Vehicle Break-ins and Vandalism Under Investigation By Jennifer Hemme staff writer Behrend has had seven incidents of vehicle break-ins since the twenti eth of January. Most of the break-ins occurred in the South Apartment Lot. A wide range of items were stolen including compact discs, compact disc players, a fog light, and a turn signal lens. The investigation of these vehicle break-ins has involved the Millcreek Townships and the City of Erie Po lice Departments, as well as Behrend’s Police and Safety Services. According to Bill Donahue, manager of Police and Safety Services, “We have a very good lead at this point as to people who may have been in volved.” However, Donahue declined to name the suspects because of the Behrend tours D.C. able to supply commentary on the re alities of our national government. Dr. Speel and Dr. Davies put much time and effort into planning ac tivities for the group that would be en- From March 7to March 13, nine tertaining as well as educational. Free Behrend students spent an exciting lime was also providcd for the students week studying politics at the center (o cxplore (hcir own inle rests around of American political life, Washing- Washington students used the Wash ton DC All of the students involved j n g ton Metro System for transportation came away with a greater understand- around Washington, which was a first ing of how politics works through a ljme expcriencc for many . myriad of activities that bridged the Students were exposed to all entire political spectrum. The stu- three branches of the federal govern dents were accompanied by Dr. Rob- menl _ Xhc trjp began on a bigh no te ert Speel and Dr. Matt Davies, both wj(h a tour of Capito , Hi n on Monday, of whom are Assistant Political Set- Roaming thc us . Capitol was an ex ence Professors at Behrend, who were per j ence that everyone in the group en- Friendships formed at by Michael Frawley Assistant Editor uses cam Elizabeth Guelcher Layout Editor Geographically, Behrend might seem disconnected from the rest of the world. The closest fast food res taurant isn’t even within walking dis tance. But as far as a social life goes, Erie area students should not feel short changed. Erie is home to four major colleges: Behrend, Edinboro, Gannon, and Mercyhurst. Not only does this open up a wealth of oppor tunities for academic improvement, but also the chance for students to expand their social horizons. Do students from Behrend hang out with students from Gannon? Will students from the Boro spend their weekends with kids from the Hurst? An informal survey of students at all these schools suggests the answer is yes. The first reason is that Erie high schools feed Erie colleges. John Grippe, a freshman psychology ma jor at Gannon, has friends at all four schools. His explanation: he grew up here. John said, “I think a lot of students at the four Erie schools went to high school in Erie and just de cided to stay put for college. When you have a lot of contacts where you already live, it makes sense to start fhe Behrend eacon ongoing investigation. There have also been two cases of car vandalism that are not related to the vehicle break-ins. Police and Safety has not identified any suspects of these two cases, which may be ran dom acts or may be a result of a per sonal vendetta. In one case, the trunk of a car was dimpled with a sharp ob ject; in the other, paint on a vehical was scratched. In order to prevent break-ins, Donahue advises students to not leave items like CDs, CD players, books, or any other small things in plain view. Students may even want to remove any valuable items from their cars when they have to park for long peri ods of time. Another simple precaution, which seems to have been forgotten in some of the incidents, is to check your career there.” Grippe went on to explain the networking effect that takes place as students enter college. "I went to Mercyhurst, and a lot ot my friends went to Mercyhurst College. But some of them went to Behrend, and some ot them went to Edinboro, too. So I’ll hang out with them on the weekend, and I’ll meet some of their new friends who might not even be from Erie. You kind of develop a network of people that starts with your best friends and grows into a bigger group.” Carrie Camino, a freshman at Edinboro, agreed. “I went to McDowell, and I think most kids wanted to get out of Erie. But what ends up happening is that you meet people coming to Erie schools from other cities and you have the same experiences as the people who went away. No matter where you go, you’re going to meet new people.” The second reason area students spend time together is the size of Erie colleges. Undergraduates at University Park cannot expect to know even a frac tion a