Page 2 The Behrend Beacon WEEKEND WEATHER SATURDAY SUNDAY MONDAY Partly Cloudy High: 76° Low: 60° BRIEFS MATCHBOX TWENTY RETURNS TO JORDAN CENTER Matchbox Twenty, with special guest Fountains of Wayne, will appear at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 22, at The Bryce Jordan Center on the University Park campus. Reserved seating is $37.50. Tickets will go on sale at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, and will be available at The Bryce Jordan Ticket Center, Eisenhower Audito rium, Penn State Downtown Theatre Center, select Uni-Marts, the Altoona campus ticket outlet, by phone at (814) 865-5555 or (800) 863-3336, or online at http://www.bjc.psu.edu. Wristbands will be made available from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Friday, Sept. 12, and from 8 to 9 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 13, for those purchasing tickets at the Bryce Jordan Ticket Center only. PENN STATE PORTAL UPDATED The Penn State Portal has a new face. Users are now greeted by 12 new interface themes, which include nine color themes and three Penn State themes. The themes have been designed in re sponse to user feedback and aim to improve the portal's usability. Updated controls also have been implemented, giving users the ability to more quickly and easily edit channels and access online help and documentation. In addition to its visual enhancements, the portal now pro vides more than 380 channels of Penn State and external content including news; student services; printing account status channel; an Office of Human Resources job search channel; an enhanced PASS Explorer, the portal's built-in secure file transfer tool, which now enables users to transfer multiple files to personal, depart .mental and other PASS-based Web space at one time; enhanced personal calendaring; and more. To access the portal or send comments or feedback, visit https://portal.psu.edu/More information about the portal is avail able at http://www.psu.edu/portalproject/ DATES FOR YOUR CALENDAR Sept. 2 to 10: Late registration and drop/add deadline Sept. 15: Intent to graduate fall 2003 deadline Oct. 10: Study day, No classes Oct. 27 to Nov. 14: Final exam conflict filing period Nov. 19: Late drop deadline Nov. 26 to 28: Thanksgiving Holiday Dec. 12: Withdrawal deadline, Last day of classes Dec. 13 to 14: Study days Dec. 15 to 19: Final exams Dec. 20: Commencement STILL LIFE: WISH COMES TRUE FOR YOUNG CHEERLEADER Twelve-year-old Kira Shaw became a Penn State cheerleader this past weekend through the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Shaw, who has a neuro muscular disorder, has had 15 surgeries in her young life. Her wish to become a Penn State cheerleader -- which she said she chose over a trip to Disney World and other options -- included a visit to a beauty salon to get her hair and nails done, the official presentation of her uniform, pom-poms and megaphone at the Student Bookstore, several pep rallies with the rest of the squad, and lots of cheering in Beaver Stadium during Saturday's (Sept. 6) football game be tween the Nittany Lions and the Boston College Eagles. 2003-2004 LOGAN MUSIC SERIES Now in its 14th season, Music at Noon: The Logan Wintergarden Series continues to delight audiences with performances by an increasingly diverse selection of world-class chamber music ensembles. This year's Logan Music Series lineup begins Tuesday, Sept. 23, with renowned vibraphonist Stefon Harris and his quartet. Guests are encouraged to bring a brown-bag lunch to enjoy the informality of these noontime events. For more information, visit http://www.pserie.psu.edu/academic/hss/music/musicatnoonsked.htm "If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other." Janet Neff Sample Center for Manners 6' Civility 0 1 ' Scattered T-Storms High: 74° Low: 57° ANNOUNCED CLASSIFIED Mother Th Scattered T-Storms High: 71° Low: 58° fix ~.0 \ %,'"" 1 ;ti ' Ir ',. '''' Aillel \ j 1.1._ 1 1 t j \ , :.st• siti tilLk ft...i ' mj ' Frida , Se • tember 12, 2003 So what exactly is RUSH? by Courtney Straub news editor Noticed the campus decorated with post ers that have those distinctive Greek let ters on them? It's that time of year again. The time when the fraternities and sorori ties hold their annual rush events. "It's a good way to make new friends and meet new people," said Kristen Kento, active sister of Alpha Sigma Tau. Behrend is home to five fraternities and three sororities. The fraternities on cam pus include Delta Chi, Kappa Delta Rho, Sigma Tau Gamma, Tau Kappa Epsilon, and Zeta Beta Tau. The sororities include Alpha Sigma Alpha, Alpha Sigma Tau, and Theta Phi Alpha. Along with the fraternities and sororities, Greek life at Behrend also has an Interfra ternity council and a Panhellenic council. During the rush period, students are free to get to know the different organizations and decide if they would like to join one. Studnets who are in their third semester is encouraged to cone to the parties. Next semester, all students are free to attend the parties "It's a good time to meet the Greek organizations and see what they're all about," said Don Wetsell, an active member of Delta Chi. Some of the events include a sand volleyball tournament, pig roast, bowling, pizza party, bonfire, or making cookies. "It's a great way for boys and girls to explore the diversity of Greek life and play on player," said Francis Kargbo, active member of Tau Kappa Epsilon. Each fraternity and sorority conducts their rush differently. The best way to decide which one if for you is to go to a couple different ones. Greek life is not just about rush. It also offers opportuni ties for students to participate in any number of educational, service, and social programs. These programs not only benefit the Greeks. they also ben- Block party, Convocation, freshmen frenzy start off another school year by Eileen Jensen staff writer One of the main events during orien tation weekend for freshmen was the Freshmen Block Party. Dobbin's Hall was the place of action on Friday, Aug. 29 11 '. The Block Party, Red, White, and You, was all about meeting new people and