0 3 2004 Club Rush, Page 4 AggJ __ £The Behrena Beacon Friday, September 3, 2004 Aqu New H&SS Director foresees positive future By Lacy Buzard copy editor Dr. Richard Aquila, the new director of Humanities and Social Sciences, looks for ward to moving the school ahead to excel lence in teaching as well as excellence in scholarship. Dr. Aquila is replacing Dr. Loss who served as interim director of H&SS. The director of H&SS supervises all faculty and operations within the department. Dr. Loss is still teaching his Pop Culture class as well as various other courses. Dr. Aquila believes that the H&SS depart ment is already accomplished in both teach ing and scholarship and he is ready to see the faculty accomplish more. “Excellence in teaching and excellence in scholarship should spill over into one another. This not only benefits the professor, but the students as well.” Operating on the philosophy that a suc cessful director is inherently a successful fa cilitator, he believes that consensus build ing between directors, faculty and students is essential to both setting and attaining Voices equal victory PHOTO BY SARAH WEBER/BEHREND BEACON Tim Perkins, ME BD 05, fills out his voter reg istration form. By Sarah Weber staff writer Perhaps it was the allure of the free Bruno’s pizza that attracted Behrend stu dents to the Reed Union Building on Thurs day. Members of the Speak Out Your Col lege Voice Committee, however, hope the students who came to fill out their voter reg istration forms Thursday, September 2 did CONTENTS News 1-2 Calendar. 3 Student Life 4 CONTACT US Newsroom: 898-6440 Fax: 898-6019 E-mail: behrcolls@aol.com Our offices are located down stairs in the Reed Union Building. la takes the reins Dr. Richard Aquila goals. He wants to be certain that School of Humanities and Social Sciences is awarded so to make their voices heard. Members of Government Affairs and the Senat Resident Assistants co-sponsored the event that took place from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. Resident Life donated the pizza. The official number of registrations the committee received has yet to be officially tallied, but committee member Ilona Joseph, ACNTG 03, said the turn out was good. “A lot of people are interested in learn ing more about both sides of the issues,” said Joseph. Deepti Soni, INTPL 03, the event chair woman, said that the committee also pushed for registrations at the freshman orientation party and at the commuter student sign-in last weekend. “So far this year,” she said, “the committee has registered about 150 people, and the numbers from Thursday’s drive will push that number even higher.” “Being the director of Governmental Af fairs, I think it’s very important. As young individuals, we sometimes behave very apa thetically to our surroundings,” said Soni. “I feel it’s important for legislators to real ize we students have a voice. This being an election year, there are many issues at stake such as the war in Iraq, health care and student funding. It’s important for people to realize their vote can make a dif ference.” The students who came to Reed to regis- A Penn State Erie Student Publication its fair share of resources from Penn State Although he has only been situated in his position for eight weeks, he has been im pressed by the resumes of the H&SS faculty and he looks forward to firsthand interaction with students. Unfortunately, he will not be able to directly access students in the class room until next year when he will begin teaching one course in history per semester. To resolve this issue he thinks that a student forum in which he would carry on a dialogue with students about any issues that concern them would be beneficial to him during his first year as director. Originally from Buffalo, N.Y., Dr. Aquila received his undergraduate degree from Bowling Green State University with a ma jor in journalism and a minor in history. It was at Bowling Green that he decided he would like to focus more on his minor. He then went on to receive his graduate degree and PhD in history from Ohio State Univer sity. United States Social and Cultural His tory has been his preferred area of study and he has excelled in this genre. He has been able to apply both journalism and history to ter had a variety of feelings on the current political arena. “Even though Pennsylvania is a Demo cratic State, I really disagree with Kerry and I want to put in my vote for Bush,” said Tim Perkins, ME BD 05. Tony Diplacido, CWRIT 05, wasn’t yet sure who his vote was going to. “I’m really indecisive at the moment and I feel like everyone is for one party or the other. I feel that arguments for both candi dates are a little off though. I want to find out more about each one and pray on it,” he said. To find out more about upcoming oppor tunities to register speak with your RA or visit the SGA office. To register for an ab ballot log on to www.rockthevote.com. sentee PHOTO BY DANIELLE L. FAULKNER “You just won $200! What are you going to do now?” On Sunday, August 29, Aaron Amendola, freshman journalism major, took first place in the game series, Thinkfast, sponsored by The Behrend Beacon and Office of Student Activities. Also pictured are his teammates, all first year students, Jesse Stimpson, MEBD, Ken Vinostek, CENBD, Jeff Machusko, PHYBD, and Julie Kosin, MTHBD. his work and has published books in a wide variety of subjects ranging from the Iroquois Culture to Rock & Roll of the 1950’s and 60’s. Accepting the position of Director of Hu manities and Social Sciences at Behrend was to accept a new challenge in a comfortable atmosphere for Dr. Aquila. He has always enjoyed the Lake Erie region and Erie is a perfect central location to the two cities with which he is most familiar: Buffalo, N.Y. and Cleveland, Ohio. Dr. Aquila is a teacher-scholar at heart and has a real interest in the students and genu inely wants to help ease their concerns. “My door is always open for faculty and stu dents,’’ he stated during the interview. Natu rally his door may not be open if he has other obligations but there is always the option for anyone to make an appointment. No matter which path you choose for your/ educational career, whether you plan to find \ a job or continue with graduate school. Dr Aquila will give you this advice: “Follow your interests; be active participants; be re sponsible.” PHOTO BY SARAH WEBER/BEHREND BEACON Deepti Soni, INTPL 03, assists Seth Laird, INT B 03, with his registration. Vol. LII No. 2
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers