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The Behrend Beacon
SATURDAY
Ilth
Rain Likely
High: 48°
Low: 35°
' rovost search on hold
The search for a new provost has officially been suspended until the fall semester. Among
e four final candidates, no one stood out enough for the committee to come to a clear
• ecision. Another candidate came to consider the campus but opted not to pursue his candi
• acy for geographical reasons.
The search will begin anew in the fall, and the committee hopes to have the new provost in
dace sometime during the spring of 2003. Dr. Jack Burke will retain his post as Interim
1' ovost and Dean until that time.
oung Democrats arrive in Erie County
If you are tired of just following along with local politics on television, here is your chance
o get involved. The Erie County Democratic Party, in cooperation with area college student
• rganizations, has organized the first Erie County chapter of the Young Democrats (YDEC).
The inaugural gathering of the Young Democrats will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. on Saturday
t The Metropolitan, 144 W. 13th St. in Erie. The evening, which is free and open to all who
interested, will include refreshments, information about the new chapter and an opportunity
o meet with local elected officials and 2002 Democratic candidates.
The Erie County chapter, the newest in Pennsylvania's network of Young Democrats
• rganizations, is being developed by the Erie Democratic Party and Young Democrats from
ercyhurst, Gannon, Edinboro, and Penn State Erie.
Young Democrats are open to anyone under the age of 40. The chapter's first business
eeting will be held at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the Erie Country Democratic Headquarters,
'lt State St., Suite 100. All interested are invited to attend.
For more information, please contact Casey Kilroy, Northwest region director for the
l'ennsylvania Young Democrats, at 824-2839.
entors make a difference
Would you like to make a difference in the life of a young person? Mentor a Roosevelt
iddle School student in the highly successful Penn State Ophelia Project program next
ear on Wednesday afternoons. Sign up with Dr. Charisse Nixon, the School of Humanities,
sychology Dept., for the fall 2002 term. She can be contacted by phone at x 6082 or e-mail
t cins@psu.edia.
Project organizers (and more importantly, the kids) need your commitment for the seines
r. This is a wonderful opportunity to experience a meaningful relationship with a middle
hool student, enjoy the camaraderie of other Behrend students, and change a life forever.
pallier announces academic calendar changes
Two years debate over Penn State's academic year calendar have resulted a new schedule
stalling fall 2003.
President Graham Spanier decided to eliminate the fall break as it is now and creating a
16-week schedule with five days of no classes.
enango County woman in 4-H Hall of Fame
One hundred people who have had a significant impact on 4-H at the local, state or na
ional levels have been inducted into a new Internet-based national 4-H Hall of Fame. Among
he honorees is a long-time supporter of 4-H programs in Venango County, retired Penn State
ooperative Extension agent Urania Bell "Rainy" Linn. Active in 4-H programs since her
ay s as a youth member, Linn currently serves the Venango County 4-H Program as a 4-H
air board director and as treasurer of the 4-H Fair Inc. The hall of fame exists exclusively in
yberspace at http://www.nae4ha.org/hof. Each inductee has his or her own web page that
includes a photograph, brief biography and a quote.
Monitor predicts battery lifespan to the minute
A prompt on a laptop that tells how many minutes are left before its battery runs down and
ow many times the battery can be recharged before it needs replacement is only one pos
. ible application of a new multi-functional battery monitor developed by Penn State Applied
' esearch Laboratory (ARL) engineers. James Kozlowski, ARL research assistant and doc
oral candidate in electrical engineering, led the development team.
Kozlowski says, "The new monitor is not limited to computer batteries but can be used in
• ther battery-powered cordless or portable devices. It can monitor new or used, rechargeable
•r non-rechargeable, large or small batteries. It takes only 10 seconds to provide a reading
d can be run off the power left in the battery you're testing." The current prototype was
ouilt with off-the-shelf components and costs about $l5O. Kozlowski says another version,
urrently on the drawing board, will be about the size of a deck of cards and probably will
ost even less.
A caller told ECC that her RA advised her to call Police and Safety for a
recommendation.
