The Behrend Beacon Behrend back in “Thon” by Will .lonian editor m chief Smcc 1977. Inter Fraternity Council/ Pan Hellinie have hosted a 48 hour dance marathon with all the proceeds going to the Four Diamonds Fund. The marathon has been fondly nicknamed "Thon" by the inhabitants of University Park and it has become nothing short of the largest studnet run philanthropy in the nation. This year. Behrend will have a sprit on the dance floor at "Thon." Up until 1497. "Thon" was strictly an event that was unique to Univer sity Park. The spring semester of 1997 marked the first time that the dance marathon was extended to in clude a couple from each of the other 1 8 Penn State campuses. In 1997. a couple from Behrend, workme at the last minute, collected [lie minimum amount of money to ipale m "Thun." Bui. in the vprine oi IWS. Beluend was the only campus m the entire Penn State Com monwealth iliat was not represented ,u ’ lh -n " llieie wtts an attempt Awards for Behrend students Sluunion Wcbct News I aI ili H' Recent 1 \ four Bell rend students re ceived General Electric internship awards lor then excellent work at GE Transportation Systems. The students that received the awards were Dale Betts, a junior electrical engineering major; George Dodworth, a senior electrical engineering major; John Park 111. a junior mechanical engineer ing major; and Celene Yanosko, a sophomore mechanical engineering major. The winners were nominated by their managers from a pool of 172 GE interns. They each exemplified qualities of leadership, self-confi dence and concern for a job well done. The winners were received a cash award of $5OO and trip to the GE Transportation Systems headquarters in Crotonville, NY, near New York City. The awards ceremony was held at the company headquarters. In response to receiving the award, George Dodworth said, “I was ex cited, honored and proud—all at once! The process of preparing a report for the award nomination was very time consuming, so it felt fantastic to know that work paid off. Of course, the idea ol an all expense paid trip to New York City didn’t sit bad with me ei ther." Celene Yanosko said, “I was sur prised because there were a lot of ap plicants for this award. I do feel that I did my job well this summer and re ally helped out my group.” Yanosko worked for the Cooling and Lubricating Department of the Diesel Engine Divison. She stated Erie, PA 16563 made by Jennifer Fontecehio lo or ganize a group of students to raise money, but she did not reeeive any help from the stu dent body and her efforts were un successful. Ac- cording to Fontecchio, "There are far too many aspects in volved with orga nizing the fund raising to leave it up to one person." Fontecchio also said, "Shortly be fore 1 became in volved in Thon, my father died from cancer and when I heard about Thon and who it benefitted 1 thought it was a great way to help those stricken with this horrible dis- F'or this spring semester. Behrend has found another couple that will that her, "Main projects of the sum mer were writing code in Visual Ba sic to run with Excel. The spreadsheet analyzed the cooling and radiator sys tem. I did a variety of other jobs in my department such as collect data from the locomotives and organize graphs." Dodworth worked as a co-op intern during the school year and through out the summer in the Unit Exchange business at GETS. He stated that. 'The Business was in the a transitional pe riod. The rather outdated computer system, that was the heart of the op eration, was being updated to the new Oracle system. I was responsible for resolving several key issues that made this transition as comfortable as pos sible for the business. Specifically, 1 was a member of a team that helped resolve overdue core returns from sev eral domestic and international cus tomers. Together, we were able to clear thousands of line items —creating manager confidence in the accuracy of the system, and collecting millions of dollars.” Both students agree that this oppor tunity will enhance their future career goals. Their experience has expanded them to a wide range jobs within engi neering. Yanosko stated that her work at GE, “Will enhance my career goals because as of now I would like to work in a design engineering position. A good thing about working at GETS is that each summer you can work in a different department. Hopefully, this summer I will get a position in a dif- Continued on Page 2 participate in "Thon,” started on February 10. The couple consists of Mike Ames and Marta Gonzalez, 07, Jennifer Fontecchio, MCC President to dance. I want to see if 1 can make the 48 hours. 1 beliese that it will be a great time and I believe it is for a great cause." At this point, over $2OO has been raised to help send our couple Colleges celebrate Winter Festival at Presque Isle Bv Elizabeth Guelcher staff w filer Last Saturday, students and staff from Behrend, Edinboro, Gannon and Mercyhurst collaborated to bring Erie residents the first actual Discover Winter at Presque Isle. Organizers have been trying for the past three years to get the event off the ground, but due to unseasonably warm temperatures and a lack of snow' and ice, it has been canceled in previous years. This year, the committee was determined to hold the event, snow or no snow. And they did. Some activities, such as ice skat ing and skiing had to be canceled, but volunteers were ready with al ternate ideas. Young visitors to the Waterworks cabins could enjoy a variety of outdoor events, including volleyball, horse drawn carriage tides, pictures with the Behrend Lion pnd the Snowman, and Twister. In door activities included arts and grafts and storytelling. In every cabin, the fires were burning to keep everyone warm. Students from Behrend’s