Karl Benacci, Features Editor It I Being an R.A. isn easy.i Through the looking glass by Mike Pzrzgree, KRT Campus by Melony Burnom staff writer Some may think that being a resident assistant is a difficult job. They're right, it is. The deadline to apply for an R.A. position is al most a week from now. For those students would love to reap the benefits of the challenging job have a long road ahead of them. All together Penn State Erie has 1,500 students living on campus, and almost all of them will need someone to lay down the do's and don'ts to sharing a small space with so many people. That is where the resi- dent assistants come Resident assistants are expected to create an environment that has a posi tive impact on students' develop ment, according to the Residence Life mission statement at the Behrend College. The on-campus residence experience must de velop into a total learning experi ence for all students in which the R.A. must help shape this envi ronment into a community. By attending weekly meetings, planning 10 programs a semester for their community floor, serv ing occasional night duty, and dis tributing campus information, they will complete the mission of Residencg, Life . department. The most important aspect of the job is enforcing housing rules and being a mediator when conflicts arise. All of these duties call for serious time management skills. R.A.s also must have a 2.5 cumu lative, good conduct, and earn 24 credits after Spring 2002 Semes- Being an R.A. has its benefits. Students receive free room and Crossword ACROSS 1 Adjust 6 Alpha follower 10 Attention getter 14 Jazzy Reese 15 Curved molding 16 Mr. Preminger 17 Dairy machines 19 Normal lead-in 20 Unconscious state 21 Components 23 Finding 27 Piece of small shot 28 Landed 29 Slangy affirmative 31 Throws 32 Abhor 35 Sub detector 37 Salty sauce 38 Covered with a cloak 40 Lager alternative 43 Cuban dance 44 Intense fear 46 Suffered soreness 49 Dam-building grp. 51 Seth's son 52 Span 54 Decoration 57 Dash in some cocktails 59 Designer Chanel 60 Austen novel 61 Habitual attitude of skepticism 66 Ooze 67 Privy to 68 Gymnast Comaneci 69 Reasonable 70 Major ending? 71 Forest clearing DOWN 1 Madison Ave. output 2 Sandra or Ruby 3 High mountain 4 Appease 5 Reader's card 6 Australian bay 7 Freudian topic 8 School period 9 Fable man board, and make friends in the process. Becoming a person with first-class social skills also helps students survive in today's com- petitive society. "Helping others non-stop will help build character," said Nicole Green, a senior R.A. who has been on the job for three years. The Residence Life Coordina tors decide who gets to be an R.A. Positions depend on the number of returning Resident Assistants. graduating seniors and transfer students. Jill Parker, coordinator of Residence Life says, "There are a good number of positions open and they need people to take the job serious." However, Residence Life won't know thi_ exact num ber of openings until the spring, when the positions are closed. Not only do students have to till out an application, including five heavily evaluated questions, ap plicants must also attend a group interview, then later an individual interview with Residence Life Coordinator professionals and a few current Resident Assistants. Parker explains the procedure as finding "the best of the best, mak ing it fairly competitive." © 2002 Tribune Media Soren:its, Inc Al rigid, reserved. Solutions 10 Well-liked 11 Stable units 12 Mason's Della 13 Raises a glass 18 Pierre's friend 22 Ten-year period 23 Young Scots 24 Toast topper 25 Metropolis 26 Kuerten of tennis 30 D.C. old-timer 33 Smear 34 Highland hat 36 Seine 39 Peacock network 40 "Rule Britannia" composer 41 Bird with a laughlike cry 42 Formerly, once 43 Bureaucratic obstructions 45 Dismissal 46 Convent superior 47 Ukrainian peninsula 48 Hired killers 50 Obscure 53 Golfer Els 55 Ready alternative? 56 Getting top If students make it past the group interview, the students will then have the opportunity to en roll in a 3 credit R.A. class during the 58 Transmitted 62 Acquired 63 Actress Lupino 64 Entertaining Caesar 65 West of Hollywood 7temonss a rummies Friday, October 4, 2002 Spring Semester of 2002. However, not all students are guaranteed a spot as an R.A. Ei ther there is a waiting list or one is just not accepted. The procedure is long for a rea son. Student RA's connect the students and the administration by delivering information, becoming a useful resource, and assisting students with problems. The pro cedure must be handled profession ally, along with many other things that could become a bit