Friday, September 23, 2005 Campaigns held for six open SGA senator positions On Wednesday. September 21, at 5:20 p.m. the annual Student Government Assoeiation (SGA) Meeting was held. There were aroundthirty students in conference room 114 in the Reed Union Building lor the meeting. All of the members of SGA were seated around the tables, while five students sat in the back. Those five students were students that wanted to be elected into the group. Several important items were discussed during the meeting. Roll was taken first and then everyone got down to business. News was discussed, both old and new. There was a meeting held on April 27 that the minutes had been lost. Everyone in the room voted unani mously that there was indeed a meeting then. There was a representative from Bruno's Cafe at the meeting who answered everyone's questions. The questions varied from. “What sort ol cheese do you use on your pizzas that make them so David Greco/THE BEHREND BEACON The Greener Behrend Task Force works to beautify the campus with trees, fences and landscaping. Greener Behrend strives for preservation Environmental efforts continue through construction By Justin DeSantis staff writer If things look a little green r, don't thank the Greener Jehrend Tusk Force. I!' there re people trying to conserve he beauty of Penn State Jehrend, well, go ahead and ay thanks. That's the task taken by the jrccner Behrend Task Force, 'ask force seems appropriate, is Dr. Thomas Wortman xplains. "I don't like burcau •racies,” laughs Wortman, “I ike [agencies | to work sim >ly." The simplest way to vork is obviously the way that Vortman operates. Pic and his ight member crew of faculty ind students work towards the onservation of the “gift of 4ary Behrend,” as Wortman ays. But there is something mportant to note: Wortman aid his task force aren't prima ily concerned with preserva ion. They arc much more con erned with conserving the esources Penn State Erie has ilready. “Preservation for the sake of (reservation isn’t good. Conservation is,” said Vortman, in a phone inter icw. “Great portions of land hat arc set-up as ecological (reserves...do nothing,” he xplains. Most of the ecologi al preserve lands are hard to (e viewed by people, as that an disrupt the balance of that and. Wortman appreciates that here exists a tenuous balance By Maureen Kohler staff writer between preserving land that exists and movintz forward with new construction. Sometimes, that balance is hard to uphold. Hence. Wortman and his team try to stay “moderate” and do as much as they can without hin dering the natural growth of the campus. That expansion, and the tranquil splendor of the Behrend campus, is that middle-ground that the GBTF is shooting for. Take, as an example, the new Red-C building that is being built. A huge portion of land is being used to combine two schools together for the first time. These areas of natu ral beauty are being utilized for the benefit of all Behrend students. “Could we function without it? Yes,” explains Wortman. “But could we be the best we could be without it? No.” That high wire act, trying to appease everyone, is just one of the many things that the GBTF is involved with. A good example of taking what we have was the GTBF’s deci sion to stop cutting the grass behind the Behrend science building. The order was clear: stop cutting the grass in certain areas. The idea wasn’t an act of laziness; it was to cultivate the ecological system in those hills. Soon, there were wildflow ers, snakes and field mice. A bevy of the nature that Behrend students coexist with GREENER BEHREND TASK FORCE greasy?” to “Can you extend the hours of Dobbin s from 4:30- 7:30 so the athletes have time to eat as well?" The representative tried to answer as many questions as possible. He said he would talk to the Bruno's staff as well as the Dobbin's staff to institute some changes in the coming months. There arc many different committees within the SGA. so each elected member of each group would go around and tell the other members if there was a particular event happening in the coming week. The rest of the meeting w'as about the upcoming elections for the SGA. There arc six available positions to be filled. Students can run for either freshmen senators or upperclassmen senators. There arc only four positions for the freshmen senators and two positions for the upperclassmen senators. There were peti tions sent out on September 8 to write down names of people interested in these fields. On September 21 those petitions were due back to the RUB desk. On September 22 the candidates were contacted and were asked to pick up campaign packets. The actual day in and day »ut, and may never sec. Not only did the “no cut" rule increase the flora and fauna, but it also cut out pollu tion caused by the noise and oily smoke created by the maintenance crew. And, as Wortman adds,"lt looks pretty cool.” Not only concerned with conserving the land, GBTF has also come up with an idea to conserve the energy of its most valuable resources: the stu dents. Soon Bruno's will pro vide information on healthy eating and living. There is also the Arboretum, a task that combines the different species of trees seen all through the campus. That idea, to keep what is without hindering what will be, is the matter Greener Behrend Task Force takes so seriously. University Park sug gested that Behrend attempt to maintain sustainability; Wortman and the whole of GBTF wanted more. “Call it a 'major push',” quips Wortman. That major push should continue well into the future. If anyone is interested in finding out more information, or would like to join the Greener Behrend Task Force, they can contact Wortman at twortman@psu.edu or check out the website for the goals of GBTF at www.greencampus.psu.edu TEW* 20% wy TAkeoat Pwduse Behrend Briefs William C. Lasher. Ph.D., associate professor of mechanical engineering at Penn sState, The Behrend College, has been elected a Fellow of Amerocan Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME). Peg Thoms has written a new book. A Guide to Recruiting, Selecting and Retaining Effective Leaders (Praeger 2005) tells audience how to hire the right leaders. Police and Safety 9/15/2005 Possible party in gorge. Sec incident 9/18/2005 Student reported that the cover to the intercom in the elevator is missing stairtower. It appears that their might havac been a cover on the intercom if their was it been missing awhile. 9/18/2005 While at the stairtower observed the lire gate at the end of Aquarius Dr is damaged the right gate was bro ken caution tape was put across so the vehicles would not enter the area LASPE sent to M&O r | Convenient, Fast, Great Food! Your itegfibortiood restaurant and espresso bar campaign will begin on September 22 as well. The elections will he held on September 2H and 29. There were six final names announced for the upperclassmen scats for senators. Those students names are as follows: Cody Harhart. Stephanie Ivancva, Lauren Wagner. Danielle Brown, Jason Della Sala and Christopher Baran. There were five final names announced for the freshmen senator seats and they are also as follows: Malorie Parry. Amanda Tyler. Mike Bergstrom. Heather Simendinge and Julie Elkins. Most of the upperclassmen students running for senator are beyond their third semester, mean ing they will have ideas as how to make SGA run smoother and more efficiently. The freshmen running for senator will be new and inexperienced at this job. but hopefully they will get the hang of things very quickly. wwy/.«atnparlccofT! S&ihrhrA. Great for Takeout! '** ywo » iWHiOm mil C—> mmut «f (i •to ****«»'*M**r«rgi*4»« *u *Mt***&mu»*m*ii &•<>•»» *•!«>•• »v MM, [SithThrk 7 ] mm MlpfeMtMi mamma mat mpmmb tar www mmtpMkom The Behrend Beacon I ARIS*I I 220 '