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