Leonard Berkowitz, Senate chair and associate professor of philosophy at Penn State York, said that it is “a way to help a bit in the middle of the semester.'' Ken Miller, Acting Dean of Student Affairs at Behrend, said, "it's a great victory for the Council of Common wealth Student Governments and the Student Government Associations. It does give us one day less of orienta tion for new students, but we will just have to compress the orientation pro cess. It gives students something to look forward to." Dr. Zach Irwin, Associate Profes- tional Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the Organization for Latin American Students (OLAS), the Multi-Cultural Council (MCC), Inter fraternity Council (IFC), the Pan-Hel lenic Council, Student Programming Council and Commuter Council. And I am planning on going to as many clubs and organizations throughout the year as possible. How do you plan to stir or initiate student interest in activities at Behrend and campus life? I am going to try to advertise for what is already going on campus, as much as I can. Because some students have complained to me that the funds for advertising aren’t all that great right sor of Political Science at Behrend and elected senator to the University Faculty Senate, said, "I supported the proposal. What made the difference for me were the student representa tives who spoke in favor of it. I think the way that it is designed, it mini mizes the impact on the calendar. I felt that some of the documentation in the agenda was very supportive and very strong." Matt Elias, 04 Meteorology, said, “the break would be nice Other lo cal colleges have a break and I think that it is about time we jumped on the bandwagon. Honestly, a small breather after two continuous months of school would be extremely benefi cial to the performance of the student body as a whole." Angelique Parker, 03 MIS, said, "I think the break would be a good idea basically because I know that many students, including myself, become stressed during Fall semester. I be lieve that the students would benefit from the break because its something to look forward to rather than just mid-terms." photo by Andrea Zaftino What are some of the major initia tives or problems that you as SGA president plan to tackle? At the end of this semester we’re hav ing a book “co-op” to sell used school books, hopefully driving down the prices for the different students. We are trying to get students involved in any way that I possibly can in their surroundings. Getting them to want to participate, like having different events that people want to go to. How would you describe the semes ter so far? Well, I definitely think it’s at a right start, considering what we have ac complished so far. We’ve worked out the preliminaries for the book co-op, I am currently forming a computer pennState October 29, 1998 Volume XLVII No “Babe Magnets” march off to the Battle of The Homecoming Weekend - see page 7 for story. Proposed rehab center near campus causes controversy By Anne Rajottc editor in chief An empty building on 38th street might have some new tenants if the Gateway Program of Pittsburgh wins their appeal for a zoning certificate. The Gateway Program, a drug and aiathoi rehabilitation center for parol ees of Pennsylvania state prisons, had planned to set up a facility in the now empty building located up the street from Behrend’s Sigma Kappa Nu fra ternity house. The area where the building is lo cated is zoned as a hospital zone. The Gateway Program was originally given a permit, but, “as more infor mation became available, by their own admission, it became evident that this was going to be used by the De partment of Corrections,” stated Rick Hall, planning and zoning commis sioner for Harborcreek Township. He went on to say, “this change was not considered a permitted use.” Harborcreek revoked Gateway’s zon- ing certificate. The Gateway program consists of advisory committee that will work with the faculty. I think I created an atmosphere in which students will go to SGA meetings. What would you define as your ma jor responsibilities to the students? Making sure that the student’s voices are heard to whoever has to hear the problem or the idea. What is currently going on with en couraging development across Sta tion Road in terms of alternative choices for food and entertainment? Currently, two MBA students pur chased it, and they plan on having some sort of food establishment. I don't know if it is a restaurant, but something like that. But it isn’t going to be affected until the water and sewer come up. That was our major prob lem last year. What would you say or describe as SGA’s major accomplishments so far (in terms of the semester)? Like I said previously, the computer advisory committee, that gives the stu dents more input on computer facili ties, we are also having an open fo rum next week to talk about the de velopment on campus. Just keeping the students involved. Do you think SGA is fully represen tative of the Behrend community when more than half of its Senators are affiliated with sororities and fra- exes a inmates recently released from a state prison. According to Pat Lightner. program director of Gateway, all in the people in the program are Eric residents. The facility would house about 50 residents including both men and women. In response to some concerns that local residents might have, Lightner stated that the Gateway residents, “won't present any danger." She also stated that the participants in this pro gram go through a very vigorous screening process. “The Department of Corrections and the Gateway Pro gram has not accepted sex offenders, murderers, or arsonists,” she said. The Gateway Program has another facility located in Alaquippa, Penn sylvania. Lightner stated that no resi dent from that facility has committed a crime while in the program. The Gateway Program is appealing the revocation of their zoning certifi cate. Lightner commented, “our be lief is that it is an appropriate use. We are pretty confident that our legal po sition is strong." ternities? The Senate is students, okay? It doesn’t matter if they are affiliated with a fraternity or sorority. They are still trying to get the views of students who are not Greeks, they are trying to promote their ideas also. So it doesn't matter if it’s Greek. Have there been any major prob lems, or what would you describe as the hardest feat to accomplish this semester? Homecoming was kind of dishearten ing, I went to the dance on Saturday and there was a total of twenty people, that was including the king and queen. I felt bad about all the work and en ergy that went into it, and only twenty people showed up. In addition there was only a small amount of organiza tions at the carnival, not that many organizations participated. What do you want to be remem bered for as SGA president? The person that started getting partici pation back from students. I want people to want to participate at Be hrend. Student Government Association is created for the students by the students and as a reminder Goedicke noted “That I am the voice of the students, I would like students to actually come to me, speak what they have, so that I could actually help them. m&m -oct - 9 im KHflffyu u'iu h> ÜBfIARV Greg Yetter is an Erie resident who lives close to the abandoned building. He is opposed to the Gateway Pro gram being located so close to his community. "We are concerned lor the safety of our children and the eld erly.” Yetter said the fact that other Gateway programs have not caused any harm to their surrounding com munities, “doesn’t make us feel any better.” Lightner believes that “there are misconceptions about corrections," and the facility "won’t present any danger." If Harborcreek denies Gateway’s appeal for a zoning permit, their next step would be to take it to the Court of Common Pleas. Likewise, that would be the next step for citizens like Yetter if the Gateway program wins their appeal. "We are willing to fight it that far," Yetter stated. What's Inside Police and Safety: j Suspicious men in I camouflage Page 3. SPC Movie: The Crow Calendar of Events Page 4 Editorial: Religious Right and abortion Campus News Monkeys escape! Pleasantville review Page 10 Cross Country 2nd at AMCC
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