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Vol. XLVII No. 21 16 pages
AMCC Tournament invades Erie Hall
by Jason Snyder
editor-in-chief
Erie Hall, one of Behrend's long
est standing traditions for athletics at
Penn State Erie, will be the host for
this weekend's Allegheny Mountain
Collegiate Conference Tournament
for the last time. Both the Behrend
men's and women's basketball teams
have earned the right to host the con
ference tournament due to their suc
cess in the conference this season.
Behrend Athletic Director Brian
Streeter realizes the importance of
playing host. "The opportunity to
have our fans support both teams at
the end of a successful season is go
ing to he key to the success in the
AMCC Tournament." He added,
"Our Behrend Lions fans have as
sisted in other victories throughout the
season. }lusting the tournament gives
us the sixth man advantage, having
the fans cheering our athletes on."
"Attendance this weekend should
he at full capacity on hoth days in Erie
Hall. I would expect students and fans
to attend from all the campuses in
volved this weekend," said Streeter
Both the men and women hosted
the tournament last season as well,
with the women's team taking the
conference crown with a win over
Pitt-Bradford. Home-court is a defi
nite advantage for the Lions, as evi
dent with the men's 8-1 home record
this season and the women's 18-7
record over the past two seasons in
Behrend's "comfy - Erie Hall.
Streeter knows "success this week-
GE extends partnership with Behrend
by Kevin Bruner and Liz Hayes
assistant photo editor
and news co-editor
General Electric and the School of
Engineering and Engineering
"The locomotive cab will help me
provide a realistic and fun laboratory..."
Technology at Penn State Behrend
have come together to give Behrend
students a chance to learn in a fun and
realistic environment: on Wednesday,
February 16, GE moved a locomotive
cab to the side of the Hammermill
Building so that students may
participate in hands-on research.
Dr. Robert Gray, an assistant
professor of Engineering at Behrend,
headed the pursuit in getting the
locomotive moved to Behrend. Gray
was the first to notice the unused cab
and started negotiating with GE to have
it moved to Behrend. The six-ton cab,
which was built in 1995 and used as
the operator's compartment for an AC
6000 horsepower locomotive, was
initially used for the GE Transportation
System (GETS). GETS designs global
transformation systems for
locomotives, off-highway vehicles,
and rapid transit cars.
The cab will be used by electrical
NExT WEr.K
The Beacon will have a special four
page issue next week to cover the
PARKING PAGE 4 EDITORIAL PAGE 10
AMCC Tournament.
Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference
PHOTO BY JEFF MILLER
The Behrend women prepare for the AMCC Tournament earlier this
week. The women hope to repeat as conference champions this
weekend.
end depends on many factors. I know
our athletes and their respective
coaches will have prepared them
selves well for the tournament."
The women's tournament will tip
off at 2:00 on Friday as #3 Penn State
Altoona will face #2 Frostburg State.
The Behrend women will follow as
they host #4 La Roche, a team they
narrowly defeated earlier this season,
at 4:00.
The Behrend women are coached
by Rosalyn Fornari and are led by
seniors Carrie Nestor and Tiffany
Buck, whose careers were celebrated
on Senior Night on Wednesday, Feb
ruary 16. Probable starters for the
engineering and electrical engineering
technology students as a test laboratory.
Also, two senior projects in advanced
communication systems for remote
monitoring and diagnostics of
locomotives will use the cab. "This
- Dr. Robert Gray, an assistant
professor of Engineering
locomotive cab is just one of many
ways that GE is helping Behrend's
School of Engineering and
Engineering Technology prepare
engineering student to enter the
workforce," stated Provost and Dean
Dr. John Lilley. Glenn Shaffer,
manager of Service Development for
Locomotive Remote Monitoring and
Diagnostics and the GETS program
manager for this project, said, "this a
great opportunity for students to apply
their textbook theory to the real world."
Gray will also be utilizing the cab.
"The locomotive cab will help me
provide a realistic and fun laboratory
for teaching the Global Positioning
Satellite (GPS) system and fleet
management and geographical
information systems (GIS)." As well
as working in the cab, engineering and
engineering technology students will
receive hands-on experience at the GE
Learning Center and other GE testing
AMCC
~"r'lH'~' •mr.alup~
Lions include Nestor, Buck, Lisa
Sanders, Erin Phillips and Jen O'Lare.
