Unity Day a day /■—// Spring F ever
of diversity
I■ • \ APk (, 1 2000
Behrend Beacon
Vol. XLVII No. 26 14 pages
Miles,
Skillen
run away
with SGA
election
by Liz Hayes
and Traci Jones
news co-editor and staff writer
In an overwhelming victory, Jen Mites tfhd
Clint Skillen beat Dernian Blair and Mike
Frawley tor the positions of Student
Government Association president and vice
president, respectively.
Voter turnout was at a record of over 500 - a
turnout that hasn't been matched in recent
history. And of the 490 votes cast for the
presidential/vice presidential ticket, over 401
went to Miles and Skillen a figure of over
80%.
This past week was a busy one for these
candidates, as they participated in a debate
Monday evening, visited a few classes and
organizational meetings, and made their final
efforts to win over voters before elections took
place. Elections committee head Melody
Sherosky was excited about voter turnout
on Wednesday when the voting booth closed,
there w ere already 349 votes cast. This number
alone surpassed last year’s.
The debate Monday night also saw a positive
turnout, with over 90 people in attendance at
the peak of the event. Students posed questions
to the candidates for two hours and ten minutes.
Sherosky said that the elections committee had
prepared questions ahead of time to keep
things moving along in case the action stalled,
but they didn’t need to use them. Students were
Jane Bryant Quinn talks finance at Behrend’s Speaker Series
by Mike Frawley
managing editor
Jane Bryant Quinn, a syndicated columnist
for the Washington Post and Newsweek, spoke
at Behrend on April 4. She is the final speaker
this year in the Provost’s Speaker Series, ‘Tak
ing Charge: Politics, Finances, and Personal
Freedom.” In her speech, “The Economy and
Your Money.com,” Quinn touched on such
topics as the ever-growing stock market, the
boom on technology stocks, and the recent
Microsoft antitrust decision.
The speech was given at 7:30 p.m. in the
Reed Wintergarden to a full lecture hall of stu
dents, faculty, staff, and guests. Quinn was
on campus for other events as well that day,
including a press conference at 3:30 p.m., a
question and answer session with students,
and a dinner at Logan House before her
speech.
si V»
The candidates (from left to right), Mike Frawley, Demian Blair, Clint Skillen and Jen Miles take part in a fiery debate on
Monday, April 3. The debate focused on Blair’s goal to get more student involvement in SGA versus Miles’ attempt to better
Behrend’s academic program.
very receptive to the debate and participated
actively and spurred somewhat heated
conversation and debate. The first hour of
questioning revolved mainly around Frawley’s
opinions of the Greek system, and whether or
not he could accurately represent the student
body. Several members of the fraternities and
sororities pointed to Frawley’s editorials in past
issues of the Beacon as a basis for this line of
questioning.
Quinn is an award-winning columnist for
Newsweek and is a leading commentator on
personal finance and national economic is
sues. She is the author of Making the Most of
Your Money, a comprehensive guide to per
sonal financial planning, and A Hole in the
Market, which tracks the effects of Genera
tion X on the economy. Her syndicated news
paper column is published in more than 250
newspapers, and she has been named by the
World Almanac as one of the 25 most influ
ential women in the United States.
Quinn is recognized as one of the country’s
leading personal finance writers. Quinn spoke
about the ever-changing landscape of the in
vestment world, which has changed a great
deal since she first began writing financial
information in the early 19705. Quinn noted
that people today take a much greater interest
in their personal investments than they did
twenty years ago. “You are talking about a
Students also asked questions about the
candidates’ platforms and what they planned
to accomplish for the student body if elected.
Blair and Frawley focused namely on getting
more involvement in SGA and SGA events,
while Miles’ and Skillen’s platform
concentrated on improving education at
Behrend.
At Wednesday evening’s SGA meeting, it
was discussed whether or not Skillen was
time when people were not greatly involved
in stocks and when they had very few
choices,” Quinn said.
Quinn’s speech, which was simulcast by
Behrend’s radio station WPSE, was very well
received by the audience. “I don’t know what
is going to happen with the Dow Jones to
morrow, or next week, or next year,” Quinn
joked with the audience. She discussed the
ever-growing role of the Internet in our
economy, both as a new way to do personal
investment and as a new place to invest
money. The stock market is continuing to
grow at a tremendous rate, and a large part of
this growth is due to the great amount of in
vestment being done in new technological
stocks. “Expansion is slowing, but is still
expanding,” Quinn said.
Finance continued on page 3
Police and Safety page 2 Calendar page 9
pennState
World News page 6 Features page 10 jESS^Ene
rarng
National Campus News page 7 Behrend Sports page 12
Editorial page 8 National Sports page 14
Friday, April 7, 2000
eligible to run for vice president. SGA decided
last semester that in order to receive a stipend
for an executive board position, he or she must
have, prior to appointment and during the term
of office, and a 2.5 GPA. Also, an executive
board member is not to hold any other
presidency positions, and Skillen is currently
the president of the Zeta Beta Tau fraternity -
Landslide continued on page 4
Jane Bryant Quinn speaks to a packed Reed Commons about personal finance
A Penn State Erie Student Publication
SGI
ELECTION
RESULTS
PRESIDENTIAL
ELECTION
Miles/Skillen 401
Blair/Frawley* 89
SECRETARY
Benjamin 346
SENATORS
Webb 292
Warren 276
Ellison 266
Hovis 266
Hansen 252
Hamm 249
Sherosky 238
Davis 227
Braun 221
Hartman 219
Meyers 219
Wiertel* 186
Foulks* 163
* not elected
Elections took place on April 5
and 6 outside of Bruno’s. Miles
and Skillen will replace Andrea
DiPlacido and George Leshnock
as SGA President and Vice Presi
dent in the 2000-2001 school year.