Students’books to Concerts 2000:
Behrend vb~ Beacon
Vol. XLVII No. 27 14 pages
SGA president-elect
Miles talks of goals
for 2000/2001
by Tracy Jones
staff writer
Academics will be a larger focus of the
SGA next fall as newly-elected president Jen
Miles lakes the helm at the start of the school
year. Miles has many goals and plans for
next semester, and with the cooperation of
senators, council members, and student body,
some positive changes will take place.
Miles’ main focus will be academics, and
she plans to work to make the quality of a
Behrend education better. She would like
to form academic committees for all majors,
including everything from marketing to
engineering. Students will sit on these
committees, and they would be available
when it comes time to hire new professors
and interview them. A student-run database
could also be created, containing information
about professors, their teaching styles, and
how their classes are run, so that students
will know what to expect and which
professor they’d prefer.
Student safety issues will also be
addressed, and offenses such as prank phone
calls and automobile break-ins in the isolated
parking lots will be looked into. Miles is
also concerned about computer safety, such
as hacking and lack of privacy.
A commuter lounge is also proposed,
which would give commuter students a place
to relax, watch TV, visit with friends or just
study between classes. The lounge would
provide those students a place besides
Bruno’s to hang out in.
When it comes to housing, Miles sees a
few problems. One is that “the lottery system
of room assignments implemented this year
just isn’t working. Seniority should come
into play here, so that seniors get their first
choice of housing, then juniors, and so forth.
There’s no reason for seniors to be living in
the dorms while there are first-semester
students in Ohio Hall. They [the upper
Panhellenic Council passes
resolution to be alcohol-free
by Jason Snyder
editor-in-chief
Behrend’s Panhellenic Council has recently
joined a small group of college campuses
across the nation in continuing their efforts to
move toward an alcohol-free image. The
council unanimously passed a resolution that
will encourage the Behrend chapters of the
Panhellenic Council to co-sponsor functions
in men’s fraternity facilities only if the func
tions are alcohol free.
“This document essentially says that they
(Behrend’s sororities) will not have any alco
holic functions with a fraternity unless they
are at an off-campus location with a third party
vendor,” said Pelasky.
Alpha Sigma Alpha’s national organization
already enforced the resolution for some time
before the idea was brought to Behrend’s
Panhellenic Council. However, the represen
tatives of the Theta Phi Alpha and Alpha
Sigma Tau sororities needed to take the idea
to the delegates in their respective chapters.
The delegates of both sororities passed the
resolution, which was taken to the Panhellenic
Council for a 3-0 vote for the new policy.
Wish-a-thon 2.000
April 14-15
classmen) should have that option first,’’ said
Another issue with housing is the $795
base fee that resident students must pay for
their meal plans. Miles wants to know' where
it goes and what exactly it is used for. "When
Jen Miles
you do the math, the University is making
upwards of $2 million dollars just from this
base fee. I want to know and want
students to know —just where their money
is going,” said Miles.
With only three weeks left in the school
year, Miles plans to finish this year up and
tie up any loose ends, preparing to dive right
into her agenda at the start of next semester.
The Beacon will feature
vice president-elect Clint
Skillen’s goals in next
week’s paper.
“This is a big move for the Behrend chap
ters to make,” said Shawna Pelasky, coordi
nator of Greek Life at Behrend. Pelasky is
encouraged that the Behrend chapters are the
first small institution to make the resolution
and commend all three Behrend chapters for
doing so.
Pelasky added, “this is a huge step and one
that the National Panhellenic Council has been
encouraging all campus chapters to make.”
Behrend is one of a select few colleges in the
nation to pass the resolution and the only col
lege in the Erie area to make the change.
Stephanie Falcone, the Scholarship Chair
of Panhellenic Council, sees the resolution as
a risk management tool for the Behrend chap
ters. She sees the Behrend sororities working
on improving their image and moving away
from alcoholic functions. “We want to move
away from an alcoholic image, because that’s
not what we’re about.”
