Dean Lilley by Jenny Zhang staff writer Gathered by the fireplace in Almy Hall lobby, Provost and Dean Dr. John Lilley shared thoughts and in sights with students at the second Pizza with the Provost on Thursday, February 15. “Pizza with the Provost is the greatest opportunity for me to have contact with the students,” said Dr. Lilley. “1 like students; and I want to be able to talk to them and to hear their thoughts and concerns.” Lilley pointed out that action has been taken in response to these discussions. One of the larger visions generated by this program was the Behrend instrumen tal music program. Students raised questions about the Almy Hall heating system, future campus constructions, vandalism, and student transfers. One of the highlighted topics dur ing the program concerned the po tential social pressure for students to transfer to University Park. Accord ing to Admissions reports, about 80% of incoming students put Behrend as their first choice. But Dr. Lilley said: “we are still losing some of our stu dents for different reasons. I under stand some need to transfer for their majors, but I wonder if there is any social pressure on campus that urges students to transfer?” While many students responded that they are planning to stay at Behrend to continue their education, only a few are transferring to Uni versity Park to complete their majors. The answer to Behrend’s traffic problems? The planned Eastside Access Highway will reroute campus traffic patterns by John Federowicz staff writer There’s good news and bad news for Behrend students. The good news: getting in and out of the campus, in the years to come, will be much easier. The bad news? It comes with a hefty price tag, and a long wait during the construction phase which starts this summer, 2001, while the Eastside Access Highway is being constructed. In a major move to reroute local traffic, the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation’s plans are in the works for the Bayfront Highway extension. Running from Interstate 90 to McClelland Avenue, the future addition of the Bayfront, which is being installed piecemeal, would traverse the Wintergreen Check out ... —H E BEHREND Beacon online! www.clubs.psu.edu/ beacononline/ Forgot to pick up your copy of the Beacon before leaving campus? No problem most of the information from the paper is now online. Send all comments, suggestions, questions, complaints, and compliments to behrcolls@aol.com. gives students answers and pizza They expressed the opinion that they feel comfortable and happy at Behrend, and love the beautiful scen ery on campus and the smaller class size. Fourth semester international student Sundeep Bhatia from India said: “I was attracted to the MIS ma jor here. During my first semester here, being a long way from home, I was trying to adapt to the American culture. It was a difficult learning process to adjust to the different cul ture here; from the way people speak, to the stuff that people talk about and how they have fun. The Indian community is very small here. As I am getting more used to adjustment, I am making more friends, and that makes college life much easier and happier. So I de cided to stay here. ” Dr. Lilley men tioned that the family next door to him is an Indian family, so he can help Sundeep to make a connection with them to relieve homesickness. Dr. Lilley emphasized the benefit and the opportunities in a smaller college environment; he shared the story of how two of his children transferred to University Park and explained to students about the pros and cons of transferring. He said, “it is a very personal and important de cision, one should not be talked into it by any other person.” While answering students’ ques tions, Dr. Lilley also updated them about all the future changes on cam pus. Some of these changes are the Eastside Access Highway that will provide easier entrances to the col lege. And Perry Hall will be ex- Gorge and literally run through the Behrend campus. This poses a number of benefits for Behrend students, as well as a few drawbacks. The most obvious among the drawbacks initiated by the plans is the sacrifice of the former girl’s softball field. In preparation for PennDOT’s plans, the field has been replaced with a new complex adjacent to the old location. The loss of the field is balanced out by the side-benefit of more expedient and safer traffic patterns. With double, separated lanes of inbound and outbound traffic regulated by a traffic light, the new entranceway to Behrend will mean that students no longer will have to wait while exiting the campus. Right now, pulling out of Behrend onto Station Road , S : '• s 4 ; v"f Provost and Dean Dr. John Lilley talks pizza with Senior Assistant Manager of Housing and Food Services James Bowen. panded to bring its level to the Reed Union Building for handicap excess. Dr. Lilley encouraged students to take advantage of the technology on campus. He was delighted to see the stair tower elevator is in use. Staff members that attended the meeting along with the students in cluded Chris Rizzo, director of Stu can be a vexing hassle with traffic. Named the Dombrowski Highway, this stretch of S.R. 4034 Erie Eastside Access Highway will in theory facilitate more efficient traffic flow. In addition to the Dombrowski Highway extension to the Bayfront, there are other road plans for the Behrend area. Station Road will branch off to the south, connecting with Knowledge Parkway; Hannon Road, too. will be rerouted to meet up with this main artery. The Child Care Center will also be transplanted to Knowledge Parkway. Station Road will also be reconfigured to flank Behrend’s rear and there will be new roads that will link the campus together in a more refined network of transit we'll push, you to It’s in you. The desire to go farther than you ever have. To start where others stop. It's