THE BF FIRFND VIL EACON ) A Penn State Erie Student Publicatio PENNSTATE ..:".% Erie i ti 5 5 Friday's forecast: Partly cloudy Check page 2A for the weekend weather outlook PAGE 3 Freshmen aren't the only new faces on the block. The first of a four-week series introduces the campus to these new members of the community. PAGE 11 Several Behrend students made the trip to Northampton, England, this past summer. They also had the opportunity to see much of Europe. PAGE 14 A monthly supplement, "Healthy Living" examines how to make the college experience just a little less stressful =2. -- News... 2-3 Nat'l Campus... 4-5 Editorial... 6-7 Calendar...B A & E... 9 Features...lo-11 Sports...l 2-1 3 NEWSROOM: 898-6488 FAX US: 898-6019 ON THE WEB: www.clubs.psu.edu/ beacononline/ E-MAIL: behrcolls@aol.com Offices are located downstairs in the Reed Union Building Vol. XLIX No. 3 The man sitting in the hot seat Massive road construction isn't the only change the Behrend community has faced this semester. Last May, just weeks before the academic year ended, Dr. John Lilley resigned after more than 20 years as Penn State Behrend's provost and dean. While this change may not seem to affect students on a daily basis, it will have a vast impact on the campus' future. Lilley was only the third executive officer Behrend has had since its conception. A new provost means a change in the campus' leadership and possibly the campus High: 80° Low: 65° vision Lilley has since moved to the University of Nevado, Reno, to assume the role of president. Dr. Jack Burke, formerly senior associate provost and senior associate dean, has since stepped up to fill the role of interim provost and dean. Burke, who worked beside Lilley for the past 20 years, says he is comfortable with his temporary role. "There was not a lot of transition for me, but there is a lot more work." Burke said while he is working with the same people and in the same office, his responsibilities have changed and expanded. Whereas he was more the man behind the scenes, he now has to assume a much more public role. He now has to travel more, especially to University Park, and he is involved with more community events. But Burke is not the only one with more to do. Since he plans to step back into his former role once a new, permanent provost is chosen, no one has been assigned to fill his old position. Instead, many people in the Provost's Office and elsewhere have taken on more responsibilities. Burke said Associate Provost and Associate Dean Robert Light has Students VlZualize way to GPA improvement For many, the manipulation of vi sual objects begins and ends with vir tual gunfights and home runs and 64- bit plumbers all courtesy of the graphically entertaining video game business. This practice of maneuver ing electronic pixels has been har nessed by Penn State Behrend, reduc ing the mottled educational prospects of popular video gaming and allow ing Behrend students to sharpen their mental skills. Through the aid of a FELT grant from University Park, the web-based VIZ program was created. The project allows students to gain valu able practice in spatial mediums like mental rotation and object perception practice that has proven beneficial in engineering, science, and just about every professional field imaginable. The arguably simple task of visu alizing a green apple and slowly turn ing that apple upside-down can po tentially increase a student's GPA and class performance. Six Behrend stu dents, with majors ranging from psy chology to engineering to communi cations, continue to participate in the program, gaining not only valuable mental training but also modest eco nomic compensation. Their involvement encompasses by Liz Hayes news editor by Rob Walsh staff writer Last May, Dr. John Lilley held a press conference to announce his resignation from Penn State Behrend. Dr. Jack Burke (pictured above) was then named interim provost and dean until the search committee chooses a new, permanent provost. stepped in to relieve Burke of some Higher Education at University Dr. William G. Cale, Jr., the dean of his former duties. Ken Miller, Park has also provided assistance. and campus executive officer from director of student affairs, is A search committee was Penn State Altoona, is chairing the assisting Burke with strategic established through the University committee. The remaining 15 planning. And the Department of in August to choose a new provost. committee members consist of detailed surveys, training sessions tailored to each student's skill level, video con struction, and a broad range of activities central to spatial devel opment. Projects like VIZ exemplify the bounty of available student resources at Behrend. "I never got sup ported the way they do, " said Dr. Dawn Blasko, as- sociate professor of psychology. "Students can ap ply for grants twice a year, and there are opportu nities that don't exist in a lot of other places." Blasko supervised VIZ along with Kathy Holliday-Darr, instructor of engineering graphics; Carla Torgerson, instructional designer; and John Kerwin, assistant professor of communications. They have seen the project win the Frank Oppenheimer Kathy Holliday-Darr, left, and Dr. Dawn Blasko are two of several Behrend faculty collaborating on the VIZ project. September 7, 2001 Award in Engineering Design and have even loaned use of the program to other impressed institutions. Perhaps the greatest feature of VIZ is the inherent accessibility to the Internet: Students can evaluate the project with relative ease. The focus of accessibility has been a buttress for PHOTO BY KRISTIN RODGERS the development of student resources at Behrend, especially in comparison with the dearth of opportunity at larger venues. VIZUALIZE continued on page 2 Behrend students, faculty, staff, and administration, as well as administrators from University Park. As Burke pointed out, the University is controlling the search, not Behrend specifically. An advertisement for the provost position was placed this week in the Chronicle of Higher Education, a periodical published nationally. Also, letters soliciting nominations will be sent out to colleges and universities nationwide. A candidate should have "a thorough familiarity with the philosophy and responsibilities of a large, research-oriented institution," according to the ad. Also, "prior experience in academic administration with responsibility for personnel, programs, and/or research is required." Burke said the candidate will need the ability to "articulate a vision for the college, both within the University and within the community." He or she will need to be familiar with the collegiate environment where there is shared governance. And, "that person will need a sense of humor," Burke joked. "Basically, someone who walks on water," he added. According to the ad, the committee will begin reviewing applications in mid-October. Then, the committee will begin narrowing down the candidates, Burke said. It will make several rounds of cuts until a final small number will be submitted to University President Graham Spanier for review. Burke said the committee plans to have a new candidate in place by July 2002. FILE PHOTO Meanwhile, Burke will continue to see to the daily operation of the campus. Several ongoing projects are topmost on his to-do list this year. Among his priorities are the Research and Economic Development Center, increased housing, enrollment management, and faculty recruitment. Pilgrimage to Stratford planned An opportunity for students to travel and experience Shakespeare isn't just for English majors anymore From biology to math to engineer ing students, anyone with an itch to scratch the surface of the Bard's works can do so on a trip to the Shakespeare Festival in historical Stratford, Ontario, on Saturday, Sept. 29. Students have a choice of attend ing one live performance of "Henry IV, Part 1" or "Twelfth Night" during the day-long trip at the festival., Students of all majors and schools are encouraged to take advantage of this opportunity. In the past, the fes tival has been very popular with lib eral arts students, but members of various schools at Behrend have also made the "pilgrimage" to the Cana dian reproduction of England's Stratford-upon-Avon. STRATFORD continued on page 2 EMW P SEP 1 L. 2001 ~~L~. 14 Pages by Becky Weindorf copy editor
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