19/02 22:05
A student standing in the apartment quad holding a bottle of beer was
found to be intoxicated and was under 21. The student was arrested for
violation of section 6308(A).
/20/02 01:00
Three underage students were found drinking in the apartment quad. All
three were arrested.
0/02 01:10
A complainant said her roommate threatened to call Police and Safety on
her.
3/02 17:40
Lights were found broken on Behrend fields
/24/02 07:40
am $l,OOO-$2,000 with the easy Campusfundraiser.com three hour
undraising event. Does not involve credit card applications.
undraising dates are filling quickly, so call today! Contact
ampusfundraiser.com at (888) 923-3238, or visit
SUNDAY
Windy
High: 58°
Low: 41°
BEHREND BRIEFS
Campus Fundraiser
MONDAY
Partly Cloudy
High: 58°
Low: 38°
••••1•• r• - !,
. . .
v.y.. •
Friday, April 26, 2002
NOT Fe CARE IN THE WORLiti,
PHOTOS BY MIKE BELLO / BEHREND BEACON
A mid-afternoon snooze is just the thing this student needs to get his mind off his impending finals. These girls, meanwhile, won't
have to worry about finals for a long time. In either case, summertime is just around the corner, and school will be out of sight and
out of mind until August.
Behrend pool overflows with memories
by Erin McCarty
news editor
You've probably passed it a hundred times
on your way to class. Perhaps you never noticed
it because it's such a fixed part of the campus.
Or perhaps you stopped to stare longingly at it
when the temperature climbed up to 90 degrees.
For most Behrend students, the in-ground
pool nestled next to the Glenhill Farmhouse is
nothing more than a simple, if rather enigmatic,
part of the Behrend landscape. But for those
who have been a part of the Behrend community
for longer than a decade, that swimming pool
is a treasure trove of memories.
"Quite a few of the staff all used to go over
there at lunchtime," said Lisa Harrington,
administrative assistant in the School of
Science. "It was one big, happy, family party."
When Harrington joined the Behrend staff in
1976, there were no air conditioners in the
offices. This uncomfortable situation made the
pool the perfect lunch hour hangout. At this
time, Behrend was much smaller, which meant
a greater opportunity for faculty and staff from
different disciplines to intermingle.
"It was how everybody got to know
everybody," Harrington said.
"Going to the pool was always a big deal,"
said Dr. Zachary Irwin, associate professor of
political science. "Here was a place where we
could meet people whom we knew." Like many
faculty and staff members at Behrend, Irwin
brought his daughter to the pool.
"I always have a theory that kids are the best
means for parents to get to know one another,"
Irwin said. As the children of various members
of the Behrend community, from maintenance
workers to faculty to administrators, played
together, their parents spent time talking with
one another. "Those kind of friendships tend
to be fairly durable," he said.
"It added another dimension to our
relationship as colleagues," said Cathy Mester,
senior lecturer of speech communications.
Not only was the pool a place for faculty, staff,
and their families to get to know one another, it
was a popular spot for students. "The spring
semester used to end later," Mester recalled.
When the weather became hot, students would
gather around the pool to study or go for a dip
between classes.
"Many romances started at that pool," said
retired professor Bill Patterson. When Patterson
arrived in 1953, the Glenhill Farmhouse served
as the girls' dormitory, as well as the
administration building and the cafeteria. "It
was the center of activity," Patterson said.
The small heated pool also housed swimming
classes, and neighborhood children flocked to
it in the summer.
"Pools were a rarity," he said, noting that
access to the pool was free and unrestricted. The
fence did not come in until much later. "The
kids would all make up some connection to
Behrend, just in case they were questioned," he
laughed. Indeed, the pool served as an
introduction to the water for many children.
"When my oldest daughter Sarah was
between two and four, we used to take her there
fairly often," said computer science instructor
Charles Burchard. "It's where she learned to
swim." Carol Tobin, staff assistant in the School
of Engineering, related that her sister also
learned to swim at the pool, aided by then-Dean
Iry Kochel.
The pool sometimes provided an introduction
to other things, as well. Irwin vividly recalled
an instance in which a milk snake made its way
to the edge of the pool with a frog in its mouth.
