Justin Curry, News Editor Question of the Week by Angela Szesciorka, staff writer What did you do over winter break? Students share in King's dream by Justin Curry news editor In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr's birthday, the Penn State Erie Office of Educational Equity Programs, in conjunction with the Student Activity Fee, has planned a weeklong celebration to commemorate King's legacy and lifetime. This year's celebration is titled "To see a change, be a change," and will feature performances, lectures, movies and service projects throughout the week. Beginning Sunday at 7 p.m. in Reed 117, there will be a showing of "Remember the Titans." The movie, starring Denzel Washington highlights the perils of integration in a southern Virginia high school in the early 19705. Monday's festivities will begin with a family breakfast held from 7 to 8 a.m. in Bruno's. This meal is held to honor one of Dr. King, Jr's. traditions, which was celebrating his birthday with his family and friends at breakfast. The guest speaker will be Penn State alum Jeanine M. McCreary, who currently serves as an Erie School Board director. Later on in the afternoon, the play "The Meeting" will be performed in the McGarvey Commons. "The Meetings" is playwright Jeff Stetson's image of a meeting between King and Malcolm X. The setting for the meeting is Harlem in February of 1965, only a week before Malcolm X's death and three years before King's. Immediately following the play will be a candlelight vigil beginning at the Reed Union Building and ending at the Smith Chapel. Refreshments will be served in the Chapel. The final part of Monday's celebration will be a presentation King's legacy by Dr. Leswim Laubscher of Duquense University. Laubscher's area of study is the differences in culture, ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation and their correlation to psychology. On Tuesday, students have the opportunity to participate in a service project to the Child Care Center pre school. Planned for the children are discussions on King, coloring pictures regarding his legacy and listening to stories about his life. Dean share a smirk in between a recent debate. The democratic candi dates have been campaigning heavily in lowa recently, with the upcoming lowa caucuses, the first of many preliminary votes to ultimately determine who gets the party's nomination for the presidency. "It went very well last year, and the kids really enjoyed it," said Olga Nacalaban, POLSC 08. "We hope it well go even better this year." On Thursday, the movie "Higher Learning" will be shown in Reed 117. The movie, released in 1995 and starring Ice Cube, is set at a fictional college, Columbus University. "Higher Learning" focuses on the lives of several students as they deal with diversity, racism, sexism and self-identity. Ending the week will be a Diversity Summit on Friday, hosted by MCC. Reps from other colleges and universities will be on campus to discuss issues plaguing multi-cultural groups as well as participate in activities provided by Leadership Unlimited. Throughout the course of the week, a civil rights timeline will be placed throughout the Reed Union Building, as well as events being coordinated by the residence halls. "We should celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King Day to remember that he ended hate and segregation and gave up his life in order for all minorities and unprivileged citizens to have equalities," said Twynell Kimble, ENG 08. Thirty years ago, King, a legendary civil-rights leader, gave one of the most influential speeches in American history. On Aug. 28, 1963, in front of the Lincoln Memorial during a civil rights march on Washington, King addressed countless Americans and shared his view for a more civil and tolerant nation. "And when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and hamlet, from every state and city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children - black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Catholics and Protestants - will be able to join hands and to sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last, free at last; thank God Almighty, we are free at last." With those words, King inspired people to rise up against civil unrest in a nation that preached equality towards all men. "Dr. King was one of few who made a difference, in America," said Julie Lafferty, HIS 09. Brian Mitchell contributed to this report. NEV3' Friday, January 16, 2004 Winter ushers in new students by Keith Doak staff writer It was at best a cold reception for the students who moved onto campus last Thursday for the start of spring semester. To sum it up Behrend was, well, barren. A total of 50 students are new this semester. Counting those who are upperclassmen, living off campus, etc., the number of genuine new students is under 20. These students found themselves with more time than activities. The weather itself was frigid with snow and temperatures in the single digits. There were four planned activities for the three days the freshmen had the campus to themselves. On Thursday there was a get-together with billiards and pizza at the Niagara Hall lobby. However, the Candidates try to by James Kuhnhenn and Matt Stearns Knight Ridder Newspapers Undecided voters, the last hard sell in politics, are tuning to lowa four days before the presidential caucuses and opinion polls suggest that they may be giving Massachusetts Sen. John Kerry a lift and scrambling the Democratic field. Kerry, whose campaign has never gotten much traction in the polls, much to the surprise of many party professionals, is back to basics. Kerry is seeking support by stressing his seasoning as a gunboat skipper in the Vietnam War and as a 19-year veteran of the U.S. Senate. An overnight tracking poll Thursday commissioned by Reuters and MSNBC had him leading for the first time in lowa, in a virtual tie with former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean and Rep. Dick Gephardt :,-..,,..:.:"' 8 p.m. episode of "JAG" stole the show. Friday afternoon was consumed with the actual orientation and registration. In the evening there was a mandatory residence hall meeting in Niagara, after which there was a party at Bruno's. On Saturday any student who awoke early was surprised to find that neither Bruno's or Dobbins Dining Hall was open for breakfast. In the afternoon following the eargerly anticipated lunch, there was a NFL playoff party at Bruno's. When asked to sum up the weekend activities Charles Williams, ENG.O2, said, "there wasn't many new people, but it was good." Williams, from Scranton, transferred to Behrend for the "good four year engineering degrees." It was rare to see a person walking gain support from undecided voters of neighboring Missouri, with N.C. Sen. John Edwards closing in fast. Polls, however, are notoriously uncertain in a caucus state such as lowa, where participants must devote their entire evening Monday to selecting delegates for the candidates. The outcome has more to do with the organizing skills of the various camps on caucus night than it does with the current sentiments of the electorate. But the polls suggest Kerry and Edwards may be gaining, while Dean and Gephardt appear to be static or in a decline. For the past year, candidates have worked to solidify their bases of support men and women motivated more by a visceral feeling than by careful study of character and issues. Dean benefited early. But undecided voters evaluate late. They probe. They question. They demand attention. The Behrend Beacon the paths around campus, and extraordinary to see a group of people. Residence halls were predominately empty and only the occupied rooms were heated, which made showering a risky business with the floor halls only a few degrees warmer than a refrigerator. Dobbins Dining Hall appeared more closed than opened at the peak of lunch and dinner as the number of students could be counted on one hand. The orientation was a shadow of the larger one enjoyed by incoming students of last fall. Last semester's orientation "was a weekend worth of events and (spring) is not such a big thing," said Christian 0' Connor. She also said the most important thing for the new students is to "get involved." Voters who say they're giving Kerry a second look cite his experience and grasp of foreign affairs. Nonetheless, many voters here still harbor doubts about his energy and his ability to connect with the public. Kerry may have lost Virginia Dress, a 53-year old patent agent at an event for undecided voters Wednesday night in Des Moines. She bristled when Ken interrupted an answer to her question to greet Christie Vilsack, lowa's first lady and a Kerry backer. "What it says to me is that her being here is more important than me being here," she said. "He's got her vote. He didn't have mine, yet. I'm not sure that he does." lowans are known for being hard to poll and late to decide, giving campaign strategists fits. All a candidate can ,i(‘ .ti this point is beg and hope the message gets through. Page 3
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