Jacqueline Jackson and Kate
Costanzo provide a spark off the
bench. All but one player from last
year's championship team returns for
this year's championships.
The men's team hopes to avenge
their disappointing first round loss in
last year's AMCC tournament. #4 La
Roche, who defeated Behrend in last
season's tourney, will challenge the
Behrend men on Friday at 8:00. The
game will be preceded by #2 Pitt-
Greensburg vs. #3 Pitt-Bradford at
6:00.
The Lions finished the regular sea-
labs in Erie (where GETS is
headquartered).
The cab had to go through much
rehabilitation before it could be used
by Behrend students. Originally the
cab was painted bright yellow for the
Santa Fe Railroad and had to be
repainted. As Gray put it, "blue and
white was a natural choice" of paint
color for the cab. The GE and Penn
State logos were also added.
Other improvements included the
addition of a floor and stairs that had
to be welded onto the cab.
Once it was refurbished, several
people at Behrend worked to move the
cab into place. John Ream, director of
Beginning this month, anyone
riding the Penn State Behrend Blue
Bus will no longer be required to pay
the one dollar fee that was previously
charged.
SGA has taken action to ensure a
free ride for all passengers. The
concept of making the ride free came
directly from those who ride the bus.
Miller, who also promoted several
ideas on revamping the process, then
brought the notion to SGA and they
•
POLICE AND SAFETY PAGE 2 THE LION ROAMS PAGE 8
WIRE SERVICE PAGE 5 FEATURES PAGE 11
CALENDAR PAGE 7 SPORTS PAGE 13
01)1 1 1: 1 ►
,
Friday, February 25, 2000
- ion with a perfect 12-0 conference
record, despite some close games
Against the teams competing in this
weekend's tournament. The Lions are
coached by Dave Niland and feed off
the leadership of seniors Chris
Hughes, Andy Lawrence John Park
and Nate Willson. Probable starters
for the Lions are Hughes, Lawrence,
Park, Matt Keith and Ashley Orris.
The Behrend men do defensive drills in preparation for this weekend's conference tournament
operations at Behrend, approved the
location, and Tom Guttes of the
grounds crew assisted in preparing the
foundation for the cab.
As far as Gray can determine, the cab
will be staying at Behrend for at least
one to two years: "It will stay until we
have completed all research work and
senior projects, or until it is needed to
support a special mission for GE."
The cab was brought to Behrend via
a tractor-trailer and had to be lifted into
place by a 20-ton crane. According to
Gray, all funding provided for the cab's
rehabilitation and transportation came
from GE. The cab's estimated worth
is $lOO thousand.
PECEIIIO
FEB 2. 5 2000
1134=6111
BEACON
Willson and Andy Berchtold give the
Lions some depth off the bench.
The men are riding a 13-game win
streak, allowing them to break last
season's school record of 21 wins,
winning their 22nd game against Lake
Erie last week.
Streeter commented, "I expect to
see well played games in all contests
this weekend." The competition of
%.*;141 L. 4 * , ) 4110 , 7A ,
Blue Bus is free
by Nicole Greene
calendar page editor
Due to a recent act by the Student
Government Association and with the
help of their advisor, the newly
appointed Dean of Students, Ken
Miller, the Blue Bus is now free for
all students.
The Behrend
Lion roams
around campus
A Penn State Erie Student Publication
these teams throughout the season
prove that the weekend will be in
tense, with eight teams vying for
AMCC glory. Only two will win.
"Streeter concluded, "I hope our
fans here realize how important they
are to our teams and come out to Erie
Hall to support the women's and
men's teams as they play for the
AMCC Basketball Championship."
worked on putting the plan into action
The idea was formulated after a
transportation fee was put into
practice at University Park. "The fee
was designed to fund The Loop at
University Park," stated Miller. The
Loop, which is also used at Behrend,
was implemented as a convenient way
for passengers to load the bus in close
proximity to their residence halls,
thereby eliminating long walks to the
bus stops.
When Behrend began charging the
transportation fee, however, students
were still being charged for each ride.
"SGA then advocated to Dean Lilley
to use the transportation fee to offset
the income," as Miller explained.
"The balance pays for other
Blue Bus continued on page 2
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PHOTO BY JEFF MIL
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