"My daughter saw this, and we had never
explained to Sarah that snakes eat frogs," he
said, looking on the incident as a unique learning
experience. The snake, he speculated, had
probably emerged from the wall of the adjacent
pump house, a tiny structure made of fieldstone.
"Fieldstone construction seems a lost art," Irwin
lamented, pointing out that the style peaked in
FOCAL POINT
popularity around the 19205. "The
construction of that pump house was really
exceptional."
When the pool was completed in 1932, it
received its water via the pump house and a
dam. Despite the presence of the creek,
access to water was limited, and the pool
provided a reservoir in case the Behrend
estate should ever catch fire.
"I don't know if that factored into
Behrend's decision to build it," Patterson
said. "Ernst Behrend was supposed to
exercise every day. He didn't care much for
exercise but he did like to swim, so he built
the pool." He met regularly with his
swimming instructor, "Doc" Ainsworth from
the YMCA, perfecting various swimming
styles and refusing to be defeated by
meteorological mishaps.
"He celebrated his birthday each year by
swimming a mile (80 laps)," wrote professor
emeritus Benjamin Lane in his book
"Behrend Remembered." "This was not
usually easy, for his birthday fell in March
when snow and cold temperatures are not
uncommon in Erie. One of his swimming
companions remembered a particularly cold
and snowy birthday when Ernst arrived at
the pool for his celebratory swim clad in a
raccoon coat."
After Behrend died, the pool was no longer
heated in the winter, but regular maintenance
continued. Two or three logs set afloat in
the winter kept the water from freezing, and
the pool had a yearly tune-up to keep it in
top condition.
"In the spring we used to have a work day
with no classes," Patterson said. "Everybody
cleaned up the campus." One of these jobs
was to drain, clean, and refill the pool. In
many cases, a new paint job was also in order.
The process often took several days and was
sometimes hindered by unwelcome guests.
"We were just getting ready to fill the pool
back up when a chipmunk got in there," said
Patty McClellan, staff assistant in the
Registrar's Office, whose daughter was a
lifeguard at the pool. "We ran around for 45
minutes trying to catch that thing before we
finally swiped him with the net."
Despite the tender loving care poured into
CONTRIBUTED PHOTO
A view of the Behrend family pool in days of yore. Even those who didn't swim
much enjoyed relaxing in the chairs by the pool.
April 19 & 26
April 20 & 27
April 21 & 28
April 22 - 25
April 29 - May 2
May 3
May 4 - 5
Erin McCarty, News Editor
it, the passage of years took its toll on the
pool. Not only did the pool become
weathered, but insurance policies became
more strict. Additional safety precautions
included adding a fence around the pool
and removing the diving board, but
eventually a larger problem had to be
addressed.
"There was something called the
University Futures Process in the early
'905," said Interim Provost and Dean Dr.
Jack Burke. "There were big cost
reductions."
As administrators examined ways to cut
spending, they discovered that the deck of
the Behrend pool had heaved gradually
over the decades, causing an unsafe
situation. In order to make it safe, each
stone in the deck would have to be reset.
This considerable expense was
unwarranted during a time when money
was so tight, particularly because
administrators knew that the Junker Center
was on its way. The Behrend pool closed
its gate in the summer of 1992.
"I was very disappointed when it was
closed," said Loretta May, administrative
specialist in the School of Engineering.
"Chuck Burchard and I collected a lot of
signatures to keep it open." May
commented that there was a big difference
between that pool and the Junker pool
because it had such a long history and
because it was situated outside.
"It always really smelled good,"
McClelland said, remembering the shrubs
and flowers surrounding the pool.
"It was a very mellow place to be,"
Mester said. "There was lots of shade."
"It was nice while it lasted," said Burke,
who frequented the pool himself. "We're
just trying to maintain it now so it's not an
eyesore. There has been talk of turning it
into a garden." But no one seems to be in
any hurry to get rid of this emblem of
Behrend's past, even if it does tend to taunt
on 90-degree days.
"It's a reminder that this was something
other than a school," Irwin remarked.
"This was someone's home. I think that's
important to remember."
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