Page 2 The Behrend Beacon WEEKLY WEATHER FORECAST | SATURDAY 73 low: si r'-v-sxl Cloudy with isolated thunder storms t/-* and a3O percent chance of precipita tion. HIGH: 57 LOW: 39 Mostly cloudy with a 30 percent chance of precipitation. HIGH: 52 LOW: 35 . p t Mostly cloudy with a3O percent chance £ precipitation. TUESDAY HIGH: 54 LOW: 41 .. v v\.y y Partly cloudy and a2O percent chance /■' of precipitation. WEDfafeSDAY HIGH: 62 LOW: 47 Mostly sunny with a ten percent chance of precipitation. THURSDAY HIGH: 66 LOW: 50 Mostly sunny with a ten percent chance of precipitation. FRIDAY HKIH: 68 •-0W: 52 / y Partly cloudy with a ten percent chance / V— of precipitation. CLASSIFIED "Manners are like the shadows of virtues; they are momentary displays of those qualities which Janet Neff Sample Center (El our fellow creatures love farMummirCMUty and respect." A matter of identification by Justin Plansinis staff writer Penn State President Graham Spanier has approved a plan to replace the University-wide use of an individual’s Social Security number with a unique Penn State Identification Number. The Social Security Numbers in the central business and student systems (IBIS and ISIS) will be replaced during the winter break of 2004. The entire University is closed. This means that there are three semesters of the status quo before the new numbers are put into use. This number may end up being just as long as a Social Security Number since a Penn State number may have to be issued to alumni as well, though that information is not known at this time. “This is all being done for confidentiality reasons,” says Dr. Mary Ellen Bayuk, Penn State Erie’s Registrar. Bayuk said that there are many concerns these days about identity theft, and the University is trying to address these concerns. Upon completion of this project, the Social Security Students crunched By Justin Curry news editor On-campus residents had quite the surprise awaiting them this year upon their return to school. Most were expecting to walk in their dorm rooms and greet their new roommates, and some were thoroughly shocked to find that they were tripled or quadrupled up, living with double the number of people that they had expected to. A select few were even more surprised to find themselves living in supplemental housing, makeshift housing that was erected in study lounges and residence hall basements across campus. Not since the 1991 school year has Behrend seen such a shortage in housing, and steps are being taken to prevent another situation like this from happening again. According to Ken Miller, Director of Student Affairs, the normal cancellation rate of housing contracts for Behrend is 22.5 percent by the beginning of an academic year. During the summer, the housing and student affairs staff noticed an anomaly taking place. Instead of numbers reaching the 22 percent mark, they were only reaching about 18 percent. In a last-ditch effort to stop a housing shortage, no more contracts were offered after the decrease in Number will be stored as a confidential attribute and the University’s use of it will be restricted. A number of smaller private colleges have already transitioned into this new system of identification; however, Penn State is one of the first state schools to try this. While most private colleges only deal with a few thousand students, Penn State, and most other state colleges, have more than 100,000 students in addition to faculty and staff that have to be taken into account. The identification cards that are used for everything from buying food at Bruno’s and Dobbins’ to obtaining a transcript in the Registar’s office have your social security number on the magnetic strip; therefore, new ID cards are going to have to be made for all students after the change. Remember this will be over winter break next year so seniors need not worry. “There are always problems whenever there’s a change to something of this magnitude,” says Dr. Bayuk, “However, this is all being done for the protection of students.” cancellations was noticed. It obviously didn’t work. Housing and Food Services intentionally overbooks housing contracts, with the idea that after cancellations, there will still be room for a few late-filing students. “We didn’t offer any more contracts this year than we did last year, it was just that students weren’t canceling like they normally do,” Miller said. “And when it comes to housing, there isn’t any room for a margin of error.” Normally, H&FS can count on anywhere from 15 to 20 cancellations on opening weekend, this year a total of eight occurred. Yet another difference that took place this year due to the overbooking in housing was the fact that some students were roomed with resident assistants on their floors. Two weeks into the semester, all of the students rooming with male RAs had been moved to other rooms, but the female RA situation was still in limbo. “It’s