FRIDAY, MARCH 16, 2001 “More metal detectors.” Antheim Thomas Civil Engineering 04 ARC OPENS comfortable and provide a social aspect. The times are during the day or evening so that they may exercise at their convenience. There is also an alumni night on Fridays and family time each Sunday. The ARC will be open during the summer, and even offer public swimming classes that can also be scheduled now with various coaches Sports are not the only thing the ARC will be home to. Babes in Arms , a Behrend musical production, will be performed on court one of the gym on March 21 through March 25. “Babes in Arms is one of the first events to be held in the ARC,” said Benim. There will be a kick-off to the ARC sponsored by the Office of Student Activities on April 19 with the performing artist Shaggy. To enter the ARC, students must have their student identification with them, otherwise they will not be admitted. ARC hours will vary slightly due to practices and special events, but here is the run-down on the time students can utilize the ARC. The aerobic room, weight First American Dream conference held at Behrend before Spring Break Community members come out to lead conference workshops CORNEL WEST by Aniy PefTer and Liz Hayes contributing writer and news editor As students were getting ready to hi' the beaches and bum around the house the week before Spring Break, the first ever American Dream conference was occupying the Behrend community. Hosted by Penn State Behrend’s Institute on the American Dream, the conference took place from Tuesday, February 27, through Thursday, March 1 at Behrend and other community locations. The conference boasted six 90- minute workshops, all led by area business leaders and Behrend faculty. Tuesday’s lectures included “Business and the American Dream,” which was led by William Morgenstem, co-founder and CEO of Rent-Way, Inc.; “Local Unions and the American Dream,” led by Dave Adams, president of the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers 506; and “I Dream America,” led by Michael Murdock, director of the International Institute in Erie. Wednesday’s workshops included Dr. Carl Kallgren and Dr. Kimberly Skarupski, associate professors of psychology and directors of the Center for Organizational Research and Evaluation (CORE), leading “Social Intervention and the Future of Erie;” and “Building a Healthy Community” with Dr. Mark Levine, a family physician at Hamot Medical Center. Also present at Dr. Levine’s lecture were Dr. Tony Suchman of Rochester, N.Y., and Dr. Cornel West of Harvard University, who would speak later that evening. Dr. Levine began the program by asking audience members if they believed that Erie is a healthy community. People responded with mixed opinions; one elderly gentleman commented that Erie is a healthy place that is full of concerned, caring citizens. However, other audience members disagreed with him, stating that far too many families are “locked in poverty.” The crowd was able to come to the r V// “Start with better education - better counseling - better security in the high schools.” Erika Weissenfluh * Biology 06 room, indoor track, and gymnasium hours are Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to midnight, Friday 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m., Saturday noon to 8:00 p.m, Sunday 2:00 p.m. to PHOTO BY BECKY WEINDORF Coach Josh Heynes coaches the women’s and men’s water polo and swimming teams in the ARC. decision that Erie has two sides the wealthy and the struggling. Believing that a lack of communication between community members is a primary cause of unhealthy communities, Dr. Levine told the crowd that they must take part in a “journey of dialogue,” in order to “focus on health.” The audience then divided into groups of two or three people to answer the “Living Dialogue Questions.” Each member of the group was to spend approximately 20 minutes telling of a time in which he/she felt truly alive and healthy, or relay an experience in which he/she witnessed incredible care being given to a human being. Finally, all group members were asked to share their wishes for the future generations of Erie. Once the dialogue session had ended, audience members were asked to share some of the ideas they had learned while speaking with their partners. Some of their thoughts on building a better community included: better healthcare for all children, giving women more empowerment, and taking a more spiritual approach to helping people, rather than just medicating all problems. Next, Peggy Popeski, MPA, gave a brief overview of the Health Status Indicator Project of Erie County. Established in 1993, the Project was designed to improve health data access and to dispense health care information to the community. Dr. Suchman also spoke, stating that dialogue is part of the national process of building better communities. He said that people need to realize the power of our world and can only reconstruct it by action. According to Suchman, community members have the power to shape their own lives. One of the highlights of the event was a brief speech by Dr. West. Declaring that as part of a community, “everybody has something to offer,” Dr. West stated the living dialogue involves taking risks, participating, and being an open agent in making history. He also stated “we QUESTION OF THE WEEK FROM FRONT PAGE midnight. The pool is open Monday through Friday, 7:00 to 8:00 a.m. and 7:00 to 9:30 p.m., Saturday 2:00 to 4:00 p.m., and Sunday 7:00 to 9:30 p.m. cannot overlook how very crucial dialogue is.” Following his brief statement, Dr. West received applause for his short, but poignant remarks. Dr. Levine, who became involved with the American