"W* THE BEHRENI) JT Beacon A PENN STATE ERIE STUDENT PUBLICATION XLVIII No. 1 Friday, August 18,2000 pennState FALL 2000 SPECIAL ORIENTATION ISSUE NEXT ISSUE: SEPTEMBER 1, 2000 WEEKEND : Partly Cloudy with high of 66, low of 57. Friday. PAGE 2 An editorial view on college life and what students need for a successful education. Topics of conversation: extracurricular opportunities, commuter life, and the tools for success PAGE 4-5 Take a look back at the 1999-2000 school year and the summer of growth that has almost completely renovated the Behrend campus. PAGE 6 Fall intramural schedule and information. NEWS.. EDITORIAL... CALENDAR OF EVENTS.. 3 A LOOK BACK... MOVING FORWARD.. SPORTS... NEWSROOM: 898-6488 FAX US: 898-6019 Offices are located downstairs in New students enter new Behrend campus Behrend to reveal renovated campus to new students at Orientation 2000 Nothing seems to describe the at mosphere of the Penn State Behrend campus better than the theme of this year’s Fall Orientation. “Building on the Past, Working Toward the Future” not only tells of the educational value that the students receive, but also speaks of the growth and improve ment that the campus is undergoing as the 2000-2001 school year opens. Led by Ms. Cheon Graham and Mr. Brad St. Germain, along with Kristina Motta, the program’s advisor, 67 stu dents contributed in the planning of the 2000 Fall Orientation for new stu dents. The event will span a total of nine days, giving all new students a chance to learn of the opportunities the campus has to offer. The program will begin at 8:00 a.m. on August 19, with the opening of residence halls and apartments for check-in, room keys and Orientation packets. Commuters can also check in at that time in the Reed Wintergarden until 5:00 p.m. Showers on STUDENT GOVERNMENT 'Vv v ; 7 * p P r K { I ) I: K ! T 1 IVI, , ? 5 i. J I ; M i Jen Miles Academics will be a larger focus of the SGA this fall as newly-elected president Jen Miles takes the helm at the start of the school year. Miles has many goals and plans for this 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 on working 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 in the interview process. A student run database could also be created, containing information about professors, their teaching styles, and hpw 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 by Jason Snyder editor-in-chief by Tracy Jones During check-in hours, Orientation will host a family question-and-an swer session, campus tours, a picnic lunch, and the Academic Convocation on the Reed Lawn, a requirement for all new students. After dinner in Dobbins or Bruno’s, students are required to attend Playfair in Erie Hall at 8:30 p.m., concluding the day’s activities. August 20th will feature small group meetings throughout the cam pus to discuss issues brought up at the Academic Convocation and in the new students’ summer reading assign ments. Behrendpalooza gives students their last form of entertainment before classes begin on Tuesday. The event will be held on Monday, August 21, on the Ski Slope behind the Otto Be hrend Science Building from 5:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. Music, food and com edy will be featured with the band Grapevine, one of Pittsburgh’s best, playing at 7:00 p.m. Many student organizations have events and activities planned to intro duce themselves to the incoming stu 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. 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 upperclassmen] should have that option first,” said Miles. Another issue with housing is the $795 base fee that resident students dents throughout the week. A com plete schedule of the week’s events can be found in the Fall Orientation 2000 packet. The week will give all students their first look at the Behrend campus af ter a summer of change. Most vis ible to students when classes start will be the new lighting, ceilings and air conditioning in Upper Nick, Otto Be hrend Science Building and Turnbull. Other renovations include an eleva tor in the Reed Union Building, new furniture throughout the campus, and a new research and teaching lab in the biology department. Both the new observatory and Chapel have broken ground over the summer, with much progress made on the heavily anticipated Athletic and Recreation Center (ARC). Details of the many changes will be highlighted in the Beacon in the coming weeks. Senior Associate Provost and Se nior Associate Dean Dr. Jack Burke told the Beacon last fall, “the main thing 1 want to do is get better.” Stu dents entering the campus should im mediately see what he means. must pay for their meal plans. Miles wants to know where it goes and what exactly it is used for. “When 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. Clint Skillen shares many of the same concerns as SGA President Jen Miles and wants to investigate simi lar issues with her in the upcoming year. The proposed academic commit tees by Miles and Skillen would al low some students to assist in the in terviewing and hiring process of po tential professors. These committees are “a really good idea because stu dents should have a more active role \ -M < ' I V ) V 1 i H r r ? p% r n f i i i I■ % I )?■ : \: | Clint Ski Men in what professors we hire,” said Skillen. Another item to be ad dressed is parking, particu larly commuter parking. “Parking is an issue that needs constant pressure,” said Skillen. “With a few pleas now and then, nothing will happen, but with that constant pressure, things will get done.” Security and safety issues concern many students, and it is im portant to Skillen and Miles to put an end to vehicle vandalism in the remote resident parking lots. Com puter and phone privacy, with hack ing, prank calls and threats are on going problems for resident stu dents. Finally, school spirit will be high lighted, in an attempt to simply get more of it. “The Spirit Station and Spirit Squad did a great job this year, and they brought a lot more fans to sporting events than had been there before. But there are still many students we’d like to see sup porting Behrend athletics. We’d like to try to get more participation all around, in intramurals and dances, as well as sporting events,” said Skillen. II 444141. ! )N v ‘ ) M ! S \\ ' I V V !: k AL L ' i. N 1 S B A , i j ", :V 1 / ! ! \ MAC 1. ; M i . ? \KM A! L OF KIND'S i u i \ \ H : NT'S K | ’ \ I /.. . I f if \ UU U u u 6 pages ■ M L rii l s
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