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BEHREND
THE BEACON
Friday, October 14, 2005
Student recounts time spent in Louisiana
By Ashley Bressler
staff writer
10)27 I pqi.cdti
Adam Gorniak is now slowly
adjusting to life in Erie after
spending the past month in the
rain soaked wreckage of Louisana.
where he was helping the local
people there rebuild their shattered
lives. It has been over a month
since the business major left Penn
State Behrend and his family in
the Erie area to join the National
Guard where he would be helping
the victims of hurricane Katrina.
When Gorniak was last inter
viewed in the first week of
September, he had just arrived in
Alexandria, Louisiana and was
still awaiting his orders. Gorniak
remained in Alexandria for one
more day. He was then sent to the
city of Hammond, which is about
sixty miles north of New Orleans,
with a few other local students. He
was stationed in Hammond until
hurricane Rita hit. Gomiak says he
was glad to see so many people
from the Erie area helping with the
relief effort The National Guard
established its headquarters at
Camp Keystone, which gave the
men and women serving a
grounded sense of home
While in Hammond, Gorniak
said his main jobs were to recover
intelligence, aid the local survivors with needed supplies and load
the trucks that transported supplies such as, ice. water and tents.
Gorniak said he also took part in setting up distribution points in
various cities, including Covington and Livingston, which he said
was a massive operation that required a great deal of organized
help. According to Gorniak, the supply-distribution sites were
located in warehouses and old Walmart buildings. Gorniak said the
citizens would drive up to
the sites, wait in long lines
and then finally receive
supplies, food and water
they needed for the day.
"We would see 5,000 to
6,0(X) cars a day, and it
was like that every day.
The people were just so
thankful that we were there
helping. Some of the
women would actually get
out of their cars, hug us,
Local Halloween entertain
ment, Page 7
(iflents
News..
Editorial..
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Student Life..
Sports
(:ontact I s
Newsroom
898-6488
Fax:
898-6019
E-mail:
editorinchief@psu.edu
Our offices are located down
stairs in the Reed Union
Building.
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An aerial view of the aftermath left in Hurricane Katrina's wake
Apartment development on schedule
Students are flocking to sign up for the new apartments being built near campus. Once the framing is done and the construction moves to the inside, the building
James Properties is in charge of the construction of the University Gate process should go smoothly. "The longest part of building is doing the interior,"
Apartments; planned to open August 2006. Three - said Redlawsk; we should expect the
buildings are projected to be completed by next buildings to go up quickly. In terms of
year to house over 60 apartment units. Despite all expectations, Penman said, - before
these plans, where are the buildings? Where is the Christmas at least the first building up, it
heavy machinery and swarms of construction just depends on when winter hits."
workers? If you sign a lease now, will your apart- This is the first time in Behrend's
ment be ready by next year? James Properties and history that off-campus housing will be
Odyssey Construction Group seem to think that available without having to commute.
student leasers have nothing to worry about. Behrend's location and lack of housing
After the development of Senat Hall got so far options is often an obstacle for students.
behind schedule, it is reasonable to have worries If you do not receive your desired housing
about the completion of these new apartment on campus, you are often stuck dealing
buildings. Mike Redlawsk, the president of James with Erie weather, which can lead to a
Properties, is "very confident" that their schedule dangerous commute to school if you
for the construction has taken the appropriate pre- chose to move off campus. James
cautions for the hazardous Erie weather, and the Properties is providing a great service to
building will be done before August. "We can Behrend students and does so with open
have the toughest winter Erie ever had and it's arms. "Our goal is to provide the nicest.
already dialed into the schedule," says Odyssey closest housing a student can find," said
spokesperson Dave Penman. Redlawsk. He also said that "we really
There has been some forestry clearing over the like what we do," and students aren't
past few weeks, but construction still has not com- problematic, "they are great tenants."
menced; however, that will all change soon. "We If you are interested in signing up for
,:arstaterrEHE BEHREND BEACON
begin pouring footers on Monday," says Penman. a lease at the new, and on schedule,
James Properties begins construction on the off-campus apartments .
