0. The Behrend 'GIRL NEXT DOOR' REVIEWED 4 lit% ' 4 4 1 : 11 1 eacon See the review of 20th Century Fox's latest movie. A&E, Page 8 Friday, April 9, 2004 'Little Shop of Horrors' cast reflects on show by Brad Stewart staff writer These past two weekends, from March 26 through Saturday, and one Wednesday in between, the Behrend Studio Theatre stretched its musical wings by performing "Little Shop of Horrors." "Little Shop of Horrors," originally a film created in the 60's by Charles Griffith and Roger Corman and rewritten as a musical in 1982, was presented by Behrend students and faculty. Nestled within the small brown building of the Studio Theater, a building that can be characterized as homely, quaint, comfortable and even small by some, the cast danced, acted and sang in front of 64 pairs of eyes and ears. Within the building, the set and props were impressively arranged for such a modest work space; the set even had its own retractable dentist chair. The talented three-man pit ensemble was tucked along side the audience. The actors and actresses recreated the twisted love story that is unique to the "Little Shop of Horrors." Not many other love stories have a giant man-eating plant. The cast, comprised of 14 devoted members, took on a variety of tasks, which included the movement and voice of the giant man-eating plant, Audrey 11. "This was the most talented cast I've ever worked with in a musical," said Steven O'Donnel, HIST 06, who played the lead male role of Seymour, "It was a really fun show to put on." The cast and crew rehearsed for seven weeks, racking up about 80 hours in the last two weeks alone. The rehearsing paid off: the production sold out each night, and sadly, patrons were turned away at the door Inside Tennis wins conference matches Men's tennis went 4-0 in the AMCC this weekend, defeating Penn State Altoona and Frostburg. The team has a current record of 11-7. SPORTS, Page 10. Student groups up voter numbers Members of the College Republicans and COMMU3OS class have been work ing to up voter numbers on campus through voter registration drives. NEWS, Page 3. Arch auditions for Real World Sophomore HDFS major Matt Arch will be auditioning for the upcoming season of the "Real World." Arch discusses his thoughts on the show and its success with Features editor Dana Vaccaro. FEATURES, Page 7. TABLE OF CONTENTS News 1-4 Editorial 5 Calendar 6 Features 7 A&E 8 Sports.... 9-10 CONTACT US Newsroom: 898-6488 Fax: 898-6019 E-mail: behrcolls@aol.com Our offices are located downstairs In the Reed Union Building. Isiah Meek, ACCTG 06, and Katie Streaker, INTPL 04, were crowned the new Mr. and Ms. Penn State Behrend Thursday evening in McGarvey Commons. The Mr. and Ms. Penn State Behrend Pageant is sponsored by social sorority Alpha Sigma Tau. Meek and Streaker ake by Justin Curry news editor Isiah Meek, ACCTG 06, and Katie Streaker, INTPL 08, were crowned the new Mr. and Ms. Penn State Behrend Thursday evening in the McGarvey Commons. The Mr. and Ms. Penn State Behrend pageant is hosted annually by social sorority Alpha Sigma Tau. Last year's crowns were awarded to Adrienne Schermer and Dave Masilunas. "I had an awesome time during my reign as Mr. Penn State Behrend," said Masitunas, PLETBD 08, "and I'm happy to pass my crown on to one of our own." Masilunas was referring on the fact that he and Meek are both members of the track team. "I was nervous at first, when I saw all of the people," said Meek, "but I still went all the way and worked the crowd, and I really got excited." And work the crowd he did. Meek's Aquila selected as H&SS by Ryan Russell advertising manager Dr. Richard Aquila has been named the recent head of the H&SS department. Aquila is looking forward to his new job as director of the Humanities and Social Sciences, looking forward to meeting everybody, and for some crazy reason, looking forward to all of the snow that Erie offers. He wants students and faculty alike to know he is going to be working hard for them. "I'm looking forward to coming to Penn State Erie, the Behrend College and working with both students and faculty. Not only is the campus beautiful, but Behrend offers tremendous potential, interesting challenges, and exciting op portunities." Dr. Aquila is originally from Buffalo, N.Y., and is looking forward to the chal lenges posed by his new position here at A Penn State Erie Student Publication home crowns appearance during all three scenes was preceded and followed by a roar of cheers from those in attendance. "It felt really great to pass on the crown," said