Courtney Straub & Justin Curry, News Editors =T'
Mars, Venus converge
on Behrend campus
by Courtney Straub
news editor
"What really makes up a
relationship?" and "Who really
wants to have sex all the time?" were
some of the questions discussed at
the Mars and Venus Relationship
Forum held on Tuesday.
The forum was held in the Multi-
Cultural Council Suite and was
sponsored by Human Relations
Programming Council (HRPC)
Last year the e-board of the HRPC
came up with the idea for the Mars
and Venus Relationship Forum.
To prepare for the forum, the
HRPC left a box outside of the MCC
for students to put questions in.
"They could ask whatever kinds of
questions they wanted about males
and females," said Tameka Tilliman,
president of HRPC.
The HRPC set the mood in the
MCC suite by dimming the lights and
playing slow music. Approximately
twenty students participated in the fo
rum.
"We always get good participation,"
said Tilliman, "but this time they
were more diverse, which I thought
was good."
INA Elections Official Results;
I Freshman Senator Positions
1
1 Deepti Sonni
Ashley Pourmehr
Jason Flaherty
i Aaron Wood
i
I
' Open Senate Position
Kathleen Streaker
i Christopher Myers
:Matthew Johnson
'Keenan Hansen
Leap
sign up to be an RA
by Jessica Allegretto
"Congratulations for taking the first step in
exploring an opportunity, which could change your
life." These words mark the beginning of yet
another annual quest to find applicants for the
position of resident assistant here at Behrend.
Each year the office of student affairs recruits
students to fill distinctive roles within the
university's residence halls, suites and apartments.
The selected students, termed resident assistants,
serve as role models, disciplinarians, mediators,
advisers, and liaisons between students residing on
campus and other members of the Penn State
University community.
There are a total of 42 RAs currently employed
at Behrend College, and the addition of an new
residence hall, Senat Hall, to be completed for the
fall 2004 semester will bring that number to 47.
Requirements for resident assistant contenders
include a 2.5 semester GPA, 24 completed credit
hours, satisfactory behavior history, successful
completion of a three-credit training course and
interview process and positive recommendations
from professors, among other things.
Those students chosen to be resident assistants
will arrive one week earlier than the rest of the
campus to train and prepare for arrival day.
Throughout the semester they are required to be
on duty approximately one night each week and
one weekend per month, making rounds and
maintaining order within their buildings.
Additionally, each RA is responsible for planning
a variety of social, educational, and diversity
promoting programs to, in the words of Assistant
Director of Residence Life Jill Parker, "help build
into your future:
staff writer
Participants were divided into two
sections. The males sat on one side
of the room and the females on the
Questions were chosen at random
from the box. The person with the
corresponding number got a chance
to answer the question first. Then
the question was open to everyone.
"I think it went over very well,"
said Tilliman.
In November they will be holding
a part two to the relationship forum.
This one will be called "A Woman's
Work"
On Oct. 28 at 6:30 p.m. there will
be a program Heteorosexuality,
Race, and Religion" in the MCC
suite. The purpose of the forum is to
explain the misconceptions people
have about the three categories.
In November another program will
be held in the MCC suite. This one
will be entitled "Tearing down exist
ing myths and barriers".
"This one's a game show format,"
said Tilliman.
The group will be divided into two
sides. Each side gets a chance to ask
questions and the other side decides
if the question is a myth or fact.
3 out of 4
179 votes
159 votes
148 votes
137 votes
(1 out of 4)
80 votes
60 votes
52 votes
49 votes
a sense of community" among the residents of their
floor.
So why would any college student juggling
classes, work, friends and family commitments
volunteer for so much added responsibility?
Surprisingly enough, the student body almost
always responds enthusiastically to the call for
resident assistant candidates. As of Thursday,
almost 120 applications had been requested, and
the Office of Student Affairs expects to interview
at least 70 or more of those applicants.
The monetary compensation offered is enough
reason for some financially strapped students to
try for the position. In addition to free room and
board, RAs can also receive a complimentary meal
plan and anywhere from a $275 to $7OO stipend to
use toward their tuition.
But more importantly, being an RA is a once-in
a-lifetime experience. Parker said of the position,
"The first benefit is the leadership abilities you
learn so many awesome skills to use when you get
out in the real world paperwork, people skills
it looks really great on a résumé."
So what qualities should an RA hopeful possess?
"We're looking for someone with great leadership
potential," said Parker, "Some who's really
personable; you know, a person people can relate
to...and someone who takes their schoolwork
seriously. We have a cutoff of 2.5 (GPA) and we
stick to it."
Applications are available in the Office of
Student Affairs for all interested students, and are
due by 5 p.m. on Oct. 17. Interviews will be
conducted during the evenings of Oct. 26 28, and
those chosen to be resident assistants for the 2004
school year will be notified on Nov. 7.
