Page 4 The Behrend Beacon ‘Buck Nighf starts spring right by Ryan Russell advertising manager The month of April signals a few things in Erie. It signals the end of bad weather (for the most part) and the start of another season of Erie Sea Wolves baseball. Tying in with the start of the season, the Sea Wolves and Behrend are proud to continue offering students, faculty members, staff and their families another great reason to attend a game at Jerry Uht Park: Behrend “Buck Night.” On Monday night, the Sea Wolves will welcome students, faculty and staff to Jerry Uht Park for Behrend “Buck Night.” Reserved-seat tickets to the game against the New Britain Rock Cats, which starts at 6:35 p.m.,are only $l. In addition, certain foods and beverages will be available to the Behrend masses for a measly dollar as well. They are also welcoming campus-sponsored clubs, organizations and athletic teams to participate in the evening. All New E-board by Jonathan Meyn and Ryan Astor contributing writers Next year’s president and vice President, Scott Soltis, GAS 06, and Justin Curry, GAS 06, respectively, talked about the need for more student involvement on Wednesday in the SGA office. Increasing student involvement in SGA, from active club members and the general student body alike, is an important issue facing next year’s executive board. “We need to work with committee chairs to utilize committee money to recruit for committees,” said Curry. He continued, “we also need to be more accessible to students because students feel that we are above them. We need to get rid of that image.” One of the big ways students can reach SGA members is through their office, located next to the Back Room in Reed Union Building. Currently SGA consists of 23 members who are required to fulfill Poker tournament for the kids by Ben Raymond staff writer Students gathered in McGarvey Commons Monday night for the first ever Niagara Hall council poker tournament. There have been poker tournaments popping up more often on television, and this phenomena has made its way here to Behrend. There were 40 participants on hand as well as a handful of spectators for the no limit Texas hold ‘em poker tournament. The event started at 6 p.m. and went on late into the night. Entrants in the tournament had to put up a $5 buy in. “This was a lot of fun and a great way to raise money for charity. There was a lot of friendly competition and it was a nice break from schoolwork, especially since it’s almost the end of the year. I‘m not sure if I will be able to attend the next one, but I would encourage anyone who is remotely interested to give it a try.” said Jeff Wemmell, DUS 02. The tournament was set up with four tables and started with 10 players at each table. Each of these tables groups who have already pre-purchased tickets in advance will receive recognition at the game by public address announcement. Discounted tickets are offered to Behrend students for this night only. While the deadline for clubs, organizations or teams to purchase tickets in advance has passed, don't think the fat lady has sung yet. If you miss this deadline, or are not going with a group or organization, you can still get a ticket for a dollar at the game the night of the game with your Behrend ID card. “Buck Night" is one of the best traditions of the Sea Wolves, who have been in Erie since 1995. They began as a Pittsburgh Pirates affiliate, then switched to the Anaheim Angels and are currently an affiliate of the Detroit Tigers. They play in Jerry Uht Park, a 6,000-seat stadium located downtown, convenient to State Street and the Erie Civic Center. Students have been looking forward to not only the start of the Sea Wolves baseball season, but to the much gives SGA facelift between one and two office hours per week. This semester there was no specific time the hours had to be completed and not all of the senators satisfied the required hours. When asked if they plan on setting a time when students could reach them in the office for next year, Soltis said, “That is something we will have to look at this summer.” Curry said, “We need to plan events to get students out to show them we are just normal college students just in leadership roles.” Soltis added that next year he would like to see SGA nights set up at every varsity-sporting event. “We could even have a SGA intramural team,” stated Soltis. The plans for recruiting the general student body are incomplete. Curry expressed his hopeful feelings when he discussed next year’s secretary, Natalie Lytle, BIOBD 06. “We plan on utilizing Natalie’s skills and wealth of knowledge on continued playing until there were only two people left. The final two from each table were seated at the championship table, where they were competing for a variety of prizes. In the no-limit style that students were playing, they had the ability to bet all of their money. This led to a number of upsets and made for more excitement among the participants The top prize, which went to Matt Grant, was a $ 100 gift certificate for Best Buy, which was purchased by the Niagara Hall council. Everyone at the final table received some sort of prize. The other seven prizes were donated by local restaurants and businesses such as the Texas Roadhouse or Dahlkemper's Jewelry Connection. “It was awesome,” said Grant, MIS 08. “It was definitely worth playing in, and I plan on entering the next tournament. I think that the only that would make it better would be bigger chips.” Having a good time and playing poker was important but it was not the main reason for the event. This was the Niagara Hall council's spring charity fund-raiser, and the $2OO that ' J Sm IW® Friday, April 23, 2004 