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Ei PA 16563 August 20, 1999 Volume XLVIII No. 1
Orientation ‘99
“Putting the Pieces Together to Build a Great Future ”
by Jason Snyder
editor-in-chief
Orientation '99 will open its activi
ties for Behrend's soon to be first
freshman class of the new millennium
on Saturday, August 21.
New Student Orientation Directors,
Mr. Terry Brand and Ms. Jessica
Manno, along with Ms. Kristina
Motta, Assistant Director of Student
Activities, have put together a staff
of 62 Behrend students to plan and
organize this year's activities.
This year’s New Students Orienta
tion Committee’s goal for Orientation
‘99 is to guide the new faces in the
Behrend community in "Putting the
Pieces Together to Build a Great Fu-
Dr. Porac to head Humanities
and Social Sciences
by Mike Frawley
assistant editor
The School of Humanities and
Social Sciences had to run all of last
year without a permanent director, but
after an exhausting search, a new
director has finally been chosen. The
new director will be Dr. Clare Porac,
a native of Pittsburgh and a Professor
of Psychology at Victoria University.
She was chosen by the Search
Committee after a long and
exhausting process. After the
interviewing, many very qualified
applicants of the Search Committee
deemed Dr. Porac to be the most
qualified for the position. The Search
Committee consisted of Dr. Dawn
Blasko, Assistant Professor of
Psychology; Dr. Sharon Dale,
Associate Professor of Art History;
Dr. John Gamble, Professor of
Political Science and International
Law; Dr. Diana Hume George, Chair
of the Search Committee and
Professor of English andVomen’s
Studies; Dr. Ann Pancake, Assistant
Professor of Creative Writing and
Literature; Dr. John Rossi, Associate
Professor of History; Mr. Brian
Streeter, Athletics Director; Dr. Rod
Troester, Associate Professor of
Speech Communication; apd Dr.
Kathryn Wolfe, Associate Prfofessor
of French, chose the best applicant for
the position.
Dr. Porac currently is Professor of
Psychology at the University of
Victoria. The University of Victoria
is located in Victoria, British
Columbia, Canada. She was born in
Pittsburgh, which gives her ties to the
local area to compliment her
qualifications. She received her B.A.
from Duquesne University in
Sociology, and received her Ph.D. in
Psychology from The Graduate
Faculty of the New School for Social
Research in New York City. She has
s'* /
<o^
Activities have been planned for the
entire week, dating to Sunday, August
29. However the heart of Orientation
is scheduled for this weekend. Eight
activities have been required to attend
for all incoming freshmen, beginning
with the Academic Convocation on the
Reed Union Building Front Lawn at
3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
The Commuter / Returning Adult
Student Reception will take place at
Bruno’s at 5:00, followed by the Resi
dence Hall Floor Meetings at 6:30 in
the student's resident hall. Playfair will
cap off the activities for Saturday, giv
ing the students an opportunity to meet
new friends and enjoy the entertain
ment in Erie Hall. Playfair will run
Dr. Clare Porac, incoming director of Humanities and Social Sciences
been a professor at the University of
Victoria for 24 years, and has served
in numerous administrative positions in
her time at the university. She currently
is serving as the President of the
University of Victoria Faculty
Association and in the past, has served
as Vice-President of the association and
as a University Senator for the Arts and
Sciences. She is very well published,
co-authoring five books and writing
over 80 journal articles in her field of
study.
Dr. Porac will be taking over the
Humanities and Social Sciences
Fresh meat for the
grinder:
Warning for freshmen
■MM
from 8:30-9:30 and will be followed
by a showing of Ed TV on the Reed
Patio.
Sunday will feature activities that
will enlighten students on the college
experience. The Reed Union Build
ing Commons will hold College Life
at 9:00 a.m. Small Group Meetings
and College Representative Meet
ings will take place at 10:30 and 1:00,
respectively.
Other highly recommended activi
ties will take place on Monday. Ms.
Sue Daley will give students tips and
strategies on how to handle the prob
lems that exist in college life. The
presentation will begin at 10:00, en
titled, "Your Nine Lives at Behrend.”
"Behrendpaloo/a” w ill cap off the
into 2000
Division Head position that was left
vacant when Dr. Roberta Salper
stepped down last year. Dr. Dean
Baldwin has been acting division
head since Dr. Salper left, and he has
been recognized by both students and
faculty for having done a great job
in the interim. While many students
do not understand what the director
of the school in which they are
enrolled does, it is a very important
position. In an interview with Dr.
