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.
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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