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The Behrend Beacon
The 'Holy Days' are upon us
by Daniel Stasiewski
a&e editor
The curtain will rise on Behrend's
production of Sally Nameth's Dust-
Bowl drama "Holy Days" on Oct. 24.
Set in 1936, the one-hour drama
follows two couples as they try to
survive the dust storms that devastated
their farms. One couple, Rosie and
Gant, lost something more precious
than just crops; they lost their son.
With the other couple, Molly and Will,
expecting their first child, Rosie must
revisit her own loss just as her husband
prepares to leave for an out-of-town
construction job.
"Holy Days" is the first play
directed by Behrend's new theater
director, Dr. Christine Mangone.
Mangone has worked with college
students before, even ones without
much theater experience.
Because Behrend doesn't have a
theater major, Mangone said the
educational opportunities created by
producing "Holy Days" could help
students not academically involved in
theater to adapt to the stage, as well
as aid in her transition.
"This play is a challenging one to
do," said Mangone. "But the rewards
of doing it far outweigh the
challenges."
Mangone said experience did not
play much of a role in forming the cast
for this weighty dramatic piece,
emphasizing the learning
opportunities involved.
That news was especially exciting
Recent MBA Forum
discusses ways to
name program
by Brian Mitchell
staff writer
The MBA Forum discussed the
Masters of Business
Administration (MBA) program,
why to consider it, the application
procedure and decision making
and financial status.
First Dr. Peg Thorns, a business
adviser, discussed the MBA
program and why to consider it.
The MBA program has recently
been updated. It is a 48-credit
program offering a variety of
business courses.
An MBA student would start
taking the Foundation Core
Courses, which teaches an
overview of business law and
ethics, investigating principles of
accounting, economics finance,
marketing and management and
overview of statistical analyses of
business problems.
After students complete their
core courses, they start taking
advanced courses. The advanced
courses study accounting
information and uses of IS/IT as a
strategic organizational assert,
analyzes human resources and
diversity priorities in
organizations and formulates
objectives and implementation of
programs.
Finally, the MBA program
requires 15 credit hours of
electives. There are two groups of
elective courses: International
electives and Community
Outreach electives. The students
must pick one from each group
along with three additional
electives.
Dr. Thorns was encouraging
people to apply for the MBA
program because it is a good
program with the faculty and the
quality of the students. The
Behrend School of Business
earned the ASE and ranked in the
top 18 percent of Business school
in the United States.
The MBA program's faculty is
very unique. They meet extremely
high teaching standards. Most
Matthew Smith and Anna P. Sims of "Holy Days" prepare for their
opening night.
for two members of the four-person
cast who will make their stage debuts.
Claudia Caracci (Mechanical
Engineering, 02) and Josh Ausel
(Psychology, 03) will perform for the
first time alongside Matthew Smith
(DUS, 01) and Anna P. Sims
(Marketing/Communications 03).
"Being somebody else is difficult,"
said Caracci, who tried out based
solely on curiosity. "I didn't really
take theater seriously before this
production. I do now."
tend to come from working in the
field of business; therefore, they
have a diverse background. Also,
this program accepted and
recruited students with good
qualities. Many become full-time
employees right after they
graduate.
Applying for this program
requires the following: application
and application fee (The faculty
prefers applying online, which can
be accessed from the MBA Web
site at www.pserie.psu.edu.), two
official transcripts, three letters of
recommendation from academic or
professional sources, a typed
personal statement addressing your
reasons for pursuing the Penn State
Erie MBA and an official GMAT
score reporting a score of 400 or
higher. The decision depends of
the student's GPA and GMAT
score, as well as the undergraduate
GPA.
There are four ways to finance
Penn State Erie's MBA: student
loans, MBA scholarships, graduate
assistantships and tuition
reimbursement. Graduate students
can borrow up to $8,500 per year
in subsidized Stafford Loan funds
and $lO,OOO per year in
unsubsidized loans.
Penn State Erie awards several
scholarships to MBA students who
have demonstrated outstanding
academic achievement.
Assistantships include full
tuition waiver, annual stipend, and
health benefits to be offered to
applicants whose academic
credentials indicate a high level of
achievement and whose
backgrounds match the positions
desired. To reimburse tuition,
students must have their employer
file a Tuition Reimbursement
Approval form with Bursar's
Office each semester.
The attendees learned a lot from
the forum. Joe Greer, 07,
Marketing, said, "this is definitely
an option I am considering due to
the benefit in terms of job
positioning."
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Friday, October 17, 2003
Unlike Caracci, Ausel wanted to do
theater for some time, and he felt
college provided him the necessary
free time to commit to a production.
Besides being the first play offered,
"Holy Days" also turned out to be a
good choice for a novice.
"This is a good play for a first role,"
said Ausel. "You get to know the
characters pretty well because it's just
the four of us."
Mangone described the play as a
very character-driven piece, forcing
NUN WEER SCHICOVILIE
Monday Tuesday • Wednesday
Pumpking Carving Pie Eating Contest Greek Sing .
Contest 5:20 p.m.
5:20 p.m. Bruno's Brund's
Bruno's
Thursday Come Support Friday
Behrend's Greeks!!
Tug-of-War AX KAP ETT TKE Chariot Races
5:20 p.m. 5:20 p.m.