Footers, for those of you who are unfamiliar with - University Gate Apartments; Mike
construction, are the cement bases for the build- Redlawsk is eager to hear from you! There are still plenty of openings and leases
ings that are poured into the ground. Footers give the building support and har- are being signed everyday. For more information on the apartments students can
ness them to the ground. After the footers have been poured, students should call: (814) 899-5160 or email univeristygate@jamesproperties.com.
...1-3
7-8
_9-10
A Penn State Erie Student Publication
_o•
,t,At,44•4
A lot can happen over the
course of a month, and missing
classes for that long can unfortu
nately mean repeating the semester. Along with the other Penn
State Behrend and Edinboro students, Gormak has fallen behind in
his studies.
"There weren't computers in our quarters, so keeping up with
class work was impossible. Even if I did have the resources I
wouldn't have had the time to do any of it. We were so busy."
Gorniak said. he would have been completing his eight semester
this fall with plans to graduate in the spring of 2006, but because
of his national guard service, he will need to take on a heavy load,
at least 18 credits, in the spring if he hopes to start the summer
with his business, economics and marketing degrees.
Gorniak says that he believes the situation is getting better in
Louisiana, and the efforts of the National Guard have truly been
effective. The majority of Gorniak's focus was on the smaller
cities where the people were without electricity. Although in the
month that he spent in Louisiana, he was sent to New Orleans a
number of times. Gorniak said that by the time he arrived in New
Orleans, the majority of the victims had been moved to safety. He
said at that point, the Guard's efforts shifted to locating the bodies
of those who had lost their lives in the devastating storm and pro
By Jenna Gregory
staff writer
jag464@psu.edu
104
A bird's- eye view from a helicopter of an amusement park that was destroyed by Hurricane Katrina
and kiss us on the cheek. It was
really awesome
They had nothing, and were ask
ing us how we were doing. Some
of them even cooked dinner for
us. They didn't have anything, but
still were so happy to cook us this
good, real, Louisiana food.-
viding clean drinking water to survivors. While in New Orleans
Gorniak said he gained a much better perspective of the destruc
tion during a helicopter flight over the city. From the air, Gorniak
said he was able to see the Superdome, which was filled with
flood water, and he also recalled seeing a drowned amusement
park. which can only now be described as a "water park. -
In most cases, when individuals are given the chance to help
others and truly play a part in determining whether human exis
tence prevails, they will surely walk away with a new perspective.
Gorniak said his first-hand experience with the destructive power
of mother nature has given him a whole new perspective. Gorniak
said that before he was called to active duty, he, like so many
other people, would see, the catastrophe on television and hear
about it on the news, but it didn't have a real effect on him. But
coming home from the devastation of Katrina, he now knows what
these people are actually going through and the hardships that they
encounter each day. Even though Gomiak said he feels as though
he has been able to help in ways he could not have imagined when
he signed up for the National Guard. He knows that there is still a
chance that he could be assigned to go to Iraq at any time.
Here at Behrend, there have been numerous organizations that
have already been helping to raise money that will go towards
relief efforts, but there are other ways that students can help those
who are in great need of national assistance. There are a number of
local churches, clubs and organizations that are sending volunteers
to Louisiana to help. In a more grounded approach, one could start
a fundraiser, earn even a few hundred dollars and send it to the
American Red Cross. The local American Red Cross is putting
together care packages and taking donations for this as well. When
a hurricane hits an area, the storm may only last for a few hours,
but the devastation left behind can last a lifetime.
expect to see the buildings go up rather quicky. Odyssey is using a construction
method called panelizing for the main framing of the buildings. The panels are
being built at a different location, and then are hauled onto the site in 12 to 14 foot
pieces. Redlawsk said that once the pieces are there, the "walls go up super fast."
Vol. LIII No. 8