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."
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