Reed Front Lawn AZA AZT 00A Reed Front Lawn
Breast
month
by Eileen Jensen
staff writer
Every 13 minutes a woman dies of
breast cancer, but there are more than 1.7
million women who have had breast
cancer who are still alive in the United
States. You are never to young to develop
breast cancer. October is Breast Cancer
Awareness Month and Penn State
Behrend is supporting those who are
struggling and those who are survivors.
On Oct. 22 the Pink Fashion Show will
take place at 8 p.m. to support those who
have overcome obstacles and take a
moment to remember the lives that came
to an end because of breast cancer.
Breast cancer can occur in men and
women, but is mostly found in women.
Though many may think they can't
develop breast cancer, one in every eight
women will develop breast cancer in her
lifetime. Breast cancer is the second
leading cause of cancer death in women
and is the leading cause of death in
women from the age of 35 to 54. In 2003,
it is projected that 39,800 of the 211,300
women who are diagnosed with breast
cancer will die.
Cancer occurs when the cells in the
body divide and grow out of control.
When the cells divide out of control it
creates a mass of tissue called a tumor.
If the cells are normal functioning cells
the tumor is benign, not cancerous. If,
however, the cells are abnormal then the
tumor is malignant, or cancerous.
The causes of breast cancer are still
Courtney Straub & Justin Curry, News Editors
both the actors and audience
members to work for the
inspirational message.
"We are trying to bring out
the humor," said Mangone.
"We're trying to bring out the
idea that there is so much love
and there is so much hope that
it counteracts the tragedy of
their circumstances."
Despite the attempts
to bring out the humorous or
inspiring undertones, Smith
said this is still a production
with a lot of emotion power.
"The play is entirely
about the relationships
between the characters," said
Smith. "There's a lot [of
pressure] on everyone just
because it's not a lot of
moving around."
Sims also liked the
opportunity to do a role where
the acting was more important
than the music or
choreography.
Sims, the production's most
experienced stage performer, is used
to doing musical theater, but enjoyed
the chance to play a complex
character.
"My character creates the drama,"
said Sims, who plays Rosie. "She's the
one that everyone has to he sensitive
to because you never know what's
going to upset her. She sets off the
major fights in the play."
The enthusiasm for the characters is
cancer awareness
continues
unknown, but several risk factors are
present. Risk factors put someone at
higher risk of developing breast cancer.
They include age, genetic factors,
personal health history and personal diet.
Warning signs of breast cancer
development include observing a lump
or thickening in or near the breast that
persists through the menstrual cycle.
This lump may feel as small as a pea.
More warning signs are if this lump
changes size or shape, the appearance or
feel of the skin on the breast and the color
of skin turning red.
The most common type of breast
cancer is called invasive ductal
carcinoma. This cancer starts in the milk
ducts of the breast and then invades the
fatty tissue of the breast. Nearly 80
percent of breast cancer cases are
diagnosed as this type.
The second type of breast cancer is
almost always curable, if it's in what is
called stage zero of the invasive ductal
carcinoma type. This second type is
known as ductal carcinoma in situ
(DCIS). This type doesn't spread beyond
the point of origin, so it is confined to
the milk ducts of the breast.
The third type of breast cancer is called
infiltrating lobular carcinoma. This type
begins where breast milk is produced,
the lobules, and spreads to surrounding
tissues and the rest of the body. This type
accounts for 10-15 percent of breast
cancer patients that are diagnosed.
The fourth most common type of
breast cancer is called lobular carcinoma
also a large part of why Mangone
decided to do "Holy Days."
"The thing that attracted me to this
play the most is the fact that the
characters don't feel sorry for
themselves, and they try so hard," said
Mangone. "It's not about being perfect
or not being perfect, but it's this idea
of trying to do the right thing."
Mangone said she hopes this
experimental drama to be the first play
in a series of community—building
productions.
"I want to create a community of
actors and audience members who are
interested in a lot of different types of
theatre," said Mangone
Mangone has reached out to various
community organizations and focused
on bringing younger audiences to the
shows. With the various theater
companies in Erie, experimentation is
what will make Behrend's theatrical
experience unique.
"The main mission should be to
create an audience and to create
audience by giving them lots of
different opportunities to be interested
in different types of plays," said
Mangone.
But right now, the focus lies on the
success of "Holy Days."
The show will be performed Oct. 24
through 25 and Oct. 29 through Nov.
1 at 8 p.m., with Sunday shows on Oct.
26 and Nov. 2 starting at 5 p.m.
Tickets are available at the RUB
Desk. Student admissions are $3 each,
with general admission priced at $5.
in situ (LCIS). Though this isn't a true
type of cancer, it serves as a marker for
having an increased risk of being
diagnosed with breast cancer in possibly
both breasts.
Mammograms and self breast
examinations are two ways to detect
breast cancer development. The
American Cancer Society recommends
having a baseline mammogram between
ages 35 and 40, and then every year after
age 40. Risk of breast cancer increases
as a person ages, so a yearly
mammogram is especially important if
you are over age 40.
Breast cancer treatments are local or
systemic. Local treatments are used to
control the cancer cells in a specific area
and systemic treatments control cancer
cells all over the body. Local treatments
include surgery and radiation.
Systemic treatments are chemotherapy
and hormone therapy. A patient may have
just one form or a combination of
treatments, depending on how far the
cancer has spread.
There are three steps to follow in order
to detect breast cancer early. The first
step is to get a mammogram. The second
step is to self examine your breasts each
month after the age of 20. The final step
in early detection is to have your breasts
examined by a health-care professional
at least once every three years after the
age of 20 and every year after the age of
40.