Gaslight is the
Behrend on
home of the
Break 2000
original burger
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PAGES 8, 9 it) .• PAGE 12
mAR 2 4 2000 .
BEHREND
. BEACON
Vol. XLVII No. 24 16 pages
Computer problems addressed
Students
question
Auguston
about
Technology
Fee
by Katie Galley
editorial page editor
"It's not just a couple of bucks any
more," Demian Blair said, comment
ing on the Information Technology
Fee that all students are required to
pay each semester. Blair is chairman
of the Student Government Associa
tion committee that met with Gary
Auguston, President of the Office of
Telecommuting, when he visited
Behrend on Wednesday, March 22.
Auguston, along with several stu
dents on the committee, including
Blair, Melody Sherosky and Andrea
DiPlacido, and Dr. Jack Burke, Se
nior Associate Dean, and Ron
Hoffman, Manager of Network and
Information Systems. met to discuss
problems with Behrend's computer
system and offer suggestions in how
to improve it in the future. While
problems ranging from slow connec
tion times to the almost stand still
pace the development of the student
radio station has taken were dis-
Behrend spring
sports preview
- Softball looks to repeat as AMCC
champs
- Lions baseball hopes to avenge 1999
AMCC heartbreaker
- Behrend golfers back into the 'swing'
of things after break
- Track and Field enters second season
- Tennis to make 'racquet' in the AMCC
full coverage in sports section
AMCC
illegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference
Students talk to Gary Auguston, President of Telecommuting at Penn State, in the Glenhill Farmhouse
cussed, it was the Information Tech
nology Fee that took precedence.
The students in the committee that
were in attendence wanted to discuss
forming an Allocation Board to make
the decisions on how the students'
$lOO fee is spent from year to year.
At the present time there is only an
Advisory Board, which the students
in the committee are not satisfied
with. The ITF committee is most con
cerned with the fact that administra
tors at Main Campus do not give stu
dents enough say in where their
money goes, and they believe that an
Allocation Board would solve the
problem. "I think an Allocation Board
would more accurately represent the
students' needs," Blair stated.
Students at Behrend aren't the only
ones concerned about the lack of an
Allocation Board. Students at 19 com
monwealth Penn State campuses
work together on the CCSG, or the
Council of Commonwealth Student
Governments. While this council cov
ers more than the ITFR, or the Infor
mation Technology Fee Regulations,
it is greatly concerned about the fu
ture use of student's money. Auguston
agreed with attending students stat
ing, "student imput on how to serve
your needs is critical." However, com
mittee members feels that there was
POLICE AND SAFETY PAGE 2 CALENDAR..
WIRE SERVICE PAGE 4 FEATURES...
EDITORIAL PAGE 6 SPRING SPORTS PAGE 13
SPRING BREAK PAGE 8 OTHER SPORTS PAGE 14
Friday, March 24, 2000
no real progress made in the meeting.
"It'll stay Advisory, but I'd like to see
Behrend more involved in every step
of the process," Blair said.
Other topics discussed at the meet
ing included trying to provide Be
hrend with a new T 3, which would
supply more bandwidth to the cam
pus, and make student downloads
faster. The T 3 would also increase
the speed of streaming audio and
video, which is crucial to the proposed
Real Audio radio station. The meet
ing ended with Auguston touching
upon the Penn State deal with
Microsoft. "We're done with
Microsoft for now," Auguston said.
=lt
Behrend professor
chosen editor of
Bangladesh journal
by Libbie Johnson
associate editor
Dr. Syed Saud Andaleeb, associate
professor of marketing, has been
chosen to edit the Journal of
Bangladesh Studies. Two
organizations, the Bangladesh
Development Initiative and the
Association for Economic
Development Studies on Bangladesh,
are sponsoring its publication.
Andaleeb has also served as an
editorial board member of the Journal
of lramsmaional Development and as
a reviewer of many journals.
Andaleeb said that the Journal of
Bangladesh Studies is the only one of
its kind. "[The Journal of Bangladesh
Studies] is an academic journal
dedicated to fostering greater
understanding of the problems of
development in Bangladesh from a
comprehensive perspective by
addressing social, political, economic,
legal, ethical, technological, and
related issues. This multi-disciplinary
approach is important because
development must embrace the
concept of diversity - the diversity of
expertise, methods, analyses, and
prescription to provide better, more
meaningful, and practicable answers
that have continued to elude strategists,
planners, administrators, and
researchers involved with the
development of Bangladesh.-
Andaleeb, who was born in
Bangladesh, has a special interest in
this journal. He said that there has
been discussion for the past two years
about publishing the journal because
professionals have wanted to do
something meaningful about and for
Bangladesh. He feels there is a need
for a journal that focuses on a specific
country in need of ideas, solutions, and
intellectual support.
Sonic other problems and issues
which plague Bangladesh are inflation,
Lecture focuses
on undergraduate
researcn
by Daryl Ploss
staff writer
On Thursday, March 16, Dr.
Michael Campbell, assistant professor
of biology, gave the latest installment
of the Provost Lecture Series in the
Reed Lecture Hall at noon. The topic
of this lecture was "Can
Undergraduates do Significant
Research?"
The crowd was small for Campbell,
who has been a professor at Behrend
since 1994. Most of the onlookers
were not students, although a few
students took a break from their daily
routines to attend.
Campbell's talk dealt with current
issues in biology, such as: how the
knowledge base goes up every year,
how professors are teaching to a
diverse career field, and how the job
PAGE 10
PAGE 11
A Penn State Erie Student Publication
investment problems, unemployment,
lack of productivity, resource and
leadership shortages, public health
concerns, and technology
improvements.
Andaleeb says many forums have
focused on the issue of identity.
"Whether the people of the land are
Bangladeshis or Bangalees, and
whether religious or cultural heritage
should come first, has apparently
generated notable disagreement and
discontent among sections of the
country's thought leaders. ... how can
we also explain the reign of terror that
has been unleashed with regularity
upon the masses, and to what extent
has it crippled the process of social and
economic development?"
Andaleeb also said that the problem
of corruption and its impact on
development has been studied, but that
there has been little effort to discover
how traits such as self-respect, self
esteem, and dignity are related to
corruption. ". . . it is important to
understand why is it that these core
values have deteriorated so drastically,
especially among many in positions of
power, such that indulging in corrupt
practices is, apparently, not viewed as
a despicable and socially undesirable
act any more."
Andaleeb hopes to receive creative
ideas from contributors. "The
alternative perspectives are expected
to provoke broad-based debate and
discussion; they are also expected to
challenge policy makers and
practitioners to redefine the problems
and prospects of development and to
seek pioneering solutions that make a
real difference."
Publication has already begun; the
first issue was completed in
Decemberl999. Issues will be printed
every June and December. Andaleeb
wants this journal to become well
known and widely used, and sought by
those who research development.
market is changing.
The example that Campbell used to
answer the question, "Can
undergraduates do significant research
in the classroom," was that of genes
in blue plants. Through humor and a
good level of speech energy, Campbell
was able to keep the crowd interested.
By the end of the talk, Campbell
concluded that, yes, undergraduate
students can in fact do significant
research, but that the level of
significance may be low. However,
students can contribute to science.
Also, students must want to do the
research. Plus, the faculty must be
willing to put in the effort, as this is
seen as "untraditional."
The speech attempted to give
undergraduate students confidence that
they can do significant research.
PENNSTAI
Erie
1845