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Friday October 10, 2003
GRAND DESTINY
University-wide campaign raises $1.3 Billion to secure its future
by B.J. Shields
staff writer
Ever thought about why certain buildings
on campus bear the names of people, or
perhaps wondered why scholarships
have somebody's name on it? Or maybe
at some point been curious as to how the
college funds some of the research, or
for that matter how the programs
themselves are funde?.
While individual education is paid for
through yearly tuition, the amount paid
to attend classes at Behrend is not
enough to keep the college running. As
a public University, one might believe
that tax dollars fund the infrastructure of
the college, but that is not the case either.
As a matter of fact, Penn State receives
the least amount of funds per student out
of all the public universities in the
Commonwealth. The truth of the matter
is that much of what you see and
experience as a student at Penn State Erie
is made possible through the donation
of private funds. Without this type of
funding, Behrend would quite simply not
exist.
In 1882, when Penn State was called
the Pennsylvania State College, then
President George Atherton spoke on his
ambitions for the college graduates. He
said that as a result of their education,
students should see themselves "...not
just as winners of bread, but as a moral
force in the world...and with the
possibilities of a grand destiny which
they must labor to achieve."
These words were adapted and used
as the theme of Penn State's University
wide fund-raising campaign which
began July 1, 1996, and culminated June
30,2003. Named "A Grand Destiny: the
Penn State Campaign," a record $1.3
billion was raised state-wide, making it
by far the largest fund-raising effort in
Penn State history.
Here at Penn State Erie, the original
Latest Construction News
-Senat Hall is about 3 weeks behind schedule due to the wet weather.
-The Research and Economic Development Center (REDC) should be out
to bid by the end of the month and construction will begin in March.
-A new sidewalk is now under construction and will allow students to walk to
the Junker Center from the east side of Jordan Road to Aquarious Drive.
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financial goal was established at $2l
million. By the close of the campaign,
that goal was far exceeded as campaign
gifts to Behrend totaled $51.7 million.
All of these funds remain in the Behrend
community, and are used to create
scholarships, new programs, and new
facilities.
Campus CEO and Dean Dr. Jack
Burke noted, "When we began the
campaign, we had 58 endowed funds,
and today we have 113."
The respective increase from $5.3
million to $34 million has led to the
college, for the first time, to grant over a
half-million dollars in endowed
scholarships, allowing Behrend to attract
and help academically talented students
from inside and outside the region.
Additionally, these gifts make higher
education a reality for students who
otherwise could not afford to attend
college.
In addition to the creation of new
scholarships, these substantial new
endowments have provided support for
the establishment of faculty chairs and
research.
"Other gifts have enabled us to add
important new buildings and acquire
property needed to assure room for future
growth, and thanks to the
transformational gift to name and endow
the Sam and Irene Black School of
Business, we have our first named school
at Penn State Behrend," said Ed
Blaguszewski, Behrend's Manager of
University Relations.
Charitable donors don't just hand
money out to the college, though. The
process of successfully soliciting
donations involves the efforts of
hundreds of university and civic leaders.
Key factors include effective planning
and a good case for support to take to
the community.
"Before any institution launches a
fund-raising campaign, it makes a
The Behrend Beacon
strategic assessment of its needs as well
as a market assessment of how much
support it can expect from potential
stakeholders," said Blaguszewski.
The overall campaign was organized
by the Penn State Board of Trustees.
Penn State President Graham Spanier, a
Campaign Committee comprised of
volunteers and the University
Development office.
"Each (campus) worked with officials
at University Park to establish local
campaign goals and strategy." said
Blaguszewski.
Locally, former Provost and Dean
John Lilley headed the campaign as the
college's chief administrator. Lilley was
succeeded Burke. The local campaign
chair was Edward P. "Ted" Junker 111,
and the vice chairs, P.C. "Hoop" Roche
and Robert D. Metzgar. The three
chairmen all graduated from Behrend,
and have since made significant financial
contributions to the campus.
"(The) Corporate Campaign will
benefit the region's people, securing the
future of the college as a resource which
greatly enhances the economic and social
well-being of our community," said
Junker.
Community leaders who led the
Corporate Campaign, which solicited
major businesses, were Samuel P. Black
111 and George A. Clark.
Robert Farrell chaired the Faculty and
Staff Campaign, and other contributing
volunteers were Joseph Benacci, Kurt
Buseck, Jack Fatica, Louis Pollock and
Gary Raimy. These and other volunteers
and staff took a well-articulated mission
and set of priorities into the Erie region,
convincing donors to invest in Penn State
Erie both for the good of its students and
the future of the region. It is through their
efforts that Behrend will remain an
integral part of Erie's economy, and an
institution that will continue to educate
tomorrow's leaders.
Carrasquero
,left, and
David
Daquelente
,right, enjoy
working
together
Be/ow:
Coordinators
(from left) Jill
Forsman,
Jaime
Russell, Jill
Parker, and
Meeghan
Trumbull
look over RA
Page
Left .
Two current
Perry Hall
Resident
Assistants,
Jair