why you should consider Army ROTC. In this class, you'll face all sorts of challenges. And in the process, develop skills that'll last a lifetime. Like how to think on your feet and be a good leader and decision maker. Register today for Army ROTC. And hold on tight ARMY ROTC Unlike any other college course you can take. Think you ca the [edge], then tell you to jump* PHOTO BY NEIL MAKADIA dent Activities, Dan Schiesser, a co ordinator of Residence Life, and James Bowen, senior assistant man ager of Housing and Food Services, to answer housing questions. The next Pizza with the Provost will be on Wednesday, March 21, at 7:00 p.m. in the Lawrence Hall lobby. The project that will join Dombrowski Highway to both I -90 and McClelland Avenue will cost $6O million. The clearing of trees and grading processes will begin in mid-summer of this year along with the construction of storm water retention ponds and wetland placements. Bids to pave the road with clearing and grading contractors will be held in December 2001. Finally, the construction of the Four Mile Creek Bridge that will run through the Gorge and link the Bayfront will be bid on in October. Construction of the bridge should commence in early 2002. The Dombrowski highway’s completion is tentatively scheduled for fall of that year. lit It? call Marty at 898-7219. Business students cautioned to pay attention to prerequisites by Michael Grooms staff writer If you are a Penn State Behrend business student, subjects like cost control, resource planning, and making a profit are the keys that open the door to success. Behrend offers a Management 470 W course that is geared towards these topics. Management 470 W is the capstone class for all business majors, and usually the last course business majors register for if they can get in. Most Behrend students eventually come across one or more prerequisites that are needed, and must be completed successfully in order to register for this required upper level courses. If students have completed the prerequisites, and are in their final semester, they are usually granted a spot in Management 470 W. Dr. Diane Parente, assistant professor of management, explained that if the proper precautions are taken, students should have no problems taking the class. “To my knowledge, this [students getting a spot] is without exception. I have been personally involved in making sure that all students who have the prerequisites, and are legitimately graduating, are accommodated. Students run into trouble when they fail a prerequisite, and want to retake the failure along with 470 W. That is not fulfilling the prerequisite, and in this situation, students are denied entry.” According to Dr. Parente, “enforcing prerequisites has, in fact, allowed us to be sure to accommodate any student who has the prerequisites into 470 W in their last semester.” A capstone course refers to putting the final stone in place; to do so the fundamentals must be in place. The focus of the capstone course in Business is Strategic Planning. The official course prerequisites are MRRTG 300, Marketing; MANGT 300, Management; MANGT 310, Operations Management; and FNC3OO, Finance. However, prerequisites to the four courses above require the student successfully complete Acctg2ll, Accounting; MSIS 200, Business Statistics; and ECON 002 & 004, Micro and Macro Economics. All prerequisite concepts must be at the students’ disposal at the beginning of the MANGT 470 W course. In order to help students be successful and meet the challenges of the real world, some professors who teach MANGT 470 W are giving the students the Competency Exam. The students are given four chances to pass this exam. Dr. Parente, who created the test when she worked at * t MH i \\J Vu . „ ( iJ> \ FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2001 the University of Buffalo, states, “the goal of the test is to make students aware that there is a base level of knowledge necessary in order to go “Students run into trouble when they fail a prerequisite, and want to retake the failure along with 470 W. That is not fulfilling the prerequisite, and in this situation, students are denied entiy.” assistant professor of management beyond the class. We want students to be able to apply the knowledge they have gained in prior classes. That requires having a firm grip on the basics.” Enterprise resource planning, cost benefit analysis, net present value, break-even analysis these are all things that become very important in all businesses. In order to be successful, students need to learn these concepts, and bring all their knowledge together. Corporate Finance is another major area on the exam, as are weighted average cost of capital, return on assets, net present value, and return on owners’ equity. The exam also tests a student’s working knowledge of fundamental business definitions. Understanding the basic concepts of supply and demand, and aggregate production planning using forecast tools, production, shipments and inventory analysis and capacity planning issues are other issues that may be on the There is obviously a lot of knowledge that needs to be retained to take MANGT 470 W. According to Dr. Parente, “the exam signals the expectations of all business students; it is like a wake up call”. Dr. Tim Smaby, associate professor of and in charge faculty for finance, is working with Dr. Parente by coordinating the “terminology” used in prior finance classes with that used in the exam. This semester, Dr. Smaby also held tutorials for students that were having difficulty with the test. Dr. Smaby thought that “the sessions went well they were full every time.” A good piece of advice that Dr. Smaby and Dr. Parente offer is “do not sell your book back if they pertain to your major, it may come back to haunt you.” Dr. Diane Parente,
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