fraction of its almost 40,000 stu dents. The average enrollment of the four Erie area colleges is about 3,400. Edinboro is local school with a stu dent population of about 7,200. Mercyhurst is the smallest at about 2,900 students. Dave Reiser, a graduate student and Erie, PA 16563 Driving ross the jif e 0 f producer wnnearS Stanley Kubrick D,Ma 8« io die s Lot iHaKfc March 18 1999 Volume XLVII No. 23 S Lot, site of recent break-ins that all doors are locked. Students should also report anyone who doesn’t seem to belong in the area, is looking in cars, or is wandering around any parking lot. If students have to park their cars for long periods of time, they should during Spring Break joyed. From there, they traveled to the House and Senate office build ings, where the group was able to see where the Congressmen and Con gresswomen that they elect spend much of their time. Some of the of fices that they took the time to visit were Pennsylvania’s local Senators and Representatives; Rick Santorum, Phil English, and Arlen Spector. Also they took time to visit the office of the immortal Strom Thurmond, the oldest serving member of Congress. Dr. Speel set up meetings with Rep resentative Phil English and one of Senator Arlen Spector’s legislative aides. In these meetings, they were able to ask questions and find out local assistant hall director at Mercyhurst told the Beacon that, in his mind, the size of the schools is what most encourages interaction among stu dents. “You look at other Pennsyl vania schools in the bigger cities and you’re looking at an enrollment around lOtimesthatofErieschools. When the student body is so small, it gives you a chance to interact with kids from others schools just be cause you’re lookins for some di versity. My residents [spend a lot of time with] Gannon students.” Gannon and Mercyhurst are only about 3 miles away from each other. Behrend students, although a little bit farther away, seem to have the same habits as Mercyhurst students. Mike Hopwood, an eighth semester Communications student at Be hrend, Behrend says he met people from other area schools through mu tual friends. “As a freshman, I had friends from home over at Gannon and the more I went over there, the more people I met.” Hopwood said that being from out of town didn’t affect his social life in a negative way. When asked if he still spends time with his friends from freshman year, Hopwood said, “My friends transferred, but I still hang out with the people I met through them.” photo by Michael Frawley periodically check them for damage of any kind. These precautions may seem very obvious, but following them can save the time, money, and trouble it takes to repair a damaged vehicle or replace stolen possessions. what working on Capitol Hill was like. The final event on Capitol Hill was a photo opportunity with local Senator Rick Santorum, who after wards took time out of his busy schedule to talk with the students. Gil Jordan, 02 History, who is currently taking a political science class with Dr. Speel said, "In Dr. Specl's class we talked about these people, and it was cool to see them in person." While a great deal of time was spent learning about the legisla tive branch of the government, stu dents were also able to see some parts of the workings of the executive branch. Mike Coursey, 08 PoliSe, was able to set up a tour of the White Behrend students on the steps of the Capitol pho, ° by Mike Course y PENN Men’ ball Cham full c House on Tuesday. Even with the eight inches of snow that fell in Wash ington that day, they were still able to get into the White House. The por traits and antiques front past presi dents gave the White House a great sense of history. The group also took a tour of the Department of State Diplomatic Reception Rooms. While the Depart ment of State is housed in a very mod ern building, going up to the Diplo matic Reception Rooms on the eighth floor was like stepping back into the Colonial period. The entire floor was remodeled to give visiting dignitaries as great sense of U.S. history. Many different antiques complemented the Yankee Slugger Joe ' . >. rooms, such as a set of silver made by Paul Revere and the desk on which the Treaty of Paris, which ended the Revolutionary War, was signed. For the judiciary branch, there was to be a tour of the Supreme Court. The first attempt, which was scheduled for Monday morning, had to be postponed because of the death of former Associate Justice Harry Blackmun, who was lying in state at the Court. Justice Blackmun was fa mous for writing the Roe vs. Wade abortion decision. The group was able to finally tour the site on Thursday, D.C. cont. page 2 FIVOS ' iqqq Gui 1 d. IRABY
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