Page 2
The Behrend Beacon
SATURDAY SUNDAY
Partly Cloudy
High: 38°
Low: 25°
[GE Lubrizol donates communications equipment
GE Lubrizol LLC in Wickliffe, Ohio, has given Penn State Erie a gift of satellite navigation
and communications equipment valued at $81,948.
The equipment, which includes GPS receivers, satellite modems, amplifiers, satellite anten
nas, wiring, and various power supplies, will be used to support courses in electrical engi
neering technology.
It will also be used in labs for GPS, wireless communications, electromagnetics, antenna
theory, and antenna design.
PA Sea Grant named website of the month
The Great Lakes Commission has selected the Pennsylvania Sea Grant website to be the
Great Lakes Information Network (GLIN) Site of the Month for April 2002.
GLIN, a Great Lakes Commission project, serves as a gateway to the Great Lakes region of
North America. Its data holdings and services cover the environment, economy, tourism,
education, maps, GIS, and demographics, and the site receives 3.5 million hits per month.
Undergrad research conference convenes in April
Students and faculty from six colleges and universities in northwest Pennsylvania will
come together Saturday, April 20, from 8 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. for the 11th annual Undergraduate
Research and Creative Accomplishment Conference, sponsored by Penn State Erie and the
northwest Pennsylvania chapter of Sigma Xi, a national research society. Participating col
leges and universities include Allegheny College, Edinboro University, Gannon University,
Mercyhurst College, Penn State Erie and the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford.
What’s in the News: Singing about the stars
When the members of the musical group the Chromatics think about stardom, they're not
dreaming about the cover of Rolling Stone, but about stars such as Alpha Centauri, Wolf 359
and, of course, the Sun. Our star, the Sun, is a big ball of gas/And it's 99 percent of our solar
system's mass." What distinguishes The Chromatics from other groups is the ability to har
monize on the science of the heavens.
"Four of us work at Goddard Space Center as research scientists, and we thought it would
be fun to combine these two areas," said group member Alan Smale, who co-wrote a set of
"astronomically correct" songs for a CD," AstroCappella 2.0," that was distributed at no charge
Uo educators. The Chromatics' most recent song highlights preparations for the upcoming
launch of the Swift gamma ray observatory, a project of the Goddard Space Center. This
week's "What’s In The News" episode, produced by Penn State Public Broadcasting for schools
nationwide, takes a look at the Swift Mission and what scientists hope to learn from it.
Free web-based tool makes map colors a snap
With a computer on nearly every desk, mapping software is now available to just about
everyone, but choosing colors for maps is a job often fraught with complexity and failure..
Now Colorßrewer, a web-based tool created by Penn State geographers, can make choosing
map colors fast and easy.
"Lots of people have these new tools on their desk to allow mapping and data representa
tion, but they do not have expertise in designing maps," says Cynthia Brewer, associate pro
fessor of geography. "In using these tools, people generally choose the default color schemes
which may be inappropriate for the data or for the final format of the map."
Colorßrewer is intended tor people who do not want to spend too much time selecting a
color scheme or fme-tuning one they have created.
Mark Harrower, graduate student in geography, told attendees at the 98th Annual Meeting
of the Association of American Geographers in Los Angeles March 23: "It is a free 24-hour
on-demand color consultant."
The web tool is free, requires no registration and triggers no pop-up advertising. It is
available at Colorßrewer.org and will run on Netscape or Internet Explorer. Users do need to
have a free Flash 5 plug-in for their browsers, but they can download it from the site.
An RA called to report that a student was passsed out inside the main
entrance at Porcupine Hall. The responding officers found the student to
be intoxicated. The on-call coordinator was informed of the incident.
3/23/02 01:47
3/28/02 03:12
A complainant reported that someone had vandalized his door.
Caller reported hearing screaming coming from a room in Ohio.