enjoying the entertainment that was provided. Many different events took place within the Block Party, including free temporary tattoos, fun photos, tie dying, and caricature drawings. "It was very beneficial to attend the party with the girls on my floor," said Karla Murray, a freshman, who attended the Block Party. The 2003 Convocation ceremony took place on Saturday, Aug. 30'h. This cer emony starts the first day of classes. Four students were recognized for their achievements during the 2002-03 aca demic year. They were Christian O'Connor, Outstanding First-Year Stu dent, Scott Soltis, SGA President, Mar- MCC welcomes Behren freshmen by Justin Curry news editor Last Friday evening, the Multi- Cultural Council (MCC) held a dance in the McGarvey Commons. Normally, MCC holds an ice-cream social and dance concurrent with first-year orientation. This year, they decided to scrap the ice cream social and just hold a dance. Afraid of the stigma that comes with the term 'orientation dance,' MCC elected to throw a Jersey party this year instead, and had an excellent turnout. Approximately seventy students attended the event, which went on from 10 p.m. until 2 in the morning. Some of these students came from the three neighboring colleges in our area, Gannon, Mercyhurst and Edinboro. MCC President Edalia George (7' h semester, Political Science) was pleased with the turnout of not only Behrend students, but also the students from the other schools. "One of our main goals this year is to work on communication with our counterparts at these schools and become AX KAP ETF TKE ZBT AEA AZT 00A garet Porter, highest GPA, and John Stull, highest GPA. "l didn't succeed for the award," O'Connor said , "I did it for myself and it just happened. I feel better because of O'Connor, Soltis, and Porter all gave speeches that focused on "What Mat ters." O'Connor said that the relation ships she has made on campus were most important to her. Small group orientation took place on Saturday afternoon, and seemed to help students out by allowing them to see what different activities to get involved "lt(small group orientation) was informative...and I liked the movie," said Amanda Cooper, a freshman. The movie informed students as to why it was so important to become in volved as a college student. On Saturday night members of the Behrend's Greek system hosted a First Year Frenzy to kick off the year right. It was a chance to meet people as well as with jersey party a more community involved organization," George said. The main purpose of the party was to bring freshmen out and let them see what MCC actually is. "MCC has an obligation this year to appeal to the minorities on campus," she said, "Penn State does a great job of recruiting minorities to our schools, and we need to make them feel as welcome as possible on campus. It would be great to see our freshmen becoming actively engaged in MCC events and watch them blossom into the future leaders of our organization." MCC is also planning another big event to take place over Families and Friends weekend. Harambee is being planned for Friday, Oct. 3 and is coinciding with the Alumni of Color reunion. "Harambee" is Swahili for "Let us pull together and unite," and by holding this event, MCC hopes to learn from their ex-members as well as share the knowledge they have gained while serving as members and officers of MCC. efit the community. The sisters of Alpha Sigma Alpha take time every year to dress up as a storybook character and read books to the local elementary schools. The Tau Kappa Epsilon fraternity raises money in a very creative way. They have an Ice Plunge every year in the middle of March. People pay them to jump in Lake Erie when the water is freezing cold. This money is then donated to the Alzheimer's Association. Greek organizations also sponsor events at orientation, Greek Week, and philanthropic events throughout the academic year. Remember the fun students had last year sumo wrestling and using the climbing wall in McGarvey Commons? Greek organizations made that possible. "Greek life is lots of fun," said Melissa Solion. active sister of Alpha Sigma Alpha, "and it's really great to be involved on campus." "We're not planning on putting on a Courtney Straub, News Editor sing karaoke, sumo-wrestle your friends and enjoy tarot card readings. When asked what piece of advice she could offer incoming freshmen in the years to come, Alexis Puhala said, "Go out and make yourself known, it's hard to make friends and be active by just sit ting in your dorm." "New freshmen need to relax. It's a lot to take in all at once, but you will find your groove and meet people," said Cooper. Advice for the future from Murray would be: "make eye contact, smile and say hi because you find so many people that way." This year she is really look ing forward to "getting the full effect of college life." Orientation weekend was a wonder ful experience for all of those who par ticipated in the events that were held. Hopefully everyone met some new people and started to become more in volved within the Behrend community. lot of programs this year," stated George, "We would like to do more service projects than in previous years." One of their plans for completing this goal is to work more with cultural councils at surrounding colleges. The formation of this caucus will enable the organizations to work as a more cohesive unit. The first meeting is planned for Friday, Oct. 19'h and is being held at Gannon University, in downtown Erie. MCC holds its meetings every Monday at 5:30 p.m. in the MCC Lounge At these meetings, a representative from each of the clubs, under MCC's blanket gives a report as to the standing of the various clubs and then the representatives work together to solve issues that the multicultural population at Behrend might be facing. Once a month, MCC holds meetings for all members in the clubs and organizations served by the Council. The first all member meeting date has yet to have been set. For more information about MCC, contact President Edalia George at behrcolls@aol.com
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