Women's water polo,
, .
. lir
lide it4l Page 8 , ,4
. 4
•
mie tr. , ._ Presidential candidates,
_
Page 2
T H E BEHREND 8EA,...C0N
MA'".
Friday, March 18, 2005
Shopping for senior class gift
Gift committee seeking student feedback
By Annie Sevin
staff writer
The Senior Class Gift Committee
will send an e-mail to students today
that asks them to vote on the projects
selected for the senior class gift. As
of Wednesday, the committee has
selected two gifts to vote on. Both
will cost about $5,000 - $7,500
depending on the amount donated by
the senior class.
The first gift to choose from is a
project that entails helping the
Wayfinding and Signage Master Plan
fund campus banners for pedestrian
walkways. The first set of these ban
ners, the blue banners with the lion
paws, has been installed near the
Junker Center.
The walkway banners are indicators
of campus buildings for new and
prospective students and visitors. If
the students choose this project, the
money the seniors donate will go
toward purchasing and installing the
banners.
The second gift involves rest and
relaxation. If this project is selected
as the senior class gift, students will
find new benches and tables in front
of Senat Hall. The new furniture
would be placed in the area around
Senat leading from Reed to Dobbins.
The number of benches and tables to
be added will depend on the amount
donated by the senior class.
The e-mail ballots received by stu
dents today should be returned by
March 29. Then, the Senior Class Gift
Coffiftee 'will Vii - iTS7lfise votes and
announce which project has been
selected on April 1.
If seniors have any questions about
the gift, they will have the opportuni-
Inside
Incredibles, STUDENT
LIFE, Page 7
Steroid mess, SPORTS,
Page 8
Contents
News 1-3
Editorial 4
Humor 6
Student Life 7
Sports 8-10
Contact Us
Newsroom:
898-6488
Fax:
898-6019
E-mail:
Behrendßeacon@aol.com
Our offices are located down
stairs in the Reed Union
Building.
ty to question committee members
during the Senior Salute Days in the
Wintergarden. Students will be able
to look over the project details and
make any donation at that time.
Seniors who make contributions for
the Class Gift will also have the
chance to win prizes by having their
name and donation card drawn from a
lottery.
"Basically the money we raise for the
senior class gift is coming out of an
account (out of each seniors'
account)...this money is the $lOO
deposit that they paid when they first
entered college," said Tina lanni,
COMBA 08. "And that was for in case
you broke a beaker in chemistry lab or
something like that...they can choose
to deposit whatever they have in there
- the remaining balance."
The gift from the Class of 2005 will
be Behrend's third.
"The first gift [from 2002] was the
flagpole that was to
commemorate...the Behrend graduate
who died in 9-11... and then in 2003-
2004 it was the Nittany Lion," said
lanni.
According to the Senior Class Gift
Committee, the significance of the
Senior Class gift is to commemorate
the time the students spent at Behrend
and to improve the campus and its
facilities for future students.
Shaw explores ethics of joke-telling
Dr. Joshua Shaw, assistant professor of Philosophy, will speak for the
Humanities and Social Sciences Colloquium on March 24 in the Smith Chapel
Living Room from noon until 1:30 p.m. He will be discussing the "Taboo
Topics and the Ethics of Joke-telling."
Faculty members from Humanities and Social Sciences department started
this speaker series (the Colloquium) this past January. The faculty members
wanted to share their individual research with other faculty members and stu-
According to him, the talk will be "looking at the focus analysis of jokes as
rhetorical figures and what is required to get that joke." He will probe the rea
sons why people find hilarity in questionable jokes and whether or not it is eth
ical to tell certain types of jokes.
"One of my areas of interest is ethics and another is the philosophy of art and
the theories of literature and what interests me the most is the intersection of the
two," says Shaw.
He chose joke telling because it was a lighter subject matter than he had
looked at before. "About a year ago I wrote about some bleak films and liter
ature - I wanted to try working on something lighter," said Shaw.
In general, Shaw says he's interested in the ethics of humor. He also says that
while looking at the literature on this subject, he found it to be incomplete. He
says he found "there were certain kinds of jokes or certain kinds of humor that
we find morally questionable...jokes about the Holocaust or September
11...50, the subject of the talk is 'what is it about that kind of joke that bothers
Student, staff member improve PSU's right to know
By Erin Ahlgren
staff writer
Worker and Community Right to Know is a web
based training system developed by property protec
tion guard David Lesher and student employee Doug
ifilderhoff. It will replace the 30-year-old videotape
system and will eventually be used at University Park.
