Justin Curry & Angela Szesciorka, news editors "Doing absolute nothing." : "Going back home. I haven't : "Making money, working out •• lan McLaloen : been there in three years." : and not having homework." • • DUS, 02 • Qistina Zainuddin • Kristen Comstock • • • • FNCE, 02 • COMBA, 04 • The true use of SRTE's by Bradley Stewart staff writer In the office of Dr. Archie Loss, in terim director of Humanities and Social Sciences, are multiple filing cabinets that stand at least 5 feet tall, span about 10 feet across and are probably a foot deep. The contents of these massive filing cabi nets? Teacher evaluations. As the end of each semester ap proaches, students are presented with the opportunity to evaluate their courses and instructors. It is a two-step process. Step one: After filling out the course number, section and season, students are asked to rate certain aspects of the course on a scale of one to seven. Step two: Students are provided with a space to describe, in their own words, the positives and negatives of the course. After both steps are completed, bubbles properly shaded in, final ob scenities added to the handwritten evalu ations, the forms are neatly packed in the manila envelope from whence they `Rednecks' by Ryan Russell advertising manager On Saturday night, Behrend is go ing to go redneck, but in a completely musical way. The Poverty Neck Hill billies, a western Pennsylvania-based band that describes its performances as "country with attitude," will put on a free performance in Bruno's at 8 p.m. Of course, that description only scratches the surface of what a Hill billies show is all about. There's also enthusiasm, showmanship, audience participation, spontaneity and original country music. Why bring in a country band? Well, according to Courtney Kaplin, MKTG 06, the publicity chairwoman of the Lion Entertainment Board, it all came down to diversity. "The LEB decided to bring the Poverty Neck Hillbillies to Behrend because we wanted to expand and be come more diverse in our music se lection," said Kaplin. "I really feel that vertyNeck , will . defined as 'country, with attitude.' Have a suggestion for Question of the Week? Email your question to us at: behrcoll2@aol.com. came, are escorted to the office of their respective discipline and are never seen again by a student's eyes. But what happens to those darn evalu ations? Do they serve a purpose other than to provide Dr. Loss with an excuse to have filing cabinets bigger than ev eryone else's? "I don't think they do anything with teacher evaluations," said Justin Bloyd, HIST 06. "I was in a class that I know all students evaluated poorly and noth ing was done about it." All instructors undergo an annual evaluation. They are measured in three categories: research, service and teach ing. Teaching holds the largest weight of the three, and the forms students fill out are used to evaluate the instructor. "Students should take them very seri ously," said Dr. Loss. "Teaching is im portant at Behrend, therefore, teacher evaluation is important." According to Loss, the student feed back has a large impact on the review and evaluation of instructors. For a to descend we need to bring all different types of music to the campus to better suit everyone's tastes. There are a lot of country fans on campus and also in the surrounding area, who 1 really feel would enjoy the show." And the Hillbillies put on quite a show. Every Hillbillies performance is different, but the one common theme is fun. Striving to bring the audience into each performance, the Hillbillies often perform with wireless mikes and can be found anywhere in the room, up on a bar, table, roof or even a bridge at some of the outdoor shows. Some people even find themselves encour aged to join the Hillbillies on stage. On that stage will be all six mem bers of the band, each with their own unique talents they bring to the group. Chris Higbee plays the fiddle, guitar, mandolin and banjo and sings vocals. Chris Abbondanza, known as Abby, sings lead vocals and plays guitar. Bob Crafton is on the pedal, steel and elec tric guitar. Dave Cramer jams on the ming Saturday evening in Bruno's. ino group is NEWS Friday, April 16, 2004 teacher on the tenure track, it takes six years to achieve tenure, and bad reviews could result in immediate termination. For instructors who have already achieved tenure, negative evaluations could prompt disciplinary action or in hibit the opportunity for a raise. Evaluations are also used to rate the quality and effectiveness of a course. Courses that consistently receive bad reviews might be changed, or new classes might be added to the curricu lum. This evaluative power should not be taken lightly by students. Students with bottled aggression toward a professor must present their criticism in a construc tive manner. "When students take the time, their words are taken very seriously," said Loss. According to Loss, too often a student's comments are discredited by illogical uses of profanity and lack of specific problems that can be addressed. on campus keyboards and sings vocals. Ryan Lucotch bangs the drums all day. And last, but not least, Jeff Volek plays bass, accordion and guitar and sings vocals as well. The band's vocals must have a good sound to them, because it's led to big ger and better things. In August 2003, the Hillbillies released their debut CD, "Hillbilly State of Mind," produced by Bob Corbin, a songwriter