FOCAL POINT
THE
TREE
ONE
Missing: one black tennis shoe, size eleven, black laces. Last seen outside the
Academic Building just before ten feet of snow fell. There is a possible reward for
information leading to its return. Please contact us by emailing behrcolls@aol.com
GIFTS
2001 and will be named for Juanita
and Floyd Smith.
William H. and Martha Hilbert and
their sons recently gave $300,000 to
Behrend to establish two scholarship
endowments. The Hilberts' sons,
John, Joseph, and William Jr., play
vital roles in managing Reddog Indus
tries in Erie. They have given $50,000
to create the Reddog Industries, Inc.
Scholarship Endowment. The Bill
Hilbert and Martha Hilbert Commu
nity Foundation Endowment Fund
gave $250,000 to create the PHB, Inc.
and Reddog Industries, Inc. Scholar
ship Endowment. William Hilbert Sr.
first became associated with Behrend
in the 1950 s while taking night
classes. He got to know Dr. Lilley in
the early 1980 s and served on a com
mittee which advised Behrend on how
to develop a strong plastics engineer
ing technology program. Mr. Hilbert,
who is CEO of Reddog and PHB, is a
member of Behrend's Council of Fel
lows, Entreprenurship Advisory
Board, and Industrial Machining Ad
visory Committee. After stating that
he has been working with Behrend for
years, Hilbert said, "it has played an
important forward-looking role in
helping our companies—and all of
northwestern Pennsylvania—improve
workforce training and development.
We're pleased to support these schol
arship endowments." The first PHB
scholarship, which is for engineering
students, is currently being awarded.
Former Behrend student Dr. Rob
ert Mehalso and his wife Elizabeth
have contributed $250,000 to improve
the observatory and create a scholar
ship endowment. Dr. Mehalso, who
attended Behrend from 1960-1962, is
president of MicroTec Associates in
Rochester, New York. In 1989, he
was named a Penn State Behrend
Alumni Fellow and currently serves
on the Council of Fellows. The
Mehalsos have given $107,500 to
fund the new observatory and high
technology telescope. The decision
to fund the observatory and telescope
was an easy one, as Mehalso said,
"science is one of our greatest inter
ests in life, so building a new obser
vatory is a perfect fit. The remaining
$142,500 will be used to create a
namesake scholarship. Dr. Mehalso
SNOWFALL
horrible conditions for students
having to walk from the dorms to
the Reed Building and various
other parts of campus.
Many students were also upset
with the fact that classes were not
cancelled early on Wednesday to
allow students who had to travel
home to get out of Erie before the
snowfall became worse than it was.
"It took me an hour to dig out my
car, three hours to get to Clarion
where I had to get a hotel, and
FROM FRONT PAGE
and his wife are still discussing the
guidelines of the scholarship, which
will likely be awarded in the spring.
Dr. Lilley said, "this generous gift by
Bob and Liz Mehalso will enhance the
College's ability to recruit and assist
academically talented, hard-working,
and committed students. We deeply
appreciate their gift."
Another one of the many gifts Be
hrend received was from the former
director of the School of Engineering
and Engineering Technology, Dr. Ri
chard Progelhof, and his wife Pat.
They have created two trusts totaling
$30,000 to fund scholarships. In ad
dition, the Progelhofs have also set
aside a portion of their estate which
will be used for scholarships and
equipment. The Richard and Patricia
ProgelhOf Scholarship will be given
to those full and part-time students in
SEET with strong academic records
and financial need.
To honor Richard's father and late
mother, the John and Madeline
Progelhof Memorial Scholarship will
be given to first-generation college
students. Richard and his brother
John are the sons of an Austrian im
migrant and the first in their family
to attend college. Richard created one
of the scholarships in his parents'
names because "blue-collar families
need assistance today, just as we did
growing up in New Jersey, and this
scholarship will help those deserving
students." Dr. Progelhof came to
Behrend in 1992 and spent seven
years in SEET, where he selected the
faculty and developed various part
nerships with local industries. The
many other contributors to SEET in
fluenced Dr. Progelhof to donate part
of his estate, as he stated, "I want to
model myself after them and assist the
many deserving students who attend
Penn State Behrend."