3/28/02 19:04
An RA reported receiving obscene e-mail
3/29/02 03:05
While patrolling the Ohio Hall Lot, an officer found a Jeep Wrangler
with its back cover zipped down. It was unknown if anything was taken
from the vehicle.
3/30/02 02:30
4/2/02 10:30
A complainant reported receiving obscene e-mail
4/3/02 22:01
An officer observed a student run a stop sign at Reed Main Dr. A citation
was issued.
College Pro Painters
Hundreds of painter positions available. No experience necessary, students
welcomed and encouraged. Work close to home and with friends
Call 1-888-277-9787 or visit www.colle
Fraternities * Sororities *
Clubs * Student Groups
Earn sl,ooo-$2,000 with the easy Campusfundraiser.com three hour
fundraising event. Does not involve credit card applications.
Fundraising dates are filling quickly, so call today! Contact
Campusfundraiser.com at (888) 923-3238, or visit
www.campusfundraiser.com *
WEEKEND WEATHER
OUTLOOK
Rain Likely
High: 51°
Low: 29°
BEHREND BRIEFS
[epro.com
MONDAY
Rain Likely
High: 55°
Low: 31°
Dr. Dean Baldwin, the host of the
evening, welcomed all audience members
to participate in the event. In this way, not
even he knows what the show will consist
of, but it’s always a pleasant surprise.
Highlight acts included a bizarre but
hilarious fabricated story about Behrend
English Professor Dr. Gregory Morris and
New Age musician Yanni; a reading of the
famous ‘To be or not to be” speech from
Hamlet in the style of Donald Duck; and a
witty short play about the end of the world.
Faculty acts included English professor
George Looney reading a piece he’d written
when he was a student himself, entitled
“The Generic Legend of St. George.” Also,
Baldwin handed out copies of a disturbingly
funny poem whose reprinting is prohibited
here. Morris graced the stage many times,
but perhaps the most memorable was his
part in student Andy Sydlik’s Apocalyptic
play “It is Done” as A. 1., the whimsical
robot with a dry sense of humor.
Possibly the most intriguing spectacle of
the night was the viewing of the actual
music video of the Japanese boy band
Happatai singing the song “Yatta.” The
video, provided by Beacon Humor Editor
Ben Kundman and introduced by Dr.
Morris, certainly stole the show. As the
audience watched in laughter at the six
scantily clad Japanese men making fools
of themselves, an observant eye could catch
Morris rhythmically tapping his foot to the
. catchy tune.
After all the acts performed, Morris
continued the long-standing tradition of
Friday, April 5, 2002
i. oLIL xz iD _L Mj i. I
PHOTO BY ERIN McCARTY / BEHREND BEACON
Now this is what we like to see: an empty Beacon bin! (We’re hoping there is no correlation between that and the garbage bins
next to it...) Engineers, we commend you for your good taste. Everyone else, get off your rumps and start reading the paper!
Gala sure to be a'Night to Remember'
by Nicky Galloway
assistant news editor
The 2002 Gala will commence, Saturday
from 7to 9 p.m. It will be directly followed
by the afterparty, a dance including a wide
variety of music, from 9 p.m. to 2 a.m. Both
of these events will be held in the McGarvey
Commons.
The event is sponsored and organized by
the Association of Black Collegians (ABC).
The organization set up a 14 member
committee that began to plan the event in
October of 2001. Demeca Howard, Sharise
Finley, Kamilah Gorden, Natasha Gayle,
Adrianne Abney, Guinevere Habersham,
Twynell Kimble, Tameka Tilliman, Asia
Horton, Khalif Rhodes, Jennie Ellison,
Edalia George, Heather Robinson, and
Jacqueline Jackson all played a very active
role in the planning and organization of this
annual event.
The Gala 2002 is a tradition for the
members of the Multi-Cultural Council. It’s
occurred every year for at least 20 years.
