Courtney Straub & Justin Curry, News Editors by Heather Peterson, Question of the Week staff writer Behrend choir performs at Warner Theatre re-opening by Dana Vaccaro staff writer On April 10, 1931, the Warner Theatre opened its doors. With its famous design and elegance, it is a cherished regional landmark. With seating over 2,500, the Warner Theatre serves as a venue for concerts, seminars, Broadway shows and the Erie Philharmonic Chorus. Throughout the years, the Erie Philharmonic has played with many well-known musicians. The Warner Theatre had been closed since April 1, 2003, because of renovations. The interior of the reconstruction of the Warner Theatre was completed by finishing the seats, carpeting, electrical, lighting and stage specialties. Also, the new structure of the building was connected with the old structure Construction Update information provided by the Office qf Student Affairs Senat Hall Sidewalk from Aquarius Drive Senat Hall is approximately three weeks behind schedule, but is still due to open in the fall of 2004. Research and Economic Development Center (REDC Building) Bids will go out in approximately two weeks on the REDC building with con struction beginning in late spring. Traffic patterns to change next week by Kyle Schroeck contributing writer The traffic patterns at the entrance of campus will soon change, again. For the fourth time in the last two and a half years, commuters, professors, staff and residents of the general area will have to adjust the way that they come on and off campus. Erie's Eastside Parkway, along with the Wintergreen Gorge Bridge, is expected to open the week of Nov. 17. When this section of the highway opens, it will run from Interstate 90 at exit 32 down to McClelland Avenue, just north of East 38t h Street. "That will sure make my drive to school much easier," said Tim Denial, a commuter student and a resident of the Fireside Park subdivision on the eastern part of Erie. "I have a couple of friends that have crashed cars on Cooper Road on their way to and from Behrend. This will make their commute safer and less time consuming." When arriving at campus from the city of Erie, drivers will face an onramp-like road from the eastbound lanes of the parkway to bypass the traffic light at the intersection at the entrance of campus. Students leaving campus will now be permitted to make a left turn onto the new section of the highway that will take them through Behrend Fields and across the Wintergreen Gorge of the building. On Saturday, Penn State Behrend's choir performed with eight other choirs to celebrate Erie Philharmonic's anniversary and the reopening of the Warner Theatre, under maestro Hugh Keelan. Behrend's choir had been practicing for the re-opening of the theater since the beginning of the school year. The choirs together performed Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 which includes "Ode to Joy." Dr. Daniel Barnard, choir director at Penn State Behrend, said the music was "a huge sound," with 150 chorus members and between 60 and 80 orchestra players. "It's incredible, the power that stems from that many people contributing to it," Barnard said. It's such an energizing feeling to be part of that The sidewalk is near completion, and should be finished no later than the be ginning of next week. New Location Signs New signs have been erected on campus, directing first-time visitors to commonly used 'locations such as the Reed Union Building, the Residence Halls, and the Academic Building. The signs will be come permanent next spring. Bridge, which was the most expensive part of the stretch of road. According to PennDOT, the bridge was designed to blend in with its surroundings. That is the reason why the steel underside of the structure looks rusted. Vinny Albano, originally from Brooklyn, N.Y., has been placing overhead street lights as well as traffic signals along the highway for the past year "This road is going to be a useful tool for Erie. When the whole Parkway opens, there will be a straight shot to downtown, no matter which side of town you are on," Albano said. "I go downtown a lot. I have season tickets to the Erie Otters, and getting to the Civic center will be a piece of cake." The project is still under construction in two phases. The next phase will run from McClelland Avenue. to Broad Street. behind the Perry Plaza. The last piece of the highway will slice through town from 12 Street to Broad Street completing the six mile, $ll5 million link from Interstate 79 down along the Bayfront up through the east side of town, across Behrend's campus and to 1-90. This is not the only new road to open in the area. Recently, the Harbor Park Bridge opened to much fanfare. This bride is about a mile and a half north of campus on Nagle Road. It passes over the CSX and Conrail train tracks. This bridge carries