overwhelming. This process helps the Residence Life Coordinators weed out students who may not be right for the job. When it comes to on-campus living, the floor will contain 30 to 40 students with many different personalities that may or may not agree with one another. Once one makes it as an R.A., "The first six weeks are the most important weeks," said Jill Parker. "It will make or break your semester." The R.A. will have to success fully build the community on the floor into a positive one. This will lead to fewer conflicts and less rule violations. Because Resident Assistants are seen as authority figures, every one is observing their every move. "(It's like) being in a fish bowl because, everyone is watching you," said Jolene Schuster, RA for two years. Being an RA isn't an easy job. If one is interested, he or she can pick up an application in the Of fice of Student Affairs in the ‘ Reed Building 115, or a person can complete an online application on the Penn State Erie website. Online laundry technology takes wait out of washing by Mike Langberg Knight Ridder Newspapers College students sitting in their dorm rooms will soon get an answer via the Internet to one of life's great unanswered questions: Is there a washer or dryer available in the basement laundry room? IBM and a smaller company named USA Technologies today unfolds "eSuds," a program that will connect 9,000 washers and dryers in college dorms around the country to the Net starting early next year. From a Web page, students will see which washers and dryers are in use and which are free. When their clothes are clean or dry, the appliance will send an e-mail message- or even beep a pager. This may sound silly, but there are serious business reasons for laundry-room operators to pay for online connections. Net-enabled washers and , dryers will report breakdowns I immediately, so operators can dispatch a repair person and get broken units quickly back WHEN SHE SHOWS UP, I'M ASKING HER TO DINNER The Salzburg Opera is looking to hire a woman to appear nude on stage in the upcoming production of Alexander Zemlinsky's "King Kandaules " She must be five feet tall and have a 40-inch chest and 26-inch waist. So far, nobody has applied. CALL ME FROM THE AFTERLIFE, BLAMI After a day of heavy drinking, two Texas men got involved in a discussion about religion, specifically, Who was going to heaven and who was going to hell. It ended when one of them shot the other in the chest with a shotgun, killing him. DOES THAT APPLY TO NIGHT SCHOOL? . The Florida school system is ending the practice of allowing students to come to class wearing pajamas . r ....i..i........1•1 CAPTAIN NIA g "5 «:_::; M=C' "I don't know and I don't care. Thank you." into revenue-producing service. Eternally cash-strapped students could also wash their clothes more often, again producing more revenue for equipment operators, because Internet-enabled machines can deduct the cost from an online account funded by Mom and Dad _ a much easier alternative than begging roommates for spare quarters. Students pay by swiping their college ID card through a slot, or by entering an authorization code on their cellular phones. Another convenience feature: eSuds washers will be attached to tanks full of detergent and fabric softener, which can be dispensed on demand for a small additional fee. ESuds was tested earlier this year at Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, drawing an "over whelmingly positive response" from students, according to Wendy Jenkins, head of market ing for USA Technologies, based in the Philadelphia suburb of Wayne, Penn. IBM's Global Services group and USA Technologies jointly developed the technology for The Behrend Beacon cashless laundry the software tor inonnolim the machines thr nieli the Web. The partners are selling eSuds to service uperittur, who run college laundi v rooms under contract and will begin at schools in the Mid west, quickly spreadin. , nationyvide. It's part of a 1 , i(21 - toward cashles,, Illot ilcd in by effnits t( ism. "People don't break into vending machines just to steal a soda," says Jenkins. Internet-enahled es are also headed into the hinne : Whirlpool, which make , lialf the consumer \\ dryers sold woi Id \\ idc under the Whirlpool, hcnnioi c Kitchen Aid and Roper names will introduce its first Net- connected ovens, microwa\ es and refrigerators later this year. Washers and dryers will eventually go online, too, mostly so Whirlpool can remotely fix problems and watch for impending break downs. Page by Sprerge!rneyer & Davis /0 ^ 5
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