Dean of Students Ken Miller also is encour
aged by the resolution saying, “it makes a
major statement about Panhel’s view toward
alcohol.
The resolution will be put into effect at the
beginning of the Fall 2000 semester.
Bill Williams, International President of Delta Chi fraternity, speaks at the Greek Awards Banquet
Greek members honored at Awards Banquet
The first annual Greek Awards Banquet
was held on Thursday, April 6, at 7 p.m. in
the Reed Commons. The purpose of the
event was not only to honor Penn State
Behrend’s fraternities and sororities, but also
to honor the Greek system as a whole.
Shawna Pelasky, the coordinator of Greek
life and student leadership programs, made
the opening remarks. The spotlight then
moved to the guest speaker, Bill Williams,
who is the International President of the
Delta Chi fraternity. His speech about
various Greek issues received a standing
ovation from the audience.
The remaining segment of the banquet
was set aside for the presenting of awards.
A committee that consisted of Ken Miller,
dean of students; Linda Lombardi Nestor,
acting associate dean of student affairs; and
Kris Motta, assistant director of student
activities, chose the winners of the awards.
There were a total of sixteen different
awards distributed, including the “Friend of
Greek Life Award,” which was given to
The behreno Beacon Index , t L
Safety page 2 Editorial page 8
Police and
. r PAr _ q pennState
World News page 5 Calendar page 9 ==rp~ r
brie
nggy
National Campus News page 6 Features page 10
ROTC at Behrend page 7 Sports Page 12
iril 14, 2000
Friday, Ai
A new Greek tradition begins
by Karl Benacci
news co-editor
Christopher Rizzo, director of student
activities. “I am honored to receive the award.
Anytime that one is recognized for years of
service and work, it is very reinforcing . . .
Since I began my position as director of
Student Activities in 1994, I’ve been a voice
of support and challenge within the Greek
system. It gives me a sense of
accomplishment to know that the students
appreciate my efforts over the years,” Rizzo
stated.
The “Greek Man and Woman of the Year
Awards” went to Kevin Mink (Delta Chi) and
Erin Baker (Alpha Sigma Tau). “I am
shocked and feel very honored to receive the
award for “Greek Woman of the Year,” Erin
Baker commented. “There were several
deserving women up for this award and each
of them should be recognized as well. 1 am
still surprised that I was chosen.”
Matthew Eckl, who is also the
Interfratemity Council president, gave closing
remarks to end the banquet; a reception
followed.
The idea for the Greek Awards ceremony
can be credited to Erin Baker and Matthew
Eckl. They both plan on having the awards
PHOTO COURTESY OF DR. CLARE PORAC
A Penn State Erie Student Publication
: T|Ti
'%Mi ;
2g
banquet again next year Brin Baker staleil.
“The banquet went more smoothly than I
anticipated and I was very happy with the
outcome. I think it was a very positive eltori
to support the Greek community.
Eckl added, "This event was a great
opportunity to recognize those who give
their time to advance Greek life. In inline
years, competition for these awards alone
will be incentives for greater achievement
among chapters."
Rizzo remarked on the value ot the Greek
system, stating: "An undergraduate Greek
experience constructed upon the core values
of sister/brotherhood, ritual, and historv can
be a very powerful developmental journey
for a student, building leadership skills and
connections to other students and the
College that will serve that individual lai
beyond her/his college years. I applaud
efforts of the Interfraternity and I’anhellenic
Councils and those individuals who put
together the First Annual Greek Awards to
celebrate the academic, service, and
leadership efforts of Greek students and
chapters at Penn State Behrend."
Anna Zielinski and Edyta Stadnik
present their research on “The At
mospherics of On-LineMarketing"
about marketing to college stu
dents on websites. The Under
graduate Student Research and
Creative Accomplishment Confer
ence was held on Saturday, April
8, in the Academic Building.
f] G£L_._
PHOTO BY KEVI
Undergraduate
Student Research
and Creative
Accomplishment
Conference