uncertain as to whether or not this problem will be fixed by the end of the (fall) semester. We are in the plans of working to compensate the RAs who were given roommates,” stated Miller. A perk generally granted to resident assistants is their own room, and this year it wasn’t able to happen for all of them. NEWS Students represent at All-U Day Sometimes students at Penn State Behrend feel as though they are not real Penn State students because they don’t attend classes in University Park. At University Park, however, some students are unaware of the existence of campuses other than their own. Penn State’s All-University Day is an attempt at changing that assumption, as well as a chance for students from all Penn State locations to get together for fun and excitement. All-University Day, commonly known as “All-U-Day”, is a university-sponsored excursion to University Park in which all Penn State locations participate. All- University Day provides an opportunity to attend a Penn State football game and a major concert. Though it is intended to be an all- day activity, the main event for the day takes place during the half time show when representatives from each location carry flags from their respective schools onto the field as a symbol of unity. All-U-Day took place on Saturday, Sept 27, during the football game between the Penn State Nittany Lions and the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. It is a chance for students from Behrend to meet their fellow Penn State students in a fun atmosphere. Tickets were pre sold during the first two weeks of classes at the RUB desk. The game was completely sold out. Representing the Behrend campus this year were Lauren Packer, a communications and media studies major, and Keenan Hansen, a psychology major. The Student Government Association -Sydm When asked if he thought the situation this year with resident assistants would affect recruiting RAs for next year, Miller said “We don’t make a habit of doing this from year to year, and we definitely don’t want to start setting this precedent. I sincerely hope that recruitment doesn’t drop for next year as a result of the housing situation.” Some much needed relief is on the way for next year. Senat Hall, the new residence hall located between Perry Hall and Reed will be open for the beginning of the 2004-05 school year. This hall will house 149 students. The department of student affairs hopes that with one hundred and Friday, April 30, 2004 by Justin Plansinis staff writer BOOK BUYBAC Serania PSYCH jren. od, DUS 01 staff their close quarters made in a study lounge in Niagara Hall. Lauren Packer for the All-U-Day ceremony at University Park, which was held in October. picked them to represent Behrend because SGA felt that both Packer and Hansen embody the values and characteristics that make Behrend a great place to attend. “I was bom in State College, PA and lived there my whole life,” said Packer. “I chose Behrend to experience something new and get away from the huge university... To represent Behrend, the school that has afforded me so many opportunities, both in the classroom and out, is unbelievable.” Packer, amongst other activities, plays water polo and works as editor in chief of the Behrend Beacon , cares a great deal about Behrend and has a fantastic amount of school spirit. “I’ve been attending Penn State football games all my life and tailgating NEED A FEW EXTRA SSS FOR SUMMER SAY GOODBYE TO BOOKS & HELLO TO S$ WHERE: BEHREND BOOKSTORE WHEN : STARTS MOW, BUT WILL HAVE THESE EXTENDED HOURS FOR FINALS WEEK: BRING US YOUR BOOKS: IN CURRENT EDITIONS IN <5OOO RESALABLE CONDITION by overbooking forty nine new beds opening on campus, housing will become more marketable to students. Also in the works are plans for a new residence hall to be located in upper campus near Almy and Ohio Halls. Tripp Hall is still in the beginning phases, MON THURS BAM 6PM FRIDAY BAM 4:3OPM Justin Curry & Angela Szesciorka, behrco!ls@aoljcom every weekend... When I hear the crowd of over 110,000 chant ‘We Are Penn State,’ it is amazing to think that they all love the blue and white. To think that a simple chant like that is nationally known, and that everyone in the nation knows of Penn State, it is an honor to be a part of that system.” Both Packer and Hansen were proud to be running Behrend’s flag this year. “It’ll be a bodacious experience to run the flag down, man. It’ll be awesome, dude. I can’t wait to see the cheerleaders either. Rock on!” said Hansen, commenting before the event. Any Penn State Behrend students who were able to procure a ticket for this event will be able to show their support and school spirit during the ceremony. with no definite start date set yet. “We definitely won’t be overbooking next year like we did this year. This is not something we want happening on a yearly basis,” ended Miller.
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