Friday, September 30, 2005
Students upset about McDaniels’ controversial writing style
Although Jeffrey McDaniel’s poetry performance was nearly a
week ago, the controversy surrounding his visit to campus still
continues. Several of those who attended the performance have
voiced complaints about what many say is McDaniels’ “unique
and creative” style. During his
performance, McDaniels
touched upon subjects many
consider to be socially taboo
Student
Miranda Krause left the per
formance angered and insulted
and she said she was not the
only one. She stated in a previ
ous article that Jeffrey
McDaniel’s work did indeed
offend her and that she found
it to be unbefitting.
For Students like Miranda
Krause, who was offended by Jeffrey McDaniel’s poetry, they felt
that being required to listen to McDaniel, especially in the reli
gious environment, was against their morals. Due to the date and
time of the event, the required presence of students enrolled in cre
ative writing classes was necessary.
Name
Danielle Brown
Cody Earhart
Lauren Wagner
Stephanie Ivancza
Jason Della Sala
Christopher Baran
Behrend Briefs
On Tuesday, October 4, from 7-9 p.m. in the McGarvey Commons in the Reed
Building, there will be a Harborcreek Candidate Forum, organized by the
Governmental Affairs Committee of the Student Government Association. This
forum will feature candidates running for Harborcreek Supervisor Positions
along with the Harborcreek School Board candidates. Those expected to attend
include Harborcreek Supervisor Candidates Joe Peck and Dean Pepicello and
School Board Candidates Carol Bucklin, David Zdunksi, Lisa Baroni, and
Lawrence Maxted. This event is open to all students along with the
Harborcreek/Erie Community. The audience will have the opportunity to ask
questions to the candidates regarding their platform and goals along with why
they have decided to run for their position. This is very important for Penn State
Behrend as this election could potentially decide what new development would
occur around the campus area. The last date to register to vote in Erie County is
October 10th. For futher information on this event, please contact Maulin
Gandhi msgl9o, Ilona Joseph isjlo2, or Deepti Soni dusl43.
Pol ice and Safety
9/21/05
Officer was dispatched to Ttimbull lot after receiving word that complainant’s
car was hit from behind while stalled in traffic heading east on Stadium Dr. The
drivers involved exchanged all info prior to officer’s arrival. No injuries.
9/21/05
Officer was dispatched to Tiffany Hall after an RA reported that a resident stu
dent had cut her hand after she fell. She was driven to Hamot Hospital for treat
ment by another student. Duty coordinator was notified.
9/22/05
Complainant called 911 since her friend was intoxicated and was not sure of her
condition.
9/24/05
Found damage to the grass between the lower and middle tiers of the Ohio Hall
parking lot. Refer to incident report.
9/24/05
Found male student passed out in his vehicle in the apartent lot south. Charged
with violation of crimes code 6308. Refer to incident report.
9/25/05
Report of a fire alarm going off in Perry Hall. Found to be caused by someone
setting off a fire extinguisher in their room.
By Earl Gordon
staff writer
Tiffany Mak/THE BEHREND BEACON
Jeffrey McDaniels sparked controversy.
SGA Election Results
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“I noticed that some people were offended by some of the things
he had to say and I spoke with some of them directly after the per
formance. There was a piece of McDaniels’ poetry that I did not
particularly care for, but not because I was offended in any way,”
Professor Looney said. The creative writing professors felt that a
wide variety of guest speakers would benefit their students.
Professor Looney also added by saying “I do not believe most
words are bad, but are made bad bywhich the way people use
them.”
The primary difficulty of the entire event was not exactly Jeffrey
McDaniel’s poetry, but the environment in which it took place. A
few of the students felt that it was not appropriate in any way to
hold the event at the Smith Chapel. “We used the Smith Chapel
because it is the perfect space. The acoustics just make it sound
great,” stated Professor Looney, “The chapel is not just for one
denomination, but for all of them.” The different religions on the
Behrend campus also include atheist.
Regardless of the complications that arose during McDaniel’s
performance, there will be more functions planned for the future
Creative Writing Series. Rest assured, the following events most
likely will not be as problematic as this one. Even though some
performers might be a bit controversial or seemingly vulgar, they
are entitled to their opinions whether they are in a religious setting
or a common surrounding.
Name
Votes
Julie Elkins
Amanda Tyler
170
136
133
109
94
65
Malorie Parry
Mike Bergstrom
Heather Simendinger
Send them to newseditor@psu. edu
TEW>
Freshmen
Hurricanes affect Behrend staff and students
By Jenna Gregory
staff writer
Disaster struck people of the south
are now piecing together what is left
of their lives in the aftermath of hurri
canes Katrina and Rita. Hurricane
Katrina ripped through the Gulf of
Mexico hitting New Orleans full
force. The blow has caused many to
loose everything, some even their
lives. Hurricane Rita blew in on
Katrina’s tail toward the southeastern
part of Texas. The destruction Rita
caused wasn’t as imminent as that of
Katrina but the hurricane was all the
same catastrophic.
Giselle Hudson, who works in Penn
State Behrend’s admissions office, is a
New Orleans native. While talking
with Hudson, she discussed the evacu
ation processes, the government
responses, and also the media portray
als in light of recent events. Hudson’s
mother still resides in New Orleans
and owns a home for the elderly.
Hudson’s brother aided their mother
and her patients in the evacuation of
the city.
Hudson’s mother also owns two
houses that both were terribly flooded.
One, to the best of the family’s knowl
edge, is still totally submerged in
water while the other still has furniture
floating through it. Hudson men-
tioned that they aren’t sure now, after
hurricane Rita, what kind of damage
they will find upon their return. Her
family is seeking refuge in Atlanta,
GA currently.
Hudson expressed a strong dissatis
faction with the local, state, and feder
al government response to the disas
ters. Hudson remarked that New
r i
O
Election deadlines extended
Penn State Erie’s Student
Government Association (SGA)
met Wednesday, September 28
to discuss the current and press
ing issues affecting the student
body.
The first significant decision
of the meeting was the motion
to expand parking permits to
three colors in order to more
easily deal with parking issues.
The President's report conclud
ed that the parking committee
is in consensus but will wait
until the results of the referen
dum on the ballot for this year's
elections are tabulated. The
elections were initially sched
uled for the morning of
Wednesday, September 28 until
the afternoon of Thursday,
September 29. Unfortunately,
because of a problem with
Webmail's outgoing mail serv
er, there was a delay in the
reception of the link to the elec
tions by the student body. This
was the source of much debate
at the student government
meeting; several senators
believe raising voter awareness
is the responsibility of candi
dates and not the infrastructure
set in place to handle elections.
In the end, a motion was passed
which granted the executive
board of the SGA the power to
extend the election deadline,
although the ability of the com
puter center to alter the auto
matic shutoff of the voting web
page is in question.
Votes
234
223
222
216
214
The next most significant
announcement of the meeting
may have been the Student
Affairs Advisor's declaration
that plans for a concert similar
to the last year's New Found
Glory event will not be held
due to a lack of support and
Orleans is “a very corrupt city, there
are a lot of people with their hands in
the pot and New Orleans needs people
who will look out for the city instead
of themselves.” She mentioned that
the money that is supposed to be spent
on protecting the city and building up
the levy has been spent on other things
that will “put money in their pocket.”
Local government has spent the levy
money on attractions such as casinos
and golf courses, ignoring the risk of
natural disaster. “They [local govern
ment] knew before it hit,” says
Hudson, “that New Orleans is like a
bowl...they can’t blame the engi
neers. .. they should have taken care of
this twenty years ago.” The blame for
Hudson’s brother aided
their mother and her
patients in the evacua
tion of the city.
insufficient protection is not laid at
one person’s feet, but a stretch of peo
ple over many years of ignoring a
sleeping giant.
Penn State Behrend student Jason
DellaSala, who is a native of Tomball,
TX, also experienced devastation due
to the hurricanes. Hurricane Rita
ripped through his hometown, causing
a significant amount of damage to his
home. Jason’s family couldn’t evacu
ate the evacuation routes out of his
town were backed up for miles. Jason
told me that it was taking residents
one hour to drive four miles. His
home has one foot of water in it and
the chimney was completely blown
off. Jason commented on his families
perception of the government and
their response and said that because
The Behrend Beacon I
By John Bigus
staff writer
his family is from Texas, “they think
the government is doing a great job,
they don’t blame Bush.” His family is
currently considering moving to Ohio
due to the weather in Texas and also
the expensiveness of living in a hurri
cane hot spot. Jason is fourth semester
English major.
I also had the privilege of talking to
a former Penn State Behrend graduate
and his wife. George Gregory, origi
nally from Oil City, PA, now resides
in The Woodlands, TX, a suburb of
Houston. His family was a lot luckier
than most. 1 spoke with his wife,
Kathy Gregory, about the storm and
the problems they have been experi
encing. Kathy said that their home
did not receive any damage from the
hurricane. They stayed in the area
because there was not a mandatory
evacuation issued to them. Mrs
Gregory did mention that you couldn’t
find gas as of Wednesday, the pumps
were all dried up, and that finding
necessities such as bread and water
was also a difficult task. Things are
starting to return to normal for the
family, however they are experiencing
what they call “rolling black outs”
where the electric is shut off for six to
eight hours at a time to conserve and
prevent overloading the power plant.
Texas is experiencing extremely high
temperatures for this time of year, still
reaching in the hundreds, and its diffi
cult to cope with the heat. I did ask
her what she thought of the govern-
ment and their response to the disaster
and she said that “clearly there is no
federal emergency plan.” Mrs.
Gregory suggested that “Florida has a
good plan, if the model works really
well then it should be implemented.”
participation, unless another
group sponsors it. As a result
the previously allocated
$35,000 have re-entered the
Student Activity Fee (SAF)
allotment for distribution by
clubs and SGA to the student
body via activities.
Some warnings relayed at the
meeting by the executive board
of SGA included an announce
ment that time is running out
for club representatives to take
treasury training, and that if a
representative does not. a club's
funds, office and rights as a
club will be revoked. Another
warning surrounded posting
guidelines, and the issue that
not only are old posters being
left up, some clubs are placing
new posters on top of existing
ones which belong to other
clubs, and that is not allowed
Some other important
upcoming events include Thon,
the annual dance-a-thon, which
is to be held next February. All
proceeds from that activity will
be given to a charity which pro
vides financial assistance to
families of children with can-
Another event is the October
11 “Gays, race and religion”
forum, which is going to be
promoted soon. Also, a very
important community develop
ment meeting is being held
soon, which will discuss the
decisions made about access to
Station Road, the nature of
Jordan Road, the development
of the local community with
regard to convenience stores,
and the expansion of communi
ty stores which accept the Lion
Cash program. Maulin Gandhi
reported that at other Penn
State campuses, even such
businesses as Pennzoil, accept
ed Lion Cash, and that this is a
high priority.