for Ala bama, Hank Williams Jr., and Kenny Rogers. The highlight of the CD is the song "Mr. Right Now," which de buted at No. 73 on the Billboard top 100 charts. When the Hillbillies come to Behrend on Saturday, they should have copies of their CD for sale, along with a wide variety of merchandise for students who dig their sound. The Hillbillies have opened con certs for some of the biggest names in country music, including Vince Gill, the Charlie Daniels Band, Darryl Worley, Lee Ann Womack, Mark Wills, Chris Cagle, Joe Nichols, Mark Chesnutt, Tracy Byrd, Trick Pony, Diamond Rio and Mark Wills. T h e Poverty Neck Hill billies have grown from a regional group playing small bars in Fayette County into the biggest drawing local band in western Pennsylvania. They've packed clubs and head lined fairs and fes tivals, pleasing crowds wherever they go. When they come to Behrend on April 17, the results should be no dif ferent. "Sleeping!" Joel! Sperry ACCTG, 04 Steelers take on All-Stars by Lauren Packer editor in chief Kirk Seth isn't intimidated that he has to guard one of the Pittsburgh Steelers. Nor is he intimidated that he has to take on that task in front of almost 1,000 fans. This Sunday marks the third-straight year that the Behrend Community All- Stars will take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in a friendly game of basketball. Tip off is set for 3 p.m. this Sunday, and ad mission is $5. The Steelers lead the se ries 2-0. The event is used as a fund-raiser for the men's basketball team, and close to a thousand fans packed the Junker Cen ter gym for the game last year., Men's assistant basketball coach Mark Murphy explained how the roster for the Steelers is selected. "The Steelers send us a list of 16 possible players, but only six make the trip," said Murphy. Some of the names on the list this year include Antwaan Randle El, Kendrell Bell, Joey Porter, Hines Ward and Chukky Okobi. Last year, Steelers stand-out Hines Ward played against Behrend's finest. Seth, along with students Mario Cionni, Marcus Woodard and Matt Stanton, will be teammates on the Behrend Community All-Stars. Four Behrend basketball alumni, a faculty member and Ron Kline from Rocket 101 round out the Community line-up. Guarding men like Okobi, who stands 6 feet 1 inch and weighs in at 299 pounds and a stand-out like Ward, is what makes Students unclear of purpose of SGA by Ryan Astor and Jonathan Meyn contributing writers Every year the same question comes up on Behrend's campus. What exactly is SGA and what do they do they do for the campus? SGA, the Student Government Asso ciation, gives students a voice on cam pus and enables them to make changes that affect the entire student body. It is through SGA that ordinary students can make a difference on many issues involv ing campus life. One of the big problems SGA faces is the lack of student support recently. Al though meetings are open to all students, few ever attend. Students are encouraged to attend SGA meetings and events so that they can help make a difference in their campus experience. Recently a few students were asked about how much they knew about SGA. One student knew what the organization was but didn't know that SGA meetings were open to all students. "I just thought that the only way you could attend meetings was to be a SGA delegate. I never realized that any stu- The Behrend Beacon "Naptime at summer camp." Rob Mulshine PHIL, 04 this a memorable experience for the stu dents, says Rob Wittman, director of Intramurals. "I think this experience should be a fun one for the students," said Wittman. "Especially if they are Steelers fans and get to rub elbows with professional ath letes." Wittman, who played a part in recom mending students for the team, says that having basketball talent is a very small part of being selected. "We mainly try to pick students who would enjoy and appreciate the experi- ence." Seth, who played in last year's game, hopes to continue his good performance against Ward. "I played really well, scoring 15 points with Hines Ward guarding me," said Seth. "I'm ready to give it to him again." Seth also has another reason for want ing to show up the Steelers. "I'm a Browns fan, so the feelings are more along the lines of revenge," said Seth. "Even though I hate the Steelers, I definitely enjoy playing them. They are good guys and they give the crowd a great show. - In addition to showcasing what Seth describes as his "average" basketball skills, Seth hopes to have a little fun with the Steelers. "It's not very often you can come in direct contact with great professional athletes," said Seth. "It will be a lot of fun trash-talking with people you watch on TV every Sunday." dent could attend the meetings," said Jeff Rimko, CENBD 04. This is one of the reasons why some feel that the students in general are not as knowledgeable about SGA as they could be. SGA events are posted throughout campus and in the newspaper and yet it seems that most students are still unaware of the organization and what they can do for them. Another student who was questioned was junior Amanda Malone. When asked about what SGA does for students on campus, she replied, "I was actually amazed by how many activities and or ganizations that they were actually in volved with. But I definitely feel that SGA should find more ways to reach out to the student body." Page
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