' - Page 4 THE BEHREND BEACON Friday, November 5, 2004 Plastics Engineering students posed for a photograph during their convention trip in Germany. Students, staff and alumni toured 17 plastics sites, as shown in the background. Engineers By Alicia Raffensberger staff writer As many of us were handing out candy to the swarms of trick-or-treaters, a group of Behrend students and faculty were returning from a 10 day trip to Germany. About 75 percent of the plastic engi neering seniors, four faculty members and several Behrend plastics alumni par ticipated iu. this international trip. The group attended the K Show in Diisseldorf, Germany, which is the larg est plastics convention in the world. The show consisted of 17 buildings full of new plastics technology and materials. The K Show is held every three years and this year the show was expected to have 200,000 attendants from all around the world. The show featured nearly Inside Students respond to election, NEWS, Page 3 CONTENTS News 1-4 Editorial 5 Student Life 7-9 Sports 10-12 CONTACT US Newsroom: 898-6488 Fax: 898-6019 E-mall: behrendbeacon@aol.com Our offices are located down stalre In the Reed Union Building. return from abroad 3,000 exhibitors from all parts of the world demonstrating a wide array of new products and technologies. Brian A. Young, lecturer in engineer ing, was one of the faculty members who organized the trip. “It was my first trip to Germany,” Young said. Young said it was a great opportunity for students to be “exposed to another culture” and a good experience for stu dents to utilize public transportation on the rail system with their 10-day rail passes. As a faculty member, Young learned a lot from the K Show. “I saw new tech nologies that I haven’t been exposed to.” The educational value exceeds past the trip and will not only benefit the students that attended the show. “I was able to take some great pictures that I can use in my other (plastics) classes,” said Young. Eric Paszkowski, PLET 07, went on Campus cameras keep tabs on students By Lisa Lamendola staff writer As of last week, security cameras are now being more widely used on the Behrend campus. The cameras, which are located in the Bruno’s dining area and in the entry ways and main lounges of the residence halls, were installed a while ago. They’ve now just been switched on. “The cameras are for security pur poses. Hopefully the presence of secu rity cameras will deter behaviors that cause theft and damage of property,” Scottish fellow critiques President Nixon By Kim McCray staff writer Monday, Dr. Robert Mason from Edinburgh University of Scotland was here to talk to students and faculty about “Richard Nixon and the Quest for a New Majority.” Mason is a professor of history at Edinburgh and he is also the 2004-2005 Library of Congress Fellow. Dr. Mason graduated from Oxford with a degree in 20* Century United States Political His tory. He provided comers with his in sights on Nixon and Nixon’s ideas to make the Republican party dominate in politics during his time. Because of his achievements and his failings, Nixon was one of the most important politicians of his century Dr. Mason believes. Thirty-two years ago, America made a decision to nominate Republican can didate Richard Nixon into presidency. The margin of Nixon’s victory was re markable and there were many Nixon supporters in the country. Nixon though, had an unusual response to his known triumph because he foresaw that Watergate would cause problems for him. He assumed the public would find A Penn State Erie Student Publication the trip and attended the K Show in Ger many. “Seeing the plastics show was informative and exposed me to a lot of new and working technology,” said Paszkowski. Once the convention was over, stu dents had 4 days to themselves to sight see in Germany. They had the opportu nity to tour Krauss Maffei, a machine manufacturer, make a visit to Neuschwanstein Castle, a famous Ger man castle that was built in the late 1800’s and complete any additional sight seeing they wanted on their own. The K Show occurs every three years but the Plastics Department organizes an international trip for interested seniors every year exposing them to different cultures and constantly changing tech nologies. Past trips have included places as far as China. Next year they are think ing of visiting England and Rome. says Randall Geering, director of Hous ing and Food Services. Most students are in support of the cameras, saying that they will have a positive impact on dorm life. “They’re good to have because they can see everyone come in and out and if something goes wrong, we’ve got them on tape and the whole building won’t be charged,” says Lindsay Wiley, resident of Lawrence Hall. However, the use of these cameras is meeting some opposition by other resi dents. “They violate the students’ right to out about Watergate and when they did, there would be trouble. Though skepti cal about his presidency because of the scandal, Nixon saw his term as a chance to change politics in America. “By 1972, Democrats dominated poli tics for decades. Nixon believed as presi dent he was governing at a time of op portunity in politics,” Mason said. There was a huge turbulence arising from dis agreements about the Vietnam War and race that were causing problems in the Democratic party during John F. Kennedy’s presidency. Many Americans did not agree with the idea of liberalism, an idea that the Democrats supported greatly. “Democratic dominance appeared to be under siege,” said Mason. It was then that Nixon reached out to troubled Americans. “Nixon thought there was an appetite in Americans for political change.” Nixon didn’t leave quite the legacy he envisioned for the Republicans during his time. His envision for the party’s new dominance was a failure, mostly because of Watergate. “Nixon’s quest for Repub lican majority was thoughtful, but flawed,” said Mason. Although some CONTRIBU Maginnes to present poetry Creative writer series continues By Bryan Spry staff writer Students can experience creative writ ing first hand when A 1 Maginnes comes to perform a reading in the Smith Chapel on Nov. 11 at 6 p.m. There will be a reception prior to the reading at 4 p.m. if you would like to meet Maginnes and ask him about his award winning work or his experiences in creative writing Maginnes’ poetry collection “The Light in Our Houses,” which was pub lished in 2000, won the prestigious Lena Miles Wever Todd Award. This award is given to the winner of the annual po etry manuscript competition that is co sponsored by Winthrop University and Pleiades Press. Maginnes’ other book, “Taking Up Our Daily Tools,” was nominated for a National Book Award in 1997. Maginnes is currently a teacher at Wake Technical Community College in Ra leigh, North Carolina. “It gives you an opportunity to be ex posed to art and to hear a living author,” said Mr. Sean Thomas Dougherty, asso ciate professor of creative writing, about the advantages of attending the Creative Writer’s Speaker Series. “It reaffirms that art is not dead. It also gives you the opportunity to ask the author questions about his or her works. George Looney, assistant professor of English and creative writing has pub lished Maginnes in several reviews. “I’ve known Al’s work for about twenty years. As I went through the Mid-Ameri can Review, Al’s work stood out from the rest,” said Looney. “Al’s poetry fits a southern tradition of poetry, but it is much richer than simple narrative due to the fact that it is more complex; it is constructed in medi privacy,” says Robert Cook, resident of Perry Hall. “It takes a little bit of our free dom away.” In addition to the cameras in Bruno’s and the residence halls, security cameras are also located in the stair tower and in the computer labs. According to James Amann, manager of Safety and Security, the primary purpose of these cameras is to “enable the police officer on duty to monitor the activity in these areas from a central location and to record the im ages for use in any criminal investiga tions.” “Our primary concern is for the safety Nixon initiatives were enacted, says Mason, they were not substantial enough to rival the Democrats’ issues. While Nixon built Republican strength at the presidential level, Mason argues that he did not succeed in mobilizing popular support for political conservatism. “Richard Nixon and the Quest for a New Majority,” is a book written by Mason in which he analyzes Nixon’s response to the developing conservative climate. Mason also challenges claims about the activist nature of the Nixon administration. Mason contends that Nixon was an activist in intent, but not in deed. Many students from Behrend History classes were in attendance. Some of those included students from Dr. Dou glas M. Charles’ History 21 class. Since the presentation took place a day before the 2004 election, Mason was asked to share his opinions on the event. He said that Tuesday was an important day of decision. “As a foreigner, I don’t like to make judgements about current politics. According to past calculations, were due for another realignment of po litical party dominance. Election day should be quite interesting.” Vol. LII No. 11 tative argument,” said Looney. “A 1 Maginnes uses what seems to be child hood memories to tell a story, which momentarily disguises the deep philo sophical underpinning of the poem.” Behrend has been expanding its cre ative writing program. Many students do not know this, but Penn State Behrend has several award winning writers and poets as their professors. This award winning staff includes George Looney, author of “Animals Housed in the Plea sure of Flesh,” which won the Bluestein Award in 1995, and Sean Thomas Dougherty, author of the award winning essay, “What You Walk Away From.” Behrend has recently added a B.F.A. to its degree programs. The Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing at Penn State Behrend is the only creative writ ing program that is offered in the state of Pennsylvania. It is also headed by the award winning poet George Looney, which gives young aspiring writers the chance to work with someone who has been experienced in the creative writing field. “I believe it adds a more rigorous structure in course work giving Penn State Behrend the potential to produce some of the best young writers in the country,” said Dougherty. Behrend M.B.A. student, Chris Frey said, “I think the creative writing pro gram at Penn State Behrend will help the school attract a broader range of students because they will have the ability to study something that most other schools cannot offer.” “It would definitely help the students develop better writing skills and allow them to have fun furthering their ideas that are geared more toward the creative rather than the technical,"’ said Brian Zechmeister, EEBD 05. of students and employees who may be using these facilities after normal busi ness hours,” says Amann. Some students have expressed that they feel safer with the stair tower cam eras activated. “It’s good to know that someone’s watching out for our safety when we’re walking around campus at night time,” says Katherine Redington, resident of Niagara Hall. The cameras are monitored by the police officer on duty each night, and the tapes are reviewed carefully. DANIELLE FAULKNER/BEHREND BEACON Mason educates students on intricacies of Nixon’s term in office He spoke on Monday in Reed 117.
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