only ser vice fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega, along with other Behrend students, Turn to page 8 ’dice and afety February 11, 1999 Volume XLVII No. 20 down to “Thon” and support the Four Diamonds Fund. Hopefully, in the fu ture, an effort will be made to make Behrend students aware of “Thon” and hopefully there will be more par ticipation in getting our couple down stated, t 0 “Thon.” manage- me n t Gonzalez “When Buck asked I thought it was very in teresting. I have been dancing I'or 14 years and I am looking for ward to it." Ames is a member of SG A. He said, "I like for Valentine’s day supplement Chat with Dr. Irwin Few young people are ever come iface to face with death. Even more :scary is the fact that in a large num tber of these deaths the “attacker” is mever seen. He reeks unbelievable !havoc on the body of his victim, with out any conscience, without any com passion and leaves behind a shell, a faint image of the person that was. The vicious attacker is cancer. In the spring of 1972, a young man inamed Christopher R. Millard lost his Ibattle with this terrible disease. When Ihe died, his parents Charles and Irma IMillard, were left to not only to cope with the death of their son, but also with the enormous medical expenses that were associated with this kind of care. Even with medical insurance Continued on Page 2 represented the school at Discover Winter. While not all of the mem bers were in attendance, some of the students who volunteered included Kim Burkey, Lindsey Myrick, Dan Roberts, Trisha Smoose, and Celene Yanosko. Yanosko commented that Alpha Phi Omega has participated in several community activities so far this school year including the trick or-treat to collect canned goods for Habitat for Humanity. She also said that the turnout for Discover Winter was a little less than what they had expected and credited the murky weather. Linda Lombardi, Acting Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Kris Motta, Assistant Director of Student Activities spearheaded the volunteer effort this year. They worked with staff members from the other schools to pull a team together and get the plans off the ground. On the subject of the turnout, Lombardi said she would have liked to see more and members of the community attend, but understood that the weather would play a role in the total number of people. Both Lombardi and Motta invite all students, not just members of Alpha Phi Omega, to join the com mittee next year. RENN Behrend B-Ball on top of AMCC standings By Jason Snyder sports editor The Penn Stale Behrend basket ball teams are both approaching the conclusion of the regular season atop the Allegheny Mountain Col legiate Conference. Both teams have hit their stride this season and are threatening to bring the AMCC hardware to the Erie Hall hard wood. The Behrend men are 16-3 over all this season, including a 6-1 record in the AMCC. They have improved on last season's record of 18-9 that saw them capture the AMCC championship. The Lions are coached by Dave Niland in his fifth season and assisted by Adam Stockwell and Ron Derian. The men have earned winning streaks of five (2) and four already this season as the year approaches its final games. The Lions have averaged oulscoring their oppo nents, 67-55. Among the main contributors for the Behrend men are senior guard Jason Paloskey who scored his 1000th career point earlier in the year. Brock Bovaird and Andy Lawrence have also stepped up their play this season and Brian Emick and Chris Hughes have pro vided a punch down low for the Lions. Contributing strongly off the bench include Nate Willson and Ahley Orris. If the men finish the regular sea son atop the AMCC standings, Erie Hall will be the home for the 1999 AMCC championships. They are 6-1 with only three conference games remaining against Pitt- Bradford, Pitt-Greensburg and Laßoche. Pitt-Bradford handed Behrend their only loss in the AMCC, 77-61. Behrend narrowly defeated Pitt-Greensburg, 51-50 and convincingly defeated Laßoche, 75-62. The Lions will also play two non-conference games against Waynesburg and Al- Bas " . t legheny. The Behrend women have also pul together an impressive season in a year that was thought to have been a rebuilding one. With a young team with no seniors, the Lady Lions have used their new tal ent to give them a 13-7 overall record, including a 6-1 mark in the AMCC. The Behrend women are coached by Rosalyn Fornari. in her sixth season, and assisted by Rob Wittman. Becky Reed and Amy Stranahan. The Lady Lions have averaged outscoring their opponents, 63-54 m their 20 games so far this season. The Behrend women have recently held a seven game winning streak to move them well above the .500 mark. The women have provided a well-balanced attack both olTen sively and defensively. Carrie Nestor has prov ided much of the leadership and has sparked the Li ons with her all-around play. Tif fany Buck and Lisa Sanders have given the Lions a strong shooting touch with Erin Phillips and Jen O'Lare bringing strength to the in side game. Off the bench for Behrend, comes a spark from Jacqueline Jackson and Kate Costan/o. Jessica McDivitl, Katie Weigold and Christine Charnock have also contributed oil the bench with some big games. The Lady Lions will also face a tough conference schedule in the fi nal weeks as they will face Pitt- B rad ford, Pill-Greensburg and Laßoche. The Lions defeated all three teams, including a 69-64 win over Pitt-Bradford, a 66-46 win over Pilt-Greensburg, and a 54-46 win over Laßoche. The AMCC Tournament will be on February 25, 27 and 28 with a possibility that it will he played in Erie Hall. Fan participation is strongly encouraged as the both the Behrend men and women are play ing for AMCC supremacy.