The Erie Plastics Corporation,
founded by the late Paul C. Roche,
has given a $250,000 endowment to
Behrend in honor of its deceased
founder. Students are eligible for a
scholarship if they have a parent em
ployed by one of Erie Plastics' three
locations, and also if they plan to pur
sue plastics or business studies. Paul
Roche's son, Paul "Hoop" Roche, Jr.,
shares in his father's love of Behrend
another two and a half hours to
finish my trip the next day. During
the trip I saw more than fifteen
accidents and no salt trucks or
plows," said Kim Burkey.
Some areas of Erie County
received as much as 30 inches of
snow during the storm, with most
areas receiving 15-20 inches.
There was a very small amount of
snowfall just south of us in the
Pittsburgh area, but Buffalo
received record snowfalls, which
NEWS & WEATHER
and has been an advocate for promot
ing Behrend's mission of teaching,
research, and community outreach.
Father and son were both named to
Penn State's Mount Nittany Society
and have contributed to the engineer
ing complex. Hoop Roche helped to
raise funds for the state-of-the-art
complex, while the glass-enclosed
atrium joining the engineering com
plex was obtained through donations
and the estate of the the late Paul C.
`Roche Sr.
Because they believe in their stu
dents, employees of Behrend have
joined together to create the Faculty/
Staff Campaign. The Campaign
awards scholarships to deserving stu
dents in each of Behrend's four
schools. The campaign, which is un
der the direction of associate profes
sor of engineering Robert Farrell, be
gan in January 2000. Farrell and his
committee of faculty and staff hoped
to inspire their co-workers to raise
$150,000 to award scholarships
within the four schools. With nearly
2/3 of Behrend staff contributing
through payroll deduction, the
$150,000 has been surpassed and now
stands at approximately $220,000.
Farrell is extremely happy with the
progress and said, "this successful
campaign reflects the commitment of
faculty and staff to supporting our stu
dents who will benefit from our gen-
erosity."
A specific amount has not yet been
determined, but another gift is cour
tesy of Bernice Fryer, widow of
Ernest "Ernie" Fryer. Ernie was a
former member of the psychology
staff and was also the director of the
DUS program.
The Fryer Award, as it will be
known, will be an annual award given
to outstanding Behrend psychology
students.
Penn State Behrend continues to
grow and flourish, but certainly this
would not be the case if it were not
for the many generous contributions
from the community. As Behrend pre
pares to announce three more gifts,
totaling $200,000, $300,000, and
$500,000 respectively, students can be
assured that the College's quality and
scholarship opportunities will only
improve with time.
caused city officials to declare a
state of emergency and close the
city.
In the event of classes being
cancelled or delayed due to bad
weather, Behrend will contact area
media outlets with the information.
Students may also call the Behrend
switchboard at 898-6000 beginning
at 5:30 a.m. each day to receive
information on any delays,
cancellations, or closings.
SATURDAY
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LOW 25
Police And Safety
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11/09/2000
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11/19/2000
11/21/2000
TENSIONS
Questions were raised as to why no
one has heard about the closing until
now, eight months before the
demolition of the Center, to make
room for the Eastside Access
highway. Director of Student Affairs,
Ken Miller was adamant about the
fact that this has been out in the open
in the Behrend community. "This has
not been a secret...we knew this day
was coming."
People who want the Center to
remain open indefinitely asked why
Behrend has not given the go ahead
to use all $900,000 they will receive
from Penn Dot to build a new center.
A memo sent out to members of the
ad-hoc committee reviewing the
situation reports that there are things
that are higher priority on Penn
State's `to do' list than to build a new
Child Care Center, and that a new
center would cost 1.2 million dollars
to build.