The Worker and Community Right to Know Act
was enacted in 1984 to provide information about
hazardous substances in the workplace and in the
environment.
As stated in the Employee Workplace Notice, "pub
lic sector employees (including state local govern
ment agencies, public schools, and public universi
ties- Penn State) not covered by the OSHA Hazard
Communication Standard must provide an annual
education and training program to employees exposed
to hazardous substances."
A Penn State Erie Student Publication
Students rally at Rotunda
Twenty-five Behrend students traveled to Harrisburg on
Tuesday to rally legislative support for higher education
funding. This was the 4th annual "Rally at the Rotunda" to
keep state money rolling into the university and tuition
costs down.
In the last three years, Penn State tuition has been hiked
by 30 percent. The increase in 2004-2005 alone was 11.96
percent.
After last year's rally, Pennsylvania legislators amended
the budget to give Penn State the full amount it proposed.
However, this year's Pennsylvania funding woes have left
questions as to whether Penn State will get the full amount
it has asked for.
"I'm going to tell you the truth, I don't know the likeli
hood of that happening," said Erie County representative
Florindo Fabrizio. "This commonwealth is in trouble this
year. I don't know we will fill the holes."
State Senator Jane Earl also expressed doubt about the
university receiving the money. She noted that Penn State
is already getting a 5 percent increase from last year while
many state funded programs are getting cut.
The current budget has $324.2 million in appropriations
earmarked for Penn State, $lO million shy of what the uni
versity proposed.
Galen Foulke, University Park student government pres
ident, said any money not appropriated by the government
would be made up in tuition dollars.
"Penn State lays out a very strict budget," said Foulke.
"If we don't get these dollars, our tuition goes up. If we
do, it doesn't."
Several Penn State campuses were represented at the
rally, but Behrend led the group in student turnout.
University Park, which promised last year to match
Behrend's numbers, brought seven students to the event.
Deepti Soni, Behrend's rally organizer, was pleased with
the student support coming from the campus.
"Our biggest focus is to show legislators that students
have a voice and we do care," said Soni.
The students who attended acted as a backdrop for a 11-
partisan group of five legislators who spoke during the 45-
minute rally. Representatives Jewell Williams, Steven
Cappelli, Michael Sturla, Lynn Herman and John Yudichak
all boosted support for funding Penn State and higher edu-
By Annie Sevin
staff writer
SHAW, continued on Page 3
By Sarah Weber
staff writer
In other words, Pennsylvania citizens have the
"right to know" about chemical hazards that are pres
ent in their workplace. The training program may be
presented either in written form or in training ses
sions. The web-based training system developed by
Lesher and Hilderhoff does just that.
According to David Lesher, property protection
guard, chemistry students at Behrend are also made
aware of proper safety in the lab and informed about
the Right to Know training system by their professors.
And before they are allowed to participate in lab
experiments, they must pass a lab safety quiz.
The Right to Know training system by Lesher out
lines the rights of Behrend employees and students
under the Right to Know Act. The system also states
the seven provisions of the act, including the seventh
which gives you the right to refuse to work with haz
ardous substances if the university "fails to provide
you with a Material Safety Data Sheet or fail to fur
nish proof of a diligent effort to obtain the MSDS."
The MSDS, which is available to you at Police and
Twenty five Behrend students traveled to the capital to rally
support for higher education funding.
cation.
"We have been systematically under funding higher edu
cation in this state," said Sturla.
The representatives emphasized increased funding to
keep tuition costs under control. But, they also said that
the issue isn't merely about student's being able to pay for
college
"This is about the economic development of
Pennsylvania," said Yudichak. Pennsylvania is going
throiiiFivrarWilliams callt,d a "brain drain." Young peo
ple educated in Pennsylvania are moving to other states
after graduation. The representatives said that giving high
er education priority and providing opportunities for young
people in Pennsylvania are the keys to reversing this trend.
Safety on campus, contains information on heath haz
ards, chemical ingredients, physical characteristics,
control measures and special handling procedures for
all hazardous substances on campus.
As stated in the training program, there are some
exemptions to the Right to Know Act. Chemicals used
in research, teaching and testing laboratories, or
chemical storage areas are not required to be on the
list of hazardous substances and substances bought
for personal use or consumption such as foodstuffs,
cosmetics, tobacco and prescriptions are also not
required to be listed.
The web-based training system also explains the
MSDS, general classes of chemicals, possible effects
from exposure and further contact information regard
ing, your right to know.
Not only is Penn State University obligated to pro
RIGHT TO KNOW, continued on Page 2
Vol. LII No. 24