Schermer, COMBA 06, "Katie did an awesome job, and obvi ously, it showed." Streaker felt similar to Meek at the beginning. "I was so nervous," Streaker said, "but I am really grateful to the judges for selecting me, I didn't expect this at all." Both Streaker and Meek were well accommodated following their corona tion. Both received a Penn State sweatshirt blanket, a leather Penn State portfolio and a $25 gift certificate to Millcreek Mall and $25 in gift certifi cate to local restaurants. All in all, 10 contestants were up for the title of Ms. or Mr. Penn State Behrend. The 10 had been selected fol lowing last week's change wars. The other eight contestants were Amy Frizzell, Jenn Schwant, Courtney Straub, Karin Vejlstrup, Matt Arch, Matt Martone, Brad Shamitko, and Matt Behrend. His teaching career began over 30 years ago at a high school in Kenmore, N.Y. After that, he moved west, teaching at Ohio State, then in Chicago, then Denver, finally settling into Ball State University, in Muncie, Ind., where he has taught for almost the last 25 years. Now he is making a home coming of sorts, and he's looking for ward to the move. "I decided to move back east for sev eral reasons: the position at Behrend sounds extremely challenging; the Behrend campus is gorgeous; and my new colleagues seem like a talented group of scholars and teachers," Aquila said. "Plus, I miss the snow." In addition to liking snow, Aquila also enjoys studying U.S. social and cultural history. To get specific, he focuses on the American West, pop culture, mass media and Native American ethnohistory. He has published six books Welsh During the pageant, contestants were judged on their outfits, neatness, appear ance, presence, and the songs they chose to walk the runway to. All ten had to answer two questions as well, which weighed heavily on the decisions that judges Chris Fox, Diana Malinowski and Scott Soltis made. The questions were "What is your favorite thing about Behrend and why?" and "If you could put three things in a time cap sule, what would it be and why?" The pageant was emceed by AST President and Sweetheart Dianne Simgelski and Jefferis Peterson. Follow ing the opening of the event, the 10 con testants showed off various outfits in three categories; casual, beach, and for mal. All formal wear was donated by David's Bridal and American Commo dore Tuxedo Rental. While the judges decided who the newly crowned would be, George Morgan gave a rap perfor mance, highlighting the main aspects of Alpha Sigma Tau and its current active sisters. on these subjects and has made them the focus of his academic research through out his career. In addition to his books, he has also published numerous articles on the subjects, and truly enjoys his work. "I've always believed we should have a passion about what we do in life. The scholar Joseph Campbell used to advise his students: 'follow your bliss.' That's what I have always tried to do," said Aquila. "As a U.S. social and cultural historian, I am interested in everyday life and ordinary people. Topics such as popular culture, media, the mythic West and American Indians tell us a great deal about American society and culture." Aquila's current project is a book that he says "uses early rock 'n' roll as evi dence to explore America's Cold War culture." The book is almost a year away 'HALO' TOURNAMENT PREVIEWED NSBE and OAS are holding a Halo tour nament this Friday. Calendar, Page 6. c'RARY The formal wear section was defi nitely my favorite," said Streaker. "I absolutely loved my dress." Meek agrees. "I think that the for mal section was what put me over the top," he said "I was the only one who was wearing a white tux, and I think that stuck out in the judges' minds." This is second year for the pageant. Program chair Emily Waters, ACCTG 06, said that "last year's program was very unorganized, very thrown to gether." This year's planning began months in advance, and the sisters worked on a timeline for the event. "Last year, we didn't even have a chairperson," said Waters, "everyone just took care of everything." With the addition of the chairperson position, however, came a little added stress. Commenting before the pageant, Waters said, "I've been flipping out all day, I'm really getting nervous." Even though she might have felt stressed out before the event, Waters director Dr. Richard Aquila will replace In terim Director Archie Loss in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences beginning next year. Vol. LI No. 22 CO D CO
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