During the ceremony that accompanies the
catered dinner, many minority students and
one faculty member are recognized for a
variety of accomplishments. This year, the
dinner will be catered by Housing and Food
Service. Housing and Food Service will
Worse is better for campus poetry night
by Tony DiPlacido
staff writer
Tuesday, Behrend held its 18th annual
“Evening of Dubious Taste” at the Studio
Theater. The show consists of comically
bad poetry, stories, plays and other forms
of literature. Both students and faculty add
their brand of humor to the evening. Anyone
who does not attend misses out on rich
Behrend tradition.
FOCAL POINT
w 1 1 t:
provide lasagna, honey dijon chicken, rice
pilaf. Prince of Edwards vegetables,
cheesecake and pumpkin pie. The
ceremony occurs during the dinner and
includes the time-honored passage of the
torch from the old Entertainment Board
members to the new Entertainment Board
members. At the conclusion of the dinner,
the awards will be passed out.
The awards recognize minority students
with outstanding achievement in academics
or social involvement. Approximately 150
awards will be given out in both of these
categories. There are two types of awards
for minority students to take home in the
academic category. The first is the gold
award certificate, given to students who
have a GPA between 3.0 and 3.49. The
second is the platinum award certificate,
which honors students who’ve achieved a
GPA of between 3.5 and 4.0. The
Association of Black Collegians will give
out an award to recognize a faculty member
for outstanding service to the ABC.
Other minority organizations are also
encouraged to participate and give awards
for service to their organization. Some of
these organizations include the Student
Government Association, and the Ultimate
Praise Gospel Choir. The Multi-Cultural
Council (MCC) will pass out plaques and
reading a short but hysterical horror story
by an anonymous author called “A Flash
of the Knife.” The absurdly written story
tells of five college students in a supposedly
haunted cemetery. The most horrible thing
about it was its composition. It is no wonder
why the author remains unknown.
After the evening’s atrocities, Baldwin
invited everyone to stay for snacks and
beverages. Amongst them was human
brain-shaped Jell-O. The event was also
one of Morris’ first at Behrend, seventeen
years ago. He had come for an interview,
and stuck for the performance. Baldwin
jokes that was what got him in. Baldwin
said he first got the idea for the event in
Senior Andy Sydlik in an exultant moment at Tuesday’s Evening of Dubious Taste.
Sydlik performed his play, “It is Done,” with the assistance of Nicole Johns and Dr.
Greg Morris.
Erin McCarty, News Editor
behrcollS @ aol.com
statuettes for the most outstanding
organization, the organization of the year,
the president of the year, and the most
ereative program of the year. This year, the
MCC is introducing the Keystone Award for
achievement in diversity programming and
involvement over the student’s entire Penn
State career.
The theme of this year's gala is “Make It
Last Forever” and the colors are the same
as always, silver and gold. The McGarvey
Commons will he decorated with a massive
amount of decorations, centerpieces, and
balloons.
The affair is formal. A red carpet leading
to the doorway of the McGarvey Commons
will be covered with silver metallic curtains.
Flanking the red carpet will be students
video taping the outfits and entrances to the
Gala 2002. There will also be a
commentator commenting on the outfits and
interviewing the attendees.
The dance directly following the event
will be disc-jockeyed by Quincy McConell.
The dance will also include refreshments
such as a fruit and cheese tray and punch.
Everyone is invited to attend. The tickets
are free for Penn State students and cost $5
for the general public. There is a sign-up
sheet for the event at the RUB desk.
1985 as a result of, quite simply, a lack of
funny poetry.
“1 got the idea from the student poetry
readings. I thought we could be a little more
fun,” said Baldwin. He felt they could have
used some comedy relief, and the success
has remained constant for almost two
decades. “We’ve even done it twice for the
alumni weekend,” he says.
If you missed the fun this year, not to
worry. The strong tradition of Dubious Taste
will be kept at Behrend so long as there the
School has a sense of humor.
PHOTO BY JEFF HANKEY / BEHREND BEACON