recruitment," said Curry. Lytle is next year’s Panhellenic vice president of recruitment. Lytle commented on her plans to boost student participation in SGA: “(We will) utilize the Public Relations committee to promote SGA awareness.” The current public relations chair of SGA is Erin Strayer, MKTG 08. A graduating senior, Strayer had this piece of advice for next year’s recruitment campaign: “good luck and have fun with that.” Soltis and Curry have all summer to work on their plans for increasing student involvement, and the two seem excited and up to the challenge. “Right now we are beginning to work on the recruitment process, but it is something the four of us will have to work on this summer,” said Curry. Next year’s executive board has some other ideas in the works for Fall 2004. According to Curry, they are planning on coordinating and funding club rush next year. was collected was donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Beside the tables was a display of children that have benefited from the efforts of Make-A-Wish. Pictures and information was available and always in view to remind the competitors that they were really playing for the kids. The Make-A-Wish Foundation helps to grant the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions. There are several ways to help and volunteer with the organization, such as fund raising or actually helping to grant the wishes. Anyone interested can get any additional information online at www.wishwestempa.org. The Niagara Hall council will be holding another tournament on Monday. There will be a $5 entrance fee again, but plans are being made to allow more participants. After holding the first tournament and getting a feel for the way things are run, the hall council is looking to have a better turnout and a more fluid system of playing. There is a sign-up sheet at the information desk on the lower level of the Reed Union Building. anticipated “Buck Night” as well. Scott Soltis, SGA president, wants the Sea Wolves to pull the game out. “I’m excited about ‘Buck Night,”’ he said. “This will be my first chance to see the Sea Wolves, so I hope they pull out a W.” Other students can’t wait for the national pastime to kick into high gear in Erie as well. “I’m geeked to see these guys do their thing. The players are the real deal,” said Nick Benkovich, GAS 06. “They play for pride, not for million-dollar contracts or shoe deals. They get dirty because they like to, not because they get a bonus for a stolen base,” he said, echoing the sentiments of other students. “Not to mention, it’s nice to get some food and a ‘beverage’ for only a buck.” Silas Kotsopodis, ME BD 09, was happy for Behrend “Buck Night” to come back, and for the baseball season to start. “Dude, “Buck Night” always gets me fired up,” he said. “I love ‘Buck Night.’ With beer and food for a dollar, how can a SAY GOODBYE TO BOOKS & HELLO TO BOOK BUYBACK- > WHERE: BEHREND BOOKSTORE > WHEN: STARTS NOW, BUT WILL HAVE THESE EXTENDED HOURS FOR FINALS WEEK: MON-THURS BAM - 6PM FRIDAY BAM - 4:3OPM > BRING US YOUR BOOKS: IN CURRENT EDITIONS IN GOOD RESAL ABLE CONDITION ACTWHYfEE.™.. happen without using SAP funds. Milter emphasized the strict s safeguards that are in place to prevent abuse of the fund, and said that money from SAF cannot be moved to any other budget in the college. But even Daquelente sees the tending of Reed renovations solely for oifice space as a problem. “I don’t have a problem with SAF tends in terms of minor renovations,” saMDaquelente. “But in terms of major renovations for nonactivity related events, I don’t think that’s permissible.” Daquelente said such use took away move from actual activities. Because LEB event attendance is up and the organization is doing well, Daquelente felt cutting funding for LEB’s activites wasn’t justified. Nacalaban, however, agrees with Miller. "I think that the Back Room renovation is necessary,” said Nacalaban. “1 think it is a good NEED A FEW EXTRA sss FOR SUMMER * Equals Justin Curry & Angela Szesciorka news editors poor college kid go wrong? Seeing players who are still approachable is nice, too. They haven’t been turned by all the fame and money that playing in the majors brings out. And did I mention the beer?” As the school year draws to a close, the weather finally begins to improve, and baseball season begins, students need to remember, there may not be many days left at school where the weather decides to allow outside activities. Behrend “Buck Night” is a great tradition that is not only a cheap night, but one that also gets students off campus where they can show their Lion On Monday, make sure you take advantage of the nice weather, show your Lion pride, and enjoy a night of baseball with some friends for only a dollar on Behrend “Buck Night.” And if you do enjoy some of the dollar “beverages," please make sure you don’t drink and drive. investment” “The fax machine that MCC wanted to be funded is direly needed for the actual council,” said Nacalaban. “Going bacfcaWd the office and , the RUB desk takes time that members don’t have due to classes.” And getting money for such purchases is almost essential, according to Miller. “One Using that 1 think is really important to note about the Student Activities budget and (the Student Affairs) budget is that ire don’t see increases,” said Miller. Miller said his budget hasn’t seen any permanent increase since he became director of student affairs in 1998. Lambert, however, said that is the exact reason why the funds, in his opinion, ate being abused. “Nationwide student enrollment is «g>, hut the economy and funding is way down ” said Lambert. 1 When it c
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