vehicles over the busiest railway corridor in the region. Friday November 14, 2003 cumulative energy." This was not the first performance for the Behrend choir at the Warner Theatre. In the spring of 2002, the choir was asked to perform. Tony DiPlacido, ELISH 07, had the opportunity to sing at the Warner Theatre more than once. "Both occasions it was wonderful (to perform) because of Hugh (Keelan)," DiPlacido said. "His understanding of this piece (Beethoven's Symphony No. 9) was staggering." While DiPlacido spoke warmly of Keelan, other choir members where excited to share their experience of performing on the Warner Theatre stage. The same stage that many well known names, such as Bob Dylan, Tori Ams, and BB King, performed on. "It was really exciting and a really intense Students find out if they can 'Stump the Chump' From left: Leßoy Ladson, Joe Bradshaw, Mick McGinnis and Michelle Previte form a panel to answer student-generated questions concerning issues of religion. by Lauren Packer editor in chief Mick McGinnis sat quietly and adjusted his glasses. Michelle Previte smoothed her outfit. Leßoy Ladson and Joe Bradshaw looked over the crowd from behind their table on the stage in the McGarvey Commons. The four guest panelists seemed rather calm as the audience anxiously awaited their chance to assault the panel. But this wasn't your typical confrontation. Stu dents, faculty and guest panelists came together this past Thursday to participate in "Stump the Chump," an event sponsored by Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship. "Stump the Chump" provided students with an opportunity to pose questions to the panel con cerning any aspect of religion. Questions fielded from the audience covered a broad range of topics and some posed an inter esting challenge to the panel. At times, the panel told of personal stories to enhance their answers. Other times, the panel discussed passages of scrip ture. The panel seemed to welcome every ques tion with great enthusiasm. At one point, the en tire panel thought of the same passage in response to an audience member's question. "We want those that do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to come into a relationship with him," said IVCF member Cassie Willey, MEBD 07. "We want those that are in a relation ship with Jesus to know him more and more ev ery day. We also want those that are fully com mitted to Christ to serve him and reach out to oth- IVCF member Tim Perkins, MEBD 03, ex plained that the panel was chosen to have as much diversit as • s ssible and include as man denomi- The Behrend Beacon experience," said Christy Copen, MKGG, "It was a real privilege to sing with a large amount of people." Copen continued to comment on how it was unique to be on stage watching an orchestra from a different point of view. Lauren Wagner, PSYCH 03, said that it was a "good experience and I'd definitely do it again." She said it was easier to perform with a large group of people because it was easier to pick up some of the parts the others were singing. While everyone was concentrating on the lyrics, Copen did not forget to admire the beauty of the Warner Theatre renovation. "The renovations they did are beautiful," said Copen. "It is such a beautiful building." nations as possible to avoid bias. The panel consisted of a black male, a white pastor, a woman, and a high school biology teacher. "We believe that the Bible is truth, so we se lected panelists who could communicate that," said Willey. "We wanted people who knew the Bible and also know reason why it is reliable." Previte, the lone female panel member, is no stranger to IVCF or Behrend. Previte, along with her husband, Joseph, are the faculty advisers to the group in addition to being professors of math ematics on campus. "The best part about the event for me was sim ply the privilege of being invited," said Previte. "It is a very great honor to have the opportunity to encourage God's children in their faith and to point those - who are outside of His family to the amazing reconciliation with God." Perkins adds that in addition to having the Prevites as advisers, it's nice to have them both as professors and friends. "I have Joe as one of my professors and it's neat to know that I can go with one of my profes sors to pray with and associate with outside the classroom," said Perkins. "It adds to my experi ence at Behrend." IVCF is in the midst of adding another dimen sion to its experience at Behrend. While most students will be hitting the clubs and beaches of exotic locations, IVCF members have commit ted themselves to a mission trip to the Domini can Republic over Spring Break. Both Willey and Perkins have completed mis sion trips before, with Willey traveling to China and Perkins to Russia. Page 00 I- 0 0< 2 w am
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