Dream Institue through the efforts of Dr. Brock, ended the program by telling the audience of the importance of focusing on relationships with ourselves and others, as well as with the environment. Even though information is readily available for the community, Dr. Levine noted, “without dialogue, nothing will happen,” because people may never know just who, exactly, has the answer to the next question. He stated that dialogue is the first step in the process of building a healthy community, but advised that “a healthy community is a cohesive community.” Thanking the group for their participation, Dr. Levine added, “I think we’ve made connections here today,” and urged the group to continuously share their ideas, because that is one of the most crucial steps to “building a contemporary discourse. He believes healthy community.” that economic gain has come to The final workshop on Thursday was replace real democracy in our country, led by Charles Kennedy, Jr., a board “Democracy is not a horse race that member of the Pennsylvania gjjj G a t es happens to be winning at Humanities Council, who lectured that tb e momen t. Democracy is about “No Challenge is too Great: Re- humanity It is about chi i dren . is thinking Challenged Students.” about.looking out for one another.” Also included m the conference were d sod forces lectures by Dr. Cornel West and Dr. .... . ... . , . , . ... .. children to raise themselves because Annette Levitt. West is a university . , , r , ... , there are no parents, no love, and no professor of Afro-American studies and ..... ~ . ’ philosophy of religion at Harvard. His neighborhood to raise them. There lecture was titled “Restoring Hope.” Dr. are no neighborhoods anymore - just Levitt is a professor of English at Drexel 8 hood where are on y° ur own ‘ University. “The American Dream in As 8 result > America has seen a Today’s Theatre” was the topic of her decrease in humanity, religion, and l ecture democracy, while suicide and The conference concluded Thursday homicide are on the rise, night with a one-time staged reading of West defined democracy as the an excerpt from Studs Terkel’s book method used to affirm the capacity of Working. Tony Elliot, lecturer in theatre everyday people to govern at Behrend, directed the play, which was themselves. He indicated that the performed in the Hirt Auditorium on spirituaP'Lift Every Voice and Sing” Front Street. Afterward, Dr. Levitt led~represents this basic principle, a discussion. “Clear bookbags - smaller schools - more counselors - more extracurricular activities.” Jill Fuller Nursing 07 “If it wasn’t in the media it wouldn’t happen as much.” Ken Hess Biology 08 SHAGGY Angela Majoris, the head of the Concert Committee, made the announcement on the stage at Bruno’s during lunchtime on Tuesday. “Be kinder to people - stop picking on kids.” Kenton White Mech. Engineering 08 However, people need a voice in order to do so, and West doesn’t believe that the majority of Americans really have a voice, especially those who are in the minority. He pointed out several instances in which the only voice heard is the white population. The minority voice is often left out. For instance, he pointed to the fact that while 60% of the overall population believes Bush was elected fairly, only 7% of blacks agree. However, when this minority vote tries to speak out now, they are hushed because Bush is in office and it is deemed disrespectful. West stated that while it is okay to accept the fact that he is the President of the United States and to respect him, the fact that he may have landed in the Oval Office unfairly should not be overlooked. “Americans vacillate between sentimentalism and cynicism,” West stated when reaffirming the lack of Marie Havey commented, “when choosing a concert, we reviewed student surveys com pleted in Fall 2000, where Shaggy had many votes.” The committee received word on Wednes day that Shaggy accepted their bid and made their announcement early on Thursday. Student reaction was mixed after the an nouncement. Student Gretchen Lokey was pleased with the news saying, “that’s so cool. I love ‘lt Wasn’t Me’ (Shaggy’s first hit single off his new record Hotshot)." Other students weren’t as excited, includ ing Brian Rose, who said, “I’m not paying $15.00 to see him.” Shaggy will be the third big performer to play at Behrend since the Student Activity Fee has begun funding the concerts. The Goo Goo Dolls performed in 1999 and Train rolled in last year. Tickets for Shaggy will be going on sale soon. Student tickets will cost $15.00 and tickets for the public will be available for $19.00. The concert will take place in the ARC on April 19, 2001. meaningful discourse. Americans tend to be sentimental and nationalistic when discussing our country. However, when the less than-pleasant truth becomes undeniable, Americans adopt a cynical mentality and refuse to deal with those truths. And while the sentimentality may not erfcourage discourse and democracy, neither does cynicism. West doesn’t think that America will be able to survive much longer with our democracy shaped and guided by wealth. However, he does have hope for younger generations. “Young people may be able to cut across the grain of sentiment and cowardice." He says that we need every citizen to speak out; “we don’t need cynical spectators. It is a small seed to be a citizen, but it is what is needed for democracy to survive.” Dr. Cornel West joined Behrend's “Working for What: Winners and Losers in the American Dream" Conference, speaking on the decline of democ racy in America and the need for all citizens to have a voice, no matter how small.
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers