Page 2 The Behrend Beacon WEEKEND WEATHER SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY Scattered Thunderstorms High: 62° Low: 45° BEHREND BRIEFS Library hours change for finals April 25 and May 2 April 26 and May 3 April 27 and May 4 April 28 - May 1 May 9 May 10 and 11 Behrend reaches record spring enrollment Thanks to a new master's degree program and an increase in adult student en rollment, the college reached record numbers for the spring semester. "This semester we have 3,560 students, up 2.8 percent from last year," reported Dr. Jack Burke, Campus Executive Officer and Dean. Enrollment growth was recorded at both the four-year and graduate levels, with the most notable increases in psychology, chemistry, history, computer science, international business, and engineering. Some of the increase in students is due to growing enrollment in the newly created Master of Project Management, which is offered online through Penn State's World Campus. An additional increase resulted from a growing population of students over the age of 24. With enhanced services being offered to this group, adult students now number 4(X) at Penn State Behrend. ERIE conference scheduled for May 14 The Economic Research Institute of Erie (ERIE) will release the first-ever esti mates for productivity in Erie -- currently a missing piece of the local economic puzzle -- and surprising research data on the problem of "brain drain" at its third annual ERIE Economic Conference on May 14 at Behrend. These timely studies offer important insight for business owners and for everyone involved in the eco nomic growth and development of northwestern Pennsylvania. "Brain drain has been a hot topic locally and throughout Pennsylvania, but we've not had real numbers about how many of our graduates are leaving the area until now," said Dr. James A. Kurre, co-director of ERIE and associate professor of economics Kurre will share information resulting from recent academic research in two presentations, "The Missing Piece of the Erie Economic Puzzle" and "Brain Drain: Are We Really Losing Our Best and Brightest?" Kurre's inquiries include re gional development, cost of living issues, and philanthropy. Dr. Barry R. Weller, associate professor of economics and co-director of ERIE, will discuss the national economy in presentations titled "What's Up and What's Down" and "New Forecasts of the Erie Economy: Gloom and Doom or Boom and Zoom?" Dr. Kenneth Louis, associate professor of economics and an ERIE research as sociate specializing in international trade and finance and the economics of labor markets, will present "Who's Up and Who's Down" and "Impact of the World Economy: Does Trade Cost or Create Jobs?" Cost of the conference is $149, which includes a buffet breakfast, written mate rials, and lunch. Special discounts for nonprofit, government, and economic de velopment organizations are available. For more information about the confer ence or to register, contact the School of Business at x 6200. Chaiken appointed governor's representative Eugene B. Chaiken, chairman and CEO of Almo Corporation of Philadelphia, has been designated to serve as Gov. Edward G. Rendell's non-voting representa tive to the Penn State Board of Trustees. A native of Philadelphia, Chaiken is a 1962 graduate of Penn State. Among a variety of past and present affiliations with the University, he has been a member of the development council in the College of the Liberal Arts since 1999 and was recently honored as this year's Alumni Fellow for the College. His appointment became effective on March 21. El Nifio helps Pennsylvania farmers A notorious "bad boy" made an unexpected appearance last fall in Pennsylva nia, wiping out the drought with a soggy series of slow-moving rainstorms com ing out of the South, and then stocking up soil moisture across most of the state with almost daily snowstorms through the winter. El Nino made his presence felt, according to a water resources expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sci ences, in a way that has Pennsylvania farmers optimistic about the upcoming grow ing season for the first time in five years. POLICE AND SAFETY 04/10/03 06:45 04/13/03 02:15 04/13/03 03:49 "Manners are a sensitive awareness of the feelings of others. If you have that awareness, you have good man ners, no matter which fork you use." - Emily Post Janet Neff Sample Center C for Manners 6' Civility .... T-Storms Likely High: 65° Low: 43° 8 a.m. - 10 p.m. 10 a.m.- 10 p.m noon - 1 a.m. Friday Saturday Sunday Mon - Thurs Friday Sat - Sun 8 a.m. - 1 a.m 8 a.m. - 7 p.m CLOSED A complainant reported the rear window of her 1996 minivan was broken while parked in the Dobbins Hall staff lot on April 9. A complainant reported two males were moving large boulders onto Overlook Drive. Both were apprehended and arrested. A complainant received several phone calls in a row and wished to make a harassment by communications complaint. CLASSIFIED Isft Chance Showers High: 58° Low: 42° N E WE Friday, April 18, 2003 . . IN ••,•,•::••••• •-• .6. ... TA, Members of the woodwinds section of Behrend's concert band play during the year's culminating concert ASA shares joy of reading with kids by Erinn Hansen calendar page editor Members of Behrend's chapter of Alpha Sigma Alpha sorority have gone into different schools in the city of Erie and read to kids. This event, sponsored by the Behrend and Barnes & Noble bookstores, started on April 4 and ended on April 11. "The purpose of this event was to introduce children to books, to reading, and to help get the children excited about reading a book," said Cheryl Streckers, assistant manager of the Behrend Bookstore and project coordinator. "This is my first year of doing this and I feel that it is a wonderful community service project for the sorority and for the bookstore. Former employee, Jan Gatti, has done a remarkable job and I am looking forward to doing this for many years." The Reading to Kids project involved members of ASA, along with Streckers, taking turns for each day and going to the different schools. The students dress up as a character from the books that they are reading that year and read the stories that correspond. Publishing companies provide their respective costume characters. Most of them are free of charge, and the program only has to pay for the shipping and cleaning of the costume. ASA members and Erie kids bonded last week over Corduroy. Hempel's powerful prose concludes series by Erin McCarty news editor This year's Creative Writers' Speaker Series ended with a reading from fiction writer Amy Hempel on Thursday. Hempel's acclaimed stories have appeared in such publications as "Best American Short Stories" and "The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction," and she has published three collections of fiction. English professor George Looney, a long-time admirer of Hempel's work, introduced her as a writer who "manages to find words for the severe moments she places her characters in." He spoke of the balance between redemption and suffering for readers of Hempel's prose, quoting T. R. Hummer's "Bluegrass Wasteland" to refer to the quality of her writing. "We need fictions that keep us feeling, and Amy Hempel's work does that," Looney said. Hempel shared three stories during her reading. The first, "Now I Can See the Moon," took its title from a Japanese poem: "No barn burned down now I can see the moon." In the story, the speaker struggles with her dying marriage and the heartaches inherent in her job as a trainer of guide dogs for the blind. In the story, Hempel delves into the inner lives of dogs and the humans who grow to love them. "You don't just love the dogs, you fall in love with them," she writes. The task of training a dog for a life of service is especially difficult because the trainer FOCAL POINT because it has a good selection to choose from. Each year, the sisters usually go to eight or nine different schools, with 25 to 50 students in each, making that a total of 200 to 250 kids. "I would like to say that my time doing Reading to Kids is something I will never forget," said Katie Leary. philanthropic chair of ASA. "I am so excited that the kids have a chance to hear all the wonderful stories and see the fun characters, and I hope that this program continues on for ASA for many years." This is the fourth year that the sorority has been doing this service project, and has done many fun characters. Past characters include Pinkerton, Biscuit the dog, and Madeline. This year's character was Corduroy the bear, featuring the stories of how he got his button, and how he got his pocket. Strecker and ASA sisters would go into each of the schools, dress up in the bear costume, and then read the stories to the kids, with a little activity in between each one. For this year's activity, the children performed the popular song "Teddy Bear, Teddy Bear" with the name Corduroy in place of Teddy Bear. "I usually read the same stories at each school, especially since these are the main stories about Corduroy," said Streckers. "I usually read one to two hooks, depending on the age group, and I usually do an activity in between, so the children can get up and move around." The ASA sisters and Streckers have gone into a total of 10 different places, including nine schools this year. These schools include The Penn State Behrend Daycare Center; Irving School; St. George; Glenwood; McCord Library; Edinboro Library; McKinley School; Diehl and Harborcreek Pre-School. The ninth facility that this event took place at was the Behrend Bookstore, on April 5. The day was filled with crafts, snacks, games, and storytime with Corduroy. knows that a separation is imminent. "These relationships begin with a yearning for a future that won't be shared." The second story, "The Harvest," was especially well suited to a creative writing audience, as it dealt heavily with an author's license to manipulate the truth. Separated into two sections, the first part details the speaker's severe injury in a car accident and subsequent recovery period, including her lawyer's attempts to win her a hefty settlement based on, among other things, her decreased marriageability and chances of becoming a stewardess. The second section of the story goes through the first story, amending it at every turn with the truth. "There was no other car, but think of the awkward syllables when you have to say 'motorcycle,'" the narrator says. Everything, from vehicular details to unlikely coincidence, is changed in the translation from recollection to memoir. The truth of the second section struck a particular chord with the writerly audience, invoking many laughs. "This is the version that has room for perfect irony," she writes. "The Dog of the Marriage," the shortest of the three, concluded the reading. Originally titled "Saints," it deals with the hunt for the narrator's missing dog, including avenues such as posters (complete with the promise of an inadequate reward) hung by her husband and the dubious services of pet psychics. Throughout her frenzied search, the narrator is comforted by the presence of Erin McCarty, News Editor belhrcollls@aol.com "This was a really fun day," said Streckers. "For a snack time, the kids made peanut butter with some honey in it, which was very yummy A total of 12 people, including I() ASA sisters, participated in this year's Reading to Kids. These sisters include Steff Bailey: Sara Grant: Alyssa Fischer: Eileen Falkenhurg: Sarah Men sing: Mindy Shauers; Dee Nowacinski: Katie Leary; Erika Jarvis; and Adrienne Schermer. The other two people included Falkenburg's boyfriend and Tau Kappa Epsilon's Guy Reschenthaler. Cheryl also asked Emily Allen, student employee at the bookstore to help out with this project. All of the people that participated would agree that Reading to Kids is a wonderful thing, and their thhe put into this project, earned the sisters of Alpha Sigma Alpha the Outstanding Campus/Community Service and Outstanding Greek Chapter award. "I think that it is a good idea," said Mensing. "The kids are having fun and learning at the same time." really enjoyed my time," said Leary. "The kids are so excited and you feel genuine love for their love for reading. The bookstore gives us free publicity and we are very thankful for that. Cheryl and Jan have been very accommodating and fun to work with these last three years." "1 think that it is wonderful, and it's great that the girls from ASA offered to do a project like this," said Streckers. "I think that it is fun for the kids to have someone special come in. I could use as many volunteers as possible to do this next year. All you have to do is he willing to have a good time, and lose yourself in the character.- Everyone who participated would agree that Reading to Kids 2003 was a huge success, and are looking forward to doing this for many years to come. deer, whom she considers "saints, guardian angels, my friends. - After the reading, Hempel answered a few questions about her writing process for those assembled. "1 have a poet's concerns in writing fiction," she said. "I'm always paying attention to the acoustics of each sentence." She also spoke of her tendency to use everyday vignettes in her writing, "the perfectly selected moments that make up a life." In regard to her impetus for writing, she said that she always keeps in mind the readerly question, "Why are you telling me "If you keep sight of that," she said, "it really does keep you aligned with BEHREND BEACON Fiction writer Amy Hempel concludes the Creative Writers' Series.
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