SUE takes on the big NYC
by Nlichael Grooms
staff writer
Behrend students took a trip to the
Big Apple. On Wednesday, March 28.
at 3:00, nearly 30 students hoarded a
bus headed for New York City. The
trip, organized by the Society of
Undergraduate Economists, was
intended mainly for Economics and
Finance and other business majors.
Many students donated time to
fundraisers like car washes, tee shirt
selling, and raking leaves to finance
the trip. SGA also contributed some
money. Left over seats were available
to any other interested students. The
bus reached its destination around
11:30 Wednesday night. The group.
led by Dr. Weller and Dr. Kurre, stayed
in Manhattan.
The entire group slept at the
Wellington Hotel, located on 55''
Street and 7'' avenue. Thursday
morning the group started their tours.
At 9:00 a.m. the group visited the
TIAA-CREF, a firm that runs
retirement plans (including Penn
State's). The company manages
millions of dollars by investing
customers' money in stocks and bonds
markets. In fact, many Behrend
professors invest their money with
TIAA-CREF in order to secure money
for retirement. The company fed the
students breakfast, and then had
GOODBYE, DR. EVA TUCKER
Join the Beacon on April 29 at Presque Isle!
several speakers discuss asset
nhmagement, internship opportunities,
and jobs that were available.
From there, it was off to the World
Trade Center. On the 99t h floor, the
group visited Guy Carpenter &
Company. the world's largest
reinsurance firm. They insure
insurance companies, providing funds
to insurance companies when they
suffer major losses, for example,
massive Hood or hurricane damage.
'File company treated the group to
lunch. "IWo vice-presidents, one public
relations person, and one student
intern from England spoke to the
undergraduates about a typical day at
the office, and what the upcoming
graduates should be prepared for.
The group's next stop was the New
York stock exchange. Murray
Teitlebaum, Director of Education for
the NYSE, was their tour guide. He
took the group to a conference room
in the stock exchange where he spoke
to them about the hectic lifestyle of
the industry. Then he gave the group
a special treat. Usually the tourists can
only see the floor of the stock
exchange from behind glass.
According to Dr. Weller, "We did not
get the normal tour, we were looking
at the stock exchange floor, and there
was no glass in our way. We could hear
it, we could smell it." The group was
even fortunate enough to be there as
the closing bells sounded.
On Thursday evening, during dinner
at Montes, located in Greenwich
Village, Allyson Cuccia. a former
Behrend graduate who now works for
a large financial firm on Wall Street,
spoke to the group for about an hour
on what it is like to work for a Wall
Street firm.
During the trip, the group used the
subway system to get from place to
place. Dr. Weller commented, "It was
cheap, and not too disgusting!" On
Friday, the students went to the N.Y.
Mercantile exchange. This is where
people trade natural commodities such
as natural gas, gasoline, oil, and
precious metals. One of the students
from the group waved to one of the
floor traders. The gentleman came up
to the group and talked to them. He
must have been having a good day,
since he ended up buying eight $lOO
tickets to the Broadway show Beauty
and the Beast for some of the students.
Later in the day, the students went
to Park Avenue to visit a company
named Bloomberg. This company
does financial research, and provides
financial information for customers.
The company had a few of its
representatives (some former Penn
State graduates) talk to the students
about how to get internships and jobs.
Every student received lunch and an
electronic planner from the company.
After dedicating 36 years of his life to Behrend, Dr
Eva Tucker, assistant professor of geoscience, is
retiring. The School of Science held a surprise
goodbye salute for him on Thursday during the last
class he will ever teach at Behrend. Dr. Pamela
Silver Botts, associate professor of biology, played
the bagpipes during the ceremony.
On Friday night, the group broke up.
Each student could do what he or she
wanted. Some students went to dance
clubs, and others went to Broadway
shows. Dr. Kurre and Dr Weller
received a special treat. Dr. Weller
mentioned, " I phoned to try and get
tickets to see the famous Blue Man
Group, and was able to get them only
because someone else cancelled at that
same moment. The Show was
excellent!" Saturday was a free day
for the group. Many students took a
walk through Central Park. Some
students went to the Museum of
Natural History, where many enjoyed
the spectacular dinosaur exhibit. Some
students went down to the docks and
toured the Aircraft carrier "the
Intrepid". The aircraft carrier was
converted into a museum. The group
left New York at around 8:00p.m.
Saturday evening, and arrived in Erie
at around 5: a.m. on Sunday morning.
The students had a great time and
got to experience New York City first
hand. Dr. Weller states "it was a great
experience for the students. They were
able to find out what goes on in the
big financial institutions, all the people
we met were extremely nice, and the
speakers were excellent. The
experience was so positive we are
considering doing the trip every two
years."
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Senior Design Days
culminate
education
The culmination for all engineering
majors occurs this Saturday, April 28.
After so much time and effort, seniors
are coming together to present their
Senior Design Projects.
About 120 engineering students are
participating in this three-credit course
this year. Working in groups of two
or three, seniors arc expected to solve
some sort of technical engineering
problem. They typically start work
ing on these projects in the fall semes
ter.
First, students must develop a pro
posal, which is then presented to a fac
ulty member to accept the idea. Then
the seniors come up with a prelimi
nary design in the fall. Work on these
projects continues all year, with help
from faculty advisors. Along the way,
presentations and progress reports are
given. Finally, the masterpieces are
presented at the end of the school year.
The event will kick off in the Nick
Building at 8 a.m. The actual projects
will be presented between 8:30 a.m.
and noon. Presentations will be done
in half-hour intervals, including five
minutes for questions and answers.
This year, the keynote speaker is
James S. Davis, President and CEO
of Aalborg Industries, Inc. With 25
years of experience in technological
businesses, he is qualified with much
~'; x.
;~;~~:_'
by Rehab Elzeney
staff writer
*Don't forget*
Spring 2001
Commencement
Saturday, May 12
Noon
Reed Lawn
(in case of inclement weather,
ceremonies will be held in the ARC)
FRIDAY, APRIL 27, 2001
engineering
technological knowledge along with
a broad range of management skills.
His theme for the Senior Design
Projects is "Business in the 21st Cen
tury: Providing Leadership for
Change."
In the School of Engineering, there
are several fields involved with these
projects. These include electrical and
computer engineering, electrical en
gineering technology, mechanical en
gineering, mechanical engineering
technology, and plastics engineering
technology.
"About eighty percent of these
projects are industry supported... com
mented Dr. Robert Simoneau, direc
tor of the School of Engineering and
Engineering Technology. An example
of one of the projects that will he pre
sented in computer engineering, is a
competition where students design
robots that compete against each other.
Another project requires that students
develop a neural system that converts
sign language into written language.
Dr. Si moneau acknowledged the
efforts of Ms. Jacqueline May, staff
assistant and Mr. Dave Roth, associ
ate professor of Mechanical engineer
ing. "They are really the ones that put
this thing together, - he said. Dr. Ford,
associate professor of ECE, empha
sized this fact. He said that they "have
been very instrumental" in putting this
event together.