Baldwin, he explained what the
director’s resposiblities are. The
director deals with personnel matters
Looking back 1998-
to Behrend’s
activities prior to the first day of
classes. Music will play, food will
be served and comedy will be offered.
All activities for “Behrendpalooza”
will take place at the Ski Slope be
hind the Otto Behrend Science Build
ing. Dinner will be served from 5:30-
7:30. Comedian A 1 Ducharme will
take the stage at 7:00 and will be fol
lowed by the music of Sho ‘Nuff as a
capper to the evening.
The rest of the week will scatter
many opportunities for the new stu
dents to learn more about the cam
pus and around it. The schedule for
the week can be found in the Orien
tation ‘99 booklet.
for their division. The matters
include the hiring of new faculty
members, overseeing the
performance of the faculty, handling
whatever problems the faculty has.
and helping with promotion and
tenure of faculty members. The
director also deals with curriculum
development by working with the
department heads on revising and
updating the curriculum.
The director also does a lot for
students that they do not realize that'
they do. Students who want a course
substitution in their major, approval
of an independent study, of declaring
a dual major must talk with the
director of their school. Also,
students wanting to comment on the
performance of one of their
professors should talk to the director
of the school. Recruiting and
retention of students for the school is
also part of the director’s duties. This
involves talking to students at open
houses and sponsoring events, such
as the Humanities and Social
Sciences Pizza Party held in April in
Lawrence Hall. Also the director
usually teaches one course in their
Field per semester.
The Division of Humanities and
Social Sciences is very large. It
consists of six majors
communication, English, general arts
and sciences, history, political
science, and psychology. It also has
two specialized minors: gender
studies and international studies, and
an elementary and secondary
education co-op program with
Mercyhurst College. The division
has 50 full time and approximately
30 part time faculty, which varies by
semester.
Dr. Porac began her new position
this past summer where she had a
great many things to do to prepare
for the upcoming school year.
50th
The Beacon to
feature new look
under new leadership
Will Jordan congratulates new editor-in-chief Jason Snyder
by Will Jordan
former editor-in-chief
Once again, the leadership of the
Beacon will be changing hands for the
Fall semester. Many other editorial
stall'positions will be changing hands
as well.
Jason Snyder, a second semester
Communications major, will become
the new editor-in-chief in August.
Snyder, who has been the sports edi
tor of the Beacon for the past two se
mesters. is looking forward to being
editor in chief. "1 hope to continue in
the path that Will Jordan started. 1
am looking forward to working with
a larger staff and many new laces. 1
am confident that the people who will
be returning will set an example for
incoming editors. I hope to continue
putting out a quality paper that the
students can be proud of." stated
Snyder.
Several editors will he leaving the
Beacon alter this semester. Will Jor
dan will he transferring to the Uni
versity Park campus in the fall to fur
ther his education in the College of
Communications. Ayodele Jones, the
managing editor and office manager,
will he stepping down to focus on
graduating next semester. Jon Siuhhs,
the features editor, will he transfer
ring down to University Park as well.
Other editors that will he leaving are
editorial page editor, Natalie
Gagliano. business manager, Jaime
D;i~
ivis, and copy editor, Rose Forrest.
Mike Frawley, former assistant edi-
The NEW
Behrend
September 3
sport
recap
' . <.
tor, will become the new managing
editor of the Beacon. "1 am looking
forward to working with Jason next
semester, but 1 will still miss all the
outgoing editors and wish them the
best of luck. "
Also returning is news editor Sh
annon Weber, Katie Galley who will
be taking over as editorial page edi
tor, advertising managers Brin
Edinger and Carey Smith, Angela
Rush who will become the new wire
service editor, and associate editor
Jessica Tucci.
Shannon Weber, returning news
editor slated, "I am looking forward
to the Fall of 1999 and working with
the returning editors. I am also look
ing forward to working with the new
stall members."
There will be several new editors
joining the staff next semester. Be
ginning next semester the Beacon
will be involved in the new Fresh
men Seminar Program, '[his pro
gram will introduce first year stu
dents to the experience of working
on a college newspaper. New stu
dents will have the opportunity to
learn about Behrend as they contrib
ute articles to the Beacon.
"With the freshmen seminar, we
will be able to reach more areas of
the Behrend community, something
that was unavailable to the Beacon
in the past." Snyder added. "Will
and Ayodele set a strong foundation
for the Beacon and I will follow their
example when I become editor in
chief," said Snyder.
Beacon