Other concerns raised were about
the reaction Behrend would get from
the Erie community if they shut down
the center. "Don't think this hasn't
been seen on the outside," Professor
of French Kathryn Wolfe told the
audience. She reported of an article
printed in a Naples, Florida
newspaper about the possible
shutdown of the center. And Lecturer
in Theatre Tony Elliot said,"we need
a commitment to solve the problem."
On Thursday, the PTO had Miller
and Dr. John Rossi, the chairman of
the ad-hoc committee dealing with
the child care center relocation, speak
to a group of concerned parents at the
center. Melanie Ford, the president of
the PTO, opened the meeting with a
brief introduction before turning the
meeting over to Miller.
SUNDAY
PARTLY
CLOUDY
HIGH 39
LOW 24
A complainant reported that someone had tried to purchase a computer
using her university purchasing card.
An RA called to report that there was an unresponsive female in the Perry
lobby restroom. Upon arrival, the officer found the woman responsive, but
intoxicated.
Two vehicles were reported vandalized in Ohio lot. Both cars were easily
repaired with no permanent damage.
The daycare center reported that a semi-truck could not turn around in their
parking lot. While the truck was maneuvering, it got stuck on the north
side of the building, causing damage to the fence and yard.
A student reported damage done to their vehicle overnight
An RA called to report that someone had punched out a window on a
security door in Lawrence Hall.
Miller began by giving parents a
status report on the childcare center.
The school has known for a year and
a half that the new bayfront connector
highway was going to be going
though the area, and the child care
center was going to be torn down to
make way for it.
Chris Reber, Associate Provost for
Advancement and University
Relations, has been working to find
donors to fund the construction of the
new center. 22 possible donors had
been found and approached, but as of
now, no one has been willing to put
forward the money needed to build
the center.
The final decision on the fate of the
center, according to Miller, rests with
Provost and Dean John Lilley. Two
committees have been formed to
advise Lilley on the center: the
Liaison Committee of the Women's
Commission at Penn State Erie,
chaired by Dr. Peg Thorns, and an ad
hoc faculty committee chaired by Dr.
John Rossi. These committees have
been meeting and gathering
information to give a
recommendation to Lilley in January.
Miller then talked to parents about
the financial status of the center.
Enrollment in the center has been
increasing, and the center is coming
closer to breaking even, but it still has
not paid back any of the initial capital
costs involved in buying and
renovating the building, nor are they
able to pay the property taxes on the
center. These are major
considerations that the school must
take into account when deciding the
fate of the center.
Parents then were allowed to ask
Miller and Rossi questions about
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 2000
what will happen to the center and
what could be done to save the center.
Many parents tearfully told Miller
that this was the best child care center
in the area and that they did not feel
safe putting their children anywhere
else. Other parents tried to field
various ideas about how the funding
could be found to save the center,
including finding another area to
build the center, fundraising drives,
and asking the University for more
money.
Rossi and Miller fielded all of the
questions and informed parents that
at this late date, the plan for
Knowledge Park was the only
practical solution. When parents
asked what they could do to save the
center, Miller and Rossi both stressed
the importance of contacting Lilley
to let their feelings be known, Miller
said, "it is important to make sure the
people making the decision know
how you feel."
Parents were upset that the only
way that seemed to be open to them
to save the center was a direct appeal
to Lilley, and he was not even in
attendance at the meetings. The PTO
asked that another meeting be held
with Lilley in attendance, and Ford
said that it would be looked into.
Anyone who would like to express
their concern about the fate of the
child care center can e-mail the
following individuals: Dr. John Rossi,
jpr2@psu.edu: Dr. John Lilley,
jml2@psu.edu: Mr. Ken Miller,
kqm3@psu.edu; and Dr. Peg Thorns,
mat6@psu.edu.
The ad-hoc committee is scheduled
to give its final recommendation to
Lilley on January 19, 2001, with his
decision to come shortly after that.
MONDAY
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CLOUDY
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LOW 28